Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
LACEY, Wash. – Suzanna Ohlsen came up big – in two different ways.
 
Ohlsen had career highs of 25 points and eight rebounds on Thursday night, and sparked a decisive 10-0 run early in the second half, leading Seattle Pacific past Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 54-44.
 
The victory for the Falcons (16-7, 9-6 GNAC) in Marcus Pavilion gave them sole possession of fifth place after they and the Saints (14-10, 8-7 GNAC) started the night tied for that spot. SPU reduced its magic number for clinching a berth in the conference tournament to one.
                    
They can secure their place in the postseason with a win in Saturday's 2 p.m. contest at Western Oregon.
 
"We knew this was going to be a hard game," SPU head coach Julie Heisey said. "They're leading the GNAC in defense, so you have to expect that you're going to have to be gritty. Our defense sparked a lot of what our offense was able to do, and that was great."
 
Junior guard Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) exceeded her previous career high of 24 points, scored at Chico State on Dec. 8, 2012. Her previous best for rebounds was seven, total she reached four times, most recently on Jan. 25 in a 78-68 win against Saint Martin's in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Ohlsen hit 10 of 12 from the field on Thursday, including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc. She had four steals – converting all of them into coast-to-coast lay-ins – and handed out three assists. Ohlsen also hit her only two free throws of the game, stretching her streak to 29 in a row and pushing her season percentage above 90 (.901).
 
"Sue was a huge part of what we did," Heisey said. "When she got a rebound, she was able to push it up the floor, and that's what we needed to do against their zone defense, and she had some good decision making."
 
Junior guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS) added 12 points for SPU, on 4-of-5 sharp shooting from 3-point range. Senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) was limited to just nine points, but pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Seattle Pacific had a 24-19 lead at the half. That's the fourth time this season it has kept an opponent below 20 points through the first 20 minutes. The margin grew to 28-19 at the outset of the second half before Saint Martin's ran off nine straight points – all on treys – to forge a 28-28 tie.
 
It was then that the Falcons went on their 10-0 run, with Ohlsen accounting for seven of those points. Benson started it with a free throw. Ohlsen then stole the ball in backcourt, and went the length of the floor for the lay-in, then followed that with a 3-pointer from the left corner on an assist from freshman Stacey Lukasiewicz.
 
Freshman Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.) drove for a lay-in. Jori Skorpik of the Saints missed two free throws, but teammate Megan Wiedeman got the offensive rebound until Ohlsen stole it away and went coast-to-coast again for a 38-28 advantage with 11:52 left.
 
SPU maintained at least a six-point lead the rest of the way.
 
Although the Falcons took a season-low 40 shots from the field, they hit 21 of them (52.5 percent, their highest mark of the year), including 7 of 12 from downtown (a season-best 58.3 percent). That helped offset a season-high 25 turnovers.
 
Saint Martin's missed its first nine shots of the game, and didn't shoot well all night, finishing at 24.6 percent (15 of 61), Although the Saints scored the opening point of the game on a free throw for their only lead of the night, they didn't get their first basket until 12:50 remained in the first, by which time SPU had taken a 10-1 lead.
 
 "We had good helps on defense, and that offense is hard to guard," Heisey said.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Marcus Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 54, Saint Martin's 44
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-7, 9-6 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 1-4 0-02, Katie Benson3-8 3-9 9, Maddey Pflaumer 1-4 0-0 2, Suzanna Ohlsen 10-12 2-2 25, Betsy Kingma 4-7 0-0 12, Stacey Lukasiewicz 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Shim 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Grager 0-1 0-0 0, Mechela Barnes 0-1 0-0 0, Riley Butler 2-3 0-2 4. Totals 21-40 5-13 54.
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (14-10, 8-7 GNAC)
Chelsey Haskey 4-13 1-2 9, Brooke Paulson 2-13 2-4 7, Megan Wiedeman 2-7 0-2 4, Jori Skorpik 2-3 0-2 6, Angela Gelhar 2-11 3-4 9, Jordyn Richardson 0-1 2-2 2, Krista Stabler 1-4 1-1 3, MacKenzie Taylor 1-1 0-0 2, Liz Mills 1-8 0-0 2.Totals 15-61 9-17 44.
 
Seattle Pacific      24           30           -- 54
Saint Martin's       19           25           -- 44

3-point goals – SPU 7-12 (Rodrigues 0-2, Ohlsen 3-4, Kingma 4-5, Barnes 0-1), StM 5-22 (Haskey 0-1, Paulson 1-7, Wiedeman 0-1, Skorpik 2-3, Gelhar 2-7, Richardson 0-1, Mills 0-2). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 39 (Benson 8, Ohlsen 8), StM 32 (Wiedeman 11). Assists – SPU 11 (Ohlsen 3), StM 8 (Skorpik 3). Turnovers – SPU 25, StM 15. Total fouls – SPU 19, StM 14. Technical fouls – None. A – 325.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon (Monmouth, Ore.), Saturday, 2:00 p.m.