THE SCHEDULE:
Monday, Dec. 31 Dixie State at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
Live stats Live Webcast
Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – One final day on the calendar. One final women's basketball non-conference tune-up game for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
Just a few hours before 2012 becomes 2013, the Falcons will take on Dixie State of the Pacific West Conference in Brougham Pavilion. Tip-off is 2:00 p.m.
From then on, it's all about the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Already with a 2-0 record on that side of things, SPU resumes its conference schedule with a road trip to Western Oregon on Thursday night at 7, and a visit to Saint Martin's in Lacey on Saturday afternoon at 5:15.
The Falcons come into the Dixie State game off an extended period of down time. They rolled to a 97-59 victory at Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 18, then headed into seven-day break – no games, no practices – in accordance with the NCAA Division II mandate. Dixie State also had a seven-day breather following its final game at the Las Vegas Challenge on Dec. 19.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and a free live Webcast will be available from Monday's game. Details can be found by clicking on the appropriate links at the top of the story.
HAPPY OLD YEAR
Monday's game will mark the second straight time and sixth time overall that the Falcons will have a chance to close the calendar in style. Last Dec. 31, they routed Saint Martin's in a GNAC contest in Brougham Pavilion, 70-39
Overall, Seattle Pacific has a 4-1 record in New Year's Eve games. The only loss was in 2005 when Western Washington beat the Falcons in Bellingham, 82-71.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are at 7-2 for the first time since 2010-11. That season, they extended their fast start to 9-2.
-- Already one of the nation's top D-2 schools at the foul line, SPU added 12 points to its season percentage in the 97-59 victory at Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 18. The Falcons hit 24 of 28 that night, and are at 78.5 percent for the season.
-- All four of SPU's previous games against Dixie State have come during coach
Julie Heisey's seven seasons at the coaching helm. She and the Falcons have a 3-1 advantage.
-- Seattle Pacific has hit for the century scoring mark once during Heisey's tenure. It happened on Jan. 27, 2007 at home against
Dixie State, 106-62.
-- Although she was just a freshman when the teams played in 2010, Dixie State forward
Johnna Brown gave a glimpse of things to come when she tallied 27 points and had nine rebounds against SPU.
-- The Falcons fell just short of 100 at Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 18. They got to 97 with 2:23 remaining, but went scoreless the rest of the way.
-- SPU has out-rebounded eight of its nine opponents this season by an average of 8.8 boards per game. That mark is easily tops in the GNAC and is hovering around the upper 10 percent of all Division II schools.
-- Seattle Pacific has beaten both of its
Pacific West opponents this season: 76-74 in overtime against
Azusa Pacific, and 97-59 at
Notre Dame de Namur. Its all-time record against current Pac West members is 15-5.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Coach
Julie Heisey wouldn't necessarily have predicted a 7-2 start for her still-young team. But with nearly two months of the season already in the books, she has seen significant strides that have led to that record.
“We're just trying to get better,” she said. “In those early games, we had just four players with a lot of experience. But we've been having kids step up, and I'm just pleased because I feel like we have improved a lot. We want to see the kids learning, changing habits, and getting more disciplined.
“Top to bottom, I think we've really grown.”
As Heisey sees it, one of the biggest things for the Falcons is they're now letting the game come to them.
“It takes time to get the timing down,” she said. “We're playing together more, and we're not trying to force things to happen. We're trying to create some things as a team.”
That was evident in the victory at Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 18 when the Falcons cut way down on their turnovers – a season-low nine after committing a season-high 25 in an 89-77 loss at Chico State just 10 days earlier.
“So much of it is concentration and focus,” she said. “We've been working on it a lot, and we're hoping this is going to be a trend.”
SCOUTING THE DIXIE STATE RED STORM: 6-5, 4-0 Pac West (1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 3-1.
Current series streak: Dixie won 1.
Last time: Dixie 76, SPU 66 (Dec. 4, 2010 at St. George, Utah).
Red Storm on the Web.
Red Storm in a nutshell: After a 1-3 start, with all three of those losses to GNAC opponents (two to Montana State Billings, one to Simon Fraser), Dixie State powered past its first four Pac West foes. Then came back-to-back losses at the Las Vegas Challenge to Central Missouri, which is just two places out of the top 25, and on to 17
th-ranked Pittsburg State. Junior forward
Johnna Brown, at 6-foot-1, is a powerful presence on the court for the Red Storm. Brown averages a double-double of 12.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, the latter of which leads the Pac West. Only once in 11 games has she not led the team on the boards, with double-figure performances in 10 of those games. Redshirt senior center
Mandy Munns and sophomore guard
Kaylah Miller each average 11.1 points per game. Among the regulars, Munns is the most accurate shooter on the team at 51.5 percent (50 of 97). The Red Storm average 74.7 points per game and have been in the 80-point range six times this season.
HOW DO THEY COMPARE
(GNAC or Pac West rankings)
SPU DIXIE
Points 75.3 (2) 74.7 (3)
Points allowed 64.7 (8) 72.0 (9)
Rebounds 40.9 (4) 45.7 (2)
Assists 16.8 (3) 17.5 (1)
Steals 7.9 (10) 8.7 (6)
Blocks 3.0 (T5) 2.8 (10)
Turnovers 18.7 (7) 18.7 (6)
FG percent .459 (2) .414 (4)
3-point percent .398 (1) .314 (3)
FT percent .785 (2) .696 (4)
FALCONS REPLAY
--
Aubree Callen pumped in 19 points, with all five of her field goals coming from 3-point range, and three other Seattle Pacific players hit for double-figures in a
97-59 non-conference women's basketball rout of Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 18 in Belmont, Calif.
RARELY OFF TRACK FOR LONG
When the Falcons cruised to a 97-59 victory at Notre dame de Namur on Dec. 18, it marked the 39
th time during head coach
Julie Heisey's seven-plus seasons at Seattle Pacific that her team has responded to a loss by winning its next game. SPU has lost two in a row – and never more than that – just seven times with Heisey in charge.
HEADING THE RIGHT DIRECTION
Putting 97 points on the board, as they did at Notre Dame de Namur, is bound to improve some season statistics. That certainly was true for the Falcons. To start with, they boosted their season scoring average by 2.7 points fro 72.6 to 75.3. Of their 33 baskets, 24 were assisted, raising the season average from 15.9 to 16.8. By going 24 of 28 at the line, SPU improved its free throw mark from .773 to .785.
Defensively, Seattle Pacific players stole the ball 17 times. That resulted in a jump from 6.8 per game to 7.9. As for taking care of the ball, the Falcons had a season-low nine turnovers, dropping their average from 19.9 to 18.7.
CAREER NIGHTS GALORE
SPU had four players register five new career-best marks at Notre Dame de Namur. Freshman center
Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) had two of those: five points, five rebounds.
The others belonged to freshman guard
Brianne Lasconia (Seattle, Wash. / Shorecrest HS) with four steals, redshirt freshman center
Maddey Pflaumer (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) with two steals, and junior center
Riley Butler (Kent, Wash. / Kentlake HS) with eight points.
In addition, senior center
Erin Stephens (Salem, Ore.) scored her SPU high of eight points in that game. Her college career high is 25 in 2011 when she was a sophomore at Chemeketa Community College.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th field goal Suzanna Ohlsen (has 95)
100th 3-pointer Mechela Barnes (has 94)
200th field goal Rachel Murray (has 199)
400th point Aubree Callen (has 393)
800th point Katie Benson (has 793)
Mechela Barnes (has 771)
MILESTONES MADE IN MOST RECENT GAMES
100th free throw Aubree Callen (has 102)
POLLING PLACE
For the third week in a row,
Seattle Pacific is among other schools receiving votes in the
USA Today Sports / WBCA national coaches poll. The Falcons had six points in the rankings that were released on Dec. 18.
Ashland of Ohio was a unanimous No. 1 again, receiving all 30 first-place votes.
Simon Fraser of the GNAC stayed at No. 9, and
Western Washington moved up one place to No. 20.
Other GNAC schools receiving votes were
Montana State Billings (9),
Alaska Anchorage (4) and
Northwest Nazarene (2).
Chico State, which moved into the top 25 at No. 20 after back-to-back wins against Western Washington and SPU on Dec. 7-8, jumped another six places to No. 14.
Dixie State also received votes (3).
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on
this link for a look at news, notes and statistics from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on match day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time for all home games.
Reserved seats are $8 for center court and $7 for the foul lines. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. SPU students who show their school identification will be admitted free to all home games.
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific takes to the road later this week as GNAC play gets into full swing. The Falcons visit
Western Oregon on Thursday at 7 p.m. and
Saint Martin's on Saturday at 5:15 p.m.
GNAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall
Simon Fraser 2-0 8-1
Montana State Billings 2-0 8-2
Western Washington 2-0 8-2
Seattle Pacific 2-0 7-2
Alaska Anchorage 1-0 7-2
Alaska Fairbanks 0-1 2-7
Northwest Nazarene 0-2 8-2
Saint Martin's 0-2 6-5
Central Washington 0-2 5-5
Western Oregon 0-2 5-6
