THE SCHEDULE     Thursday, Jan. 13: SPU at C. Washington, 7:00 p.m. 
                                  Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash. 
                                  Live Webcast        Live stats 

                                  Saturday, Jan. 15: SPU at NW Nazarene, 12:30 p.m. PST 
                                  Johnson Sports Center/Nampa, Idaho 
                                  Live Webcast        Live stats


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons will be resetting and refocusing this week.

Stunned at home last Saturday with a 59-50 women's basketball loss to Montana State Billings, the Falcons will turn their attention to getting back on track as they head out for visits to Central Washington in Ellensburg on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, on Saturday.

Both opponents will present serious challenges for SPU (9-3, 3-1 GNAC). Central Washington played well during its non-conference schedule, winning five of seven games. Northwest Nazarene and SPU are typically some of the closest games of the season – the Falcons won by two in Idaho and by one in Seattle last year.

This will be Seattle Pacific's first road venture in almost a month, the last one ending with a 65-60 victory at Simon Fraser on Dec. 18. Overall this season, the Falcons are 3-2 (away and neutral court) outside of Brougham Pavilion.

HOMECOMING IS COMING
By the time the Falcons return from next week's road games, it'll be time to get ready for Homecoming weekend on campus. The climax of that event is the basketball doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 22. The SPU women play host to Western Oregon at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men's game against Montana State Billings at 3:30 p.m.

More homecoming details, including the opportunity to pre-purchase basketball tickets, are available by clicking on this link.





FOLLOW IT LIVE
All Seattle Pacific home games and almost all GNAC road games will have live Webcast and live stats feeds available online. Fans can find the appropriate links by clicking on the Live Stats or Webcast icons at www.spufalcons.com. The only exceptions will be no live Webcast from the game at Western Washington on Feb. 2 (that contest will be carried live by Fox Sports Northwest television), and no live stats from the game at Saint Martin's on Feb. 19.

CLOSING IN ON 300 WINS
Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey is inching ever closer to her 300th career victory. Heading into Saturday's game against Billings, she how has 294 on her ledger, with 132 of those at SPU. Heisey is 294-146 overall, and 132-27 at the helm of the Falcons.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY?
Looming story lines from this week's games:

--The Falcons will try to avoid their second two-game losing streak of the season when they take the court at Central Washington.
--SPU hasn't lost to Central since 2007.
--Falcons head coach Julie Heisey is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene, and in her first five years at Seattle Pacific, games in Nampa have been among the toughest to win. The Falcons have won by five, one, four and two, and lost by one. Last year's game was decided in SPU's favor, 63-61, on a Daesha Henderson buzzer-beater, capping a 7-0 run in the last 2:49 of the game.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
While clearly disappointed with the outcome against Montana State Billings, coach Julie Heisey was quick to keep it in perspective.

“I think the biggest thing is, the season is not over,” Heisey said. “All of us like to take an elevator to the top, but it usually doesn't go that way. You usually have to fail forward.”

Heisey was just as quick to point out that the Falcons don't have to do anything drastically different to get back into a winning groove.

“We have to focus on the fact that every day matters, every possession matters,” she said. “We have to work on stopping penetration. Our offense (against Billings) was stagnant – we stood a lot and we tried to dribble a lot. We just have to go back to basics there.”

SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS (5-7, 0-5 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 37-28. Current series streak: SPU won 6. Last time: SPU 74, CWU 48 (Feb, 27, 2010 at Seattle). Central Washington on the Web. 
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central is 0-5 in the GNAC, but that is a deceptive record. The Wildcats just as easily could be 4-1, having lost by three at Saint Martin's, by four at Western Oregon, by nine at home to undefeated Western Washington (after leading by seven at halftime) and by five in overtime last Thursday at Alaska Fairbanks. Simply put, Central has quality players who can do some damage. Guard Luv Rattler is tied for 12th in GNAC scoring at 11.7 points per game, and leads the conference in assists at 5.0 per game. She and teammate Sophie Russell made the five-player all-tournament team at the SPU-hosted Falcons Invitational on Dec. 29-30. Forward Stacy Albrecht is fifth in rebounding at 7.6 and is fourth in blocked shots at 1.5.

SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS (8-6, 3-3 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 22-2. Current series streak: SPU won 6. Last time: SPU 63, NNU 62 (Feb. 6, 2010 at Seattle). Northwest Nazarene on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene won two of its three games last week, closing out an Alaska road trip with an 87-69 victory at Fairbanks on Saturday. Junior post player Briaunna King is tied for ninth among the GNAC scoring leaders at 13.1 points per game, and she's 11th in rebounding at 6.4. King also is one of the sharper shooters in the conference, both from the field (ranking ninth at .486) and from the foul line (10th at .786). Senior teammate Beth Johnson is fourth in field goal shooting at .539. Already, freshman guard Heather Adams has established herself as one of the GNAC's premier 3-point shooters, hitting at a .429 clip (27 of 63) to rank No. 6. The most recent of NNU's two wins in the series was 65-63 in Nampa on March 1, 2007.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking) 
                                    SPU             CWU             NNU
Points                        66.2 (6)       65.0 (7)        70.9 (2)
Points allowed        58.8 (3)       64.3 (6)        64.9 (7)
Rebounds                40.3 (3)        41.2 (2)       36.7 (10)
Assists                     16.4 (1)        14.3 (6)       14.0 (7)
Steals                          9.7 (6)          7.3 (9)       11.1 (2)
Blocks                         1.8 (10)       4.6 (2)          1.9 (9)
Turnovers                17.2 (3)         20.5 (7)      18.6 (6)
FG percentage        .404 (5)         .376 (8)     .412 (3)
3-pt percentage     .257 (9)         .304 (5)     .361 (2)
FT percentage        .697 (7)         .686 (8)     .709 (4)

DIFFERENT LOOK
The Falcons, who have had the same starting lineup all season except for Jan. 1 against Alaska Fairbanks when senior Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) sat out with a minor injury, came out for the second half against Montana State Billings with a different look last Saturday. Joining regulars Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS), Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) and Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) on the floor were freshmen reserves Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) and Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS).

That particular group finished the final 2 minutes, 46 seconds of the first half and helped SPU extend a 19-18 lead to 26-20 by halftime. Coach Julie Heisey elected to keep things the same for the opening moments of the second half.

STILL ON TARGET AT THE LINE
In spite of the loss to Montana State Billings, one thing that continued to go well for the Falcons last Saturday was their free throw shooting. SPU went 13 of 17 (76.5 percent), including a perfect 7 for 7 during the second half. They pushed their season mark up to .697. That's six points higher than it was prior to the game and 85 points better than the cumulative .612 the Falcons had after their 57-56 victory against Chico State on Dec. 11. Last year, SPU finished at .675 at the line.

Individually, senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach ranks fourth in the GNAC at .846 (22 of 26). Leading the way is Sara Zack of Western Oregon at .905 (38 of 42).

DOUBLING UP
With four double-figure scoring games, senior guard Maddie Maloney already has twice as many of those this season as she had last season. Maloney had a pair of 10-point outings in 2009-10.

Senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach and sophomore guard Rachel Murray (Bathurst, Australia) also have surpassed last year's double-digit scoring performances. Rohrbach currently has six (four in 09-10), and Murray has three (one last season).

ROAD COOKIN' WORKS, TOO
Since the formation of the GNAC  Seattle Pacific is 108-33 in games away from Brougham Pavilion, including 63-12 in conference play. In fact, the Falcons are the only GNAC team to have won more than 100 road or neutral court games during that 10-season span. The next closest team is Western Washington, with a 90-55 record outside of its own Carver Gym.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
--100th point: Katie Benson (has 98).
--400th point: Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 397).
--600th point: Melissa Reich (has 592).
--100th steal: Melissa Reich (has 96).
--100th assist: Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 97), McKayla Gorman (has 94).
--200th rebound: Jordan Harazin (has 197).
--100th game: Maddie Maloney (has 96).
--300th coaching victory: Julie Heisey (has 294).

MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
--100th game: Melissa Reich (has 101).
--1,000th minute: Nyesha Sims (has 1,018).

FUN WITH GNAC NUMBERS
Points: 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (S. Fraser) 21.2; 15, Nyesha Sims 11.4.
Rebounds: 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (S. Fraser) 11.6; T7, Sims 7.0
Assists: 1, Luv Rattler (CWU) 5.0; 7, Maddie Maloney 3.3
Assist/turnover ratio: 1, Kaitliin McBride (UAA) 2.2; 3, Maddie Maloney 1.9; 6, Jordan Harazin 1.6
Steals: T1, Rylee Peterson (WOU) and Shantell Marquis (MSUB) 2.6 (34 total); 3, Maddie Maloney 2.6 (31 total)
FG shooting: 1, Amonda Francis (S. Fraser) .771; 13, Melissa Reich .461
3-point shooting: 1, Megan Pinske (WWU) .513; 11, Katie Benson .364.
Free throw shooting: 1, Sara Zahler (WOU) .905; 4, Caitlyn Rohrbach .846.

Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics. 

POLLING PLACE
Despite last week's loss, Seattle Pacific kept its spot among the nation's top 25 Division II teams in the most recent USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Falcons are No. 22 this week, a drop of five places. They received 135 points in the voting.

Delta State of Mississippi remained in the No. 1 position, receiving 21 of 28 first-place votes and a total of 690 points.

The West Region again has six teams among the top 25. Leading the way is Alaska Anchorage at No. 11, up one place from last week, followed by Western Washington at No. 12, also up one place. Grand Canyon is at No. 17 (down one), Dixie State is No. 20 (up five) and Chico State is No. 24 (down four).

FALCONS REPLAY
-- Maddie Maloney tied her career high with 14 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures as the Falcon women dropped a 59-50 decision to Montana State Billings in Brougham Pavilion last Saturday

UP NEXT
The Falcons return to Brougham Pavilion next Thursday, Jan. 20, to take on Saint Martin's at 5:15 p.m. That's the first game of a women's-men's doubleheader. The SPU men take the court at 7:30 against Simon Fraser. Then on Saturday, Jan. 22, it's a Homecoming twin bill. The Falcon women tip off against Western Oregon at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men against Montana State Billings at 3:30 p.m.

TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on match day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start times.

Reserved seats are $8 for center court and $7 for the foul lines. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.

SPU students who show their school identification will be admitted free to all home games.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, schedules, news and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.


GNAC STANDINGS 
                                                GNAC     Overall
Western Washington             5-0         12-1
Alaska Anchorage                  4-1         13-3
Western Oregon                     4-1           6-7
Seattle Pacific                         3-1           9-3
Montana State Billings          3-2           7-6
Northwest Nazarene             3-3           8-6
Saint Martin's                          2-3          7-6
Alaska Fairbanks                   1-4          1-11
Central Washington              0-5           5-7
Simon Fraser                          0-5          3-7