ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University Women's Basketball Team sent three seniors out with a huge victory in their home finale defeating the Saint Martin's Saints Saturday evening while honoring Shelby Blodgett, Sunny Huerta, and Malia Smith as they played in their final home game of their careers. Huerta paced everyone in the game with 26 points.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
 

• Final: Central Washington (81), St. Martin's (74)
• Records: CWU (20-6, 13-4 GNAC), SMU (14-11, 7-9 GNAC)
• Location: Nicholson Arena, Ellensburg, Wash.

 
QUOTING CWU HEAD WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH RANDI RICHARDSON:
 
"I'm so pleased to come out of that one with the win, especially after facing a ton of adversity throughout the game. You have to credit SMU for hitting big shots and outperforming us on the boards. They are a gritty team who plays very hard. I was pleased with our team's composure down seven in the third with foul trouble. We were able to keep the game close and then were able to finally put enough stops and scores together in the fourth to pull ahead. Sunny came through all night long for us with her scoring to keep the game close. She was incredible. Capri, Malia, and Asher hit some big-time buckets in the fourth to help us finally get our run and pull ahead."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• A layup by Huerta and a pair of free-throws by Capri Sims started the game off giving CWU the 4-0 lead.
• A quick 6-0 run by the Saints gave them their first lead of the night at 8-6 with 4:44 left in the first.
• The two squads continued to exchange buckets for the rest of the quarter and was finished off with a three by Mya Hatchett of SMU paired with a three by Annalee Coronado to send the teams to the second quarter knotted up at 20 apiece.
• The two teams continued in their back-and-forth affair but back-to-back buckets by Sims and Asher Cai sparked a 6-0 response by the Saints to give SMU the 30-28 lead with 4:48 left in the second.
• A 5-0 run by SMU was responded to by an and-one by Huerta and a three by Keira Marsh to put CWU back in the lead 38-37 with 1:34 left in the quarter.
• A pair of free-throws by Huerta and a layup by Coronado sent CWU to the half with the 42-41 lead.
• The Saints came out of halftime earning the first six points but a three by Shelby Blodgett put CWU on the board in the third and made it a two-point game once again, 47-45 in favor of SMU.
• A 7-0 run by St. Martin's gave them their largest lead of the night, 54-45 with 2:28 left in the third.
• A 9-3 run to end the third made it a one possession game once again with the Saints leading 57-54.
• A layup by Huerta and a pair of free-throws by Sims gave the lead back to the 'Cats, 58-57 with 8:25 left.
• The two teams exchanged a pair of buckets, but a 7-2 run by the 'Cats made it a five-point game, 67-62 in favor of the crimson and black.
• The two teams continued in a back-and-forth battle as the 'Cats had a response for anything the Saints threw at them and hitting key free-throws down the stretch helped the 'Cats secure the 81-74 victory.

 
STATS FROM THE GAME:
 

• Huerta paced CWU with 26 points in her final game inside Nicholson Arena and added one rebound and four assists.
• Cai added 14 points, four rebounds, and led CWU with six assists.
• Coronado tacked on 14 points and six rebounds.
• Blodgett and Smith had five and four points, respectively with Blodgett finishing with four rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal and Smith adding one rebound, one assist, and two steals.
• Marsh added three points and five rebounds while Jordy DeMott had two points and Aliyah Finch had two rebounds.
• The 'Cats finished the game shooting 44.6 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from three, and 86.2 percent at the free-throw line.
• SMU shot 40.5 percent from the floor, 25 percent from three, and 50 percent at the free-throw line on the night.
• The Saints won the rebound battle 46-33.

 
SERIES HISTORY:
 

• The Wildcats now own the series 42-35 since 1987.
• CWU is on a two-game win-streak and are 9-1 over the Saints in the past 10 meetings.
• CWU is 23-15 in Nicholson against St. Martin's.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• The Wildcats will wrap up the regular season with a crucial roadtrip down to Northwest Nazarene (16-10, 10-7 GNAC) on Saturday, March 1 at noon in Nampa, Idaho inside the Johnson Sports Center.