March 7, 2009
NAMPA, Idaho -- With the season's biggest games looming just ahead of them, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get to come home -- and stay home.
Kelsey Burns hit both ends of a one-and-one with 12 seconds remaining, and SPU hung for a 72-68 victory against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon to wrap up a share of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball title and the host role for next week's NCAA Division II West Regional tournament.
“We felt like it was a realistic goal to compete for a regional championship. But if you had told me last fall that we would host, I would have been shocked,” Seattle Pacific coach Julie van Beek said.
To the region's top-ranked team goes that host role, and Saturday's victory clinched that No. 1 spot in the West for the Falcons (21-4, 14-2 GNAC), who have won nine in a row and are ranked No. 8 nationally.
Regional play will come to Royal Brougham Pavilion for the second straight year, and it begins on Friday, March 13, with four quarterfinal games. The two semifinals will be March 14, and the championship is set for Monday, March 16.
Pairings and all of the other details will be firmed up and announced on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. PDT. The selection show can be viewed at www.ncaa.com.
"It's a big deal (to host),” van Beek said. “Any time you can play at home, it's familiar, your routine is pretty familiar, we have our fans -- it's a huge thing.”
Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage officially wound up as GNAC co-champions. The Seawolves wrapped up their 14-2 conference season by routing Montana State Billings on Saturday night, 74-52. However, the Falcons gained the GNAC's automatic entry into regionals by virtue of being higher (No. 1) than Anchorage (No. 3) in the final West Region rankings that were released on March 4.
After SPU went undefeated (18-0) through last year's conference schedule to win the title outright, van Beek was delighted to be back on top again, even as co-champions with the Seawolves.
“Losing four starters and having young kids, then going through conference with so many kids missing (with assorted injuries) -- it's just (fun) seeing the way the kids have come together,” van Beek said. “Our freshmen have really grown up.”
TOUGH PLACE TO WIN
For the co-championship and the host role to become official, the Falcons had to prevail on Saturday night against a Northwest Nazarene team that had won 15 straight games on its home court at the Harmon & Elizabeth Johnson Sports Center since dropping a 67-66 decision to SPU on Feb. 2, 2008.
A 16-3 run that began with just less than 15 minutes remaining the game put the Falcons in front for good, although it took the two free throws by Burns (Seattle/Kennedy HS) at the 12-second mark, which accounted for the last of her game-high 21 points, to seal the deal.
Junior Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) added 15 points for Seattle Pacific, getting 11 of those after halftime. Junior Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) scored all 13 of her points during the second half, and freshman Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) tallied all 13 of hers after the break, getting 12 of those from 3-point range.
Seattle Pacific was down 39-33 with 14:57 left in the game, then started its 16-3 surge. A 3-pointer by Sims -- her second in a row -- put the Falcons up 44-42 with 12:44 left, and they never trailed again.
SPU twice pushed its lead to as many as eight points, and was up 70-63 with 1:19 left. Northwest Nazarene (18-9, 11-5 GNAC) cut it all the way down to 70-68 on a pair of free throws by Janee Olds with 13 seconds left.
But Brittney Roggenkamp immediately fouled Burns, whose two subsequent makes returned it to a two-possession game at 72-68. The only try the Crusaders got after that was a 3-pointer by Olds that missed at the buzzer.
“Northwest Nazarene is so aggressive defensively and we were very tentative, and that played right into their hands,” van Beek said of SPU's first-half struggles, which included 12 turnover and saw the Crusaders finish on a 9-4 run to take a 31-29 lead into the break. “In the second half, we came out a little more aggressive and finally got some more confidence.
Lindsay Brady led Northwest Nazarene with 16 points.
The Falcons shot 48.3 percent for the game (28 of 58), including a blistering 60.7 percent during the second half (17 of 28). Northwest Nazarene hit just 36.2 percent for the game (21 of 58), but stayed in hit by draining 21 of 26 at the foul line. Seattle Pacific got just 10 free throws, hitting seven.
The Falcons shot 48.3 percent for the game (28 of 58), including a blistering 60.7 percent during the second half (17 of 28), when they cut their turnovers down to only seven. Northwest Nazarene hit just 36.2 percent for the game (21 of 58), but stayed in it by draining 21 of 26 at the foul line. Seattle Pacific got just 10 free throws, hitting seven.
Senior Kelsey Hill (Portland, Ore.) pulled down nine rebounds for the Falcons, who now have won 20 of 22 games all-time against NNU.
NCAA Women's Basketball
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Harmon & Elizabeth Johnson Sports Center/Nampa, Idaho
(8) Seattle Pacific 72, Northwest Nazarene 68
SEATTLE PACIFIC (21-4, 14-2 GNAC)
Burns 7-134-4 21, Henderson 7-12 0-0 15, Hoisingto 6-12 0-1 13, Sims 4-7 1-3 13, Hill 3-5 0-0 6, Harazin 1-3 2-2 4, Schaar 0-0 0-0 0, Reich 0-4 0-0 0, Gorman 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 7-10 72.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (18-9, 11-5 GNAC)
Brady 4-9 7-9 16, Olds 2-5 5-6 11, Roggenkamp 4-10 1-2 10, Wiliams 3-9 4-4 10, Hein 3-13 2-2 8, Whipple 3-3 0-0 7, Johnson 2-8 2-3 6, Bazzi 0-1 0-00. Totals 21-58 21-26 68.
Seattle Pacific..................29 43 -- 72
Northwest Nazarene.......31 37 -- 68
3-point goals -- SPU 9-18 (Sims 4-5, Burns 3-6, Hoisington 1-2, Henderson 1-3, Gorman 0-1, Harazin 0-1), NNU 5-16 (Olds 2-5, Brady 1-3, Whipple 1-1, Roggenkamp 1-4, Hein 0-3). Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- SPU 35 (Hill 9, Burns 6), NNU 36 (Hein 9). Assists -- SPU 17 (Henderson 4, Harazin 4), NNU 6 (Roggenkamp 2). Technical fouls -- None. Total fouls -- SPU 20, NNU 15. A -- 783.
