ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The storybook journey of the 2025-26 women's basketball season wrote its final chapter on Saturday night, as the Vanguard Lions (25-6) were done in by the Wildcats of Central Washington (25-6), 81-73.
Vanguard gave it their all in the Round of 32, being led by Emma Schaaf's 21pts/3blks, Kaylee Byon's 17pts, and Jaryn Madsen's season-high of 14 that came from a mix of downtown and in the shrubbery.
The Wildcats were led by GNAC Player of the Year Asher Cai (31pts, 6-12 3PT) along with Capri Sims (24pts/17reb). As a unit, the number-one assist team in the GNAC shared the ball well again, throwing out 25 helpers- the most Vanguard has surrendered this season.
Schaaf was later selected to the West Region All-Tournament Team after the Sweet 16 matchup on Monday. She shot 50% across her two NCAA Tournament games (6-12 & 7-14), and led VU in points (43), rebounds (16) blocks (eight), and shooting.
What Happened? In front of a less-than hospitable home crowd, Vanguard did well to try to muster up a good fight in the early going. To start, the approach was clear for each team: attack the paint. For the Wildcats, it was deliberate post-ups on Vanguard's smaller guards, while VU knifed their way to the paint with spacing.
After the tip, both teams alternated baskets, with Byon doing much of the work for the Blue and Gold, including a pull-up jumper seeing her get hit on the arm, resulting in a three-point-play. The game would continue to see-saw for the majority of the opening period, with Micaela Hanning giving us another highlight lay-in to open her account on the evening. That basket made it 15-14 with 2:20 left in the quarter. But Sims and Cai would each get three-points (the former old-fashioned while the latter was from deep), to help the hosts to a 20-17 lead after one.
The second quarter saw Central make their move, opening up their lead to seven thanks to more of Sims, who finished the first half a perfect 6-6 from the field. But despite the sputtering, the combo of Schaaf and Madsen would grind their way to the cup and charity-stripe to keep VU within three points.
With 2:22 left in the first-half, Natalie Scherzer got in her bag with a dazzling step-and-scoop layup, providing some giddy-up to the potent Vanguard offense. This was followed by back-to-back Vanguard steals. The first saw Byon go no-look to Shayla O'Neil for an easy deuce, while the latter resulted in O'Neil going coast-to-coast herself, forcing Central to burn a timeout as the game leveled at 33.
The Lions surrendered a basket quickly out of the break, but "Wemby", as Schaaf is also known as, knocked down all three of her free-throws after getting clobbered beyond the arc, and suddenly Vanguard had their first lead in over 12 minutes of game time. But Cai and company would respond again, with Cai hitting another triple to bring her first-half total to 16pts (4-8 3PT). It took a Byon buzzer-beater to get VU's deficit back to three entering the break (41-38, CWU).
The third quarter was much of the same for Central, as Vanguard seemingly had no answer for Cai and Sims. Cai finished with those 31 points despite one leg being heavily taped and braced, and one of her six triples gave them a 48-40 lead two-and-a-half minutes into the second-half.
But still, the Lions clawed away, never giving up the chase.
Every time Central Washington looked like they were prepared to spring away, extending their lead to seven or eight, the Blue and Gold would respond and cut it four or less. But foul trouble began to eat at the chances for the guests, and CWU scored their next eight points from the charity-stripe, much to the chagrin of the solid Vanguard turnout in the stands. Nevertheless, the score entering the final frame was 60-53 for the Wildcats.
Vanguard had not hit a triple up to that point, but landed their first thanks to Hanning, who splashed down to kick-off the fourth. Yet, Sims and Cai would score again to extend the lead to nine, the largest up to that point.
Both teams then hit a stalemate for a few minutes, but at 67-58, Madsen finally broke free and went for back-to-back bombs to get Vanguard back to a one-possession game, giving the Lions one last chance. Unfortunately, Fiona Snashall responded with six straight of her own, with the last one being an and-one conversion that sent Vanguard into the final media timeout deflated with 3:59 left (73-64, CWU). From there, the Lions would get no closer than seven, and the foul-game allowed Central Washington to advance to the Sweet 16.
Of note: Central Washington was listed at 25 assists on 26 field-goals, with the helpers being the most Vanguard has allowed this season.
Vanguard shot 13.6% from deep tonight (3-22 3PT); their worst since February 1, 2024 when they were still in the NAIA (at The Master's, 2-22 3PT).
Byon got five assists tonight, putting her in a tie with Sarah Boyd for 10th-most in a single-season in Vanguard history (177).
Schaaf had 63 blocks on the season, surpassing herself for third-most in a single-season in Vanguard history.
What's Next?: Vanguard will head into the offseason looking to build on this historic season in 2026-27.
