By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
CARSON, Calif. – Starting strong and never looking back on Friday afternoon at the Torodome, No. 6 seed Central Washington raced to a smashing upset of No. 3 seed Point Loma, 74-53, in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Basketball Championships.
Central Washington stifled Point Loma in a 21-4 opening quarter, and the Sea Lions never came close to recovering. After another 18-8 drubbing in the second period, CWU held a 39-12 halftime lead. The advantage peaked at 35 points midway through the third and never fell below 20 as the Wildcats commanded the game from wire-to-wire.
“They have some great players on their team and are a high-powered offense,” said CWU head coach
Randi Richardson. “We really tried to put together the best game plan that we could, and I was pleased with how our players bought into that, trusted it and executed it. Our defensive effort allowed us to find our rhythm offensively, and once we got rolling there we were able to stretch the lead out.”
CWU improved to 22-7 on the season with the victory and will square off against No. 7 seed Chico State in round two on Saturday after the CCAA opponent beat No. 2 seed Cal Poly Pomona 57-52 in another opening-round contest Friday. Tipoff between the two identically-named Wildcat squads is set for 5 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday evening. Point Loma’s season came to a close at 25-6 overall, with Friday being its third-lowest point total of the 2024-25 season.
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year
Sunny Huerta scored 16 points and added a team-high four assists and six rebounds. Sophomore
Capri Sims pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds and completed her sixth double-double in the last nine games with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Junior guard
Asher Cai added 11 points and seven assists, and sophomore guard
Annalee Coronado had a huge game with 14 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. “The coaches prepared us so well, and all-around our team defense we just executed,” said Cai, a unanimous first-team all-GNAC selection.
The Wildcats shot 43.9% overall (29-for-66), 36.8% (7-for-19) from 3-point range and made 9 of 10 free throws (90.0%). CWU dominated the glass 47-28 – it second-largest rebounding margin in a game this season. “I’m really pleased, and we had a great week of prep,” said Richardson, who guided her team to a tie for second in the GNAC standings this winter. “We came down here not just wanting to be satisfied being here, but with the intent to win games. I was pleased with our players’ intensity level and confidence, and how they came out and executed – especially in the first half.”
Eiley Tippins managed a dozen points on 6-for-9 shooting but was the only Sea Lion to reach double digits in the low-scoring contest. Alli McDonald led her team with 12 boards and added eight points, and Kaylee Byon had a game-high five assists to go along with nine points and five rebounds. Point Loma shot 36.1% (22-for-61) – its second-worst mark of the year – and 22.2% (4-for-18) from 3-point range. The minus-19 stat on the glass was far and away the worst of the season for Point Loma, with its next-closest being a minus-nine margin against Vanguard on Jan. 23. Point Loma was the second-best team in the PacWest in rebounding margin this season at plus-4.8.
Huerta became the fourth woman in GNAC history to surpass 1,900 career points, as she upped her four-year cumulative total to 1,913 with her 16 on Friday. She enters Saturday’s second-round game No. 4 on the conference’s all-time scoring leaders chart. Huerta also broke the conference record for most minutes played in a career with 4,177, surpassing Alisha Breen of Montana State Billings who played 4,174 minutes from 2013-18.
“We always go into the second half thinking that it’s 0-0 no matter what the score is,” said Huerta on her team’s persistence despite its 27-point halftime advantage. “We just wanted to keep pushing and keep the momentum going.”
| GNAC Women's Basketball All-Time Scoring Leaders (as of March 14, 2025) |
| Rank |
Player |
Points |
School |
Career |
| 1 |
Alisha Breen |
2,001 |
Montana State Billings |
2013-18 |
| 2 |
Erin Chambers |
1,946 |
Simon Fraser |
2011-15 |
| 3 |
Taylor Peacocke |
1,940 |
Western Washington |
2013-17 |
| 4 |
Sunny Huerta |
1,913 |
Central Washington |
2021-25 |
| 5 |
Bobbi Knudsen |
1,831 |
Montana State Billings |
2010-14 |
| 6 |
Jordan Wilson |
1,783 |
Alaska Fairbanks |
2013-17 |
| 7 |
Rebecca Kielpinski |
1,752 |
Alaska Anchorage |
2005-09 |
| 8 |
Rose Shaw |
1,696 |
Central Washington |
1998-02 |
| 9 |
Amanda Dunbar |
1,654 |
Western Washington |
2007-11 |
| 10 |
Katie Benson |
1,645 |
Seattle Pacific |
2010-14 |