Friday, March 4, 2022

LACEY, Wash. – Samantha Bowman recorded her 23rd double-double of the season and was one assist shy of the GNAC’s first triple-double since 2016 as the third-seeded Wildcats demolished the second-seeded Seawolves 80-65 in the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championship semifinals, avenging two regular-season losses by winning in Marcus Pavilion.

Bowman recorded 16 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, adding three steals and a block for good measure. Kassidy Malcolm and Kizzah Maltezo added 18 points apiece, with Malcolm also grabbing eight boards. Three-pointers rained early and often for the Wildcats, who made 6 of their first 11 attempts from beyond the arc to jump out to a big first-half lead and then let their three first-team all-conference players go to work.

The Wildcats (22-7) now advance to their first women’s GNAC Championships final in program history, facing the winner of No. 1 Western Washington and No. 5 Montana State Billings. The Seawolves (20-6) will exit the tournament and fail to defend their GNAC Championships win from 2020.

Central started on a 12-0 run behind three three-pointers from Sunshine Huerta and a three from Maltezo. The Seawolves didn’t score their first basket until nearly four minutes into the game. After just a quarter, the Wildcats led 24-9, shooting 53 percent from the field and 55 percent from three.

Alaska Anchorage showed signs of life in the second quarter, forcing three Wildcat turnovers in four possessions and cutting the lead to 33-23 with 3:19 left before halftime, but Central remained composed. It only took Bowman until 1:57 left in the first half to get her double-double, which ties her for the Division II lead at 23, and the two teams went to the locker rooms with Central Washington up 37-25.

The Seawolves were determined to prevent Bowman from dominating in the post, so the junior adapted to a pivot forward and picked apart UAA’s zone defense with kick-out passes from the top of the key. The Wildcats had four players finish at over 50 percent from beyond the arc for the game: Maltezo (6-13), Malcolm (4-6), Huerta (3-5) and Tori Maeda (2-4). Malcolm’s third three-pointer of the night beat the third-quarter buzzer to give CWU a 14-point advantage heading into the final period.

Any hopes for an Alaska Anchorage comeback were dashed by Central becoming even more efficient shooting the ball. After relative slumps to 41 percent and 46 percent from the floor in the previous two quarters, the Wildcats hit 58 percent (7-12) from the field and 67 percent (4-6) from three in the final period.

Tennae Voliva performed well for UAA in the loss, finishing with 20 points and six assists, which included hitting all eight of her free-throw attempts. Jazzpher Evans recorded 13 points and four steals for the Seawolves while Nicole Pinckney and Jahnna Hajdukovich hit two three-pointers apiece.

In topping the Seawolves, CWU knocked off a team that handed them two of its five conference regular-season losses. The Wildcat split the season series with Western Washington and defeated MSUB both times.