ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team continues their trek in GNAC play with their first conference road battles of the season this weekend as they head north of the border to Simon Fraser before wrapping up at rival Western Washington.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Thursday, January 9
7:00 p.m.
Central Washington at Simon Fraser
West Gym
Burnaby, B.C.
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Saturday, January 11
7:00 p.m.
Central Washington at Western Washington
Carver Gym
Bellingham, Wash.
WATCH LIVE STATS TICKETS
 
QUOTING CWU HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH RANDI RICHARDSON
 
"We have a great challenge this week on the tough SFU and WWU road swing. Our team is excited to continue our growth process and be challenged this week by two very good teams with talented and veteran players."
 
LAST OUTINGS
 
The Wildcats earned a hard-fought split in the 2025-opening weekend as they dived back into GNACtion. They first defeated Alaska Fairbanks 87-54 after a huge second half, but fell in a 68-61 game against Alaska Anchorage in a game that saw the 'Cats claw back from double-digit deficits to tie the game multiple times.
 
Against UAF the teams went into halftime tied at 31 but back-to-back 28-point quarters by CWU and allowing only five points in the fourth quarter helped CWU to the 87-54 victory. Asher Cai led the crimson and black with 25 points while Capri Sims and Sunny Huerta had 16 and 14 points, respectively. Sims came close to a double-double leading the game with nine rebounds. The 'Cats shot the ball at a 53.1 percent clip from the floor to go with their 40 percent 3-point shooting and 83.3 percent shooting at the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Nanooks 44-29.
 
The Wildcats battled back from multiple double-digit deficits in their game against UAA, heading into the final 10 minutes down just two, but a five-minute scoring drought in the fourth quarter cost the 'Cats as they fell 68-61 to the Seawolves. Cai once again led the game in points, this time with 22 while Huerta and Sims once again both added double-digits with 16 and 10 points, respectively. CWU finished the game shooting 32.7 percent from the floor, 34.8 percent from three, and 77.3 percent at the free-throw line. The Seawolves won the rebound battle by a tight 36-34 margin.
 
LAST MEETINGS
 
For the fourth-straight GNAC Tournament, the Wildcats and Red Leafs met in the first round, this time in Nicholson Arena, as the Wildcats took the 65-51 victory thanks to strong defense in the second half the held SFU to 20-total points. Huerta and Sims each had 17 points to be the game-leaders while Annalee Coronado added 11 points and Cai tacked on 10. Shelby Blodgett was a rebounding machine with 12 rebounds. CWU finished the game shooting 41.7 percent from the floor, 40 percent from three, and 69.2 percent at the free-throw line. SFU finished the game shooting 36.1 percent from the floor, 8.3 percent from three, and 46.2 percent at the free-throw line, but won the rebound battle 40-39.
 
The last time the Wildcats and then 19th-ranked Vikings met was back on Saturday, February 10 when WWU clung to a 69-60 victory thanks to a 30-point performance from Riley Dykstra. Huerta and Cai had 21 and 20 points, with Cai making it a double-double performance with 10 rebounds. The Wildcats finished the game shooting 35.7 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent from three, and 78.9 percent at the free-throw line while the Vikings shot 45.8 percent from the floor, 23.1 percent from three, and 63.2 percent at the free-throw line. The Wildcats won the rebound battle 42-32 with 15 coming offensively.
 
SCOUTING THE RED LEAFS
 
Simon Fraser is currently 9-4 on the season and 2-2 in GNAC play. They once again hosted the CCA Division II Canadian Tip-Off Classic where they went 2-1 defeating St. Edward's and Dominican (CA) before falling to 4th-ranked Tampa. They then went on a tear defeating Vanguard, Westmont, Colorado School of Mines, Chadron State, and Concordia Irvine before falling to Point Loma. They opened GNAC play with a split at home defeating Seattle Pacific but fell by three to 3rd-ranked Montana State Billings. They earned a split last weekend, earning a two-point victory at St. Martin's but fell by three at Western Oregon.
 
SFU is currently averaging 72.4 points per game while their opponents are averaging 65.4 points a game. The Red Leafs are shooting 38.2 percent from the floor, 31 percent from three, and 80.4 percent at the free-throw line while their opponents are averaging 42.6 percent from the floor, 31 percent form three, and 71.5 percent at the charity stripe. Simon Fraser is getting slightly outrebounded by their opponents 38.2 to 36.6 per game. The Red Leafs are averaging 12.7 assists per game, 16.4 turnovers per game, 12.1 stelas per game, and 3.5 blocks per game while forcing opponents into 23 turnovers a game.
 
Sophia Wisotzki has continued her scoring tear as one of the top scoring threats in the nation with 24.3 points per game. Myrlaine Shelvey is the only other Red Leaf in double-digits with 10.6 points per game. Arman Dulai leads SFU in rebounds at 5.5 per game while Makenna Gardner has contributed the most assists at 48 on the season and Sophie Bergeron has the most steals with 37. Rachel Loukes and Gardner each have seven blocks on the season to lead SFU.
 
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
 
WWU is currently 8-5 on the season and 3-1 in GNAC play. They traveled down to SoCal to open the season falling at Cal State Dominguez Hills then against Cal State LA in overtime. They earned their first victory of the season at home against Cal State East Bay. They split their time in Seattle, first falling to 18th-ranked Azusa Pacific before defeating Cal State San Marcos. In Ellensburg for the CWU Thanksgiving Tournament, they earned a pair of victories, first against Biola before taking down Westminster (UT). They had a split at home to open GNAC-play, falling to 3rd-ranked Montana State Billings before bouncing back for a victory over Seattle Pacific. Over the holiday break they split in Hawaii, defeating hosting Hawaii Hilo but fell against Quincy. Last weekend they earned a sweep on the road, defeating Western Oregon first then St. Martin's.
 
The Vikings are currently outscoring their opponents on average 65.8 points per game to the 60.2 points they're giving up. They're shooting 40.2 percent from the floor, 33.6 percent from three, and 74.7 percent at the free-throw line. WWU is holding their opponents to 37.9 percent from the floor, 29.7 percent from three, and 74.3 percent at the free-throw line. The Vikings are winning their rebound battles 36.8 to 32.4 per game and average 12.5 assists per game. WWU is averaging 15.2 turnovers per game and forcing 15.8 turnovers from their opponents with 7.9 coming as steals for the Vikes. They're averaging 3.4 blocks per game.
 
There are four Vikings averaging in double-digits led by Olivia Wikstom and Alyson Deaver who are averaging 14.7 and 14.2 points per game while Demi Dykstra and Mason Oberg are averaging 11.6 and 11.4 points per game, respectively. Wikstrom is the leader in the rebound category, averaging 8.2 per game. Oberg has dished out the most assists with 48 on the season while Wikstrom leads with 23 steals and Deaver has accumulated the most blocks with 17.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Wildcats will head back home with more GNAC play inside Nicholson Arena. They first welcome Seattle Pacific (6-10, 0-3 GNAC) for a Thursday, January 16 battle at 5:15 p.m. then conclude on Saturday, January 18 with a 4:00 p.m. clash with 5th-ranked Montana State Billings (14-2, 3-0 GNAC).