ELLENSBURG — On Oct. 14, the Greater Northwest Athletic Conference announced its preseason poll for the upcoming women’s basketball season. The Central Washington Wildcats were voted the second-best team in the conference and received four first-place votes, according to the statement by GNAC.

Just ahead of them by a point and ranked first are the Western Washington Vikings.

After finishing 23-8 last season, the Wildcats advanced to their first sweet 16 in the NCAA Division II tournament after overcoming Point Loma and Chico State. Heading into this season the Wildcats have reloaded and are poised to make another run, their coach said.

“It shows the respect that we have gained within the league, which means a lot,” Head Coach Randi Richardson said. “We respect our opponents tremendously. It also shows the expectations we have for ourselves to compete in the GNAC.”

In an earlier interview, guard Annalee Coronado said she feels confident in what the Wildcats can do this upcoming season.

“We have a great foundation to work off,” she said. “We have six new girls coming in. We have a full roster, so it’s going to be something new for us to get the newer girls going with how we roll. But I know we’re going to be good. My coaches are great. We have a good foundation. We have returners that have been here and know what to expect and what’s wanted out of them.”

Coronado said she has goals to top last season’s success by winning a championship at CWU. As she mentioned, the Wildcats welcome six newcomers to the program, including four transfers and two freshmen.

According to a statement by CWU athletics, Kayla Thornton and Sierra Eddie are joining the CWU from Western Wyoming Community College while Fiona Snashall and Nicole Wertenberger arrive from fellow Division II programs Regis, Colorado and Hawaii Pacific. Washington natives Kaiya Dotter, from Lynnwood, and Mackenzie Schulz, from Richland, will join the squad for their freshmen seasons.

The Wildcats also return an experienced roster with key leaders like unanimous first team All-GNAC honoree Asher Cai and honorable mention All-GNAC honoree Capri Sims. Cai has scored 1,500 points over her three seasons in Ellensburg and will look to break the record set last year by Sunny Huerta, who finished her career with over 1,900 points.

Sims returns for her junior season when she will likely be a key contributor on both ends of the court. In 31 games last season, she averaged 10 points and eight rebounds per game and finished with 21 blocks for the season.

Richardson begins her ninth season in charge of the Wildcats and has ascended the GNAC coaching wins charts to ninth in conference history, the GNAC wrote in their statement. In addition to last year’s deep NCAA Division II playoff run, the Wildcats’ 2022 GNAC Championship tournament crown stands out among her team’s top moments.

The conference portion of the 2025-26 schedule gets off to an early start with an opening round of games Dec. 3-6. The rest of the 18-game league schedule will kick off on New Year’s Day with a full slate of games. The top six teams in the GNAC regular-season standings will earn spots in the 2026 GNAC Women’s Basketball Championships, which run March 5-7 at Western Washington’s Carver Gym in Bellingham.

The winner of the conference tournament will earn GNAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which are scheduled for March 12-16.

The Wildcats take the court for the first time on Nov. 14 in Arcata, Calif., in a crossover game with the California Collegiate Athletic Association when they take on Cal State East Bay at 5:30 p.m.

    The Wildcats’ Jordy DeMott (30) huddles together with her team during a game last season. After making the Sweet 16 last season, the Wildcats look poised to make another run this season after returning key pieces and bringing in six new players.