THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL SCHEDULE:
All games at Brougham Pavilion
Friday, March 12 -- Quarterfinals
SESSION 1 (West seeds in parentheses)
Game 1: (3) Western Washington vs. (6) Chico State, 12:30 p.m.
Game 2: (2) UC San Diego vs. (7) Humboldt State, 2:30 p.m.
SESSION 2
Game 3: (4) Alaska Anchorage vs. (5) Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: (1) Seattle Pacific vs. (8) Hawaii Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 13 -- Semifinals
Game 5: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2, 5 p.m.
Game 6: Winner 3 vs. Winner 4, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 15 -- Championship
Game 7: Winner 5 vs. Winner 6, 7 p.m.
Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
NCAA bracket (PDF)
SEATTLE -- From the start of practice last October, the Seattle Pacific Falcons knew they could be an NCAA women's basketball tournament team again.
They didn't know they would be a host team again.
But thanks in part to an 11-game winning streak that carried them through the end of the regular season and included four victories against regionally ranked teams, the Falcons will have the homecourt advantage when the Division II West Regionals begin on Friday.
SPU will take on Hawaii Pacific in the first round, tipping off against the Sea Warriors in the last of Friday's quarterfinal games. That game will follow on the heels of the 5:30 Alaska Anchorage-Cal Poly Pomona contest. Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Western Washington opens the tournament at 12:30 against Chico State, then UC San Diego goes up against Humboldt State at 2:30.
On the line for all eight teams will be a trip to St. Joseph, Mo., site of this year's Elite Eight. That culmination of this year's national tourney is set for March 23, 24 and 26.
As they prepare to host for the third straight year, the Falcons (24-3), who are in the NCAAs for the 14th straight year and for the 15th time in the past 16 years, also will be seeking their third consecutive trip to the regional title game. Alaska Anchorage (23-4) has won that title at Seattle Pacific's expense the past two seasons. Such a rematch won't happen this year in the finals, but it could happen in the semifinals if both teams win their openers on Friday.
Hawaii Pacific comes in as the newly crowned champion of the Pacific West Conference. The Sea Warriors are 18-6 overall and went 14-2 in conference play.
SEE IT LIVE
Free live Webcasts with play-by-play, and live stats from all seven games will be available on the Internet. For links to all of the games, visit the Tournament Central page.
TICKET TALK
Tickets for the regionals will be available each day of the tournament at the Brougham Pavilion box office (3414 3rd Ave. W.) beginning one hour before the start of the first game. Prices are $12 for reserved seats, $8 for general admission, and $5 for students and SPU faculty with proper identification.
On Friday and Saturday, one ticket is good for all games. Fans with a reserved ticket for Friday's two afternoon games can use that same ticket for general admission for the two evening games. Likewise, fans with reserved seating for the evening games can use their ticket for general admission in the afternoon.
Fans seated behind their team's bench in an early game are asked to select another seat afterward so fans of the team in the subsequent game can sit behind the bench.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Home sweet home for regionals is just fine with Falcons coach Julie van Beek. But -- as she knows well from past experience -- it's no guarantee of anything.
“The bottom line is you have to win three games no matter where you go,” she said. “Last (week), we were far away (in Alaska), but people were watching online. That's fun, but it's a lot more fun when you have people cheering you on instead of cheering against you.”
This is just the second time SPU and Hawaii Pacific have met -- and the first time was now a quarter-century ago.
“They're scoring 73 points a game, so that's a lot of points,” van Beek said. “They beat Grand Canyon once and they lost to them once in a one-point game. So obviously, they're a good team because we know Grand Canyon is a good team. The bottom line is it's a regional tournament, and anything can happen.”
Seattle Pacific's 24-3 season hasn't been without its challenges. Van Beek says because of facing those challenges -- injuries and some national-caliber competition within the GNAC -- the Falcons are ready for this postseason step.
“You can be a team, but until you go through some trials and struggle together, you don't know what your character is or if it makes you stronger,” she said. “Losing to UC San Diego in two overtimes, losing to Grand Canyon and Western Washington -- even in some of the wins, we had to continue to find ways to get better.
"The kids have proven to be resilient and have continued to grow. We've improved dramatically," van Beek said.
SCOUTING THE QUARTERFINALS: HAWAII PACIFIC
Seattle Pacific (24-3, 15-1 GNAC) vs. Hawaii Pacific (18-6, 14-2 Pacific West)
Tournament seeds: Seattle Pacific No. 1, Hawaii Pacific No. 8.
All-time series: SPU leads, 1-0. Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 80, Hawaii Pacific 51 (Jan. 11, 1985 at Seattle)
USA Today/ESPN national rankings (as of March 9 poll): SPU No. 13, Hawaii Pacific unranked.
Regional rankings (as of March 3 final poll): SPU No. 2, Hawaii Pacific No. 10.
Hawaii Pacific on the Web.
FALCONS IN A NUTSHELL: It's all back to 0-0 now, but Seattle Pacific is the hottest team coming into the tournament. It haswon 11 straight games with an effective combination of solid defense, better ball handling, and big performances from different players at timely moments.
During the course of the 11-game streak, which began after a 54-40 loss at Western Washington on Jan. 23, all five Falcon starters have set or equaled career highs in at least two of the five major categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots). Seattle Pacific has kept seven of those 11 opponents below 50 points on the scoreboard, and none of the 11 has shot better than 39 percent.
When the Falcons aren't forcing a team into a bad shot (they have the ninth-best field goal defense in all of NCAA Division II) or coming up with the steal (they rank 26th in D-2), they're passing the ball. SPU averages 17.6 assists per game, which ranks 16th in Division II.
Seattle Pacific begins the tournament having just collected some major postseason honors. Senior guard Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year on Tuesday, and Julie van Beek was honored as Coach of the Year. Senior forward Megan Hoisington earned a spot on the All-GNAC second team. In addition, Henderson is a second-team selection on the Daktronics West Regional squad, and also was one of the five West Region players named as a finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/State Farm Coaches All-America team.
Sea Warriors in a nutshell: Hawaii Pacific wasn't even on the regional radar until last week's final rankings. Now, the Sea Warriors from Honolulu find themselves in the regional tournament for the first time in school history.
This team can put points on the board. Hawaii Pacific averages nearly 74 points per game, and is coming off an 88-61 rout of Brigham Young-Hawaii in the regular-season finale on Monday. The Sea Warriors have been in the 90s three time this season and in the 80s twice. Five of their players average in double figures, led by the 12.7 points of 5-foot-9 freshman forward Jazzmin Awa-Williams, with guard Tiffany Wilson close behind at 12.6 and forward Genesis Lewis at 12.0
Lewis and Awa-Williams are solid all-around contributors for Hawaii Pacific. Lewis, in addition to her 12 points, pulls down a team-leading 8.3 rebounds and shoots 48.9 percent from the floor. Awa-Williams hits at a 55.5 percent clip and averages 5.9 boards per contest.
Hawaii Pacific led the Pac West in five major statistical categories: assists (16.4), blocked shots (4.0), fewest turnovers (17.9), field goal shooting (.445) and field goal defense (.372). It was No. 2 in points scored (73.7), rebounding (41.8) and free throw shooting (.713).
The Sea Warriors won 10 straight games from early January through mid February, a streak that ended with a 56-55 homecourt loss to Grand Canyon. But just last Thursday in Phoenix, they turned that around, pulling out a 67-64 overtime victory, giving them a season split with the Antelopes. (SPU also split a pair of nonconference games with Grand Canyon this season.)
This is just the fourth year of women's basketball at Hawaii Pacific, and it is the program's first winning season.
MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
March 6 at Alaska Anchorage, W 67-60
Totals vs. Alaska Anchorage/Season averages or totals
FG is previous game/season percentage
Player Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. FG
F Megan Hoisington 1/10.6 3/8.1 1/1.4 2/45 0/33 0-7/.402
C Melissa Reich 8/7.0 5/6.6 3/1.7 0/38 1/22 3-4/.510
G Jordan Harazin 7/6.4 3/2.9 3/2.7 0/23 0/2 2-6/.387
G Daesha Henderson 21/13.3 4/4.0 5/2.7 1/68 0/8 4-10/.446
G Maddie Maloney 6/5.1 6/2.8 2/2.9 0/44 2/8 1-3/.322
SEATTLE PACIFIC 67/67.8 36/41.7 16/17.6 5/318 3/93 19-48/.418
MOST RECENT HAWAII PACIFIC STARTERS
March 8 vs. Brigham Young-Hawaii, W 88-61
Totals vs. BYU-Hawaii/Season averages or totals
FG is previous game/season percentage
Player Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. FG
F Jazminn Awa-Williams 8/12.5 4/5.8 9/2.6 3/30 1/10 3-8/.548
F Mana Hopkins 19/11.8 3/4.3 3/2.3 1/34 0/14 3-11/.443
F Shontay Delpit 0/0.5 0/0.6 0/0.1 0/0 0/1 0-1/.500
F Genesis Lewis 16/12.2 5/8.1 1/1.3 1/35 0/15 5-11/.488
G Makenna Karasawa 13/5.0 3/1.4 4/2.9 0/19 0/0 3-6/.312
HAWAII PACIFIC 88/73.7 43/41.8 21/16.4 10/217 7/95 28-56/.427
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking in parentheses)
Points SPU 67.8 (4) HPU 73.7 (2)
Points allowed SPU 54.4 (2) HPU 64.4 (3)
Rebounds SPU 41.7 (1) HPU 41.8 (2)
Assists SPU 17.6 (T1) HPU 16.4 (1)
Steals SPU 11.8 (3) HPU 9.0 (8)
Blocks SPU 3.4 (3) HPU 4.0 (1)
Turnovers SPU 19.3 (6) HPU 17.9 (1)
FG pct. SPU .418 (4) HPU .445 (1)
Opp. FG pct. SPU .338 (1) HPU .372 (1)
3-point pct. SPU .324 (6) HPU .266 (9)
FT pct. SPU .668 (9) HPU .713 (2)
Home SPU 12-0 HPU 8-3
Away SPU 8-2 HPU 9-3
Neutral SPU 4-1 HPU 1-0
Win streak SPU 11* HPU 10
Loss streak SPU 1 HPU 1
* current
POLLING PLACE
The Falcons took their biggest single-week jump of the season when they climbed five places to No. 13 in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches poll, which was released on March 9. SPU received 309 points in moving up from No. 18 and is now the highest-ranked GNAC team in the poll. Alaska Anchorage is No. 14 with 294 points, and Western Washington is No. 18 with 207.
Gannon University of Pennsylvania stayed in the No. 1 position. Gannon picked up 24 of the 26 first-place votes and 647 points. The other two first-place votes went to Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, which is No. 2 with 616 points. UC San Diego, which is in town for this week's regionals, stayed at No. 12 despite losing in the CCAA semifinals to Humboldt State, which also is in Seattle for the tourney.
In the final West Region rankings, which were released last Wednesday, Seattle Pacific remained No. 2 behind UC San Diego.
FALCON REPLAY
-- Daesha Henderson scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds, and Megan Hoisington grabbed eight rebounds to go along with nine points as Seattle Pacific secured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a 59-47 victory at Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday. SPU won its 10th straight game.
The Falcons, whose first five baskets of the game were 3-pointers, used a 15-2 first-half scoring run to turn a 16-15 deficit into a 30-18 lead and never trailed again. Ironically, it was their first two-pointer of the night -- an eight-footer from straight in front by Maddie Maloney that put them in front for good at 17-16
It was a nine-point margin at 49-40 with seven minutes left when SPU ran off the next eight points to push the lead permanently back into double digits.
-- Henderson scored 21 points, including a 3-pointer from deep in the left corner with 3:06 to play, and the Falcons wrapped up sole possession of the GNAC championship last Saturday night with a 67-60 victory against 13th-ranked Alaska Anchorage.
SPU built a 15-point lead at 34-19 with 19:01 left in the game. But in less than five minutes, the Seawolves went on a 20-2 run to go up 39-36.
Anchorage stretched it to a seven-point margin at 53-46 with 6:49 left. But the Falcons went on an 11-0 run. They tied it at 53-53 on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by junior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach with 5:01 left,, then went in front to stay on Henderson's trey at the 3:06 mark. SPU eventually outscored the Seawolves by a 21-7 margin to wipe out that seven point deficit and turn it into a seven-point victory.
FALCONS DOUBLE UP ON GNAC AWARDS
When it came to handing out GNAC postseason honors, Seattle Pacific clearly was on the minds of the coaches, who render those decisions. Senior guard Daesha Henderson was named the Player of the Year, not only for what she did statistically (leading the conference in steals at 2.5, tying for ninth in scoring at 13.3, and finishing tied for seventh in assists at 2.7), but for all of the non-statistical things that never show up on box scores, such as playing tenacious defense. Henderson was the only unanimous first-team selection, and was near unanimous (eight of nine votes) for Player of the Year. Julie van Beek was named Coach of the Year for the second time in her five seasons with the Falcons. And senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS), with her seven double-doubles, earned a spot on the All-GNAC second team.
BUT WAIT -- THERE'S MORE
In the space of 48 hours from March 8 to March 10, Henderson's name showed up on three postseason awards lists. In addition to her GNAC honors, she was named to the Daktronics West Region second team. She also is one of five players from the West on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association/State Farm Coaches All-America finalist list. There are 40 finalists in all, with five from each of eight regions around the country.
AND … WE'RE NOT DONE YET
Henderson was named the GNAC Player of the Week on March 8, picking up that award for the second straight week. In victories at Alaska Fairbanks (59-47) and Alaska Anchorage (67-60) last week, Henderson picked up a total of 33 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. She got 21 of those points in Anchorage, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 3:06 to play that put SPU ahead for good.
AIN'T IT GRAND?
Henderson reached and then broke through the career 1,000-point barrier in Anchorage. A free throw with 5:45 left put her right at 1,000. Then, the go-ahead 3-pointer with 3:06 remaining put her past it. She is now at 1,006 points heading into NCAAs.
REMEMBER WHEN
In last year's three NCAA tournament games, Daesha Henderson was Seattle Pacific's leading scorer (12.0) and passer (4.33 assists). Now-graduated Kelsey Hill was the top rebounder (8.3) and had a total of 25, with current senior forward Megan Hoisington not far behind with 21 (7.0 average). Henderson had the best shooting marks from the field (.524, making 11 of 21) and the foul line (.917, hitting 11 of 12), and current sophomore guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) had the best aim from 3-point range (.429, hitting 3 of 7).
FOR OPENERS, A SOLID RECORD
In its 14 previous NCAA appearances, Seattle Pacific is 11-3 in first-round games. The Falcons had a rough stretch from the end of the last millennium through the start of the current one, going one-and-done in 1999, 2000 and 2002. But since then, they've won seven straight first-rounders, including last year's 77-48 rout of Grand Canyon.
(STILL) JUST ONE MORE
Sophomore guard Nyesha Sims, a consistent, dependable producer off the bench for the Falcons, no doubt would love to have a career-best rebounding game sometime soon. It's just a matter of when. Sims' best single-game total is five -- a mark with which she has become very familiar. She grabbed that many in one game last season and tied it not once, not twice, but eight times this season. Her most recent five-boarder was in last Thursday's 59-47 victory at Alaska Fairbanks.
RALLY TIME
Prior to their Feb. 6 game against Northwest Nazarene, SPU had trailed at halftime twice and was tied at halftime once -- and lost all three games. But after being down 36-29 to the Crusaders, the Falcons started the second half on a 14-5 run to go ahead for good on the way to a 63-62 victory. But when they're ahead at the break, the Falcons have won all 23 times they've had a halftime lead.
ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Senior forward Megan Hoisington, who tied her career scoring high and set a career high for blocked shots to help Seattle Pacific beat Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 6, was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 3-6.
-- Hoisington was named to three all-tournament teams this winter. She picked up those honors in the season-opening Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at SPU in November, in the GNAC-Pac West Classic in early December at Nampa, Idaho, and in the GNAC-CCAA Challenge in late December at Bellingham.
-- Senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) became the first Seattle Pacific player this season to be honored as a GNAC Athlete of the Week. Benson earned the Feb. 1 award for her performance at home against the Alaska schools on Jan. 28-30. She hit a career-high three shots from 3-point territory in a 57-42 win against Anchorage on Jan. 28, then broke loose for a career-high 22 points to lead SPU's 86-44 victory against Fairbanks on Jan. 30, coming off the bench both times.
-- Senior guard Daesha Henderson and junior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) were part of the all-tournament team at the GNAC-CCAA Challenge on Dec. 20-21 at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
-- Henderson was named the Most Valuable Player of SPU's Sodexo Tip-Off Classic. Henderson had a 25-point, 7-assist game in a 90-53 victory against Colorado Christian, and averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the two games.
-- Reich joined Henderson and Hoisington on the Sodexo all-tournament team. Reich had a 10-rebound game against Humboldt State after grabbing nine against Colorado Christian, and also averaged 9.5 points in the two games.
-- Henderson was an honorable mention pick on the Women's Division II Bulletin Preseason All-American list.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
--The Falcons won GNAC statistical titles in rebounding (41.7) and field goal defense (.338). They shared the title for assists (17.6).
-- SPU wound up second among conference schools in points allowed (54.4), and was third in steals (11.8) and blocked shots (3.4).
-- Seattle Pacific finished in the middle of the conference scoring race (fourth) at 67.8 points per game.
-- Daesha Henderson won the GNAC steals title at 2.5 per game. Thanks to some big outings late in the season, she also made the top 10 in scoring, tying for ninth at 13.3 points per game. She tied for fourth in 3-pointers made at 1.9 per game (51 total), and tied for seventh in both assists (2.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.2).
-- Megan Hoisington finished fifth in conference rebounding (8.1), including third on the defensive boards (5.7). She also made the top 10 in blocks (third at 1.2) and steals (tie for 10th at 1.7.)
-- Junior center Melissa Reich wound up eighth in both rebounding (6.6) and blocked shots (0.8 per game, 22 total).
-- Junior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) was fifth in assists (2.9) and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.8).
-- Sophomore guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) tied for seventh in assists (2.7) and was ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
-- Senior forward Sydney Benson, despite missing the last nine games with an injury, finished third in field goal shooting at .515. Prior to her season-ending knee injury, Benson had taken enough attempts (132) to qualify for a spot among the conference leaders.
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- The Falcons have climbed into the top 10 nationally in field goal defense. They allow their opponents to hit just 33.8 percent of their shots, the No. 9-ranked lowest percentage in all of NCAA Division II. That's the same percentage as last week, but represents a jump of three spots. The top team is Tampa at 32.5 percent.
-- SPU is No. 12 in Division II for fewest points allowed at 54.4, moving up one spot from a week ago.
-- In addition to those two categories, the Falcons rank No. 16 in assists per game (17.6) and No. 26 in steals per game (11.8).
-- Daesha Henderson, who won the GNAC steals title at 2.5 per game, is No. 46 nationally.
Click on this link for a look at SPU's national statistical rankings. Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
UP NEXT
The West Regional semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, and Seattle Pacific would be in the 7 p.m. game if it wins its opener on Friday. The championship game is Monday night at 7 in Brougham Pavilion.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news and notes from around the GNAC.
GNAC FINAL STANDINGS
GNAC Overall
Seattle Pacific 15-1 24-3
Western Washington 14-2 23-3
Alaska Anchorage 13-3 23-4
Northwest Nazarene 9-7 19-8
Saint Martin's 6-10 12-15
Western Oregon 6-10 11-19
Montana State Billings 4-12 11-16
Central Washington 4-12 7-19
Alaska Fairbanks 1-15 2-25
