LACEY, Wash. -- Melissa Reich said she's just trying to play her best overall game as the women's basketball season heads toward crunch time.
Based on her stat line Thursday night, the Seattle Pacific junior center is doing exactly that.
Reich pumped in 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds and handed out a career-high eight assists, and Megan Hoisington posted her sixth double-double of the season as the Falcons retained their hold on first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 66-55 victory against Saint Martin's.
The 17th-ranked Falcons (21-3, 12-1) won their eight straight game and stayed half a game in front of Western Washington, which beat Central Washington, 70-48.
“I've been working really hard and working on my confidence on the floor,” said Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS), who hit 5 of 8 from the floor. “Our focus is just ending the season with no regrets and becoming the best we can be. And that's my sole focus right now is just to become the best that I can become.”
Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) pumped in 13 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. The rebounding total was her seventh time in double digits in that department this winter.
Senior guard Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) led the Falcons with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
“I loved the fact that Megan had a double-double, and Melissa was really solid -- eight assists, and I love to see that she's scoring, too,” SPU coach Julie van Beek said. “Katie Thralls did a great job coming off the bench (four points, two assists, one rebound in 16 minutes). And Daesha was Daesha. There were a lot of bright spots.”
Reich's assist total was double her previous career high of four, which she set on Jan. 30 against Alaska Fairbanks. In fact, she passed that mark just beyond the midpoint of the first half by setting up five consecutive SPU baskets during a span of 3¼ minutes.
“We're starting to read each other a lot better, and my teammates are finding the gaps really well, so it's easy to find them (with the ball),” Reich said.
Seattle Pacific trailed just once, that when Saint Martin's (10-15, 4-10 GNAC) scored the initial basket of the game. The Falcons led by as many as 14 during the first half before taking a 36-24 lead into halftime.
The Saints got within eight during the second half at 40-32 at the 16:20 mark. But SPU then went on an 11-4 run to make it 51-36, and the closest Saint Martin's got after that was nine points at 64-55 inside the final minute.
The Falcons beat the Saints for the 12th straight time.
Led by Reich's eight, SPU had assists on 24 of its 28 baskets and shot 45.9 percent from the field (28 of 61). Sophomore guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash.) dished four assists to go along with nine points, two rebounds, a career-best two blocked shots, and one steal.
“They ran a zone that was sagging in and ran a sagging defense that caused us some problems,” van Beek said. “But then we did a better job of finding the open girl. And then we're shooting a high percentage, too That's way above our average (of 42 percent).”
Saint Martin's was led by the 15 points of Krissy Bassett. Dara Zack added 14 and grabbed a team-leading nine rebounds.
The Falcons' defense limited the Saints to just 33.3 percent shooting (19 of 57). SPU came into the game allowing its opponents just a 34 percent success rate from the field, making it the 12th-toughest team to shoot against in all of NCAA Division II.
Seattle Pacific plays host to Central Washington on Saturday night at 7 in its regular-season home finale, and it will be Senior Night, honoring Henderson, Hoisington and forward Sydney Benson. The regular season concludes next week with games at Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, March 4, and at Alaska Anchorage on March 6.
The announcement of the NCAA tournament bracket and the eight teams in the West Regional field will be Sunday, March 7. And while there's plenty of basketball to play before then, the Falcons, who moved up a spot to No. 2 in this week's West Regional rankings, are virtually assured of getting into the field.
“We have some upperclassmen who have experienced postseason play and know how it works,” Reich said. “We know what it takes to get there.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Marcus Pavilion/Lacey, Wash.
(No. 17) Seattle Pacific 66, Saint Martin's 55
SEATTLE PACIFIC (21-3, GNAC 12-1)
Henderson 6-9 0-2 14; Hoisington 6-12 0-0 13; Reich 5-8 1-2 11; Harazin 3-6 2-2 9; Maloney 3-5 0-0 8; Rohrbach 2-6 0-0 4; Thralls 2-2 0-1 4; Sims 1-9 0-0 3; Murray 0-2 0-0 0; Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 3-7 66.
SAINT MARTIN'S (10-15, GNAC 4-10)
Bassett 4-9 5-7 15; Zack 6-11 0-0 14; Gelhar 4-15 2-3 11; Hawkins 2-6 2-2 6; Schang 1-3 2-2 5; Teade 1-2 0-0 2; Mielke 1-5 0-1 2; Baker 0-3 0-0 0; Lashua 0-0 0-0 0; Busch 0-1 0-0 0; Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0; Lawson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-57 11-15 55.
Seattle Pacific............... 36 30 - 66
Saint Martin's................ 24 31 - 55
3-point goals--Seattle Pacific 7-20 (Henderson 2-4; Maloney 2-4; Sims 1-4; Hoisington 1-3; Harazin 1-3;
Murray 0-1; Rohrbach 0-1), Saint Martin's 6-19 (Zack 2-3; Bassett 2-4; Gelhar 1-7; Schang 1-2; Busch
0-1; Mielke 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--Seattle Pacific 43 (Hoisington 13), Saint Martin's 33 (Zack 9). Assists--Seattle Pacific 24 (Reich 8), Saint Martin's 11 (Gelhar 3; Bassett 3). Total fouls--Seattle Pacific 17, Saint Martin's 11. Technical fouls--Seattle Pacific-None, Saint Martin's-None. A-431.
