THE SCHEDULE:     Thursday, Jan. 20: Saint Martin's at SPU, 5:15 p.m. 
                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash. 
                                Live Webcast        Live stats 

                                Saturday, Jan. 22: Western Oregon at SPU, 1:30 p.m. 
                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash. 
                                Live Webcast        Live stats 


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – They turned up the defense and cleaned up the glass.

In large part, that's how the Seattle Pacific Falcons got back on the women's basketball winning track in time for this week's pair of Homecoming week contests in Brougham Pavilion.

SPU shook off its Jan. 8 homecourt loss to Montana State Billings by routing Central Washington last Thursday in Ellensburg, 77-52, then putting together a strong second half to pull away from Northwest Nazarene last Saturday in Nampa, Idaho, 70-57 – the latter gym being one of the toughest places to win in the entire Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The Falcons will be the lead game in a pair of doubleheaders this week. They tip off the athletic portion of the Homecoming festivities on Thursday when they face Saint Martin's at 5:15 p.m. The Seattle Pacific men take the court against Simon Fraser at 7:30.

Then on Homecoming Saturday. Seattle Pacific meets Western Oregon at 1:30 p.m., with the men facing Montana State Billings at 3:30.

The Falcons return to the road next week, visiting Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 27 at 6:15 p.m. PST, and Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. PST.





HOMECOMING IS COMING
Basketball is just one of many events on the Homecoming and Family Weekend docket. Falcon fans who want to put some of their own athletic skills to the test are welcome at Green Lake on Saturday morning at 10 for the third annual Falcon 5K Fun Run and Walk. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for current SPU students. More information is available on this link.

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
It's t-minus four wins and counting for Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey to hit the 300 mark for her career. Heading into Thursday's game against Saint Martin's, Heisey has 296 victories to her credit, with 134 of those at SPU. Heisey is 296-146 overall, and 134-27 at the Falcons helm.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY?
Looming story lines from this week's games:
--The Falcons will face an upset-minded team in Saint Martin's, which knocked off then-No. 11 Alaska Anchorage last Saturday in Lacey, 61-53.
--SPU has won 12 straight against the Saints.
--Likewise against Western Oregon, SPU will take on a team that was not highly regarded coming in, having been picked for an eighth-place finish in the preseason coaches poll. Yet, the Wolves are 5-2 in GNAC play.
--Seattle Pacific has won 26 straight games against WOU. The Wolves won the first two games of the series during the 1981-82 season, but the Falcons have won every game since then. 

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Seattle Pacific was back in sync last week. And it all started not on the competition court, but on the practice court.

“We haven't had a whole lot of practice since Christmas,” Heisey said in reference to SPU's seven-day break for the holiday, followed by four games in six days. “In practice, we just really went back and tried to improve our defense. That was a huge thing because against Fairbanks, we let them shoot 40 percent, and Anchorage and Billings shot about 40 percent. Last year, we allowed about 33 percent. So we just wanted to do a better job defensively and try not to give up anything easy.”

As has been the case throughout the season, last week's two road victories weren't attributable to any one particular player – which is exactly what Heisey likes to see.

“I was real proud of our seniors on Saturday (at Northwest Nazarene). Maddie (Maloney), Caitlyn (Rohrbach) and Melissa (Reich) were real solid from start to finish,” Heisey said. “And our bench play – McKayla Gorman and Katie Benson did a great job. And Nyesha (starting guard Sims) did a good job defensively, and followed it all around with her rebounding and her shooting. That's what we need -- we need to know who we can count on every day, and we need to have a couple people step up every day.”

More of the same will be needed this week against Saint Martin's and Western Oregon.

“(Western Oregon coach) Greg Bruce always a good job. He makes them very difficult to guard,” Heisey said. “Saint Martin's has a match-up zone that's tricky. That's a big thing knowing how to attack that. And both teams do a lot of driving, so we have to stop penetration again.”

SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS (9-6, 4-3 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 45-11. Current series streak: SPU won 12. Last time: SPU 66, Saint Martin's 55; Feb. 25, 2010 at Lacey). Saint Martin's on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's got people's attention in a big way last Saturday, coming from behind at home to stun then-No. 11 Alaska Anchorage, 61-53. The Saints were down 22-9 early in the game, but got within six by halftime, then went ahead for good midway through the second half. Senior forward Dara Zack, who averages a team-leading 15.5 points per game to rank second in the GNAC, pumped in 18 against the Seawolves. Zack also is the sharpest shooter for Saint Martin's, hitting 44.7 percent from the field. Senior guard Roni Jo Mielke (.419) and Zack (.405) rank No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, in conference 3-point shooting. Zack has the ability to fill up the hoop, having posted games of 31, 29 and 26 points this season. Saint Martin's has been streaky so far, having won two and lost two, won four and lost four, and now has won three in a row heading to Seattle.

SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES (7-8, 5-2 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-2. Current series streak: SPU won 26. Last time: SPU 64, Western Oregon 44; Feb. 13, 2010 at Seattle). Western Oregon on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon defied the preseason GNAC coaches poll in which it was picked No. 8 out of 10 teams by winning its first four conference games, including two on the road. The Wolves closed out last week with a 70-57 homecourt victory against Alaska Fairbanks. Western Oregon can come at people in a number of different ways. Junior forward Rylee Peterson and senior guard Sara Zahler have nearly identical scoring averages of 13.9 and 13.8 points (No. 5 and 6, respectively, in the GNAC). Zahler had led in scoring seven times, and Peterson has done it five times. Both went for 25 points in an 84-74 victory at Simon Fraser on Jan. 6. Peterson also averages 6.9 rebounds per game, with three double-digit performances and three more outings of nine boards.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking) 
                                SPU          StM           WOU
Points                      67.2 (6)     63.3 (9)     67.6 (5)
Points allowed        58.1 (3)     58.8 (4)     72.4 (8)
Rebounds                41.4 (1)     40.1 (4)     37.8 (7)
Assists                    16.6 (1)     12.3 (8)     12.2 (9)
Steals                        9.1 (6)       9.0 (7)     10.9 (2)
Blocks                       1.9 (9)       2.6 (7)       3.3 (4)
Turnovers                17.9 (4)     19.9 (7)     23.6 (9)
FG percentage         .410 (3)     .375 (9)    .402 (5)
3-pt percentage        .281 (8)    .337 (3)     .312 (5)
FT percentage          .708 (5)     .740 (1)    .738 (2)

THAT WINDEX SHINE
Seattle Pacific went into last week's games as the third-best rebounding team in the GNAC. Then, the Falcons went out and grabbed 52 boards at Central Washington and another 44 at Northwest Nazarene. In fact, SPU was particularly dominant at Central. Not only did the Falcons nearly double the Wildcats' total (52-27), Central Washington didn't get its first defensive rebound until eight minutes into the game. By that time, the Falcons had pulled down five offensive boards, resulting in eight second-chance points.

KB SPELLS EFFICIENCY WITH A CAPITAL 'E'
Falcons freshman forward Katie Benson continues to be a big spark off the bench. She set a career high of 21 points in just 17 minutes last Thursday at Central Washington, hitting 8 of 10 from the floor, with 3 of 4 from downtown. Then on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene, she pumped in 11 points in 18 minutes. For the week, that gave an average of almost a point a minute (32 points in 35 minutes).

AND, SHE SPELLS SHARPSHOOTING WITH A CAPITAL 'S'
By hitting 12 of 18 from the floor, including 5 of 7 from behind the 3-point arc, Benson is now among the GNAC's leading performers in both categories. Her .425 mark from long range is a jump of 61 points from the previous week, vaulting her from No. 11 to No. 5. And, her .479 overall field goal accuracy was a jump of 45 points and moved her up to No. 13 in the conference.

A PERFECT 10
It doesn't happen just in gymnastics. Last Thursday at Central Washington, Seattle Pacific went 10 for 10 from the free throw line. The Falcons also went 13 for 19 on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene, and now are up to .708 for the season. Not only is that significantly than last year's final mark of .675, it represents a jump of nearly 100 points in just a month's time. SPU was shooting .612 (63 of 103) through the first six games of the season. In the eight games since, they've hit .752 (103 of 137).

SIMS PLAYING TALL
What Nyesha Sims gives away in inches, she more than makes up for with toughness – especially in traffic under the hoop. Sims ranks No. 4 in GNAC rebounding coming into this week at 7.4 per game. Everyone else among the top 10 is taller than the 5-foot-8 Sims. In fact, the six players below her in that leading group range from 5-11 to 6-2. Of the three players above Sims on the conference boards list, two are 6-2, and one – Western Washington's Gabby Wade – is 5-9.

Sims has set a career rebounding high twice this season, most recently last Thursday at Central Washington when she corralled 13. Coming into the season, she had never even had a double-digit rebounding game. Now, she has four.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th free throw made – Maddie Maloney (has 98).
200th field goal made – Maddie Maloney (has 192), Nyesha Sims (has 174).
100th game – Maddie Maloney (has 98).
100th steal – Melissa Reich (has 97).
300th rebound – Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 283).
300th coaching victory – Julie Heisey (has 296).

MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th point – Katie Benson (has 130).
100th assist – McKayla Gorman (has 102), Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 100).
200th rebound – Jordan Harazin (has 205).
400th point – Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 418).
600th point – Melissa Reich (has 611).

FUN WITH GNAC NUMBERS
Points – 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 20.7; 13, Nyesha Sims 11.4.
Rebounds – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 12.0; 4, Sims 7.4.
Assists – 1, Kristina Collins (SFU) 4.8; 7, Maddie Maloney 3.4.
Assist/turnover ratio – 1, Kaitlin McBride (UAA) 1.9; 3, Maloney 1.7; 6, Jordan Harazin 1.5.
Steals – 1, Shantell Marquis (MSUB) 2.8 (42 total); 3, Maloney 2.6 (37 total).
FG percentage – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) .639; 13, Katie Benson .479.
3-point percentage – 1, Megan Pinske (WWU) .500; 5, Benson .425.
Free throw percentage – 1, Sara Zahler (WOU) .875; 21, Melissa Reich .596.

Click on this link for a look at complete GNAC statistics. Click on this link for a look at where the Falcons and the GNAC stack up nationally in NCAA Division II.

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific moved up two places to No. 20 in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches' poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Falcons received 186 points in the voting.

Delta State of Mississippi, which had been No. 1 for several weeks, lost its first game of the season last week and was replaced atop the poll by Lander (S.C.). Lander received 26 of 29 first-place votes.

The West Region has five teams among the top 25, with Western Washington moving up two places into the top 10 at No. 10. Alaska Anchorage fell four places to No. 15 after its 61-53 upset loss at Saint Martin's last Saturday. Grand Canyon is No. 12 (up five places) and Dixie State is No. 13 (up seven). Chico State, which was No. 24 last week, dropped out, but is still receiving votes.

TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on game 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              6-0          13-1
Seattle Pacific                      5-1           11-3
Alaska Anchorage                 5-2           14-4
Western Oregon                    5-2             7-8
Saint Martin's                        4-3            9-6
Northwest Nazarene              4-4             9-7
Montana State Billings         3-4             7-8
Central Washington              1-6             6-8
Alaska Fairbanks                   1-6             1-13
Simon Fraser                        0-6             3-8