GNAC preseason release (PDF)
2011-12 schedule
2011-12 roster
Falcons Quick Facts (PDF)
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are confident of putting together yet another solid women's basketball season this winter. Coaches around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are counting on that, as well, picking the Falcons for a second-place finish in the 10-team circuit.
Alaska Anchorage, winner of the inaugural conference tournament in March, is the overwhelming favorite. The Seawolves collected nine of the 10 first-place votes and 108 points in the preseason coaches poll. SPU garnered the other first-place vote and wound up with 87 points.
Northwest Nazarene is third with 75 points, and perennial power Western Washington, last year's regular-season champion with a 17-1 GNAC record, is fourth with 73.
“Last year, the conference was as hard as it ever has been,” said SPU head coach
Julie Heisey, who is 143-34 in six seasons with the Falcons and 305-153 in 15 years as a head coach. “You have to go in expecting the same thing this year. I don't think there are going to be any easy games.”
Seattle Pacific is coming off a 20-9 season, which included a 13-5 mark in conference play that was good for third place behind Western and Anchorage. The Falcons advanced to the semifinals of the first-ever GNAC tournament, then went to the NCAA West Regionals for the 15
th consecutive year.
“We finished the season really strong,” Heisey said. “It was disappointing to lose our last two games (in the GNACs and the NCAAs), but we played really well winning seven of our last nine.”
SPU comes into the 2011-12 campaign with three returning starters. That group includes senior guard
Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.), the team's leading scorer (10.4 points per game) and rebounder (7.3) last season.
Also returning are senior backcourt starters
Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) and
McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.). Both stand 5-foot-7.
Among the other returners and expected to move into a starting role this season is 6-1 sophomore forward
Katie Benson. She provided a significant boost off the bench last season with her averages of 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds. Both of those ranked third on the team and helped Benson earn a share of the GNAC Freshman of the Year award.
The Falcons begin practice on Saturday. They open a three-game exhibition schedule on Saturday, Oct. 29, at Washington State with a 1 p.m. tip-off. Seattle Pacific visits Portland on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m., then plays host to NCAA Division III powerhouse George Fox in Brougham Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11.
The regular season begins on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, with the annual Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion. SPU will welcome Cal State East Bay and Harding University of Arkansas to Seattle. Conference rival Central Washington also will play in the two-day tournament.
The GNAC schedule begins on Thursday, Dec. 3 at Western Washington. The conference home opener is Thursday, Dec. 29, against Western Oregon at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
GNAC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
School (first-place votes) Points Record (GNAC)
1. Alaska Anchorage (9) 108 27-7 (14-4, 2
nd)
2. Seattle Pacific (1) 87 20-9 (13-5, 3
rd)
3. Northwest Nazarene 75 14-13 (9-9, tie 6
th)
4. Western Washington 73 26-4 (17-1, 1
st)
5. Simon Fraser 63 7-17 (4-14, 8
th)
6. Western Oregon 47 11-16 (9-9, tie 6
th)
7. Central Washington 33 7-18 (2-16, 9
th)
8. Montana State Billings 30 16-12 (11-7, 4
th)
9. Saint Martin's 28 15-12 (10-8, 5
th)
10. Alaska Fairbanks 16 1-24 (1-17, 10
th)
NOTE: Points awarded on a 11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
