While CWU students went home for Winter Break, women’s and men’s basketball both continued to represent the Wildcats, playing multiple games between the last days of finals, Dec. 13, and the first day of winter quarter, Jan. 7. The men’s basketball team went 2-2 during this time with only a couple of narrow losses and blowout victories. The women’s team went 2-3 in a similar situation to the men’s team, losing those three games by 12 points or less and winning the duo of games by 38 and 33 points respectively.
The men’s basketball team were on a four game winning streak before entering Nicholson Arena on Dec. 16 to face Northwest Missouri State University. Both Central Washington and Northwest Missouri entered the half tied at 30 before the Bearcats scored 12 unanswered to earn the lead. The Wildcats tried to make a comeback with Cavin Holden hitting two three-point shots in 13 seconds before ultimately falling 83-80 to the Bearcats.
The Wildcats rallied 3 days later on Dec. 19 in a matchup against Lincoln University, winning 102-61. This is just the second time the men’s team scored more than 100 points this season, the other time being less than a week earlier against Evergreen State University on Dec. 14 where they won 111-79. The Wildcats then travelled to Idaho to face Northwest Nazarene University only to fall 78-85 in an overtime matchup.
When students returned to the halls, the men’s team beat University of Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 9 in a 93-74 road victory and rounded out return week with a 64-52 win over Alaska Anchorage.
The women’s basketball team started off winter break with two straight losses, the first coming from the undefeated 15-0 Cal State Dominguez Hills on Dec. 18, losing 73-85. The second loss came the next day against Cal State Los Angeles, losing only 68-71.
The Wildcats then won the next pair of games against Biola University on Dec. 21 in a 88-52 score and University of Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 2 with a 87-54 final score. Right before classes started for CWU, the women’s team dropped one more game on Jan. 4, losing to Alaska Anchorage 61-68 at home. Come Jan. 9, the ‘Cats kept a lead against Simon Fraser, winning 82-70. The women’s team then travelled to face Western Washington University, falling by only three points in a 65-67 loss.
The men’s and women’s team both return home for matchups on Jan.16 and Jan. 18. The men’s will be looking to improve their 4-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) record while the women will be looking to improve from 3-2 in the GNAC. Both teams will be facing Seattle Pacific University, the women’s team playing at 5:15 p.m. and the men’s team playing at 7:30 p.m.. On Jan. 18, both Wildcat teams will be facing their Montana State University counterparts, the women’s team tip-off starting at 4 p.m. and the men’s will start at 6:15 p.m. All four games will take place in Ellensburg in CWU’s very own Nicholson Pavilion.
