Box score, play-by-play

 SEATTLE – Most teams are happy to have one go-to player.
 
It's still early in the season, but the Seattle Pacific Falcons just might have more than one.
 
Katie Benson poured in a career-high 23 points, and Rachel Murray added 15 on Saturday night as Seattle Pacific came out strong in the second half and rolled to an 89-66 victory against Harding in the final game of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic women's basketball tournament in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Junior forward Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia) was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Sophomore forward Benson (Snohomish,Wash./Snohomish HS) joined Murray on the all-tournament team -- the second straight weekend both have made an all-tournament team, having also done at last week's CCAA-GNAC Challenge in San Francisco.
 
Freshman guard Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash./Monroe HS) scored 12 points for her first double-digit game as a Falcon. Sophomore guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) had a career-high scoring performance for the second night in a row, finishing with 11. She had 10 in Friday's 70-59 victory against Cal State East Bay in SPU's Sodexo opener.

“It's just showing at the moment that everyone on our team can score,” Murray said. “We're all working hard in practice, and it's showing in the games. If someone gets stopped, we have plenty of other people who can score, as well.”
 
The Falcons (3-1) won their third straight game, and this one by their widest margin of the season. Harding (2-2), which traveled to the Pacific Northwest from Searcy, Ark., dropped its second straight.
 
“It was fun to play a good team, and I feel very fortunate that we won so big,” Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said. “But I credit our kids: We controlled the boards, we made our free throws, we had good shot selection, and we shared the ball.”
 
Indeed: SPU had a 38-25 advantage on the boards, including 23-7 during the second half. The Falcons shot a season-high 58.6 percent (34 of 58), and hit at a 65.4 percent clip (17 of 26) through the final 20 minutes. They hit 60 percent (12 of 20) from 3-point range and were a perfect 9 of 9 from the foul line.
 




In the 11 seasons that the Falcon women have been part of the Tip-Off Classic (it had other sponsors prior to Sodexo taking that role in 2005), they are a perfect 22-0.
 
Except for a few moments of the first half when Harding forged in front 9-7, Seattle Pacific led for the entire game. The Falcons had a 39-29 lead late in the first half before the Bison climbed with 43-38 by halftime.
 
SPU was still up by just five early in the second half at 51-46, then ran off eight straight points – back-to-back baskets by Murray, an 18-footer from the left of the lane by senior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) and then two free throws by Harazin.
 
That made it 59-46, and the closest Harding got after that was 59-50. Seattle Pacific answered that with another 10-point outburst to make it a 19-point bulge with 10 minutes left and was never threatened after that.
 
“This week in practice, we focused on how to score, and a lot of scoring is timing,” Heisey said. “It's just trying to get more of a flow, get more people involved in the offense, and letting the offense come to you.”
 
In addition to her 23 points, Benson grabbed a team-high seven of SPU's 38 rebounds.
 
Senior guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) handed out a career-high six assists to go along with her eight points.
 
Sierra Rollins led Harding with 25 points – that after picking up two fouls in the first 22 seconds of the game. She tallied the Bison's first 14 points of the second half. 


ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP: Rachel Murray, Seattle Pacific

All-Tournament: Katie Benson (SPU), Sierra Rollins (Harding), Alex Dunn (Central Washington), Micah Walker (Cal State East Bay), Stacy Albrecht (Central Washington).
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Tip-Off Classic
Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC 89, HARDING 66
 
HARDING (2-2)
Saunders 2-5 0-0 4; Celsor 4-7 0-0 8; Rollins 11-18 2-2 25; Holmes 2-10 4-5 8; Haney 1-3 0-0 2; Lewis 4-9 0-0 8; McMenamy 3-4 0-0 6; Bartee 2-8 0-0 5; Preaus 0-1 0-0 0; Harrison 0-1 0-0 0; Dunn 0-1 0-0 0; Cooper 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 6-7 66.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-1)
Benson 9-13 3-3 23; Gorman 2-4 0-0 4; Callen 1-3 0-0 3; Sims 3-9 0-0 8; Murray 6-7 2-2 15; Ohlsen 4-6 2-2 12; Kingma 4-7 0-0 11; Harazin 2-3 2-2 7; Reimer 2-4 0-0 4; Stephens 1-1 0-0 2; Thralls 0-0 0-0 0; Teng 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-58 9-9 89.
 
Harding.....................   38  28  -   66
Seattle Pacific........   43  46  -   89
 
3-point goals--Harding 2-18 (Rollins 1-2; Bartee 1-6; Holmes 0-3; Lewis 0-1; Saunders 0-1; Haney 0-2; Preaus 0-1; Dunn 0-1; Celsor 0-1), Seattle Pacific 12-20 (Kingma 3-3; Sims 2-4; Ohlsen 2-2; Benson 2-5; Callen 1-3; Harazin 1-2; Murray 1-1). Fouled out--Harding-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Harding 25 (Rollins 9), Seattle Pacific 38 (Benson 7). Assists--Harding 13 (Preaus 3; Holmes 3; Bartee 3), Seattle Pacific 26 (Harazin 6; Callen 6; Sims 6). Total fouls--Harding 15, Seattle Pacific 9. Technical fouls--Harding-None, Seattle Pacific-None.
A-412.