Wildcats advance to round of 32 in DII tournament

ELLENSBURG — The Central Washington Wildcats (24-6) have advanced to the round of 32 of the NCAA Division two tournament after defeating the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets 63-36 on Friday.  

“I'm very excited and happy for our team and to come out and play Billings,” Head Coach Randi Richardson said. “This was our fourth time playing them this year, we played them just last week, who's such a great team, we have such respect for them and their coaching staff and what they do and their players play so hard.” 

After a competitive first quarter, the game was tied 13-13. However, the Wildcats cracked the game wide open, outscoring the Yellowjackets 17-4 in the second quarter. From there, they rode their momentum into the second half, dominating MSUB 33-19 to secure the win and advance to the next round.  

“To come out and play the way we did tonight and on our home floor is exactly what we wanted and envisioned for this week. I'm just so proud of our girls for going out and executing and having the game that we did,” Richardson said.  

According to a statement by CWU Athletics, Capri Sims got the ball rolling with a layup, which MSUB responded with a three from Kyla Momberg and a jumper from Tailey Harris to make it a 5-2 MSUB lead.  

Annalee Coronado put the 'Cats back on the board with a jumper which sparked a back-and-forth battle the next few possessions after Rae Smart made it a 9-8 MSUB lead with 5:24 after a layup. 

Coronado tacked on a three, followed by a layup from Fiona Snashall to put CWU up 13-9 but a pair of baskets by MSUB tied things up at 13 which concluded the scoring of the first, deadlocked at 13 apiece. 

Sims put the 'Cats back on top to begin the second, followed by a layup from Coronado, but a jumper by Cassie Chesnut put MSUB on the board in the second with the 'Cats on top 17-15 with 7:21 left. 

Snashall responded with a three-pointer followed by layups from Coronado and Sims to give the 'Cats the 24-15 lead with 3:49 left in the second. 

A pair of free throws by Chesnut broke the Wildcats' streak as Coronado began it again with a layup, followed by a pair of free throws by Coronado and a layup by Sims to send the teams to the halftime break with the 'Cats on top 30-17. 

The teams exchanged a bucket to begin the third, but back-to-back threes from Snashall started a 14-0 run by the 'Cats, who exploded their lead to 46-19 with 6:18 left in the third.  

Allison Kunze broke the 'Cats run with a pair of free throws but the 'Cats responded with Sims, Coronado, and Asher Cai all hitting a layup to make it a 52-21 CWU lead with 4:06 left in the third. 

The Yellowjackets saw Harris hit a jumper with Chesnut adding a free throw, which then saw Snashall hit a layup for the 'Cats, only for the Yellowjackets to conclude the third with a pair of layups from Kaitlin Grossman and Harris, giving the 'Cats the 54-28 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.  

Mackenzie Schulz earned her first collegiate points to begin the fourth quarter and make it a 56-28 CWU lead with 8:55 left. 

MSUB got on the board in the fourth with a pair of free throws by Harris and a three from Smart, which was followed by the teams exchanging baskets the rest of the way, capped by a layup from Aliyah Finch to seal the 63-36 CWU victory. 

In defeat, MSUB Head Coach Kevin Woodin praised the talent of the Wildcats, according to a statement by MSUB Athletics.  

“I thought we had a great effort today," said Woodin. "We just got beat by the better team today." We started strong, but went cold in the second quarter and sort of dug ourselves a hole. Give Central a lot of credit; they played well. But our team has accomplished a lot, not just in one game but the entire season, and I'm very proud of their effort tonight.” 

The Wildcats hosted fourth-seeded Vanguard University at 7 p.m. Saturday. Results for that game were not available at the time of press. As she looked ahead to that matchup, Richardson expressed a lot of gratitude to her seniors.  

“For our seniors to have another opportunity to play in Nicholson after two weeks ago and to come out here and get another opportunity today and then another opportunity tomorrow. I'm just really pleased with our performance and our execution on both ends of the ball,” she said.  

BOX SCORE: 

MSUB: 13-4-11-8: 36
CWU: 13-17-24-9: 63