Box score, play-by-play

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Crunch time was not a good time for Seattle Pacific on Saturday. Coach Julie van Beek Heisey is confident, however, that the Falcons will be able to turn the clock in their favor before too much more time passes.

Melissa Reich scored 14 points and was one of three SPU players in double figures, but the fifth-ranked Falcons were kept off the board for the final 2:52 of the game and dropped a 76-66 decision at Dixie State in the finale of the Pacific West-GNAC Challenge.

The Falcons (2-2) fell for the second straight day, having come up short against Grand Canyon on Friday, 74-69. In that one, the Antelopes denied SPU for the final 2:42.

“Some of that comes down to being in end-of-the-game situations,” Heisey said. “We had a couple turnovers. But as we get more into game play, I think we'll handle those situations better. I see a lot of bright spots. We just have to continue to improve on things we can control.”

Senior center Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS), who was named to the all-tournament team, supplemented her 14 points with six rebounds. Senior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) added 11 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, and senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) chipped in 10 points.

Freshman forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) collected a career-high eight rebounds for SPU.

“Melissa played with a lot of heart tonight. They couldn't stop her,” Heisey said. “We didn't get the ball to her as often as I would have liked. And Maddie Maloney was outstanding this weekend defensively. She just changed the game. When she was on different key players, she was able to take them out of what they wanted to do.”

After falling into an early 16-4 hole, the Falcons went on a 23-7 scoring run to take a 27-23 lead with 6:26 remaining in the first half. SPU's 3-point shooting was a big factor, accounting for 18 of those points. Junior guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) drained a pair of treys, and Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho), Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.), Rohrbach and Maloney had one each.

Dixie State (7-0) then put together an 11-3 surge, going in front 34-30, and never trailed again.

The Red Storm, who now have beaten four teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (Western Oregon, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene were the others) hit their first four shots of the second half to open a 12-point bulge at 50-38.

Seattle Pacific found its touch again, scoring 14 of the next 18 points to get within 54-52, the last four of those points coming on consecutive putbacks by Benson.

“Tonight, it was the same thing (as against Grand Canyon on Friday): We weren't able to execute as well as we wanted to,” Heisey said. “We would do really well and then have some mental lapses. Part of it is it's early in the season, and part is we're trying to play some younger kids.”

The Falcons were still in the hunt when junior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) drained a jumper, cutting Dixie State's lead to 69-66 with 2:52 left. But SPU missed its final six shots as the Red Storm scored the last seven points of the game – all at the free throw line.

Sophomore forward Johnna Brown, who came into the weekend averaging 16.2 points per game, pumped in 27 for the Red Storm. Breann Hill added 19.

SPU shot just 36.8 percent for the game (25 of 68). Dixie State hit 50.9 percent (28 of 55). The Red Strom also had the advantage at the foul line, making as many free throws (16) as the Falcons took. Dixie was 16 of 22; SPU hit 9 of 16. Each team had 38 rebounds.

“I know we're good shooters. Sometimes, we took some shots that weren't always in rhythm,” Heisey said. “Some of that had to do with Dixie. And sometimes, we were trying too hard.”

Seattle Pacific returns to the road next weekend in the CCAA-GNAC Challenge at Sonoma State in Rohnert Park, Calif. The Falcons face the host Seawolves on Friday at 7 p.m., then meet Chico State in a rematch of last season's NCAA West Regional final on Saturday at 5 p.m.



NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Pacific West-GNAC Challenge
Saturday, December, 4, 2010
Burns Arena/St. George, Utah

Dixie State 76, (No. 5) Seattle Pacific 66

SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-2, 0-0 GNAC)
Reich,Melissa 4-9 6-9 14; Maloney,Maddie 4-10 1-2 11; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 4-12
2-2 10; Gorman, McKayla 3-8 0-0 9; Harazin,Jordan 4-10 0-2 8; Sims,Nyesha
2-5 0-0 5; Benson,Katie 2-6 0-0 4; Callen,Aubree 1-4 0-0 3; Murray,Rachel
1-4 0-1 2; Thralls,Katie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-68 9-16 66.

DIXIE STATE (7-0, 0-0 PWC)
Brown, Johnna 10-16 7-9 27; Hill, Breann 7-9 3-3 19; Adams, Sheila 4-12 3-4
13; Carlson, Erica 2-2 2-2 6; Vaifanua, Shanae 2-4 0-2 4; Maxey, Chanel 1-4
1-2 3; Grayer, Marcilina 1-1 0-0 2; Siqueiros, Veronica 1-2 0-0 2; Gines,
Rachel 0-2 0-0 0; Rodriguez, Gabriella 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 16-22 76.

Seattle Pacific............... 36 30 - 66
Dixie State...................... 41 35 - 76

3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 7-24 (Gorman, McKayla 3-8; Maloney,Maddie
2-4; Callen,Aubree 1-1; Sims,Nyesha 1-2; Murray,Rachel 0-1; Benson,Katie
0-2; Harazin,Jordan 0-4; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 0-2), Dixie State 4-15 (Hill,
Breann 2-2; Adams, Sheila 2-7; Vaifanua, Shanae 0-1; Maxey, Chanel 0-3;
Siqueiros, Veronica 0-1; Rodriguez, Gabriella 0-1). Fouled out--Seattle
Pacific-None, Dixie State-None. Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 38 (Benson,Katie
8), Dixie State 38 (Carlson, Erica 9; Brown, Johnna 9). Assists--Seattle
Pacific 8 (Maloney,Maddie 3), Dixie State 12 (Hill, Breann 5). Total
fouls--Seattle Pacific 20, Dixie State 12. Technical fouls--Seattle
Pacific-None, Dixie State-None. A-231.