Box score, play-by-play
BELLINGHAM -- Sometimes, even a strong defensive effort isn't enough to pull out a victory.
The Seattle Pacific Falcons found that out first-hand in Saturday night's Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball showdown at Western Washington.
Daesha Henderson scored a game-high 17 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures, and the Falcons shot just 31 percent from the field in dropping a 54-40 decision to the Vikings in Sam Carver Gymnasium.
The 18th-ranked Falcons (13-3, 4-1 GNAC) drained just 15 of their 48 shots from the floor. SPU limited Western Washington (15-2, 6-0 GNAC), which now is the last unbeaten team in the conference, to just 39.6 percent for the game, although the Vikings did hit at a 46.4 percent clip during the second half when the broke open the low-scoring contest.
In fact, the Falcons not only kept Western way below its own output of 77.9 points per game, they kept the Vikings three points below the 57.4 points that SPU allows.
“We held them to 22 points (actually, almost 24) below their average,” Seattle Pacific coach Julie van Beek said. “I was very pleased with our defense. We did a real good job on Jessica Summers (limiting the 17.5-point scorer to just five points). The first half defensively, we did a really good job.
“(But) I don't know that we can play much worse offensively.”
Seattle Pacific had won its last six games in a row, including its first four in GNAC play, since an 82-80 double-overtime loss at current No. 7-ranked UC San Diego on Dec. 28. Western Washington, which had the 26th-highest vote total last week and likely will climb into this week's top 25, extended its winning streak to six.
“The big thing is we have to focus on the whole season,” van Beek said. “Right now, the team is growing. And I think we came up against a very, very good team tonight.”
The Falcons were down 21-15 at the end of a low-scoring first half. And while they were having trouble finding the hoop (just 6 of 22 for 27.3 percent), they were making it almost as tough for the Vikings, limiting them to 8 of 25 (32 percent), forcing them to rush shots near the end of the 30-second clock on numerous occasions.
SPU closed to 23-19 at the outset of the second half on back-to-back baskets by senior guard Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS). But the Vikings went on a 12-2 run to make it 35-21 and kept the lead in double digits the rest of the way.
“We got in a bit of a hurry in the second half,” van Beek said. “We have to settle down and keep attacking.”
SPU easily won the rebounding battle, 40-27, led by the seven of junior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS).
Megan Pinske came off the bench to lead Western Washington with 16 points. Willow Cabe added 13. Summers, the GNAC's leading scorer with her 17.5 average who missed Thursday's 80-46 win at Central Washington with a foot injury, was back in the starting lineup on Saturday. She had five rebounds to go along with her five points.
“The good thing is we get to play Western again (on Feb. 20 at Brougham Pavilion). And there are things we know we need to work on, and those were exposed tonight,” Van Beek said.
Seattle Pacific returns to action on Thursday against Alaska Anchorage at 5:15 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons and Seawolves shared last year's GNAC championship.
Then, looking ahead to Thursday's upcoming visit from Alaska Anchorage, she added, “I like our team. Our practices are going to be very meaningful the next three days. We're going to find out what we're made of.
“We're going to respond to this.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sam Carver Gymnasium/Bellingham, Wash.
Western Washington 54, (No. 18) Seattle Pacific 40
SEATTLE PACIFIC (13-3, 4-1 GNAC)
Henderson,Daesha 6-15 2-4 17; Benson,Sydney 2-6 2-2 6; Sims,Nyesha 2-2 0-0
4; Hoisington,Megan 2-10 0-0 4; Maloney,Maddie 1-6 2-4 4; Reich,Melissa 1-3
1-3 3; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 1-3 0-0 2; Murray,Rachel 0-0 0-0 0; Thralls,Katie
0-0 0-0 0; Gorman,McKayla 0-1 0-0 0; Harazin,Jordan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-48
7-13 40.
WESTERN WASHINGTON (15-2, 6-0 GNAC)
Pinske,Megan 6-9 2-2 16; Cabe,Willow 5-9 3-4 13; Dunbar,Amanda 4-12 1-3 11;
Hefflin,Lauren 3-6 0-0 6; Summers,Jessica 2-8 1-2 5; Fenimore,Ashley 1-7 0-0
2; Ramstead,Erika 0-0 1-2 1; Schramm,Kristin 0-0 0-0 0; Robinson,Krystal 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 21-53 8-13 54.
Seattle Pacific......................... 15 25 - 40
Western Washington............ 21 33 - 54
3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 3-14 (Henderson,Daesha 3-7; Hoisington,Megan
0-2; Maloney,Maddie 0-2; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 0-1; Gorman,McKayla 0-1;
Harazin,Jordan 0-1), Western Washington 4-16 (Pinske,Megan 2-4;
Dunbar,Amanda 2-7; Fenimore,Ashley 0-3; Cabe,Willow 0-2). Fouled
out--Seattle Pacific-None, Western Washington-None. Rebounds--Seattle
Pacific 40 (Reich,Melissa 7; Benson,Sydney 7), Western Washington 27
(Cabe,Willow 8). Assists--Seattle Pacific 11 (Maloney,Maddie 2;
Gorman,McKayla 2; Harazin,Jordan 2), Western Washington 8 (Dunbar,Amanda 3;
Fenimore,Ashley 3). Total fouls--Seattle Pacific 11, Western Washington 13.
Technical fouls--Seattle Pacific-None, Western Washington-None. A-958.
WOOD, GUSTAFSON LEAD FALCON ALUMNI PAST WESTERN
Mandy Wood (Class of 2006) scored 17 points, with 15 of those during the first half, and Valerie Gustafson Tomasch (2004) added 16 on Saturday night as a team of Seattle Pacific alumni rolled past their alumni counterparts from Western Washington, 77-60.
Kristin Poe (2004) chipped in 14 points for the Falcons, and Amy Taylor (2005) had 10 in the game at WWU's Sam Carver Gymnasium.
Seattle Pacific was down 15-10 near the midpoint of the first half, then went on a 29-3 scoring run to break the game wide open at 39-18. Wood, a 2006 graduate and one of five players Saturday who was on the SPU team that went to the 2005 NCAA Division II championship game, started the surge with a jumper from the foul line, and capped it with her second straight 3-pointer and fourth of the game.
The Falcons stretched the lead to as many as 25 points during the second half.
Rachel Strand Zupke (2007) had nine points, Kelsey Hill (2009) had five, Carli Smith Grant (2006) had four and Michelle Beaumont (2005) had two. Beth Christensen (2008) and Libby Magnuson (2008) played, but did not score.
Courtney Clapp led Western Washington with 15 points, and Liz McCarrell had 14.
