Box score, play-by-play
Rohrbach, Henderson earn Academic All-District honors
ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- Once they slowed down the attack, the Seattle Pacific Falcons opened up the game.
Daesha Henderson scored 17 points, including five during a 13-0 second-half run that put SPU clearly in command, and the Falcons went on to a 60-43 victory Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory against Central Washington on Thursday night in Nicholson Pavilion.
The 19th-ranked Falcons (16-3, 7-1 GNAC) won for the third straight time and hit the midpoint of their GNAC schedule still in sole possession of second place in the conference. Seattle Pacific is game behind undefeated Western Washington (9-0 after beating Northwest Nazarene in Bellingham on Thursday, 76-63, as the Vikings wiped out a 13-point deficit).
But before putting this one away, the Falcons needed a reminder of sorts from coach Julie van Beek that patience sometimes is a virtue -- even in a fast-paced basketball battle.
“In the first half, we were a little bit in a hurry, and that showed in our turnovers (13) and in our shooting (just 10 of 29 for 34.5 percent). In the second half, I thought we played better. We were able to establish an offensive flow (just six turnovers for the half, and only one of those during the 13-0 run).
“Sometimes, you're just trying too hard,” van Beek added. “I think we were anxious to play, and we just got caught up trying to do things too fast and turned the ball over. We just had to settle into a groove.”
One groove the Falcons did settle into right away was a defensive one. They have kept their last three opponents below 50 points, yielding just 42 to Alaska Anchorage, 44 to Alaska Fairbanks and now 43 to Central Washington. And none of those three score more than 15 points during the first half. SPU came into Thursday's game allowing just 55.3 points per game, ranking 19th in all of NCAA Division II.
“That's why we keep winning,” van Beek said.
Senior guard Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) had her fourth 17-point outing of the season. She also matched her career high with seven rebounds and handed out two assists.
Senior forward Megan Hoisington (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) added 13 points and seven boards for SPU, and senior forward Sydney Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) came off the bench for 10 points. Junior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds Wash./Meadowdale HS), getting her first ever start for the Falcons, chipped in nine points and three rebounds.
“Daesha was Daesha -- five steals, seven rebounds, hustling over the place,” van Beek said. “And Megan came up big for us, too. She was just solid.”
The Falcons were down 13-10 in the first half, but then scored the next 10 points -- the first seven of those by Henderson -- to go ahead for good. Sophomore guard Jordan Harazin capped the run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, making it 20-13 before SPU settled for a 22-15 halftime lead.
It was still a seven-point margin at 28-21 with 15:55 left in the game when Seattle Pacific went on its game-breaking 13-0 run, Henderson getting it started with a trey from the top of the key. By the time sophomore guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) fed Megan Hoisington for a three-footer at the end of a fast break, it was 41-21.
The closest Central Washington (6-12, 3-5 GNAC) came after that was the 17-point final margin.
SPU shot 36.1 percent for the game (22 of 61) but limited the Wildcats to just 28.8 percent (15 of 52). That was a big difference from last week when Central won twice on the road -- its first two-game winning streak since last February -- by hitting 55.1 percent at Saint Martin's and 49.2 percent at Montana State Billings.
Thanks to its much cleaner second half, Seattle Pacific wound up with just 19 turnovers for the night -- its third straight game below 20.
Central was led in scoring by Jenn Jacobs with 12 points. Sophie Russell, who came in averaging a team-high 13.5 points, was limited to eight.
The Falcons return home on Saturday to face Northwest Nazarene at 2 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. They've already met once, with SPU pulling out a 63-61 win on Jan. 16 in Nampa, Idaho, on a buzzer-beater by Henderson capped a 7-0 run in the final 2:49 of the game.
“We have to do a better job than we did last time,” van Beek said. “We got out-rebounded last time (34-32). We have to make sure we take care of the boards and take care of the ball.”
NCAA Women's Basketball
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash.
(No. 19) Seattle Pacific 60, Central Washington 43
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-3, 7-1 GNAC)
Hoisington 6-11 0-0 13, Maloney 0-4 0-0 0, Rohrbach 3-6 3-3 9, Harazin 1-5 2-2 5, Henderson 6-13 2-3 17, Gorman 0-3 0-0 0, Teng 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Thralls 0-0 0-0 0, Sims 0-3 0-0 0, Murray 0-3 0-0 0, Reimer 0-0 0-0 0, Benson 4-8 2-2 19, Reich 2-3 2-6 6. Totals 22-61 11-16 60.
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (6-12, 3-5 GNAC)
Russell 3-11 1-2 8, Bergner 2-9 4-4 8, Afoa 0-2 0-1 0, Duerr 2-6 0-0 4, Jacobs 4-10 2-2 12, Betteridge 2-6 0-0 4, Calhoun 0-1 0-0 0, WalkingChild 1-1 0-0 2, Albrecht 1-6 3-3 5. Totals 15-52 10-12 43.
Seattle Pacific................22 38 -- 60
Central Washington......15 28 -- 43
3-point goals -- SPU 5-21 (Hoisington 1-3, Maloney 0-2, Rohrbach 0-1, Harazin 1-4, Henderosn 3-7, Gorman 0-1, Sims 0-2, Murray 0-1), CWU 3-13 (russell 1-2, Bergner 0-3, Duerr 0-2, Jacobs 2-4, Betteridge 0-1, Calhous 0-1. Fouled out -- None. Rebounds -- SPU 45 (Hoisington 7, Henderosn 7, Reich 5), CWU 35 (Bergner 6, Russell 5, Albrecht 5). Assists -- SPU 16 (Maloney 3, Harazin 3), CWU 8 (Russell 2, Betteridge 2). Total fouls -- SPU 13, CWU 15. Technical fouls -- None. A -- 410.
