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SEATTLE – Rachel Murray said she has been putting some added focus on her shot. On Wednesday night, it showed.

Sophomore guard Murray came off the bench and scored a career-high 12 points, Nyesha Sims tallied 16 and handed out a career-best five assists as 23rd-ranked Seattle Pacific went on a 19-0 scoring run that bridged the first and second halves, rolling to a 70-51 victory against Notre Dame de Namur in the first round of the Falcons Invitational in Brougham Pavilion.





Murray (Eglington, Australia) bettered her previous career high of 10 points, which she set on Dec. 21, 2009, against Chico State. On Wednesday, she buried 5 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point arc.

“I was working on shooting during the (Christmas) break, and it was nice to finally see my shots fall,” said Murray, who played 21 minutes. “It felt great to contribute as much as I could to the team.”

It was a Murray 3-pointer from the right of the lane with 5:32 left in the first half that tied the game at 17-17 and started SPU on its 19-0 scoring run that accounted for the final 17 points of the first half and the first two points of the second. Seattle Pacific had six different players contribute points to that decisive surge.

“Our intensity just changed,” Murray said. 'We made some subs, we were just working hard defensively, and that led into our offense. Working together, we just played really well.”

Senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS), who also scored 12 as SPU (6-2) won its fourth straight game, agreed.

“We were able to get some steals and some transition and get some easy buckets, so that helped us pick up our all-around game,” Rohrbach said. “Our defense definitely accelerated our offense.”

The Falcons (6-2, 1-0 GNAC) will play St. Edward's of Austin, Texas, on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Hilltoppers (7-5) lost to Central Washington in Wednesday's first game, 72-61. Central (5-3) faces Notre Dame de Namur (2-6) of Belmont, Calif., in Thursday's 5 p.m. game.

The SPU men open Thursday's tripleheader in Brougham when they tip off their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule against Western Oregon at 2 p.m.

While the Falcons were hitting 6 out of 10 from the floor to close the first half, Notre Dame de Namur missed its final 12 shots of the half, turned the ball over six times, didn't hit a field goal for the final 10:25 and were kept off the board entirely for the last 6:50 before halftime.

SPU then scored the first two points of the second half to make it a 19-0 run before Laura Zasly hit two free throws with 18:08 left in the game to get the Argonauts back on the board after an 8-minute, 42-second dry spell.





“Our slowness (at the start) was probably because we hadn't played (in 11 days),” Falcons coach Julie Heisey said. “And I think our surge was we changed defenses and Katie Thralls always gives us a little spark. The defense was able to go into that trapping zone, we got a couple of lay-ups, Betsy Kingma hit a shot against the zone, and we kind of broke free. It had kind of a snowball effect, we got the momentum going, and that's a key thing.”

Once again, the Falcons – who were playing the first of four games in six days -- enjoyed big contributions from their reserves: 29 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists from the eight players off the bench.

“We need to have our depth,” Heisey said, “and I think it showed that everybody matters, everybody contributes, and that's a real positive thing for our team.”

The Falcons had one of their best shooting nights of the season, hitting 45 percent from the floor (27 of 60) and were solid again from the free throw line, sinking 11 of 12. They are now 20 for their last 22 from the line, having gone 9 of 10 in a 65-60 win at Simon Fraser in their final game prior to Christmas.

Notre Dame de Namur, which missed 17 straight shots from the 10:25 mark of the first half to the 14:21 mark of the second, hit just 30 percent for the game (17 of 56).

Seattle Pacific had a 31-17 lead at halftime, and kept the margin in double digits for the entire second half.

Sims also pulled down five of SPU's 36 rebounds. Senior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) also had five.

Laura Zasly finished with 16 point for Notre Dame de Namur, and Katie Zasly had 11. It was Katie Zasly's 3-pointer that ended the Argos' 0-for-17 field goal streak.

This was the Falcons' first victory this year in three tries against the Pacific West Conference. Seattle Pacific had lost to Grand Canyon and Dixie State earlier this month.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Falcons Invitational
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

(No. 23) Seattle Pacific 70, Notre Dame de Namur 51

NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR (2-6, 0-0 PacWest)
Zasly, Laura 6-16 2-2 16; Zasly, Katie 3-18 4-4 11; Vore, Emily 3-6 2-4 9;
de la Cruz, Kathleen 3-6 0-0 6; Mullins, Pilar 1-2 4-6 6; Janssen, Jennica
1-1 0-0 2; Perry-Smith, Hilary 0-0 1-2 1; Hironaka, Janie 0-0 0-0 0; Foster,
Lindsey 0-2 0-0 0; Ryabulkhina, Jane 0-1 0-0 0; Tillis, Monique 0-1 0-0 0;
Saia, Natellie 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 17-56 13-18 51. 

SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-2, 1-0 GNAC)
Sims,Nyesha 7-15 1-1 16; Murray,Rachel 5-7 0-0 12; Rohrbach,Caitlyn 5-8 2-2
12; Reich,Melissa 4-7 0-0 8; Gorman, McKayla 1-2 4-4 7; Kingma,Betsy 2-4 0-0
5; Maloney,Maddie 2-6 1-1 5; Butler,Riley 0-2 2-2 2; Callen,Aubree 1-2 0-0
2; Benson,Katie 0-3 1-2 1; Reimer,Joani 0-0 0-0 0; Thralls,Katie 0-0 0-0 0;
Teng,Michelle 0-1 0-0 0; Harazin,Jordan 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 11-12 70. 

Notre Dame de Namur........... 17 34 - 51
Seattle Pacific......................... 31 39 - 70
3-point goals--Notre Dame de Namur 4-14 (Zasly, Laura 2-7; Vore, Emily 1-1;
Zasly, Katie 1-5; Tillis, Monique 0-1), Seattle Pacific 5-18 (Murray,Rachel
2-3; Sims,Nyesha 1-5; Kingma,Betsy 1-1; Gorman, McKayla 1-2; Benson,Katie
0-1; Teng,Michelle 0-1; Harazin,Jordan 0-2; Maloney,Maddie 0-2;
Rohrbach,Caitlyn 0-1). Fouled out--Notre Dame de Namur-None, Seattle
Pacific-None. Rebounds--Notre Dame de Namur 38 (Mullins, Pilar 11), Seattle
Pacific 36 (Reich,Melissa 5; Sims,Nyesha 5). Assists--Notre Dame de Namur 9
(Mullins, Pilar 3), Seattle Pacific 22 (Sims,Nyesha 5). Total fouls--Notre
Dame de Namur 15, Seattle Pacific 15. Technical fouls--Notre Dame de
Namur-Mullins, Pilar, Seattle Pacific-None. A-280.