THE SCHEDULE: Thursday, Feb. 4: SPU at C. Washington, 5:15 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Saturday, Feb. 6: Northwest Nazarene at SPU, 2 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Weekly release, with complete stats and opponent starters (PDF)
SEATTLE -- Another week, another conference-contending opponent on the women’s basketball schedule.
The Seattle Pacific Falcons have gotten used to that.
For the fourth week in a row, the Falcons will come up against one of the schools that received GNAC preseason coaches poll first-place votes.
This time, it’s Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion, a rematch between the teams who went down to the last second on Jan. 16 in Idaho before Daesha Henderson won it for the Falcons on a buzzer-beater.
But SPU won’t be able to look that far ahead quite yet, because first up in Thursday’s contest in Ellensburg against a Central Washington team that got into a winning groove last week with road victories at Saint Martin’s, and -- for the first time ever -- at Montana State Billings.
The Falcons got back into a nice groove themselves last week. Seattle Pacific led for all but the opening seconds against 13th-ranked Alaska Anchorage, scoring a 57-42 victory against the Seawolves.SPU then tipped off a successful Homecoming Saturday by routing Alaska Fairbanks, 86-44.
BAG A BEANIE
The first 100 fans through the door at Saturday’s game against Northwest Nazarene will receive a free SPU beanie, provided by the Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU).
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Only once since the start of the 2007-08 season have the Falcons lost two games in a row. The rest of the time, they’ve come right back to make sure a bump didn’t turn into a slump. Last week was another such instance as SPU shook off its 54-40 loss at Western Washington on Jan. 23 to sweep past the two Alaska schools in Brougham.
“Coming off a loss, your goal is to see what you’re made of and if you can learn from it,” coach Julie van Beek said. “If you don’t learn from it, it’s a waste. I really like the way our team responded.”
In fact, that was true not only against Anchorage on Thursday, but again on Saturday against Fairbanks, a team which has had an injury-riddled rough season.
“That was a big win on Thursday, and the hard part is coming back and not having an emotional letdown,” van Beek said. “We weren’t sloppy -- we only had 15 turnovers (against the Nanooks), and our goal was to shoot 49 percent (the Falcons shot 49.3) and to out-rebound them by 13 (the final margin was eight at 45-37). We set eight goals before that game and we made six of the eight. That tells me we were focused.”
The Falcons will have to keep that focus in force, as the GNAC schedule just doesn’t offer any breathers.
“The big thing is we have to finish the first round of conference play,” van Beek said. “I’ve liked our schedule because we’ve had one of the top teams every week. It keeps you really sharp. But at the same time, you can’t take anything for granted.“It’s more about us than (the opponents),” van Beek added. “We have t keep doing the little things right and find ways to improve.”
SCOUTING CENTRAL WASHINGTON (6-11, 3-4 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 35-28. Current series streak: SPU won 4. Last time: SPU 73, Central Washington 58 (Feb. 5, 2009 at Ellensburg). Central Washington on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington is on its first winning streak since last February, having scored road victories at Saint Martin’s and Montana State Billings last week. The Wildcats did it with some solid shooting, hitting 55.1 percent (including 9 of 18 from 3-point range) to beat Saint Martin’s, 78-69, then hitting 49.2 percent in their 83-64 rout of Billings. Sparking Central last week was senior guard Sara Bergner, who had 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and hit 10 of 18 from the field in the two games combined. Bergner averages 11.4 points per game, second behind guard/forward Sophie Russell, who averages 13.5. The Wildcats, who were shooting just 38.7 percent from the floor prior to last week, are now up to 41.1 percent, ranking No. 5 in the GNAC. guard Jenn Jacobs is the conference’s best foul shooter at 90.9 percent (14 of 30).
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE (14-4, 4-3 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 21-2. Current series streak: SPU won 5. Last time: SPU 63, Northwest Nazarene 61 (Jan. 16, 2010 at Nampa, Idaho). Northwest Nazarene on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene has been snake-bitten in close GNAC games this winter. In addition to falling to SPU at the buzzer on Jan. 16, the Crusaders saw Alaska Anchorage hit a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds left last Saturday to pull out a 66-65 victory in Nampa. From any point on the floor, Northwest Nazarene is one of the best shooting teams in the conference, ranking first in free throws (.790, which is No. 3 nationally), second in field goals (.455, No. 17 nationally) and third in 3-point shooting (.378, No. 12 nationally. The Crusaders have three shooters in the GNAC’s top 10. Guard Lindsay Brady and post player Kristin Hein are tied for sixth at .494, and post player Jennifer Williams is eighth at .478. NNU’s Saturday game in Seattle concludes a stretch of three straight against conference contenders, with last weekend’s game against Anchorage followed by a trip to Western Washington on Thursday.
MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
Jan. 30 vs. Alaska Fairbanks, W 86-44
Totals vs. Alaska Fairbanks/Season averages or totals
FG is previous game/season percentage
Player Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. FG
F Megan Hoisington 6/10.0 5/8.1 1/1.7 0/27 1/25 3-8/.401
C Melissa Reich 2/6.5 6/6.3 4/1.4 3/25 1/12 1-5/.548
G Jordan Harazin 7/6.6 3/3.1 6/2.8 0/20 0/0 3-4/.455
G Daesha Henderson 10/12.4 6/3.6 5/2.8 3/49 0/6 3-9/.456
G Maddie Maloney 3/5.7 1/2.4 3/3.2 1/35 1/6 1-4/.340
SEATTLE PACIFIC 86/69.2 45/41.1 28/18.4 11/230 5/66 34-69/.428
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking in parentheses)
Points SPU 69.2 (4) CWU 64.6 (7) NNU 75.1 (2)
Points allowed SPU 55.3 (3) CWU 71.3 (8) NNU 59.1 (4)
Rebounds SPU 41.1 (2) CWU 35.1 (8) NNU 39.2 (3)
Assists SPU 18.4 (1) CWU 15.1 (6) NNU 15.7 (5)
Steals SPU 12.8 (2) CWU 8.3 (6) NNU 12.2 (3)
Blocks SPU 3.7 (2) CWU 3.6 (3) NNU 2.5 (5)
Turnovers SPU 20.8 (8) CWU 18.9 (5) NNU 18.2 (2)
FG pct. SPU .428 (3) CWU .411 (5) NNU .455 (2)
3-point pct. SPU .330 (6) CWU .322 (8) NNU .378 (3)
FT pct. SPU .658 (9) CWU .698 (6) NNU .790 (1)
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific climbed into a tie for No. 19 -- with Western Washington -- in this week’s USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches poll, which was released on Feb. 2. The Falcons jumped two spots fro ast week after a two-game sweep that included a 57-42 home court victory against then-No. 13 Alaska Anchorage. The Falcons and Western each received 175 points in the voting. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire is still No. 1, receiving 23 of the 27 first-place votes and 667 points. West Region rival UC San Diego (17-1) climbed two spots to No. 8.
Alaska Anchorage dropped five places to No. 18, one notch ahead of SPU and Western, with 235 points.
In the first West Region rankings, which were released last Wednesday, Seattle Pacific is No. 3 behind UC San Diego and Western Washington, with Northwest Nazarene at No. 4. The regional rankings ultimately determine the qualifiers for the NCAA tournament. The next rankings are out Wednesday, Feb. 3.
FALCON REPLAY
-- Sydney Benson scored 13 points and drained a career-high three shots from behind the 3-point arc, and Jordan Harazin added 11 points, leading Seattle Pacific past 13th-ranked Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, 57-42.
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS), playing her first and only season for the Falcons, had hit just 1 of 4 from 3-point territory all year, but drained 3 of 4 against Anchorage.
Seattle Pacific was behind just once on Thursday, that at 3-0 when Nicci Miller drained Anchorage’s first shot of the game. But the Seawolves missed their next 11 shots. The Falcons scored the next five points, saw Alaska Anchorage climb into one more tie at 5-5 on a pair of free throws, then scored five more to take a 10-5 lead and never trailed again.
-- Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) handed out a career-best six assists, half of which factored into Benson’s career-high 22 points, leading the Falcons past Alaska Fairbanks on Homecoming Saturday, 86-44. Benson easily eclipsed her previous career high of 16 points, which she set on Jan. 14 against Saint Martin’s. She hit 10 of 11 from the floor -- most of those from underneath.
Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) topped her best assist total by one. She dished out five assists on three previous occasions, most recently against Montana State Billings on Jan. 21 in Brougham. Altogether, the Falcons had assists on 28 of their 34 baskets.
Up 37-14 at halftime, SPU scored the first 19 points of the second half, as the Nanooks (1-17, 0-7 GNAC), who lost for the 17th straight time, didn’t get onto the board after halftime until 14:26 remained in the game. Seattle Pacific’s lead grew to as many as 53 points at 73-20 with 10:09 left in the game.
SURE-SHOT SYDNEY
Two weeks ago following the games of Jan. 14-16, Sydney Benson climbed into the top 10 for GNAC field goal shooting at .494. By last week, after the games of Jan. 21-23, she was tied for sixth at .490. Now, after hitting a combined 15 of 24 (62.5 percent) in victories against Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks during the week of Jan. 28-30, Benson is all the way up to third at .516.
MAKE THE MOST OF THOSE MINUTES
Sophomore center Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) hasn’t seen much playing time this season -- just 33 minutes in seven games. But last Saturday against Fairbanks, Reimer got in for seven minutes, and made every one of them count. She tied her career highs with six points and three rebounds. She hit 2 of 2 from both the floor and the foul line.
SHE CAN PASS, TOO
SPU looks to junior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) for her toughness in traffic under the hoop, where she averages 6.5 points and 6.3 rebounds. While Reich was her usual solid self with six boards against Alaska Fairbanks last week, she also handed out a career-high four assists in the game.
STELLAR STEALER
Senior guard Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) picked up four more steals in last week’s two games, giving her an even 200 for her career. She is just the ninth player in GNAC history to reach the 200-steal mark. She needs 26 more to join the SPU all-time top five. The No. 5 spot on the Falcon list currently belongs to Becky Wiersrma (1986-90) with 225.
CAN’T HIT THIS
The Falcons are now a top-10 team nationally in one defensive category. SPU is the 10th-toughest team to shoot against in all of NCAA Division II, allowing its opponents a success rate of just 33.9 percent. Last week, Seattle Pacific limited Alaska Anchorage to just 24.6 percent from the floor, and kept Alaska Fairbanks to 25.8 percent.
THINK PINK
Seattle Pacific is getting ready for its annual Pink Zone game in support of the fight against breast cancer. Pink Zone Night is set for Saturday, Feb. 20, when top rival and current GNAC leader Western Washington comes to Brougham Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
SPU sophomore guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) is the cousin of track newcomer Chrystal Sims. On the afternoon of Jan. 16, shortly after Nyesha Sims contributed eight points, five rebounds and two steals to Seattle Pacific’s 63-61 win at Northwest Nazarene, Chrystal Sims ran the 400-meter second leg on the Falcons’ national-qualifying distance medley relay team at the UW Indoor Preview.
Both could find themselves in NCAA competition on the second weekend of March. The indoor track nationals take place in Albuquerque, N.M., and the West Regional basketball tournament will be under way at a site yet to be determined.
ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Senior forward Sydney Benson became the first Seattle Pacific player this season to be honored as a GNAC Athlete of the Week. Benson earned the Feb. 1 award for her performance at home against the Alaska schools on Jan. 28-30. She hit a career-high three shots from 3-point territory in a 57-42 win against Anchorage on Jan. 28, then broke loose for a career-high 22 points to lead SPU’s 86-44 victory against Fairbanks on Jan. 30, coming off the bench both times.
FALCON MILESTONE FOR VAN BEEK
With a 59-46 victory against Dixie State on Dec. 5, Julie van Beek hit the century mark for coaching victories at Seattle Pacific. Only van Beek and her longtime predecessor, Gordy Presnell, have pulled off that feat with the Falcons.
Presnell picked up his 100th Falcon win in his 141st game, which came early in the sixth of his 18 years on the Falcons bench. Van Beek is at the outset of her fifth season in charge of the SPU program, and got to No. 100 in her 122nd game.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
-- As has been the case throughout the season, Seattle Pacific remains the best passing team in the GNAC, now up to 18.4 assists per game after collecting 40 in last week’s two games combined.
-- The Falcons rank No. 2 in rebounding (41.1), steals (12.8) and blocks (3.7).
-- SPU came into last week allowing 56.9 points per game, third in the conference. After allowing just 42 to Anchorage and 44 to Fairbanks, the Falcons are down to 55.3 points allowed -- but are still third behind Anchorage (53.1) and Western Washington (54.7).
-- At the other end of the court, Seatte Pacific is fourth in scoring at 68.9 points per game and third I field goal shooting at .428.
-- Megan Hoisington is fifth in overall rebounding at 8.1 per game and third in blocked shots at 1.4.
-- With different players who can fill up the hoop on any given night, the Falcons do not have anyone among the GNAC’s top 10 scorers. Daesha Henderson is 12th at 12.4 points per game.
--Henderson also is third in steals (2.7), seventh in 3-pointer made (32, for an average of 1.8 per game) and tied for ninth in assists (2.8) among conference players.
-- Sydney Benson is third in GNAC field goal shooting at .516.
-- Junior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) ranked fifth in GNAC assists (3.2), second in assist/turnover ratio (1.8) and tied for seventh in steals (1.9).
-- Sophomore guard Jordan Harazin is a conference top-10 player in 3-point shooting (seventh .423), assist/turnover ratio (ninth 1.2) and assists (tied for ninth at 2.8).
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Seattle Pacific is in the top 20 for Division II in four statistical categories. In addition to their aforementioned field goal defense (No. 10 at .339), the Falcons rank No. 13 in assists per game (18.4), No. 18 in steals (12.8) and No. 19 in fewest points allowed on average (55.3). From last week, SPU is up 11 two spots in assists and 11 spots in points allowed.
-- Daesha Henderson is 39th in D-2 at 2.7 steals per game.
-- Maddie Maloney is No. 51 in assist/turnover ratio at 1.8.
Click on this link for a look at SPU’s national statistical rankings. Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
UP NEXT
After Saturday’s game against Northwest Nazarene, the Falcons have a full week before returning to action. They have a bye next Thursday, then play host to Western Oregon on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. SPU has no more weeknight home games this season, as their final two home contests -- Western Washington on Feb. 20 and Central Washington on Feb. 27 -- are both on Saturdays.
TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU’s home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time for all home games.
Adult ticket prices are $8 for reserved seats at center court, $7 for reserved seats at the foul lines, and $6 for general admission. General admission for youths, students and senior citizens is $3.
SPU students, faculty and staff who present a valid current ID card are admitted free to all regular-season home events.
Organized groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates. Group ticket prices are $3 for adults and $1 for youths, and apply to all group members. Group tickets must be ordered and paid for at least 72 hours in advance of the event by calling the Athletics Office at (206) 281-2085.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news and notes from around the GNAC.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Overall
Western Washington 8-0 17-2
Seattle Pacific 6-1 15-3
Alaska Anchorage 5-2 15-3
Northwest Nazarene 4-3 14-4
Western Oregon 3-4 8-13
Central Washington 3-4 6-11
Montana State Billings 2-5 9-9
Saint Martin’s 1-6 7-11
Alaska Fairbanks 0-7 1-17