Ellensburg, Washington – Central Washington’s women’s basketball team (7-1, 2-0 GNAC) earned a convincing 74-54 victory over the St. Martins Saints (3-6 0-2 GNAC) at Ellensburg High School on Saturday. We remained undefeated in the evening conference. .
A quote from head coach Randy Richardson Thornley
“I’m happy with the competition in the first half. On defense we showed strength and consistency and we were able to rebound well from there. Offense we liked the pace and the way we shared the ball in the first half. But , next The step is to do all of this consistently for 40 minutes.”
how it happened
Samantha Bowman, Asher Kai, and Valerie “Sunshine” Huerta were a 1-2-3 punch for the Wildcats all night. The night started with a Bowman layup followed by Kai’s quick 3 that put CWU ahead of him 5-0. Following a pair of free throws by SMU, Kai hit three more of his shots through the net to make the score 8-2 for him and send the Saints into timeouts.Following a timeout, the Saints went 10-6 and he was within four, but made back-to-back 3-3s. Maria Smith ‘Set Cats to cruise to 16-6. CWU shut out the Saints for the rest of the first quarter for a 21-6 lead.
CWU outscored St. Martins 23-10 in the second quarter. Ashley Shaw While Bowman continued to score double-double totals for the season, he came into action in the second quarter, but this time before halftime. The Saints Martins for a while, with 4:04 remaining he expected to shut out the second quarter at 31-6, but brought the Saints back on the board with a jumper. Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter as the Wildcats maintained his 44-16 lead.
St Martins got their revenge at half-time. They were more aggressive as they scored above his CWU in the third quarter. Claire Heischmidt Bowman’s lack of foul trouble has proved pivotal in boosting defense significantly and delivering a solid offensive performance. But Kai found a niche in the pull-up jumper, and Sunshine knocked down another three to help the Wildcats maintain a 60-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams held back blow to blow throughout the fourth quarter. Whenever momentum swung toward the Saints as the CWU set the pace for a 74-54 win, the Wildcats responded with a basket that helped deflate any thoughts of a comeback.
CWU held SMU 27.9 percent from the field and 19 percent from three-point lands. By comparison, the Cats shot him 42.2 percent from the field and on 3-pointers he shot 34.6 percent. The Wildcats rebounded the Saints as he went 52-36. The Sunshine led all scoring with 21, Kai finished with 18 and Bowman finished with 17 and had 15 rebounds. CWU also recorded 18 assists.
next
The Wildcats are a series of pre-Christmas games that begin with a pair of non-conference games. The Lincoln Oaklanders of California head to Washington on Friday, December 9th.th Tip-off was set for 5:00 p.m. at the Yakima Valley Community College campus. The CWU will return to Ellensburg when the Northwest host his Eagles on Saturday, December 10.th Tip off to Ellensburg High School at 4pm