Box score, play-by-play
PHOTO GALLERY
SEATTLE -- Sydney Benson waited a whole season for a night like this.
Seems as if there's little doubt in her mind that it was worth the wait.
Benson came off the bench to score a career-high 16 points on Thursday night, and the Seattle Pacific Falcons shot a solid 53 percent for the game on the way to an 80-54 victory against Saint Martin's in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball home opener at Brougham Pavilion.
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) hit 7 of 9 from the field, collecting her 16 points in 16 minutes of action. She is in her first and only season for the 21st-ranked Falcons (11-2, 2-0 GNAC), having sat out last year after transferring to SPU from Eastern Washington University.
“If I can bring energy off the bench every game and we win by almost 30, then I'm fine with that,” said Benson, who had been a starter at Eastern Washington, but says she's liking her role as a reserve for the Falcons. “Coach (Julie van Beek) and I talked earlier this week, and she told me this is my last year, and she thinks I can step up. I come out and try to give it my all.”
It's the kind of opportunity Benson kept in mind throughout 2008-09 when all she could do was practice and watch.
“I really just had to focus on developing my game for (this) year,” she said. “I was thinking more toward the future while helping the girls as much as possible in practice.”
Van Beek says Benson brings the kind of game the Falcons need from their reserves.
“She just has that ability to find a way to score, and she finds a way to rebound,” van Beek said. “We've challenged her as a senior to come and realize that she's a difference-maker. And we need her to be a difference-maker.”
CONTRIBUTIONS ACROSS THE BOARD
Benson was the only Seattle Pacific player in double figures on Thursday. But the Falcons, in winning their fourth straight game and beating Saint Martin's for the 11th straight time, had a balanced in which 13 players saw time and 12 of them scored.
Senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) tallied nine points and pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds. Junior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) had eight points and seven boards, and junior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) added eight points and four rebounds off the bench. Benson also had four boards for the Falcons.
“Part of being a good team is you need kids to step up in January and step up in tournaments,” van Beek said. “We've had different kids in the second half come in and give us a good little boost.”
Junior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) handed out five assists SPU. Of the 13 players who got into the game, 11 of them had at least one assist. The Falcons, who came averaging 18.6 assists to lead the GNAC and rank No. 14 in all of Division II, totaled 25.
SPU hit 34 of 64 from the field. The 53.1 percent mark was the highest of the season for the Falcons and was the second straight tame they have topped 50 percent. Seattle Pacific shot 52.8 percent in last Saturday's 75-62 victory at Western Oregon.
But the Falcons actually started off cold, missing six of their first seven shots and having just four points on the board during the first six-plus minutes of the game as the lead switched back and forth. Then, up 17-16, SPU went on a 13-3 scoring spree, with five different players contributing baskets.
“I loved the way we started out defensively. We took care of business the first few minutes of the game,” van Beek said. “We did a great job of defending and taking them out of what they wanted to do. We had great shot selection, even though we didn't score. And I loved the way we finished the game -- we scored on 10 of our last 15 possessions.”
Saint Martins (6-8, 0-3 GNAC) got as close as six at 30-24 before Seattle Pacific went on a 9-2 run to end the half and take a 39-26 lead into the locker room, then got the first five points of the second half. The Saints never got it below 15 after that.
Krissy Bassett and Roni Jo Mielke led Saint Martin's with 10 points apiece. Dara Zack, who came in averaging 17.6 points per game and shooting 50.3 percent from the field, was limited to just four points on 1-of-10 shooting.
SHOWDOWN AT NNU
SPU hits the road on Saturday for a game at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. The Falcons and Crusaders are two of the four teams who received first-place votes in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll.
“The big test is going to be Saturday, and we have to bring the same amount of intensity,” Benson said.
Added van Beek, “NNU always gets up to play us, and they play very, very well at home. They're very determined, and they do a good job in all areas of the game. They're good defensively, they're good rebounding, and they have balanced scoring.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
(No. 21) Seattle Pacific 80, Saint Martin's 54
SAINT MARTIN'S (6-8, 0-3 GNAC)
Mielke,Roni Jo 4-6 2-2 10; Bassett,Krissy 4-10 2-2 10; Gelhar,Jamey 3-9 0-0
7; Busch,Megan 1-2 5-6 7; Hawkins,Katie 0-1 6-6 6; Schang,Destiny 2-2 0-0 5;
Zack,Dara 1-10 1-3 4; Teade,Megan 1-4 0-0 3; Baker,Kelsey 1-6 0-0 2;
Ferguson,Shelby 0-2 0-0 0; Lawson,Danika 0-0 0-0 0; Lashua,Emily 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 17-52 16-19 54.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-2, 2-0 GNAC)
Benson,Sydney 7-9 2-3 16; Hoisington,Megan 4-10 0-0 9; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 4-7
0-0 8; Reich,Melissa 4-8 0-0 8; Gorman,McKayla 3-4 0-0 7; Thralls,Katie 2-2
1-1 6; Sims,Nyesha 3-5 0-0 6; Harazin,Jordan 2-3 0-0 6; Henderson,Daesha 2-6
0-1 5; Maloney,Maddie 1-4 2-2 4; Murray,Rachel 1-5 0-0 3; Teng,Michelle 1-1
0-0 2; Reimer,Joani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-64 5-7 80.
Saint Martin's................ 26 28 - 54
Seattle Pacific............... 39 41 - 80
3-point goals--Saint Martin's 4-8 (Schang,Destiny 1-1; Gelhar,Jamey 1-1;
Teade,Megan 1-2; Zack,Dara 1-2; Mielke,Roni Jo 0-2), Seattle Pacific 7-20
(Harazin,Jordan 2-3; Murray,Rachel 1-3; Gorman,McKayla 1-2; Henderson,Daesha
1-5; Hoisington,Megan 1-2; Thralls,Katie 1-1; Maloney,Maddie 0-2;
Sims,Nyesha 0-1; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 0-1). Fouled out--Saint Martin's-None,
Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Saint Martin's 32 (Zack,Dara 10), Seattle
Pacific 36 (Hoisington,Megan 8). Assists--Saint Martin's 9 (Zack,Dara 3),
Seattle Pacific 25 (Maloney,Maddie 5). Total fouls--Saint Martin's 11,
Seattle Pacific 22. Technical fouls--Saint Martin's-None, Seattle
Pacific-None. A-218.
