NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene women's basketball impressed with two victories last week, and will now travel to Ellensburg on Saturday for a battle of teams tied for second in the GNAC standings.
Game Information
NNU (11-4, 5-2 GNAC) vs Central Washington (12-4, 5-2 GNAC)
Saturday, Jan. 29 | 2:00 PM PT | Ellensburg, Wash. | Nicholson Pavilion
Live Video | Live Stats
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU went 2-0 against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week, defeating the two teams by nearly identical scores of 73-66 and 78-65, respectively.
- The Nighthawks are currently ranked seventh in the D2SIDA West Region rankings, the highest that they have been slotted this season.
- When NNU holds opponents under 70 points, they are 9-1. When NNU scores 70 or more, they are 7-1.
- If NNU forces more turnovers than they commit, they are 7-0 in such games on the season.
- Teagan Thurman has only started three games this year and plays just under 20 minutes per game, but the sophomore forward is nearly averaging a double-double with a team-leading 13.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. The rebounding mark is second in the GNAC and scoring is ninth. She has also recorded five double-doubles on the season.
- Nyalam Thabach is second on the Nighthawks and 10th in the GNAC with 12.9 points per game, shooting 51.1% from the field, and has made three of the five triples she has attempted this year. She also pulls down 7.4 rebounds per game (tied for 6th in the GNAC) and has notched 11 blocks.
- Freshman Ashlynn Sylve is in eighth in the GNAC in field goal percentage (50.8) and tied for fifth in steals (2.0 per game).
- Erin Jenkins is third on the squad with 11.4 points per game and 5.4 boards per contest.
- Jordan Pinson is up to sixth in the conference with 3.5 assists per game and seventh with a 39.1 three-point percentage.
- As a team, NNU is second in the GNAC in scoring at 71.7 points per game, third in field goal percentage at 42.4%, first in rebounding with 41.5 per game, and second in steals with 10.1 per game.
Series History
- Against Central Washington, NNU is 29-10 since joining Division II in 2001. The Nighthawks are 14-5 in the games played in Ellensburg, and have won the last six matchups in a row. In the most recent meeting earlier this season on Dec. 11, 2021, NNU used a 22-11 third quarter run to pull ahead and hung on for a 61-59 victory over the Wildcats.
Scouting the Wildcats
- The Wildcats are 12-4 on the season and tied with the Nighthawks for second in the GNAC at 5-2 in conference play.
- CWU is as hot as any team in the conference as they have not lost since falling to NNU on Dec. 11, winning their last seven in a row.
- The Wildcats have a Big Three on offense with three of the top four scorers in the GNAC. Kizzah Maltezo leads the conference at 20.1 points per game, Kassidy Malcolm is second with 17.9 points per game, and Samantha Bowman is fourth with 16.4 points per game.
- Bowman is a do-it-all player for CWU, also leading the GNAC with 15.3 rebounds per game (second in the nation), ranking fourth with a 52.5 field goal percentage, leading with 2.6 blocks per game, and first with 11 double-doubles (fifth nationally).
- Malcolm is second in the GNAC with a 44.3 three-point percentage, making 35 of the 79 she has attempted this year.
- Tori Maeda is fifth in the conference with 3.7 assists per game.
- The CWU bench is not deep, however, as Maltezo, Malcolm, Maeda, and Bowman are 3rd-6th in the conference in minutes played, respectively.
- As a team, the Wildcats lead the conference and rank ninth nationally with 8.9 made threes per game, are first in the GNAC with 73.2 points per game, second with a 73.6 three-point percentage, second with a 44.1 field goal percentage, second with a 34.3 three-point percentage, and second with 15.8 assists per game.
