Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A timely trey from Betsy Kingma. A shot-clock buzzer beater from Maddey Pflaumer. More rebounds than she has ever grabbed in her collegiate life from Molly Grager. And the usual some of everything from Suzanna Ohlsen.
 
Impressive enough individually. Taken collectively, it was enough for the Seattle Pacific Falcons to score a big victory in one of the toughest gyms they play in all year.
 
Kingma scored 17 points, Ohlsen had 15 to go along with four assists, and Grager grabbed a career-high nine rebounds on Saturday night, leading SPU to a 68-62 victory against Western Washington in Carver Gymnasium.
 
"That was our most complete game this year – it's as close as we've come to 40 minutes," head coach Julie Heisey said. "Our subs gave us the lead in the first half, and that was huge with Hannah (Rodrigues) and Katie (Benson) in foul trouble. We were able to control the tempo of the game, and yet we were able to get to the baskets, and made really good shots."
 




The Falcons (14-5, 7-4 GNAC) quickly got back on track after Thursday night's 77-68 loss at Simon Fraser. They're now part of a four-way tie for second place with Western, Alaska Anchorage, and Simon, all at 7-4.

What's more, they did it despite playing the last 17:45 of the first half without leading scorer and rebounder Katie Benson, who was called for two quick fouls. By game's end, all nine SPU players who saw action scored, and eight of them had at least one rebound.
 
The Vikings (11-8, 7-4 GNAC) dropped their second straight game, both at home where they had won 26 straight prior to this week.
 
"They're a tough team always, and being in their gym makes it that much harder," Kingma said. "Carver has a reputation of being one of the tougher places to win, so it feels really good right now."
 
In fact, Saturday's victory gave Seattle Pacific a rare three-sport sweep in Carver this school year. The volleyball team scored a 3-1 win in October, and the men's basketball team earned a 76-60 victory on Jan. 15. The only other time all three teams have won in Bellingham during the same school year was 1997-98.
 
SPU has just one game next week, visiting GNAC-leading Montana State Billings next Saturday at 6 p.m. PST.
 
Seattle Pacific went on top 18-17 with just less than eight minutes left in the first half and led the rest of the way, once by as many as 16 points early in the second half, at 39-23 after keeping the Vikings off the board for the first 4 minutes, 20 seconds after halftime.
 
Western Washington, the best shooting team in the GNAC (46 percent coming into the week) was limited to just 30 percent (9 of 30) by Seattle Pacific's defense during the first half. But as expected, the Vikings surged back into the game, getting it down to single digits on several occasions.
 
It was 53-41 with seven minutes to go when sophomore center Pflaumer (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) drained a jumper from the top of the key to push it back to 10.
 
The Vikings were within five at 59-54 with 2:05 to go. But Ohlsen found Kingma for a 3-pointer from the left corner that made it a 62-54 game at the 1:49 mark.
 
Three times after that, Western within six. Three times, the Falcons answered, perhaps none of them more crucial than with 1:09 to go when freshman Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.), saving a broken play, scooped a loose ball to Benson underneath the hoop for a lay-in just before the shot clock buzzer, making it 64-58.
 
 "It started with defense," Heisey said. "Western is the best shooting team in the conference, and we held them to 36 percent on their floor. That's work."
 
Benson played all but three minutes of the second half, finishing with 10 points, three rebounds, and was called for just one more foul.
 
Grager's previous career high was six rebounds. She had that many by halftime on Saturday. She also had three blocked shots for the game, tying her career best set on Jan. 23 against Western Oregon.
 
The Falcons hit 53.8 percent in the second half (14 of 26) and finished at 46.6 percent for the game (27 of 58). They limited Western to just 36.8 percent shooting for the night (21 of 57).
 
"Molly did some things you don't see on the stat sheet," Heisey said of Grager's performance. "Her long arms changed some of their shots, and they shot short."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 68, Western Washington 62
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (14-5, 7-4 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 1-2 2-2 4, Katie Benson 4-9 2-4 10, Molly Grager 2-4 0-0 4, Suzanna Ohlsen 5-14 4-4 15, Betsy Kingma 7-12, 2-3 17, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-2 2-4 4, Brianne Lasconia 3-6 0-0 6, Maddey Pflaumer 3-7 0-0 6, Riley Butler 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 27-58 12-19 68.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (11-8, 7-4 GNAC)
Marcel Pounds -1 0-0 2, Sydney Donaldson 1-4 0-0 2, Sarah Hill 3-7 1-2 7, Katie Colard 4-12 6-6 15, Jenni White 4-11 2-2 11, Rachel Albert 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Peacocke 2-7 4-4 9, Kaian Gandy 0-3 0-0 0, Tia Briggs 5-10 4-7 14. Totals 21-57 17-21 62.
 
Seattle Pacific                      32           36           -- 68
Western Washington          23           39           -- 62
 
3-point goals – SPU 2-12 (Rodrigues 0-1, Benson 0-3, Ohlsen 1-4, Kingma 1-4), WWU 3-10 (Colard 1-4, White 1-4, Peacocke 1-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 36 (Grager 9), WWU 33 (Hill 7). Assists – SPU 15 (Ohlsen 4), WWU 9 (White 5). Turnovers – SPU 12, WWU 14. Total fouls – SPU 16, WWU 16. Technical fouls – None. b– 510.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, Saturday, Feb. 8, 6:00 p.m. PST.