Monday, February 19, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  With the final stretch of the conference slate well and truly underway, the Central Washington women’s basketball team swept its Alaska road trip to solidify its place as a postseason contender and earn GNAC Team of the Week honors.

The Wildcats opened their week with a 78-61 win over Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday and followed that up with a strong 72-65 victory over Alaska Anchorage last Saturday. The two wins improved CWU’s conference record to 8-7 (17-10 overall) and kept the Wildcats in a tie for fourth place in the GNAC standings with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.

“I’m happy for our team,” head coach Randi Richardson-Thornley said. “The wins are just a byproduct of our team’s consistency and commitment to our standards and process over the past month even through some tough results. That shows their growth, trust, character and commitment to each other and their genuine want to achieve success together. I’m proud of this team.”

The Wildcats benefitted from an outstanding performance by their top three scorers in Thursday’s win over the Nanooks as Sunny Huerta, Capri Sims and Asher Cai all notched at least 18 points. Huerta led the way with 22 points while dishing out seven assists. Meanwhile, Sims and Cai poured in 20 and 18  points, respectively, on the night. Both also recorded double-doubles, with Sims snagging 13 boards and Cai pulling in a team-leading 15 rebounds to go along with three steals.

As a team, Central Washington shot 46.8% from the field while holding the Nanooks to just 38.7%. After taking a 47-35 lead into halftime, the Wildcats cemented their advantage over Alaska in the third quarter by outscoring Alaska 20-9 to put the game all but out of reach.

The Wildcats kept the good times rolling on Saturday, handing the Seawolves just their fourth home loss of the season with a critical performance. Central Washington established an early lead through the first quarter, outscoring UAA 18-11 while holding the Seawolves to just 23.5% from the field and not allowing a single three-pointer until the final quarter.

It was the ‘Cats leading three who brought the bulk of the offense once again on Saturday night, with Cai leading the way on 23 points for her 17th 20-point performance of the season. Huerta followed Cai with 19 points, five rebounds and six assists while playing all 40 minutes against the Seawolves. Sims picked up her second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the team on the boards and secure GNAC Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career.

The Wildcats will be back in Ellensburg for the remainder of the regular season as they aim to keep playing in front of their fans into the postseason as host of the GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships in March. Central Washington will face Northwest Nazarene on Saturday for its lone game of the week.