Box score, play-by-play
PHOTO GALLERY
Colorado Christian-Central Washington recap
SEATTLE -- Just two games into the women's basketball season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons have a tournament sweep and a tournament MVP.
Megan Hoisington had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Daesha Henderson was named the Most Valuable Player, as the Falcons finished a 2-0 run through the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic on Saturday with a 74-62 victory against Humboldt State in Brougham Pavilion.
The Falcons (2-0) beat the Lumberjacks (1-1) for the 24th straight time, and have lost just one of the 26 all-time games they've played against Humboldt. The two teams met this past March in the NCAA West Region semifinals in Brougham, with Seattle Pacific taking that one, 74-56.
Sophomore guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) and senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) added 12 points apiece for SPU in Saturday's win. Benson also pulled down eight rebounds, her Falcon career high. Junior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) grabbed 10 boards, following up on a nine-rebound performance in Friday's 90-53 victory against Colorado Christian.
“We watched them play (on Friday), we knew they were a tough team, and we knew what they wanted to do,” said senior guard Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS). “As a team, we definitely stepped up (this weekend) and saw a lot of improvement. It's exciting to see that we have a lot we can work on, but it's just as exciting to see where we are this early.”
Reich and senior forward Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) joined Henderson on the all-tournament team, along with Humboldt's Brittney Taylor and Colorado Christian's Juanise Cornell.
Taylor led the Lumberjacks with 12 points, and Andrea Bobic added 10.
The Falcons, ranked 16th in the USA Today/ESPN preseason coaches poll, raced to a 7-0 lead as the Humboldt State missed its first six shots. Then, after the Jacks pulled within 12-10, Seattle Pacific used a 12-0 run midway through the first half to make it 24-10. SPU had a 37-24 lead at halftime.
“We wanted to dictate from the beginning, and we did a pretty good job of coming out and setting the tone,” said Henderson, who had six points and four rebounds following Friday's 25-point, seven-assist output in a 90-53 victory against Colorado Christian. “Our goal was never to let them have hope, and we did a good job of that.”
Seattle Pacific maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, stretching it to as much as 64-42 with 7:53 left. Humboldt State ran off 13 straight, closing to 64-55 on a 3-pointer by Bobic with 4:14 remaining. But Hoisington responded with a putback at the 3:51 mark, then drained a jumper with 3:07 left, pushing it back to a 13-point spread at 68-55.
“We had some great spurts and we beat a very, very good team,” Falcons coach Julie van Beek said. “We didn't hold (a big) lead the whole time, but at the same time, it's exciting to know that we can get up on a very good team by 20 points.”
Just as satisfying to van Beek was the production of SPU's reserves. They contributed 37 points and 18 rebounds, led by the twin 12-point efforts of Sims and Benson, and Benson's eight boards. Junior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash,./Meadowdale HS) added nine points and four rebounds, and sophomore guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) chipped in four points, three rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“That's what was nice about both of these nights: We had some good balance and good performances off the bench,” van Beek said. “I felt that Humboldt's top five is very good. So I challenged our bench that every time we make a sub, we would get better, because I felt our depth was better than theirs.”
SPU returns to play on Tuesday with a nonconference game against Pacific Lutheran University at 7 p.m. in Brougham.
NCAA Women's Basketball
Sodexo Tip-Off Classic
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
(No. 16) Seattle Pacific 74, Humboldt State 62
HUMBOLDT STATE (1-1, 0-0)
Taylor, Brittney 5-9 2-2 12; Bobic, Andrea 3-11 1-2 10; Richards, Caitie 3-8
0-0 9; Peterson, Paige 4-15 0-0 8; Halsey, Bree 1-6 5-6 7; Kilgore, Taylor
2-7 1-2 7; Huffman, Kristen 1-1 3-6 5; Williams, Kayla 1-4 2-6 4; Wilson,
Alyssa 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 14-24 62.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-0, 0-0)
Hoisington,Megan 7-14 1-2 17; Benson,Sydney 4-10 4-4 12; Sims,Nyesha 5-7 1-3 12; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 3-5 3-4 9; Reich,Melissa 3-6 0-1 6; Maloney,Maddie 3-4 0-1 6; Henderson,Daesha 2-7 2-3 6; Harazin,Jordan 1-4 2-3 4; Gorman,McKayla 1-4 0-0 2; Murray,Rachel 0-1 0-0 0; Thralls,Katie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 13-21 74.
Humboldt State................ 24 38 - 62
Seattle Pacific................. 37 37 - 74
3-point goals--Humboldt State 8-29 RichardsCaitie 3-5; BobicAndrea
3-11; KilgoreTaylor 2-6; WilliamsKayla 0-3; PetersonPaige 0-3; Taylor
Brittney 0-1), Seattle Pacific 3-14 (Hoisington,Megan 2-3; Sims,Nyesha 1-1;
Maloney,Maddie 0-1; Henderson,Daesha 0-4; Harazin,Jordan 0-2; Gorman,McKayla
0-2; Thralls,Katie 0-1). Fouled out--Humboldt State-Peterson Paige, Seattle
Pacific-None. Rebounds--Humboldt State 35 (HalseyBree 9), Seattle Pacific
50 (Reich,Melissa 10; Hoisington,Megan 10). Assists--Humboldt State 15
(Williams Kayla 8), Seattle Pacific 18 (Maloney,Maddie 6). Total
fouls--Humboldt State 18, Seattle Pacific 17. Technical fouls--Humboldt
State-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-411.
