THE SCHEDULE: Thursday, Jan. 28: Alaska Anchorage at SPU, 5:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Saturday, Jan. 30: Alaska Fairbanks at SPU, 1:30 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Weekly release, complete stats, opponent's most recent starters (PDF)
SEATTLE -- So far, it's a split. But come Thursday night, Seattle Pacific Falcons are hoping to make it two out of three against the top Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball title contenders.
The Falcons, having beaten Northwest Nazarene on a buzzer-beater on Jan. 16 in Idaho before falling short at Western Washington last Saturday night, play host to defending conference co-champion Alaska Anchorage in Brougham Pavilion.
That much-anticipated contest between the two nationally ranked teams -- Anchorage is No. 13, SPU is No. 21 -- at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday is the tip-off for Homecoming week and opens the first of two hoops doubleheaders. The SPU men follow the women onto the Brougham court Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Anchorage.
Then on Saturday, the Falcon women get the Homecoming festivities started at 1:30 p.m. with their game against Alaska Fairbanks, followed by the men's game against the Nanooks at 3:30.
Seattle Pacific got off to a solid start last week when Megan Hoisington's 16 points sparked a 68-52 homecourt victory against Montana State Billings on Thursday. But on Saturday in Bellingham, the Falcons never found their shooting touch and dropped a 54-40 decision to Western.
SPU will get an early indication of how its postseason hopes are stacking up when the first West Region rankings of the year are released on Wednesday. The region's three conference champions -- GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West -- and the five highest-ranked teams among the non-champions earn spots in the NCAA West Regional tournament in March.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
There was no denying that the offense struggled last Saturday at Western Washington. But the defense came up with a strong performance, and coach Julie van Beek continued to put her focus on the big picture in he face of a disappointing loss.
“We still take losses hard, but you need to learn from your mistakes,” van Beek said. “You can't be in denial, but you can't have a pity party, either. You always find out what your true character is when you have to respond to adversity.”
The Falcons will have to be right back on top of their game come Thursday, because Alaska Anchorage knows all about how to be successful in Brougham Pavilion, having won the last two NCAA West Regional championships here, beating the Falcons both times. The fact that the Seawolves are ranked No. 13 suggests that they haven't fallen off much at all despite graduating three-time GNAC Player of the Year Rebecca Kielpinski.
“In some ways, they're going to be harder to defend because everything doesn't revolve around one player,” van Beek said. “Because Kielpinski isn't there, they're playing a lot more up-tempo. They're still very good defensively, they're a very good rebounding team, and they know how to win.”
Still, Anchorage is just one opponent on one night, and more than half of the regular season is still to come.
“As much was we're looking toward the opposition, we're looking at ourselves and making our team better and fine-tuning,” van Beek said. “We have to work on better offensive output and rebounding and stopping penetration.”
SCOUTING ALASKA ANCHORAGE (14-2, 4-1 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 34-15. Current series streak: UAA won 1. Last time: Alaska Anchorage 54, SPU 43 (NCAA West Regional finals, March 16, 2009 at Seattle). Alaska Anchorage on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Sure, Anchorage lost three-time GNAC Player of the Year Rebecca Kielpinski and 3-point sharpshooter Jackie Thiel to graduation. But the Seawolves are still the Seawolves -- and that means they're still very good. That's especially true on defense, as Anchorage ranks No. 4 nationally in fewest points allowed (52.1) and sixth in steals (15.3). The Seawolves also are a solid rebounding team. They lead the GNAC at 42.5 per game, and on average collect 12 more boards per game than their opponents, the second-highest margin in all of D-2. In last Thursday's 78-62 homecourt victory against Saint Martin's, UAA tied its school record by hitting 14 shots from behind the 3-point arc. Anchorage is led in scoring and rebounding by senior forward Nicci Miller, who did not play against Saint Martin's and did not start against Western Oregon last Saturday, but came off the bench for 11 points and four rebounds against the Wolves. Miller averages 14.9 points and 6.9 rebounds. Guard Tamar Gruwell also averages in double figures at 11.1 points.
SCOUTING ALASKA FAIRBANKS (1-15, 0-5 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 43-12. Current series streak: SPU won 15. Last time: SPU 97, Alaska Fairbanks 47 (Feb. 21, 2009 at Seattle). Alaska Fairbanks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: After an injury-decimated 2008-09 campaign, the Nanooks opened their new season on a up note when a last -second free throw by Seattle native Alexandra Melonson provided the deciding point in a 66-65 victory against Hawaii Hilo. But since that season-opening victory, they have lost their last 15 games. Senior forward Lakeshia Levi sets the pace on the board on under the boards for Alaska Fairbanks, averaging a team-high 16.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, ranking fourth and third, respectively, in the GNAC. No one else for the Nanooks averages in double figures.
MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
Jan. 23 at Western Washington, L 40-54
Totals vs. Western Washington/Season averages or totals
FG is previous game/season percentage
Player Pts. Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. FG
F Megan Hoisington 4/10.3 5/8.4 1/1.9 0/27 0/21 2-10/.404
C Melissa Reich 3/7.0 7/6.6 1/1.3 0/21 0/10 1-3/.529
G Jordan Harazin 0/6.3 3/3.0 2/2.6 2/2 0/0 0-2/.429
G Daesha Henderson 17/13.2 5/3.4 1/2.6 0/45 0/6 6-15/.477
G Maddie Maloney 4/6.2 0/2.4 2/3.3 2/32 0/4 1-6/.358
SEATTLE PACIFIC 40/68.9 40/40.8 11/18.2 5/212 1/55 15-48/.427
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking in parentheses)
Points SPU 68.9 (4) UAA 76.2 (2) UAF 54.4 (9)
Points allowed SPU 56.9 (3) UAA 52.1 (1) UAF 77.8 (9)
Rebounds SPU 40.8 (2) UAA 42.5 (1) UAF 37.8 (6)
Assists SPU 18.2 (1) UAA 16.9 (3) UAF 9.3 (9)
Steals SPU 13.3 (2) UAA 15.3 (1) UAF 5.1 (9)
Blocks SPU 3.4 (2) UAA 2.6 (T5) UAF 1.7 (7)
Turnovers SPU 21.5 (8) UAA 18.1 (2) UAF 21.9 (9)
FG pct. SPU .427 (3) UAA .421 (4) UAF .332 (9)
3-point pct. SPU .325 (7) UAA .342 (5) UAF .259 (9)
FT pct. SPU .656 (9) UAA .688 (6) UAF .661 (8)
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific is at No. 21 in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches poll, which was released on Jan. 19, a drop of three places from last week following Saturday's loss at Western Washington. The Falcons received 111 points in the voting. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire is No. 1, receiving 23 of the 26 first-place votes and 644 points. West Region rival UC San Diego (15-1) fell three spots to No. 10 after absorbing its first loss of the season, 84-80 at Humboldt State last Thursday.
Alaska Anchorage remains at No. 13. Western Washington moved into the poll at No. 22, accumulating 98 points.
The first West Region rankings, which ultimately determine the qualifiers for the NCAA tournament, are due out Wednesday, Jan. 27.
FALCON REPLAY
Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) scored a game-high 17 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures, and the Falcons shot just 31 percent from the field in dropping a 54-40 decision to Western Washington last Saturday night in Bellingham.
The Falcons drained just 15 of their 48 shots from the floor. SPU limited Western Washington to just 39.6 percent for the game, although the Vikings did hit at a 46.4 percent clip during the second half when they broke open the low-scoring contest.
Down 21-15 at the end of a low-scoring first half, SPU closed to 23-19 at the outset of the second half on back-to-back baskets by senior guard Henderson. But the Vikings went on a 12-2 run to make it 35-21 and kept the lead in double digits the rest of the way.
Last Thursday,
Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) scored 16 points,
Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) added 10 points off the bench, and Seattle Pacific used an 18-4 first-half scoring surge to pull ahead for good on the way to a
68-52 victory against Montana State Billings in Brougham Pavilion.
Senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) added nine points and three rebounds for the Falcons on Thursday. At one juncture early in the game, Seattle Pacific had missed 10 shots in a row and was up just 11-9 after scoring the first seven points of the game.
But the Falcons then scored 18 of the next 22 points, capped by an 11-0 run that made it 29-13 with 1:32 left before halftime. The Yellowjackets never came closer than 10 points after that.
SLICK-HANDED HENDERSON
With five steals last Thursday against Montana State Billings, senior guard Daesha Henderson has moved into ninth place on the GNAC career list with 196. She needs 29 more this season to move into the all-time Seattle Pacific top five. That No. 5 spot currently belongs to Becky Wiersma (1986-90) with 225.
Henderson was featured last Friday as the Everett Herald's College Athlete of the Week, which can be viewed by clicking on this link.
NEED A SECOND CHANCE? ASK HOISINGTON
Senior forward Megan Hoisington ranks fifth in GNAC rebounding at 8.4 per game. And, on average, she collects 5.4 of those rebounds at the offensive end of the court for the Falcons, giving them a chance to reset and try again. She ranks fourth in the conference in offensive rebounding.
HAVEN'T LOST THEIR TOUCH
They don't officially suit up in maroon any more, but a group of 10 former Falcons showed they still have game when they took on a group of Western Washington alumni prior to last Saturday's SPU-Vikings contest in Bellingham. Mandy Wood (Class of 2006) scored 17 points, and Valerie Gustafson Tomasch (2004) added 16 as the Falcons rolled to a 77-60 victory. Kristin Poe (2004) chipped in 14 points for the SPU squad, and Amy Taylor (2005) had 10.
Wood scored 15 points in the first half and helped spark a 29-3 scoring run that took the Falcons from 15-10 down to 39-18 up just before halftime. Her offensive production included four shots from 3-point range.
ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Senior forward Megan Hoisington was named to the all-tournament team at the Triton Holiday Classic on Dec. 28-29. Hoisington had a double-double of 11 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in a 58-53 win against Grand Canyon, and pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with seven points the previous night in an 82-80 double-overtime loss to host UC San Diego. It was Hoisington's third all-tourney team of the season. She also was honored at the GNAC-Pac West Classic on Dec. 4-5 in Nampa, Idaho, and at the season-opening Sodexo Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 20-21 in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Senior guard Daesha Henderson and junior center Melissa Reich were part of the all-tournament team at the GNAC-CCAA Challenge on Dec. 20-21 at Western Washington University in Bellingham.
-- Henderson named the Most Valuable Player of SPU's Sodexo Tip-Off Classic. Henderson had a 25-point, 7-assist game in a 90-53 victory against Colorado Christian, and averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in the two games.
-- Reich joined Henderson and Hoisington on the Sodexo all-tournament team. Reich had a 10-rebound game against Humboldt State after grabbing nine against Colorado Christian, and also averaged 9.5 points in the two games.
-- Henderson is an honorable mention pick on the Women's Division II Bulletin Preseason All-American list.
WELCOME ABOARD
A new group of basketball talent will be on its way to Seattle Pacific beginning next fall. The Falcons have signed guard Aubree Callen from Jerome, Idaho; center Riley Butler from Covington, Wash., and shooting guard Betsy Kingma of Bellevue, Wash.
The 5-foot-9 Callen hails from Jerome High School. As a junior last season, she averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists per game helping the Tigers take third place in the Class 4A state tournament.
Butler, who stands 6-2, averaged six points and eight rebounds for Kentlake in 2008-09, and is regarded as a solid rebounder with plenty of upside potential.
Kingma, at 5-11, was an All-Kingco Conference first-teamer for Newport High School last year. An all-around talent, she averaged 16.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 assists per game, helping the Knights earn at trip to Class 4A state.
FALCON FODDER
-- Seattle Pacific remains the best passing team in the GNAC, averaging 18.2 assists per game.
-- The Falcons rank No. 2 in rebounding (40.8) and steals (13.3). They are third in average points allowed (56.9), blocked shots (3.4) and field goal shooting (.427).
-- SPU is fourth in scoring at 68.9 points per game.
-- Megan Hoisington is fifth in overall rebounding at 8.4 per game. She is fourth on the offensive glass at 5.4 and tied for fourth at the defensive end at 2.7.
-- Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) is still the GNAC's best shooter at 52.9 percent (45 of 85). She also is tied for ninth in rebounding (6.6).
-- In addition to Reich, SPU has two other players ranking among the conference's top 10 field goal shooters. Senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) is tied for sixth at .490 (49 of 100), and Daesha Henderson is eighth at .477 (74 of 155).
-- Henderson's team-leading 13.2 scoring average ranks 11th in the GNAC. She also is third in steals at 2.8 per game (45 total) and sixth in 3-pointers made at 1.9 per game (30 total).
-- Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) retained the GNAC lead for assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.9. She is tied for fifth in assists at 3.3 per game, and is seventh in steals at 2.0.
-- Sophomore guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) is tied for eighth in 3-point accuracy at 40.0 percent (18 of 45).
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Among 300 schools, Seattle Pacific ranks No. 23 in Division II for lowest opponents' field goal percentage, allowing just a 35 percent success rate from the field.
-- Also at the defensive end, the Falcons are No. 16 in steals per game (13.3), moving up one spot from last week. They are No. 30 in fewest points allowed (56.9). That's a climb of four spots from last week, although ironically, they dropped from second to third in the GNAC in that department even though they lowered their average points allowed from 57.4 to 56.9.
-- SPU is No. 15 among D-2 schools in assists per game at 18.2, a jump of two positions.
-- Maddie Maloney is No. 28 for assist-to-turnover ratio with her 1.9 average.
-- Daesha Henderson is 35th in steals per game at 2.8.
Click on this link for a look at SPU's national statistical rankings. Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
UP NEXT
The Falcons are back on the road next Thursday, Feb. 4, when they visit Central Washington in Ellensburg. The Wildcats are the last team they have yet to meet in GNAC play this season, and that game will bring them to the midpoint of the 16-game conference schedule. Seattle Pacific returns to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 6, to take on Northwest Nazarene, which remains very much a part of the GNAC title picture.
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. She started this season with a 96-21 record at SPU, and a 258-140 overall mark, which includes nine years at Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville.
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.
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
GNAC Overall
Western Washington 6-0 15-2
Alaska Anchorage 4-1 14-2
Seattle Pacific 4-1 13-3
Northwest Nazarene 3-2 13-3
Western Oregon 3-3 8-12
Montana State Billings 2-3 9-7
Central Washington 1-4 4-11
Saint Martin's 1-5 7-10
Alaska Fairbanks 0-5 1-15
