Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE -- At 6-foot-2, it's natural to look for Sydney Benson on the inside. But on Thursday night, the Seattle Pacific senior forward got the job done from way outside.
Benson scored 13 points and drained a career-high three shots from behind the 3-point arc, and Jordan Harazin added 11 points, leading 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific past 13th-ranked Alaska Anchorage in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball battle, 57-42.
The victory in Brougham Pavilion helped the Falcons (14-3,5-1 GNAC) snap a second-place tie with the Seawolves (14-3, 4-2, GNAC). Those two schools shared last year's conference crown with identical 14-2 records, and have squared off in the past two NCAA West Regional championship games.
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS), playing her first and only season for the Falcons, had hit just 1 of 4 from 3-point territory all year, but drained 3 of 4 on Thursday.
“I'm actually more comfortable taking those shots,” said Benson, who hit 5 of 13 overall. “Ever since my sophomore year in high school, my coach would get a little mad at me because I was taller than everyone and I would step outside and shoot 3's.
“Both (younger sister) Katie and I are daddy's girls,” Benson added with a grin. “My dad is a good 3-point shooter. That's one of the first shots we learned.”
SPU coach Julie van Beek doesn't mind Benson taking a wide-open one from downtown when a good opportunity is there.
“Sydney has always had a nice 3-point shot,” she said. “She hasn't had to play the '4' (forward) position. But with Caitlyn Rohrbach out (Rohrbach has been held out of practice because of illness),she was able to play more on the perimeter.”
The Falcons will tip off Saturday's Homecoming festivities when they face Alaska Fairbanks at 1:30 p.m. in Brougham.
Seattle Pacific was behind just once on Thursday, that at 3-0 when Nicci Miller drained Anchorage's first shot of the game. But the Seawolves missed their next 11 shots. The Falcons scored the next five points, saw Alaska Anchorage climb into one more tie at 5-5 on a pair of free throws, then scored five more to take a 10-5 lead and never trailed again.
Sophomore guard Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) added five rebounds and two assists to her 11-point scoring output. Senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds and had three blocked shots.
Up just 19-15 after a low-scoring first half, SPU went on a 17-3 run to take a 39-22 lead with 7:48 left. It was 41-24 for the Falcons when Anchorage went on a 13-2 surge to get within 43-37.
But Seattle Pacific scored the next eight points -- back-to-back shots by Hoisington and a 22-foot trey by Harazin to make it 51-37 with just 1:48 left.
“Megan gave us a huge lift at the end -- kudos to her,” Benson said.
Coming off last Saturday's 54-40 loss at Western Washington, the Falcons not only got back on track, they did so against a national-caliber Alaska Anchorage squad.
“They're one of the best teams in the country the last few years,” van Beek said. “It's a great win and it was a team win -- that's what was fun. The thing that made me the most proud is Anchorage is known for their intensity and physical play, and we came out and matched their intensity. And we played poised.”
Added Benson, “We needed this win. It was definitely a morale booster.”
The Seawolves came into the game averaging 76.2 points, but were kept to their lowest total of the season.
Kelsie Gourdin led Alaska Anchorage with 13 points.
SPU shot just 34.7 percent (17 of 49), but limited the Seawolves to just 24.6 percent shooting (14 of 57).
“We weren't taking bad shots in the first half. They just weren't falling,” van Beek said. (The Falcons hit just 7 of 26 during the first 20 minutes). “I was hoping the second half they would fall, and we did shoot 43 percent in that half (10 of 23).”
The Falcons won the board battle, 41-38. Out-rebounding Anchorage is no small feat -- on average, the Seawolves collect 12 more than their opponents, the second-best margin in all of NCAA Division II.
NCAA Women's Basketball
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
(No. 21) Seattle Pacific 57, (No. 13) Alaska Anchorage 42
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (14-3, 4-2 GNAC)
Gourdin,Kelsie 4-11 5-6 13; Miller,Nicci 3-14 1-2 9; McBride,Kaitlin 2-4 2-3
6; Johansson,Hanna 2-7 1-3 5; Stepovich,Leah 2-6 0-0 5; Aden,Nikki 1-8 0-0
2; Gruwell,Tamar 0-5 2-2 2; Nenbee,Torle 0-0 0-0 0; Larsen,Brooke 0-0 0-0 0;
Collins,Brittany 0-0 0-0 0; Herrin,Sarah 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 14-57 11-16 42.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (14-3, 5-1 GNAC)
Benson,Sydney 5-13 0-0 13; Harazin,Jordan 4-7 0-0 11; Hoisington,Megan 3-8
2-2 9; Sims,Nyesha 2-5 3-4 8; Murray,Rachel 1-1 2-5 4; Henderson,Daesha 0-5
3-4 3; Gorman,McKayla 1-1 1-2 3; Reich,Melissa 1-3 1-2 3; Rohrbach,Caitlyn
0-2 2-2 2; Maloney,Maddie 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 17-49 15-23 57.
Alaska Anchorage.............. 15 27 - 42
Seattle Pacific..................... 19 38 - 57
3-point goals--Alaska Anchorage 3-17 (Miller,Nicci 2-4; Stepovich,Leah 1-4;
Aden,Nikki 0-3; Gruwell,Tamar 0-3; Herrin,Sarah 0-1; Gourdin,Kelsie 0-2),
Seattle Pacific 8-22 (Harazin,Jordan 3-5; Benson,Sydney 3-4; Sims,Nyesha
1-2; Hoisington,Megan 1-3; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 0-2; Maloney,Maddie 0-2;
Henderson,Daesha 0-4). Fouled out--Alaska Anchorage-Johansson,Hanna, Seattle
Pacific-None. Rebounds--Alaska Anchorage 38 (Johansson,Hanna 9), Seattle
Pacific 41 (Hoisington,Megan 7). Assists--Alaska Anchorage 8 (Gourdin,Kelsie
2; Johansson,Hanna 2), Seattle Pacific 12 (Henderson,Daesha 3). Total
fouls--Alaska Anchorage 22, Seattle Pacific 16. Technical fouls--Alaska
Anchorage-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-287.
