Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – Sometimes, it's not a thing of beauty.
 
But if it's a thing of balance, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will take it.
 
Sophomore guard Jordan McPhee scored 12 points and was one of four SPU players to hit for double figures on Friday night in a 76-62 victory against Eastern New Mexico at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic women's basketball tournament.
 
The Falcons (5-3) led from start to finish in Brougham Pavilion and won their third straight game.
                                                                                                                                         
Senior center Molly Grager added 11 points, sophomore forward / guard Courtney Hollander chipped in 10, and junior guard Brianne Lasconia also tallied 10.





Of the 11 players who got into the game, nine saw double-digit minutes. Each of those nine scored at least two points, with freshman Jaylee Albert's career-high nine – all of them during the fourth quarter—leading the way for the reserves. Further, nine players grabbed at least one rebound, and seven had at least one assist.
 
"We're really deep, so when we sub in, we don't drop off at all," Albert said. "So that's definitely an advantage we have. It was a little bit of an ugly game, kind of physical, and we never really got into a flow. But we definitely grinded it out, which is good."
 
The Falcons played for the first time in 13 days. Their last game was a 55-46 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory against Concordia on Dec. 5 in Brougham.
 
"I told our kids, a win's a win," head coach Julie Heisey said. "You could tell we were rusty. It's very hard to go two weeks without playing. As much as we needed the practice, we lose some flow."
                                  
SPU is now 21-0 all-time in the Sodexo. The tournament concludes on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against Wisconsin-Parkside. The Rangers downed Concordia (Oregon) in Friday's opening game, 65-43. Concordia and Eastern New Mexico square off at 4:30 p.m.
                                 
FAST, ACCURATE START
Seattle Pacific hits its first four shots and scored the opening 10 points on Friday. But the Greyhounds (4-4) then ran off nine straight points as SPU missed its next seven shots.
 
The Falcons finished the quarter on another eight-point surge for an 18-9 lead, and it was 36-25 at halftime. They appeared ready to pull away in the third quarter, stretching their advantage to 18 at 47-29.
 
Eastern stayed within range by hitting 9 of 14 from the foul line during the third, and cutting it to 11. But the Greyhounds never did get it back into single digits.

 

"The third quarter was really hard – thankfully, we had a big enough lead," Heisey said. "The fourth quarter, we came back and really did have some nice ball reversal, some good screening action, and some good opportunities. Our kids stayed positive. Jaylee came off the bench and gave us a nice little push."
 
SPU hit a season-high 60 percent from 3-point range, draining 9 of 15. Hollander, McPhee, Lasconia, and sophomore guard Lindsay Lee each drilled a pair. Overall, the Falcons shot 42.1 percent (24 of 57) and limited Eastern New Mexico to 39.3 percent (24 of 61).
 
"I was very happy with our free throw shooting (19 of 24) and our 3-point shooting," Heisey said. "It was nice to see Jordan and Courtney hit those 3s at the start of the game."
 
Albert had three assists to go along with her nine points. Junior forward / guard Hannah Rodrigues logged eight points, six rebounds and two assists, tying Grager for the team lead on the boards. McPhee handed out a team-high four assists. Sophomore forward Erica Pagano had two blocked shots for the first time in a college game.
 
The Falcons had just 13 turnovers, their second-lowest total of the season.
 
Briana White came off the bench to lead the Greyhounds with 23 points, hitting 8 of 14 from the field (5 of 7 from downtown).
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Sodexo Tip-Off Classic
Friday, December 18, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 76, Eastern New Mexico 62
 
EASTERN NEW MEXICO (4-4)
Harris 4-8 4-8 12, Martinez 3-7 0-1 6, Moore 1-7 1-2 3, Jo. Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Connor 4-14 2-2 10, White 8-14 2-4 23, Gutierrez 2-3 0-0 4, Hotchkins 1-5 0-0 2, McClelland 1-1 0-0 2, Ja. Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 9-17 62.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (5-3)
Hollander 4-9 0-0 10, Grager 4-6 3-4 11, Lukasiewicz 3-8 2-3 8, McPhee 3-9 4-5 12, Lasconia 4-7 0-0 10, Albert 1-1 6-6 9, Rodrigues 3-6 2-2 8, Lee 2-5 0-0 6, Pagano 0-5 2-4 2, Haining 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 19-24 76.

Eastern New Mexico             9          16           17           20           -- 62
Seattle Pacific                      18           18           19           21           -- 76         

3-point goals--ENM 5-12 (White 5-7, Connor 0-1, Moore 0-1, Hotchkins 0-1, Ja. Cooper 0-1, Jo. Cooper 0-1), SPU 9-15 (Hollander 2-2, Lasconia 2-3, McPhee 2-4, Lee 2-2, Albert 1-1, Evans 0-1, Rodrigues 0-1, Lukasiewicz 0-1). Fouled out--ENM-Harris, SPU-None. Rebounds--ENM 38 (Connor 7), SPU 38 (Rodrigues, Grager 6). Assists--ENM 11 (White 5), SPU 15 (McPhee 4). Turnovers – ENM 12, SPU 13. Total fouls--ENM 21, SPU 18. Technical fouls--ENM-Harris, SPU-None. A-124.