MONMOUTH, Ore. -- A little help here, a little help there. It all added up to a big lead and a big women's basketball victory for Seattle Pacific on Saturday afternoon.
Daesha Henderson scored 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and Kelsey Hill supplied 14 points and six rebounds as the 10th-ranked Falcons rolled past Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 70-39.
Seattle Pacific (19-4, 12-2 GNAC won its seventh straight game. The Wolves (8-17, 3-11 GNAC) lost for the seventh straight time.
“One of the things Western Oregon does well is they penetrate a lot and they're hard for us to guard,” Falcons coach Julie van Beek said. “The kids did a good job of playing good help defense and not allowing them to penetrate.”
The victory further solidified SPU's grip on the No. 1 ranking in the West Region. If the Falcons retain that spot through the final week of the regular season, they will host the West Regional tournament in Brougham Pavilion, with games scheduled for March 13, 14 and 16.
The help at the defensive end carried over to the offensive production. In addition to sharp shooting by Henderson (Snohomish, Wash.), who totals included 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc, and Hill (Portland, Ore.), who buried 6 of 9 from the floor, two Falcons registered career highs on Saturday.
Freshman reserve guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) scored in double figures for the first time of her SPU career, finishing with 11 points. McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.), another freshman reserve guard, handed out six assists, getting five of those during the first half when Seattle Pacific turned the game into a runaway.
“McKayla stepped up and just played real solid,” van Beek said.
The Falcons beat Western Oregon for the 24th consecutive time. The Wolves won the first two games of the series, both during the 1981-82 season, but haven't beaten Seattle Pacific since then. SPU won this season's first meeting on Feb. 12 in Seattle, 65-48.
Junior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) chipped in 11 points for the Falcons. Sophomore center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) also pulled down six rebounds.
Katie Torland led Western Oregon with 18 points. Whitney Chase added 11.
Seattle Pacific was down 8-5 early in the game when it put together a 16-1 run to take a 21-9 lead. The Falcons eventually extended their margin to 25 points late in the first half at 42-17 on a lay-up by Hill, and went into halftime with a 23-point bulge, 42-19.
Van Beek liked the way her team adjusted to Western Oregon's defensive schemes.
“They ran a zone, they ran some man to man. But once we got going, we got some points in transition and were able to handle their zone,” she said.
Seattle Pacific kept its lead in the 20s throughout most of the second half, at one point stretching it to 33 at 70-37 late in the game.
The 39 points allowed by SPU was its second-lowest total of the season, bettered only by its 57-34 victory against Central Washington on Jan. 17. The Falcons, who this past week were near the top 10 percent of Division II defensively (No. 28 out of 275 teams, allowing just 58.3 points per game) now have kept four straight opponents under 50 points, and 10 of their past 11 under 60.
Seattle Pacific closes the regular season with road games next Thursday at Saint Martin's and next Saturday at Northwest Nazarene. The field for the West Region and for the entire NCAA tournament will be announced on Sunday, March 8.
