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March 09, 2022
Vol. 121 NO. 9
COVID-19 takes a toll on wellness How can students help themselves? By Katherine Camarata Senior Reporter
Women’s basketball wins GNAC championship Claims first title in program history; men fall in finals By Jared Galanti Sports Editor Women’s basketball won their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) championship last weekend, edging out second-seeded Western Washington University (WWU) by score of 57-46. Against WWU in the championship game, redshirt senior forward Kassidy Malcolm would lead CWU in scoring with 14 points off of 4-9 shooting and 2-3 from threepoint range. Redshirt junior center Samantha Bowman led the team with a GNAC tournament record 23 rebound performance to go along with her 12 points. Men’s basketball faced Alaska Fairbanks University (AFU) in the finals. CWU led 28-27 going into halftime. AFU pulled away in the second half and ended up winning 72-57. Junior forward Matt Poquette would lead the team in scoring with 25 points (12-18 shooting) and brought down seven more rebounds, but CWU wouldn’t have another double digit scorer. Senior guard Xavier Smith, who was named GNAC Player of the Year, was tied for second on
the team with nine points (3-12 shooting) and brought down three rebounds and had two assists to go along with it. CWU shot a mere 22-57 (38.6%) from the field and only 7-23 (30.4%) from three in the defeat. The CWU women’s team, who were seeded third entering the tournament, started with a 91-85 quarterfinal win over Simon Fraser University (SFU). Four CWU players had double digit scoring efforts led by redshirt senior guard Kizzah Maltezo who had 26 points off 10-16 shooting including 2-5 from three. Bowman led the team with 16 rebounds to go along with 16 points. As a team, CWU shot 31-66 (47%) from the field while only shooting 8-21 (38.1%) from behind the three point line. CWU would then take on Alaska Anchorage University (AAU) in the semifinals and would cruise past them 80-65. CWU again had four players score double digit points led again by Maltezo who had 22 points off of 7-14 shooting and 6-13 from three point range. Malcolm scored 18 points off of 6-11 shooting and 2-4 from three point range and Bowman once again led the
team in rebounds with 13 to go along with her 16 points. CWU shot an impressive 27-54 (50%) from the field and shot a better 16-33 (48.5%) from three to clinch a spot in the finals. Bowman was named the GNAC most valuable player throughout the women’s tournament. Over the three games played she averaged 14.7 PPG, 17.3 RPG and 5 APG. After winning the GNAC championship, CWU got placed as the two seed in the west region of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament, slated to begin March 11. They’ll face Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) in the first round. CWU men’s team had a similar path to the finals. They opened up their tournament ranked as the number five seed and beat the number four seed Montana State University Billings (MSUB) 74-67. CWU had three double digit scorers led by Smith who had 19 points off of 8-15 shooting including 1-3 from three. He also added four rebounds and four assists to those 19 points as well. CWU shot 29-56 (51.8%) from the field including
only 3-9 (33.3%) from three. CWU’s defense held MSUB to only 25-58 (43.1%) from the field and only 2-21 (9.5%) from three. CWU would then take on the number nine seed Western Oregon University (WOU) who the night prior had won their quarterfinal matchup on a buzzer beater three from junior guard Cameron Cranston to take out the number one seed in the tournament St. Martin’s University. CWU would have another tight fight with WOU and barely held on to a 65-64 win. CWU had four players score double digit points led by Poquette who had 14 points (712 shooting), while grabbing seven rebounds and having two assists to go with it. Smith was second on the team with 13 points (6-11 shooting) and freshman guard Colby Gennett had 12 points (5-10 shooting) off the bench while pulling down seven rebounds. CWU shot 27-62 (43.5%) from the field while only shooting 3-10 (30%) from three. While CWU finished with a strong 17-8 overall record, it wasn’t enough for them to claim a spot in the men’s division ll basketball tournament.
Students and community members have felt the long-term effects of the pandemic over the past two years and it is more important now than ever to take care of our mental health, according to representatives from the Wellness Center and Student Counseling Services. “I think one of the biggest things that has had a negative impact is the isolation people have been feeling,” Health Promotion Coordinator at the Wellness Center Sabeth Jackson said. “There is a lot of research that shows that our bodies biologically respond to stress differently when we’re around other people, so having a sense of support changes the kind of stress chemicals that we release.” Director of Student Counseling Services Cindy Bruns added that we are collectively experiencing the same sense of loss through this trying time. “There is a collective grief,” Bruns said. “Certainly there are students who have lost loved ones to death from COVID or other reasons, and maybe COVID prevented them from being able to engage in the same rituals that we have around death and dying in our society.” Bruns said many students have experienced the grief of missing significant life events, as was the case for many seniors who missed graduation over the past two years. “We’ve certainly seen students who, because of the year of isolation, are now reemerging and figuring out how to navigate being back around groups of people and in classrooms,” Bruns said.
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