Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
AZUSA, Calif. – Missing last season because she was hurt apparently didn't hurt Betsy Kingma's confidence in her own shot.
 
Didn't hurt her teammates' confidence in it, either.
                      
Kingma nailed a 3-pointer from the right side at the buzzer on Friday night, boosting 21^st-ranked Seattle Pacific past UC San Diego in the opening game of the Azusa Pacific Crossover Classic women's basketball tournament, 66-63.
 
After calling two consecutive timeouts with the game tied at 63-63, the Falcons (5-0) inbounded in backcourt with 3.6 seconds left. Sophomore guard Brianne Lasconia found a wide-open Kingma up the right side, and Kingma got the shot off just as the buzzer sounded. It swished through, and the officials immediately signaled that it counted.
 
"It did feel pretty good," said Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS), a redshirt junior who finished with 13 points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals. "It was one of those shots where it was so quick, you just give it the best you can and just hope once you let it go."
 
Stepping back onto the court after the second of those two timeouts, Kingma knew it was her shot to take, on a play drawn up by assistant coach Steve Steele.
 
"When we were walking out, Bri said, 'Hey, girl – we're looking for you,' " she said. "I haven't felt like I've started out the season shooting at my potential, so to know that I still have the confidence of my teammates and my coaches feels so good to me."
 
Seattle Pacific, continuing its best start since the 2007-08 season, was led by the season-high 26 points of senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS). She also grabbed eight rebounds. Junior guard Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) added 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
 
The Falcons finish their final preseason tournament today at 5:30 p.m. against host Azusa Pacific in the Felix Event Center.
 
SPU twice led by 11 points during the second half, the last time at 54-43 on a lay-up by freshman Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) with 12:08 remaining.
 
But the Tritons (1-1), perennially one of the best teams in the West Region and an 86-67 winner against SPU last season, chipped away and finally took a 62-61 lead on a 3-pointer by Miranda Seto with 2:22 left. That capped an 8-0 run to wipe out a 61-54 Seattle Pacific lead.
 
Ohlsen gave the Falcons a 63-62 edge at the 1:39 mark on a shot from the top of the key that was barely inside the 3-point line. Erin Dautremont tied it at 63-all on the first of two free throws with 1:14 to go, but missed the second.
 
SPU turned the ball over on an offensive foul with 33.6 seconds remaining. The Tritons ran the clock all the way down before Stephanie Yano missed a jumper from the foul line. The shot clock buzzer went off, giving the ball back to the Falcons.
 
"We got up and just didn't put them away. But we came out with the win, and we're thrilled," Falcons head coach Julie Heisey said. "Katie was awesome tonight, and did a lot of things that aren't in the stats, like hitting baskets when we needed them, and that's huge. We just had a good tag-team effort. Hannah (Rodrigues) did a good job, and Molly Grager was in there for a stretch and altered a lot of their shots.
 
"We have lessons to learn, and hopefully, we can learn them in a win and not in a loss," Heisey added.
 
Megan Perry led UC San Diego with 18 points, getting 12 of those from downtown. Seto finished with 17.
 
The Tritons had a significant advantage on the boards, 47-30, with 20 of those coming at the offensive end. Even so, they converted those into just 14 second-chance points. The Falcons tallied 10 second-chance points from eight offensive boards.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Azusa Pacific Crossover Classic
Friday, November 22, 2013
Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
 
(No. 21) Seattle Pacific 66, UC San Diego 63
 
UC SAN DIEGO (1-1)
Bertsch 1-3 2-2 4, Dautremont 4-12 1-2 9, Seto 6-14 2-3 17, Perry 7-12 0-0 18, Yano 0-2 2-2 2, Bolden 0-0 0-0 0, MacLeod 2-7 2-2 7, Webster 0-2 2-2 2, Marty 0-0 2-2 2, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Hirz 0-3 2-2 2, Morris 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Alferness 0-0 0-0 0, White 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-58 15-17 63.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (5-0)
Rodrigues 2-4 0-0 4, Benson 8-14 9-11 26, Pflaumer 0-1 0-0 0, Ohlsen 4-13 3-4 12, Kingma 5-11 0-0 13, Lukasiewicz 3-4 0-0 6, Heinly 0-0 0-0 0, Lasconia 1-8 0-0 2, Grager 0-1 0-0 0, Butler 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 24-57 13-18 66.
 
UC San Diego        29           34           -- 63
Seattle Pacific      35           31           -- 66
 
3-point goals – UCSD 8-19 (Dautremont 0-1, Seto 3-5, Perry 4-7, Yano 0-1, MacLeod 1-3, Anderson 0-2), SPU 5-14 (Benson 1-1, Ohlsen 1-4, Kingma 3-7, Lasconia 0-2). Fouled out – SPU: Pflaumer. Rebounds – UCSD 47 (Hirz 7), SPU 30 (Benson 8). Assists – UCSD 11 (Bertsch 4), SPU 15 (Ohlsen 4, Kingma 4, Lasconia 4). Turnovers – UCSD 18, SPU 12. Technical fouls – None. Total fouls – UCSD 14, SPU 16. A – NA.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 5-0, UC San Diego 1-1.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Azusa Pacific, Saturday, 5:30 p.m.