SEATTLE (Feb. 14) - Blocking Hanna Hull's three point shot with just under 40 seconds remaining, Libby Magnuson secured the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team's 21st season victory, a 61-53 win, coming at the hands of Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Central Washington University Thursday night at Brougham Pavilion.
The Falcons (21-0 overall, 12-0 GNAC), led by as many as 14 over the Wildcats (12-8 overall, 4-8 GNAC), making sure their Valentine's Day night wouldn't turn out like a bad date.
Leading up to Magnuson's block, the Falcons had watched their nine point halftime lead nearly vanish, as CWU brought themselves within three points on multiple occasions. Jenn Jacobs went 3-4 from behind the arc in the second half, and led all players with 11 points post-halftime.
Rallying behind their post players, SPU kept their distance from the Wildcats, using Melissa Reich, Megan Hoisington, and Kelsey Hill to squash each CWU run. Magnuson also hit a three pointer with 7:09 remaining to put SPU on top by six, but Hull followed it promptly with a three of her own. Reich drained the next four points to put the Falcons up by six, prompting CWU coach Jeff Whitney to take a timeout and refocus his team.
Hill led SPU with 13 points, seven rebounds, and four blocks. Reich added nine points, six boards, and four blocks, with Hoisington scoring eight, grabbing seven, and blocking one.
SPU point guard Beth Christensen led all players with six assists, adding eight points to her game totals.
The Wildcats saw the most production from Jacobs, who led all players with 16 points, going 4-6 from three point land. Kristina Klapperich had 12 points and eight boards, while Hilary Tanneberg broke a seven year GNAC record for offensive rebounds, grabbing 11 over 23 minutes of play. Tanneberg broke Bell Jordan's 2001 mark of ten for offensive rebounds, and finished with 20 boards overall, ranking sixth all time.
The Falcons were out rebounded by CWU 49-44, giving up 23 offensive rebounds to a team that averages 11.1 offensive boards a game. SPU did win the blocking battle though (11-4), and had 14 more points in the paint (40-26).
SPU will face Western Washington University at 5 p.m. Saturday at home, as the first game of a double-header, featuring the SPU men's squad against Northwest Nazarene University to follow at 7 p.m.
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