ELLENSBURG — The Central Washington University Wildcats (12-1) found success on the road in Alaska as they earned wins over the Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks and Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 77-65.  

“Very happy to come out of this road trip with two wins,” said Wildcats head coach Randi Richardson. “I’m really proud of our team’s resilience to keep their composure and find some consistent stops and scores to pull that out.” 

The Wildcats started the year off against the Nanooks up north, where the two teams were even in the first half as CWU scored 33 and Fairbanks scored 32. Central pulled ahead in the second half using their defense to hold UFA to 17 points while adding another 36 to their own score as they secured the victory. 

Asher Cai led CWU on offense, scoring 23 points with four rebounds, three assists and a steal and Fiona Snashahll was close behind with a double-double performance with 15 points, 16 boards, three assists and three steals. Capri Sims also finished with double-double figures with 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and two steals. 

Wildcats sophomore Emily Shaw contributed 11 points in the victory with an assist and two steals off the bench, with Kayla Thornton adding two points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals and Annalee Coronado had three points, three assists and two steals. 

In the following matchup against Anchorage on Friday, the Wildcats came up with an early lead as they outscored the Seawolves 46-29 in the first half. Anchorage flipped roles in the third quarter, outscoring Central for the only time in the game, but quickly lost momentum as the Wildcats outscored the Seawolves 19-13 to guarantee their victory in the fourth quarter. 

Leading the offense once again was Cai with 27 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Sims and Snashall finished with double-doubles as Sims had 19 points,12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks while Snashall added 10 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. 

CWU junior Rylee Leishman added six points, three rebounds and three assists and Sierra Eddie added another six points with one rebound, two assists and one block off the bench. Shaw finished with five points, Thornton added four points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal and Coronado added a rebound and three assists. 

The Wildcats return home Thursday to play Simon Fraser at 5:15 p.m. 

BOX SCORES:  

GAME ONE:  

CWU: 18-15-19-17: 69
UAF: 19-13-8-9: 49 

GAME TWO:  

CWU: 22-2412-19: 77
UAA: 13-16-23-13: 65