THE SCHEDULE:        SODEXO TIP-OFF CLASSIC
                                     Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash.
                                     Friday, Nov. 20: C. Wash. vs. Humboldt St., 1 p.m.
                                     Live stats at www.spufalcons.com

                                     Colorado Christian at Seattle Pacific, 5 p.m.
                                     Live stats and live Webcast at www.spufalcons.com

                                     Saturday, Nov. 21: C. Wash. vs. Colorado Christian, 1 p.m.
                                     Live stats at www.spufalcons.com

                                     Humboldt State at Seattle Pacific, 5 p.m.
                                     Live stats and live Webcast at www.spufalcons.com


        Weekly release, with stats (PDF)


SEATTLE -- From now on, it all counts for the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team.

After splitting a pair of exhibition games the past two weeks, the Falcons start playing for keeps this weekend as part of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion. After Central Washington and Humboldt State meet up to open the tourney at 1 p.m. on Friday, SPU will take on Colorado Christian of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 5 p.m.

On Saturday, Seattle Pacific meets West Regional rival and California Collegiate Athletic Association champion Humboldt State at 5 p.m. That will be a rematch of last year's regional semifinals, a game won by Seattle Pacific in Brougham, 74-56.

Last Friday on their home court, the Falcons sprinted to an early lead against George Fox, saw the Bruins edge in front by halftime, then opened the second half on a 10-0 tear on the way to a 62-55 victory against the defending NCAA Division III champions.

SPU has a light week coming up, as it plays host to Pacific Lutheran next Tuesday night at 7.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Coach Julie van Beek likes to schedule challenging nonconference opponents to prepare for the rugged Great Northwest Athletic Conference calendar. And that's exactly what the Falcons have on their docket this week.

“Both teams are very good. Humboldt State won their conference last year, and they have a very good, strong group of returners,” van Beek said. “They know how to win. They won the CCAA, and that has given them some good confidence to know that they can do that again. And Colorado Christian has their two leading scorers back.”

As was the case after their 69-61 opening exhibition loss to Washington, van Beek and her players used the aftermath of their victory against George Fox to emphasize some points of improvement.

“I think part of what we've seen is timing,” she said. “Defense is always ahead of the offense at this time of year. Defense has its own timing, but offense is so much more timing and rhythm. We've seen some good spurts of that.”

Defense will be key against Humboldt's Lumberjacks and CCU's Cougars.

“We're going to face two teams this weekend that like to drive a lot,” van Beek said. “We had problem at times stopping penetration against George Fox. That's something I hope we've improve on this week.”

SCOUTING COLORADO CHRISTIAN
All-time series: Tied, 1-1. Current series streak: CCU won 1. Last time: CCU 84, SPU 81 (Nov. 26, 1999 at Lakewood, Colo). Colorado Christian on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Every starter is back from last year's team that went 9-10 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and 14-15 overall. The Cougars were in the Central Region rankings at one point before some late-season injuries knocked them off track. Among those returners is senior 5-foot-7 senior guard Talmai Aguirre, who was leading the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game and had buried 60 shots from 3-point range before going down with a knee injury. She also averaged 4.4 rebounds per game. Also back is 6-1 senior forward Abby Rosenthal with her double-double averages of 14.1 points and 10.4 rebounds. Rosenthal was CCU's most accurate shooter in 2008-09, hitting at a 49.2 percent clip (153 of 311). The Cougars are seeking their first win of 09-10 after back-to-back losses at the Super 8 Tip-Off Classic in Aberdeen, S.D., earlier this week.

SCOUTING THE HUMBOLDT STATE LUMBERJACKS
All-time series: SPU leads, 24-1. Current series streak: SPU won 23. Last time: SPU 74, Humboldt 56 (March 14, 2009 in NCAA West Regional semifinals at Seattle). Humboldt State on the Web.
Lumberjacks in a nutshell: With four of its five starters back, including top-scoring senior center Brittney Taylor (15.2 ppg), Humboldt State is being eyed as one of the West Region's top teams once again. Also returning for the Lumberjacks are 3-point sharpshooters Andrea Bobic (38.3 percent from behind the arc with a team-high 57 treys) and Taylor Kilgore (37.1 percent with 53 makes from downtown). Humboldt won two of its three exhibition games, including a 96-84 decision against Division I member Pacific. The Jacks were a solid road team last season with an 11-4 record.

MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
Nov. 13 vs. George Fox, W 62-55
Player                          Pts.    Reb.    Ast.    Blk.    Stl.    FG
F Megan Hoisington     17         7         1         1       1      8-13
C Melissa Reich             2       10         4         2       2      0-9
G McKayla Gorman       8         4         6         1       1      3-7
G Daesha Henderson  15         3         4         0       3      6-11
G Maddie Maloney        0         2          3        0       0       0-6
SEATTLE PACIFIC     62        37       22        4       9     25-65

HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
                            SPU     CCU     HSU
Points                 61.5      52.0     75.5
Points allowed   62.0      72.0     61.4
Rebounds           37.0     35.0     42.8
Assists               17.0      13.5     16.3
Steals                  11.0       6.0        9.6
Turnovers           18.0      21.0     17.9
FG pct.                .397      .361     .435
3-point pct.         .381      .256     .358
FT pct.                .579       .889     .694
(SPU totals are from exhibition games, CCU totals are from first two preseason games, HSU totals are from 2008-09.)

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific has been picked for a second-place finish in what is shaping up as a tight four-team-race in the GNAC.

Four of the conference's nine teams -- including SPU -- received at least two first-place votes in the preseason coaches poll. The numbers ultimately added up for Alaska Anchorage -- but not by much. The Seawolves, who shared the GNAC crown with SPU last winter at 14-2 and went 31-4 overall, picked up three of those first-place votes and a total of 72 points.

The Falcons (23-5 overall), coming off that co-championship and their second straight trip to the NCAA West Region title game, are right on Anchorage's heels with two first-place votes and 69 points.

There's not much breathing room behind SPU, either. Northwest Nazarene is third in the poll, also garnering a pair of first-place picks and a total of 65 points. Western Washington also picked up two firsts and came in with 64 points.

Those four schools all made it into the NCAA tourney last season. Seattle Pacific and Anchorage played for the conference crown. Western and NNU both went out in the first round.

This year's poll is in stark contrast to last season's when Anchorage received all but one first-place vote and totaled 86 points.

SPU also is ranked No. 16 in the USA Today/ESPN preseason poll, and is No. 24 in the d2basketball.com preseason poll. Michigan Tech is No. 1 in both polls. Defending national champion Minnesota State Mankato is No. 6 in USA Today/ESPN and No. 12 in d2basketball.com.

FALCON REPLAY
On the court, they settled down. On the scoreboard, they racked 'em up -- the points, that is.

Megan Hoisington scored 17 points on Friday night, Daesha Henderson added 15, and the Falcons started the second half with a 10-0 burst, going in front for good on the way to beating George Fox in an exhibition game at Brougham Pavilion last Friday, 62-55.

Down 29-27 at halftime, the Falcons, ranked 16th in the USA Today/ESPN Division II preseason poll, ran off the first 10 points of the second half to take the lead permanently. Senior guard Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) hit back-to-back 3-pointers, Hoisington had a lay-in, then Henderson fed sophomore guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) for a fast-break lay-in and a 37-29 SPU lead.

That wiped out what had been a two-point halftime deficit as SPU's offense was stymied through most of the first half.

Hoisington also had a team-leading seven rebounds for Seattle Pacific, and sophomore guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) handed out six assists.

ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Senior guard Daesha Henderson is an honorable mention pick on the Women's Division II Bulletin Preseason All-American list.
-- Henderson, who was among the GNAC's top five in five statistical categories, and Kelsey Hill, the leading rebounder for the Falcons (7.1 per game), were All-GNAC first-team selections last season.
-- Hill also was a Daktronics West Region first-team choice.
-- Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS), who played in all 28 games for SPU and started several of them during the Falcons' 11-game winning streak, was named the conference's Freshman of the Year.
-- Kelsey Burns, SPU's top scorer at 12.3 points per game, was a second-team All-GNAC selection.
-- Lexi Schaar, who graduated with a degree in European Studies/Linguistics, earned her third straight GNAC All-Academic honor. Joining her on the All-Academic list were Burns, Henderson and Maddie Maloney.

UP NEXT
The Falcons wind up a schedule of three games in five days when they take on Pacific Lutheran in a nonconference contest on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. Then, it's a 10-day break away from competition before SPU returns to the court on Dec. 4-5 at the NNU Classic in Nampa Idaho. The Falcons will face Pacific West Conference opponents Grand Canyon on the day of the tourney, and Dixie State the next day.

COACH JULIE VAN BEEK
She's not one to talk about her own accomplishments. But that's OK. Julie van Beek's accomplishments wherever she has been -- including Seattle Pacific -- speak loud and clear for themselves.

While on the Falcons' bench, van Beek has built a 96-21 record -- a mere four wins away from 100 in just four years. Her overall mark, which includes nine years at Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville prior to arriving at SPU, is 258-140.

Van Beek guided her last six teams at Trevecca Nazarene to an average of 21 wins a year, reaching NAIA Division I postseason play in each of those years. That included a spot in the tournament quarterfinals in 2005.

She is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest or to many of the GNAC schools. A native of Nampa, Idaho, she starred at Northwest Nazarene from 1986-89, was the team's leading rebounder three times and remains among that program's top all-time scorers, rebounders and shot blockers.

Van Beek was an assistant for Oklahoma's Southern Nazarene from 1992-96 when that program won three NAIA titles. After graduating from Nampa Christian High School in Idaho, van Beek earned her B.A. in education from Northwest Nazarene in 1989, and her master's in education from Southern Nazarene in 1994.

At Seattle Pacific, van Beek took charge of a team that already had become NCAA Division II power under the guidance of Gordy Presnell for 18 seasons before he left to accept the head coaching job at Boise State. Van Beek's four teams here have gone 24-6, 20-9,29-1 and 23-5. Her Falcons have reached the NCAA West Regional tournament all four years, and the past two squads have gone all the way to the West Regional championship game.

Van Beek was honored by Northwest Nazarene as the 2004 winner of the school's Leon Doane Young Alumnus Award, which recognizes Christian character, demonstrated leadership, professional endeavors and support of their alma mater.

She is a member of the USA Basketball Selection Committee, and has served as the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches Association president.

TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time for all home games.

Adult ticket prices are $8 for reserved seats at center court, $7 for reserved seats at the foul lines, and $6 for general admission. General admission for youths, students and senior citizens is $3.

SPU students, faculty and staff who present a valid current ID card are admitted free to all regular-season home events.

Organized groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates. Group ticket prices are $3 for adults and $1 for youths, and apply to all group members. Any individuals attending the event who are not members of the group, including parents and siblings, can purchase regular-priced tickets in advance, but do not qualify for the group rate. Group tickets must be ordered and paid for at least 72 hours in advance of the event by calling the Athletics Office at (206) 281-2085.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news and notes from around the GNAC.

GNAC STANDINGS
                                           Overall     Exhibition
Alaska Anchorage                 2-0              0-1
Alaska Fairbanks                  1-0              0-0
Montana State Billings          1-0              2-1
Northwest Nazarene             0-0             2-0
Saint Martin's                        0-0              1-1
Seattle Pacific                       0-0              1-1
Western Washington             0-0             1-2
Central Washington              0-0              0-1
Western Oregon                   1-3              0-3