Central Washington falls in sweet-16
MIKE MAYNARD | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months, 2 weeks AGO
The Central Washington Wildcats react to a tough loss at home. The Wildcats fell to the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Broncos in the sweet-16 of the NCAA Division two tournament.
COURTESY PHOTO/NATHAN HERDE/CWU ATHLETICS
Capri Sims (13) posts up against a California State LA player earlier this season. Sims earned Greater Northwest Athletic conference Player of the Week honors this season.
ELLENSBURG — The Central Washington Wildcats (25-7) were defeated 57-51 Monday by California State Polytechnic University Broncos, Pomona in the sweet-16 of the NCAA Division two tournament. Head Coach Randi Richardson reflected positively on the season and her team, according to a statement by CWU Athletics.
“I'm proud of how this team, not just in this moment but in the year they've had,” she said. “It's a phenomenal team, a team that's made history at Central Washington University and just the character of who they are as young women and how much they love each other and how much they're invested into each other and into our program and the team. I'm extremely proud of the season these women have had.”
The Wildcats started strong by taking a 12-15 lead after the first quarter. However, CPP dug their heels in during the second, outscoring CWU 15-8 to take the lead heading into halftime. From there, Central Washington bounced back in the third quarter, outscoring Cal Poly 12-15, setting up a nail biter finish in the fourth. The two teams traded the lead in the final minutes, but CPP pulled ahead 57-51 to advance to the Elite Eight.
“I'm proud of getting to this moment,” Richardson said. “I felt like our team played really hard and was invested in this moment and wanted this moment. We just didn't execute at a high enough level to win this moment. I felt like Pomona had their best players step up and really take over the game in the fourth quarter and just hurt us with second-chance points.”
Mydrea Moore put the Broncos on the board first and added a second layup of her own to pair with a layup from Hunter Hudson to make it a 6-0 CPP lead with 7:59 left in the first.
A jumper by Annalee Coronado put the 'Cats on the board backed by a layup from Capri Sims, saw the Broncos respond with a pair of buckets themselves to make it 10-4 CPP with 5:11 left in the first. A pair of layups by Sims and four free throws by Asher Cai saw the 'Cats take their first lead of the game at 12-10 with 1:08 left in the first.
A jumper by Sydney Nelson tied things up by a last-second three by Cai gave the 'Cats the 15-12 lead after the first 10 minutes. Brielle Minor tied the game with a three-pointer to begin the second, followed by a layup from Nelson to give the Broncos the lead once more.
A layup by Kayla Thornton sparked a bucket-for-bucket battle over the next several minutes until back-to-back jumpers by Andrea Stajic and Moore gave the Broncos the 27-23 lead heading into the halftime break. Fiona Snashall hit a big three to begin the third quarter and added the and-one to give the 'Cats the 29-27 lead with 9:07 left in the third.
The Broncos charged back with a pair of free throws and a layup by Nelson, but a pair of free throws by Cai and the and-one by Sims made it a 34-31 CWU lead with 3:46 left in the third. Three straight buckets by the Broncos gave CPP the lead once again as the teams exchanged a pair of buckets to end the third with the Broncos on top 39-38.
Nelson started the fourth with a layup but Sims combated it with a pair of free-throws, however three-straight buckets by the Broncos gave them their largest lead of the night at 47-40 with 5:54 left. A layup by Thornton and a layup and pair of free-throws by Sims made it a 47-46 CPP lead with 3:38 to go.
The Broncos answered with a layup only to see Cai hit a three to tie it up at 49 apiece with 2:57 left. Nelson hit the and-one followed by a pair of free throws by Cai, making it a 52-51 CPP lead with 1:23 left. A three-pointer by Kadence Lloyd with seven seconds sealed the deal as Pomona hit a pair of free throws to move on to the Elite Eight by a 57-51 score.
“Credit to them, they hit a big shot in a moment when we couldn't give up a three, they hit one, and they hit two all night and kind of put the game in a tough spot for us with only six seconds left in the game,” Richardson said.
According to CPP Athletics, the win served as Head Coach Danelle Bishop’s 300th career win as the program's coach. In this historic win, the Broncos turned many of their 45 rebounds into 23 points off second-chance shots. The Broncos also controlled the paint, outscoring the Wildcats 34-24 inside.
The NCAA committee will reseed the remaining eight teams, which will determine matchups and game times for the Elite Eight as CPP moves on.
For Richardson and the Wildcats, they still take plenty of positives away from this season.
“I'm proud to get here. We obviously wanted to end up on the other side of this, but for sure, we will learn something from this and come back even stronger. We're just super grateful for our seniors and everything they've invested to help get us to this moment,” Richardson said.
BOX SCORE:
CPP: 12-15-12-18: 57
CWU: 15-8-15-13: 51
Capri Sims (13) posts up against a California State LA player earlier this season. Sims earned Greater Northwest Athletic conference Player of the Week honors this season.ARTICLES BY MIKE MAYNARD
Correia reflects on making All-State team
COULEE CITY — Multiple basin athletes qualified to play in the All-State Baseball Series from June 27-28 in Yakima, with Almira/Coulee-Hartline graduate, Caden Correia being one of them. Correia said he was initially selected for a feeder game ahead of his state qualification. “I was at practice one day, and my head coach (Hunter Lee) came up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, you got selected for an All State feeder game,’” said Correia. “I actually got invited to two, the Central Washington one and the Spokane one.” Correia said he decided to go with the Spokane feeder game since it was taking place at Avista Stadium and he had a desire to compete at that venue. Once he played there, Correia was informed that he was also selected to play for Team Baker in the All State games, an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up.
Quincy standout ‘Duckie’ Workinger returns home to lead Vikings womens wrestling
MOSES LAKE — Shannon “Duckie” Workinger was named the new head coach of women’s wrestling at Big Bend Community College on June 18, bringing one of the Basin’s own back to help build the next generation of women’s wrestlers. “I'm super excited,” Workinger said. “I spent some time wrestling at different places, and it feels really good to be able to come back to the community that I was born in and really establish more connections here and build on the ones that I already have, and just help grow our Basin into a great wrestling (community), even better than it already is, because we have some good wrestlers that come from here.”
ACH wrestlers earn All-American honors at women’s national duals
COULEE CITY — Karis Butler and Kyanna Garza from Almira/Coulee-Hartline earned All-American status after a strong showing in the 2026 Women’s National Duals in Westfield, Indiana that ran from June 16-20. “It feels really good,” Karis said. “It was very surprising last year when I got on here, and then this year they were like, ‘You can go to whatever weight class you want,’ and it made me feel very recognized for the hard work I've put in.” Wrestlers competed in freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman throughout the four-day tournament. Karis competed in both earning a 7-1 record in freestyle and 4-3 in Greco-Roman. Throughout her path in the tournament, she noted a lot of growth as a wrestler came out of it.