SEATTLE – Melissa Reich tied her career-high with 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Friday for 13th-ranked and West Region top-seed Seattle Pacific, which dispatched No. 8 seed Hawaii Pacific in the first round of the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament at Brougham Pavilion, 65-52.
Reich, a junior center from Bellevue Christian High School, registered her third double-double of the season and led a balanced SPU attack that got 13 points from senior guard Daesha Henderson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) and 12 from sophomore guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.).
“I give a lot of credit to our team -- they push me in practice and build my confidence,” said Reich, who hit 7 of 10 from the floor. “I just went out there and tried to do what I did. One of my focuses has been running the floor a lot more, and our guards are doing a good job of getting the ball up.”
Added Falcons coach Julie van Beek, “Melissa played unbelievable. That's one of the best games she has played at SPU.”
Mana Hopkins scored 16 points to pace the Sea Warriors, who completed their season with an 18-7 record.
The Falcons (25-3) advance to the regional semifinals on Saturday at 7 p.m. for a rematch with their Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Alaska Anchorage. SPU won last Saturday's regular-season finale at Anchorage, 67-60, to clinch the GNAC championship. That completed a regular-season sweep for the Falcons, who were 57-42 victors over UAA on Jan. 28 in Seattle.
“I think, 'let's go,' ” van Beek said. “We're playing, and I don't care who we play. Alaska Anchorage and us have a great tradition. The bottom line is both teams have to play their best.”
For the third straight season the Falcons will clash with Anchorage in a playoff game at Brougham. The Seawolves knocked SPU out of the previous two NCAA Tournaments with regional final victories.
“Every year is different. We just have to go out there and make plays,” van Beek said. “It's going to be who makes shots and who takes care of the ball.”
Anchorage, the No. 4 seed, beat No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona in an earlier game Friday, 69-50.
“We're prepared and I think we're ready,” Reich said. “It will be a hard-fought battle (on Saturday).”
The two GNAC powers avoided the upsets that overcame the favorites in Friday's first two West Region games. UC San Diego, the No. 2 seed, was up-ended 76-72 by No. 7 Humboldt State, and third-seeded Western Washington fell to No. 6 Chico State by a 79-68 count. Chico and Humboldt meet in Saturday's first semifinal contest at 5 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
Hawaii Pacific opened an early four-point lead, at 9-5, capped by a Paris Gravely jumper with 14:07 left in the first half.
SPU scored the next nine points, ignited by consecutive baskets from Henderson, to claim the lead for good. That started the Falcons on a surge that carried them to a 16-point advantage, including a 13-0 spurt while they kept Hawaii Pacific off the board for a span of 7 minutes and 7 seconds and extended a 14-11 lead to 27-11. HPU netted the final four points of the first period to draw within 29-17 by halftime.
The game was delayed for 20 minutes while the athletic training staff tended to a leg injury suffered by HPU's Genesis Lewis with 11:39 showing on the second-half clock. She eventually was taken away on a stretcher.
After the lengthy break, the Sea Warriors staged a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 40-33 with 7:57 left to play.
Henderson stopped the surge with a lay-up at 7:37, starting SPU on a 13-2 spree. Maddie Maloney capped that run with 4:13 remaining on a pair of free throws that gave the Falcons their largest lead at 53-35.
Hopkins scored nine straight HPU points to spark a late rally that closed the margin to 10 points, but the Falcons converted 7 of 10 free throws during the final minute to secure the win.
SPU's bench outscored Hawaii Pacific's, 24-14, led by Sims' 12 points. Junior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Snohomish HS) chipped in five points, three rebounds and four assists.
“Caitlyn and Nyesha did a real good job for us,” van Beek said. “To win a big game in the tournament, you have to have people you usually depend on do what they do, and you have to have a couple people step up."
NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
West Regional
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Seattle Pacific 65, Hawaii Pacific 52
HAWAII PACIFIC (18-7)
Hopkins 6-16 4-6 16; Lewis 0-4 0-0 0; Buster 2-7 2-6 6; Karasawa 2-8 0-0 5; Awa-Williams 4-8 3-5 11; Ronolo 4-8 0-0 8; Gravely 1-7 2-2 4; Craig 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 20-63 11-19 52.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (25-3)
Hoisington 1-8 4-4 6; Maloney 1-3 2-2 4; Reich 7-10 1-2 15; Harazin 1-2 1-2 3; Henderson 6-11 0-0 13; Sims 3-6 4-4 12; Rohrbach 2-8 1-3 5; Gorman 0-3 4-6 4; Murray 1-2 0-0 3; Thralls 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 17-23 65.
Hawaii Pacific............... 17 35 - 52
Seattle Pacific............... 29 36 - 65
3-point goals--HPU 1-12 (Karasawa 1-4; Ronolo 0-1; Gravely 0-3; Craig 0-1; Lewis 0-1; Hopkins 0-2), SPU 4-16 (Sims 2-3; Murray 1-1; Henderson 1-5; Gorman 0-3; Maloney 0-1; Rohrbach 0-2; Hoisington 0-1). Fouled out--HPU-None, SPU-None. Rebounds--HPU 45 (Ronolo 10), SPU 38 (Hoisington 11; Reich 11). Assists--HPU 12 (Awa-Williams 3; Craig 3), SPU 17 (Maloney 5). Total fouls--HPU 18, SPU 19. Technical fouls--HPU-None, SPU-None. Att.-501.
