Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play
 
SEATTLE – Even when their offense cooled down, the Seattle Pacific Falcons still did enough things well at that end of the court to win their women's basketball showdown against arch-rival Western Washington on Thursday night.
 
It was at the other end where they got hurt.
 
Katie Colard pumped in 25 points for Western Washington, getting 12 of those during the last eight minutes as the Vikings knocked off No. 9-ranked SPU in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest in Brougham Pavilion, 84-77.
               
Junior guard Suzanna Ohlsen (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS) led the Falcons (8-3, 1-2 GNAC) with 18 points. Senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) added 17. Junior guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS) and sophomore center Maddey Pflaumer (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) tallied 12 apiece.
 
"The bottom line is, hats off to Western – they've improved tremendously," SPU head coach Julie Heisey said. "They saw an opportunity to win, and they took it. It's the same thing that hurt us last year: We can score with anybody, but we didn't stop people.
 
After their best shooting half of the season – 61 percent through the first 20 minutes – SPU hit at just a 35.2 percent clip during the second half. Even so, the Falcons wound up at 48.5 percent for the game (33 of 68) seven-plus points above their season average of 41 percent.
 
But Western (5-5, 1-1 GNAC), which came into the game at 44.1 percent, shot an even 50 (28 of 56). That included a blistering 56.3 percent (9 of 16) from behind the 3-point line. The Falcons were just 2 of 13 from downtown.
               
"We just made a lot of mistakes defensively, just things that were fundamental defense," Heisey said. "Western scores off of penetration, and three of their first four possessions, the drove to the middle. They score off transition – if you turn it over, they'll score, and we had 18 turnovers (leading to 19 Vikings points). Defense dictates offense, and you have to make the other team uncomfortable."
 
The Falcons are back in Brougham Pavilion on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Simon Fraser.
 
Western Washington scored the first five points coming out of halftime to turn a 44-43 deficit into a 48-44 lead, and didn't trail again.
 
The Falcons were always within striking distance, never trailing by more than six. But on two key occasions when Seattle Pacific seemed ready to swipe the momentum, WWU's Colard – who finished with more than double her team-high average of 10.6 points – had an answer.
 
First, senior guard Mechela Barnes (Tacoma, Wash. / Bellarmine Prep HS) had a putback to tie it at 67-67 with 6:50 left. Colard promptly came down and nailed a trey for a 70-67 edge at the 6:25 mark.
 
Then with 4:20 on the clock, Kingma drained an 8-footer from the left of the lane, getting SPU within 72-71. Colard nailed another 3-pointer, this one at 4:04, making it 75-71. The Falcons, who hit just one more field goal after that,  never got closer than three the rest of the night. Western finished the game on a 12-6 run.
 
"We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole tonight," Heisey said. "We can get better, but we have to choose to get better."
               
The Vikings had a decided advantage at the foul line, hitting 19 of 28. The Falcons were 9 of 9.
 
Seattle Pacific dominated the boards, 40-26, led by Benson's nine.
 
A fast-paced, end-to-end first half ended with the Falcons on top, 44-43, thanks to a Kingma putback with two seconds remaining. That marked the 11th lead change of the half, as the teams combined to shoot 61 percent from the field: 61.8 for the Falcons (21 of 34) and 60 percent for the Vikings (15 of 25).
               
The 44 points was the most Seattle Pacific has scored in an opening half this season. Its previous high was 39 against South Dakota School of Mines on Dec. 19.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Western Washington 84, (No. 9) Seattle Pacific 77
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (5-5, 1-1 GNAC)
Sarah Hill 6-9 3-3 16, Sydney Donaldson 2-6 0-0 4, Tia Brigs 2-9 1-5 5, Katie Colard 7-9 6-7 25, Jenni White 3-5 4-6 11, Rachel Albert 0-1 0-0 0, Marcel Pounds 3-5 1-2 9, Taylor Peacocke 4-9 3-3 11, Kiana Gandy 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 28-56 19-28 84.
 
SEATTLE PACIFC (8-3, 1-2 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 2-4 2-2 6, Katie Benson 7-17 3-3 17, Maddey Pflaumer 5-9 2-2 12, Suzanna Ohlsen 8-16 2-2 18, Betsy Kingma 5-9 0-0 12, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-1 0-0 2, Brianne Lasconia 4-7 0-0 8, Molly Grager 0-1 0-0 0, Mechela Barnes 1-4 0-0 2, Riley Butler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-68 9-9 40.
 
Western Washington          43           41           -- 84
Seattle Pacific                      44           33           -- 77
 
3-point goals – WWU 9-16 (Hill 1-1, Donaldson 0-2, Colard 5-7, White 1-2, Pounds 2-4), SPU 2-13 (Benson 0-1, Ohlsen 0-4, Kingma 2-5, Lasconia 0-2, Barnes 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – WWU 26 (Peacocke 5), SPU 40 (Benson 9). Assists – WWU 19 (White 6), SPU 13 (Ohlsen 4). Turnovers – WWU 11, SPU 18. Total fouls – WWU 15, SPU 21. Technical fouls – None. A –427.
 
Next game – Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.