MONMOUTH, Ore. -- Take better shots. Take better care of the ball.
That's what the Seattle Pacific Falcons focused on with some extra days of practice time. And that's what worked best for them on Saturday in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball opener.
Daesha Henderson scored 17 points, including a 3-pointer that started a decisive 13-1 scoring run at the outset of the second half, and 22nd-ranked SPU shot a season-best 52.8 percent from the field to start off conference play with a 75-62 victory against Western Oregon.
The Falcons (10-2, 1-0 GNAC) have never lost in nine conference openers and beat Western Oregon (6-10, 1-1 GNAC) for the 25th straight time. The Wolves won the first two games of the series back in the 1981-82 season, but Seattle Pacific has prevailed ever since.
“I told the kids at halftime (when SPU had just a 35-30 lead) that of the first 20 minutes, we totally dominated about 15 minutes and did a good job defensively and a good job rebounding,” coach Julie van Beek said. “Then the other five minutes, we had turnovers and let down mentally and gave up a wide-open 3 or gave up a lay-up. Those things kept us from having a 14- or 15-point lead.
“The second half, we talked about taking care of the ball -- and that was huge.”
Senior guard Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) hit 7 of 10 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from downtown. Senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash/Central Kitsap HS) added 16 points, just one short of her season and career high, and pulled down six rebounds. Reserve senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) chipped in nine points and six rebounds.
Seattle Pacific, which plays host to Saint Martin's on Thursday at 7 p.m., had eight days between its last nonconference game (a 71-62 at Azusa Pacific on Dec. 31) and Saturday's first GNAC contest of the season. Van Beek was eager to put those days to good use.
“As much as you learn from games, we needed to come back and practice and focus on little things,” she said. “We had three goals. We had to get higher percentage shots, and we did that. We had to work on stopping penetration. And we had to find ways to lower our turnovers and really focus on taking care the ball.”
The Falcons accomplished all three. They hit 28 of 53 from the floor, including 14 of 24 (58.3 percent) during the second half. They limited Western Oregon to 43 percent shooting (22 of 51). And, after committing 13 turnovers during the first half, SPU cut it to six in the second half, with only three of those coming while the game was still up for grabs.
“The practice time was good,” van Beek said. We're really ready to start conference and get into two games a week.”
WENT AHEAD, STAYED AHEAD
Seattle Pacific led from start to finish on Saturday, jumping to a 6-0 lead. Western Oregon didn't get onto the board until a pair of free throws by Katie Torland with 16:43 left in the first half. The Wolves finally hit their first field goal at the 14:03 mark.
SPU built a 29-19 lead, but had to settle for the 35-30 halftime edge. Lorrie Clifford hit a 17-footer from the right of the lane to open the second half, cutting it to just three at 35-32. But the Falcons scored 13 of the next 14 points to make it 48-33.
A 10-2 run by the Wolves got them back to 58-49 with 7:57 remaining. Hoisington and sophomore guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) responded with back-to-back 3-pointers, pushing the lead back to 15 at 64-49. Seattle Pacific gradually stretched it to as many as 21 at 74-53.
“On offense, Daesha did a good job of mixing it up,” van Beek said. “She found some outside shots and attacked the basket hard, and she just found ways to be hard to guard. Rachel Murray came off the bench and attacked the basket hard and really gave us a spark in both halves, and Sydney Benson came in and gave us nine points. Different people found ways to score.”
Torland, who came in averaging 17.3 points (she had 24 in Thursday's 67-61 upset of Northwest Nazarene), led Western Oregon with 16 points, and made it a double-double with 11 rebounds. But she was limited to 5-of-13 shooting from the floor.
“Megan (Hoisington) and Caitlyn (Rohrbach), their job was to guard Torland, and they did a good job of not giving her anything easy,” van Beek said. “She's one of the best players in the conference, and our big thing was to try to take her out of the game. If you put pressure on the ball, they can't run their sets and get the ball to her, and Daesha did a good job of pressuring the ball.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Saturday, January 9, 2010
New PE Building/Monmouth, Ore.
(No. 22) Seattle Pacific 75, Western Oregon 62
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-2, 1-0 GNAC)
Henderson,Daesha 7-10 1-3 17; Hoisington,Megan 6-8 3-3 16; Benson,Sydney 4-7
1-3 9; Murray,Rachel 4-4 1-2 9; Maloney,Maddie 0-5 5-9 5; Harazin,Jordan 1-6
2-2 5; Reich,Melissa 2-4 0-1 4; Thralls,Katie 1-1 0-0 3; Gorman,McKayla 1-3
0-0 3; Sims,Nyesha 1-2 0-0 2; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 1-2 0-0 2; Smith,Chanel 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 28-53 13-23 75.
WESTERN OREGON (6-10, 1-1 GNAC)
Torland,Katie 5-13 3-4 16; Whitsett,Hannah 4-7 0-0 11; Clifford,Lorrie 4-6
1-2 9; Zahler,Sara 2-6 1-2 7; Wilson,Erika 2-4 1-3 5; White,Meaghan 1-2 2-2
4; Martin,Courtney 1-2 2-2 4; Shearer,Lindsey 1-4 0-1 2; Bellando,Danielle
1-2 0-0 2; Corder,Shayla 1-3 0-0 2; Hawk,AJ 0-0 0-0 0; Richardson,Jamie 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 22-51 10-16 62.
Seattle Pacific.................... 35 40 - 75
Western Oregon................ 30 32 - 62
3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 6-15 (Henderson,Daesha 2-3; Harazin,Jordan
1-4; Thralls,Katie 1-1; Gorman,McKayla 1-1; Hoisington,Megan 1-1;
Smith,Chanel 0-1; Maloney,Maddie 0-4), Western Oregon 8-19 (Torland,Katie
3-5; Whitsett,Hannah 3-6; Zahler,Sara 2-4; White,Meaghan 0-1; Corder,Shayla
0-1; Richardson,Jamie 0-1; Wilson,Erika 0-1). Fouled out--Seattle
Pacific-None, Western Oregon-None. Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 30
(Benson,Sydney 6; Hoisington,Megan 6), Western Oregon 35 (Torland,Katie 11).
Assists--Seattle Pacific 15 (Maloney,Maddie 4), Western Oregon 15
(Corder,Shayla 3; Torland,Katie 3; Wilson,Erika 3; Zahler,Sara 3). Total
fouls--Seattle Pacific 17, Western Oregon 20. Technical fouls--Seattle
Pacific-None, Western Oregon-None. A-315.
