ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of the visiting Alaska Anchorage Seawolves Saturday evening. Asher Cai once again paced the Wildcats with 22 points to lead the game.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: RV Central Washington (61), RV Alaska Anchorage (68)
• Records: CWU (9-3, 2-1 GNAC), UAA (13-2, 4-0 GNAC)
• Location: Nicholson Arena, Ellensburg, Wash.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The Seawolves struck first on a layup by Emilia Long that was answered to by a pair of free-throws by Cai, but UAA would respond with an 8-0 run to force Richardson to call a timeout with Anchorage leading 10-2 with 6:25 left in the first.
• Riley Johnson came out of the timeout and immediately swished in a three that was backed by back-to-back threes from Malia Smith after a made free-throw from UAA to tie the game at 11 apiece with 4:48 left in the first.
• An 8-2 run by the Seawolves to end the first gave UAA the 19-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.
• UAA opened the second quarter with a pair of buckets to give them their first double-digit lead of the night at 23-13.
• The teams went back-and-forth, but four free-throws from Cai cut the Seawolf lead down to five, 29-24 with 3:03 left in the second.
• A jumper from Cai and a three from Johnson ended the first half as the Wildcats clawed back into the game down only four, 33-29 heading into the halftime break.
• It continued as a back-and-forth affair to open the third quarter as the Seawolves had an answer for every Wildcat bucket with UAA leading 39-35 with 7:01 left.
• A layup and a three from Kenzie Sirowich of UAA saw the Seawolf lead ballon back up to nine with 5:34 left in the third as UAA led 46-37.
• A jumper and a three from Jazz Evans of the Seawolves gave them their biggest lead of the night at 54-40 with 2:27 left in the third, but Sunny Huerta came to life scoring 11 of the 'Cats final 13 points of the quarter as CWU trailed only 55-53 heading into the final 10 minutes.
• Huerta started the fourth quarter tying the game with a layup, but the Seawolves responded with a 7-0 run to make it 62-55 UAA with heading into the media timeout.
• A pair of free-throws by Cai cut the deficit to five, 62-57, but UAA once again ballooned the lead back to double figures at 68-57 with 1:53 remaining.
• CWU saw made free-throws form Cai, Huerta, and Emily Shaw as the Seawolves took the 68-61 victory.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Cai led all scores in the game with 22 points, adding five rebounds, a team-high four assists, and two steals.
• Huerta tallied 16 points to pair with one rebound and three assists while Capri Sims rounded out the double-digit scorers for CWU with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
• Smith and Johnson each had six points with both also snagging a rebound while Smith added two steals and Johnson added one assists and one steal.
• Shaw finished with one point and two rebounds while Annalee Coronado had one assist.
• Shelby Blodgett had three rebounds, one assists, and two steals while Aliyah Finch led CWU with eight rebounds while adding one assist, one block, and one steal.
• The Wildcats finished the night shooting 32.7 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from three, and 77.3 percent at the free-throw line.
• UAA shot 51.8 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three, and 44.4 percent at the charity stripe.
• The Seawolves won the rebound battle by a narrow 36-34 margin.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• UAA now holds a 38-17 series advantage.
• The Wildcats are 4-6 against the Seawolves in the previous 10 matchups.
• CWU is 9-17 against UAA inside Nicholson Arena.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will have their first road conference games of the season next weekend as they head north of the border to Simon Fraser (9-4, 2-2 GNAC) on Thursday, January 9 for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. They wrap up the weekend at rival Western Washington (8-5, 3-1 GNAC) on Saturday, January 11 for another 7:00 p.m. tip-off.