SODEXO CLASSIC SCHEDULE
All games in Brougham Pavilion (2,605) / Seattle, Wash.
Friday, Nov. 18 Central Washington vs. Harding, 1:00 p.m.
Live Webcast Live stats
Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State East Bay, 5:00 p.m.
Live Webcast Live stats
Saturday, Nov. 19 C. Washington vs. Cal State East Bay, 1:00 p.m.
Live Webcast Live stats
Seattle Pacific vs. Harding, 5:00 p.m.
Live Webcast Live stats
Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – Now that they have the opening-weekend jitters out of the way, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are ready to show their stuff on their home court.
SPU, coming off a split of the CCAA-GNAC Challenge in San Francisco, will play host to three teams on Friday and Saturday in the annual Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion. The field will include a Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival (Central Washington), a West Region opponent (Cal State East Bay) and a new challenger: Harding University of Searcy, Arkansas.
Central and Harding open the tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday, with Seattle Pacific and East Bay tipping off at 5. On Saturday, the time slots stay the same, but the Falcons and Central Washington will switch opponents. SPU and Central won't meet in the tournament, as they will have two regular-season games against each other during conference play.
The Seattle Pacific and Central Washington men will help fill the other half of the tournament. Central gets the 3 p.m. game both days, playing Brigham Young-Hawaii on Friday and Hawaii Pacific on Saturday. SPU has the 7 p.m. game both days against the opposite opponent of Central.
ABOUT THE SODEXO CLASSIC
The Sodexo Tip-Off classic has been a staple on the Seattle Pacific men's and women's basketball schedules for many years, although under different names before the food services company took up sponsorship beginning with the 2005 event.
By whatever name, the Falcon women have been highly successful in the tournament. Matter of fact, they've been perfect – 20-0 in the previous 10 editions.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and live Webcast of every Sodexo game will be available. Links can be found at the top of this story.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--Both of this week's opponents will be brand-new to the Falcons. SPU has played nine teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association, but East Bay has not been one of them.
--Senior guard
Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) is the reigning Sodexo MVP. In last year's tournament, she tied her career high with 17 points in a 75-66 victory against UC San Diego, and totaled 24 points and 14 rebounds in the two games.
--The Falcons typically don't play opponents from outside the West Region, but most seasons, at least one shows up on their non-conference schedule. The most recent was St. Edward's of Texas in last year's Falcon Invitational, and Seattle Pacific rolled to an 81-41 victory in Brougham.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Coach
Julie Heisey said the Falcons found out first-hand last weekend that defense and rebounding can help put games into the win column. It certainly worked last Saturday when the offense struggled at times, but SPU still beat San Francisco State by 19 points.
“Skill is important, but will goes a long way,” Heisey said. “I think some of this is just a time where we're developing confidence and learning how to make good choices and that every possession does count, and we need to make sure we're making the most of each possession. … Those are some of the things we took to heart.”
Heisey is confident that the offense will come around as the season goes forward, especially given that last week's two games in the Bay Area were the earliest counting games that the Falcons have played.
“Offense is timing. We have kids who can shoot,” Heisey said. “Our timing just has to get better and we need to have a better understanding of what we're doing.
CAL STATE EAST BAY PIONEERS: 1-1, 0-0 CCAA.
All-time series: First game.
East Bay on the Web.
Pioneers in a nutshell: Cal State East Bay, based in Hayward, is coming off a tough season, having gone 4-22 overall and 4-18 in the CCAA, with just one road victory. But the Pioneers already have one victory in the books this season, rolling to a 59-38 decision against Dominican last Saturday on the final day of the CCAA-Pac West Challenge. Junior forward
Lauren Luchessi and freshman guard
Carly Bettencourt each had 12 points. East Bay has two players averaging in double figures through the first two games: sophomore guard
Sarah Finlay at 10.5 points, and freshman guard/forward
Micah Walker at 10.0. Junior forward
Marlene MacMillan (6.5) and sophomore guard/forward
Cassie Coble (6.0) lead the way on the boards. East Bay's roster includes sophomore guard/forward
Brianna Terrance, a native of nearby Tacoma and a graduate of Steilacoom High School.
HARDING BISON: 2-0, 0-0 Gulf South Conference
All-time series: First game. Harding on the Web.
Bison in a nutshell: Harding is off to a quick start, rolling to a 68-50 victory against Missouri Southern in its opening game last Friday, and winning by an even wider margin, 82-54 at Christian Brothers in Memphis on Tuesday. The Bison went 18-10 last season, including 8-6 in conference play. They won the Gulf South Conference opener before falling by three to Delta State, which ultimately advanced all the way to the national Sweet 16. Harding is led by 5-foot-10 senior guard
Sierra Rollins with her double-double averages of 11.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. Rollins also set the pace for the Bison in both categories last season at 14.7 points and 9.3 rebounds. Freshman guard
Shana Holmes and junior guard
Deshelle Isaac-Boyce average 9.0 points apiece for Harding.
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
SPU EB HARD
Points 51.5 51.5 75.0
Points allowed 52.5 45.0 52.0
Rebounds 35.5 42.5 43.0
Assists 9.5 7.0 13.5
Steals 9.5 11.0 11.5
Blocks 2.5 1.5 3.5
Turnovers 21.5 21.0 19.5
FG percent .381 .313 .457
3-point percent .303 .357 .289
FT percent .619 .561 .721
FALCONS PICKED FOR NO. 2
Seattle Pacific has been
tabbed for a second-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference by the GNAC coaches. The Falcons received one first-place vote and a total of 87 points in balloting.
Alaska Anchorage, which finished second in the regular-season standings but won the inaugural GNAC Tournament last March, is the overwhelming favorite with the other nine first-place votes and 108 points. Northwest Nazarene is third with 75, and defending regular-season champ Western Washington is picked fourth with 73.
THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG
Just two games into the season, and two Seattle Pacific players already have set career scoring highs. In last Friday's season-opening 68-47 loss to 13
th-ranked UC San Diego at the CCAA-GNAC Challenge, sophomore guard
Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) pumped in 17 points. That eclipsed her previous best of 12 points last Jan. 29 at Alaska Fairbanks.
In Saturday's 56-37 victory against San Francisco State, junior forward
Rachel Murray (Eglington, Australia) tallied 16 points. That beat her old high of 13, set at home against Fairbanks on Jan. 11. Murray also had 16 on Nov. 4 in a 70-67 loss to George Fox, but that was an exhibition game, so didn't count for record purposes.
Then there was sophomore guard Betsy Kingman (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS). All she did last weekend was establish four career highs. On Friday against UC San Diego, it was steals (4) and blocked shots (1, her very first as a Falcon). Then on Saturday against San Francisco State, she set new highs for points (8) and rebound (7).
STILL A BEAST ON THE BOARDS
Senior guard
Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.), who led Seattle Pacific in scoring and rebounding last season, didn't quite have her shooting touch against San Francisco State, as she went scoreless in 17 minutes. But she was her usual self on the boards, ripping down 11 of them in those same 17 minutes. Although she's just 5-foot-8, Sims averaged 7.3 boards last season to tie for second in the GNAC.
SNEAK PEEK AT WESTERN
With the GNAC schedule opening during the first week of December, it's never too early to start thinking at least a little bit about conference play. For Seattle Pacific, that means a trip to Simon Fraser for the GNAC opener on Thursday, Dec. 1, and a visit to Bellingham for a showdown against arch-rival Western Washington on Saturday, Dec. 3.
The Falcons had a chance to get two looks at the Vikings during last weekend's CCAA-GNAC Challenge in San Francisco. This weekend, they'll get their first glimpse of Central Washington, which is beginning its first season under new head coach Shawn Nelson. It'll be awhile before the Falcons and Wildcats square off, though. The first of their two regular-season games is Jan. 12 in Brougham Pavilion.
FALCON REPLAY
--Sophomore starting guard
Aubree Callen pumped in a career-high 17 points, but 13th-ranked UC San Diego went on a 15-point scoring run midway through the second half and pulled away from the Falcons for a 68-47 victory on the first day of the CCAA-GNAC Challenge in San Francisco last Friday.
--
Rachel Murray pumped in a career-high 16 points, and
Nyesha Sims ripped down 11 rebounds on Saturday, leading SPU to a 56-37 victory against San Francisco State on the final day of the CCAA-GNAC Challenge.
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 time for all home games.
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.
Those same prices will apply for the Sodexo tournament. One ticket per day will be good for the whole day.
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific has just a single game next week, playing host to the
University of Puget Sound on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. The Falcons then will be off until Dec. 1, when they open their GNAC schedule in Burnaby, B.C., against Simon Fraser at 7 p.m.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Season
Alaska Anchorage 0-0 2-0
Montana State Billings 0-0 1-0
Northwest Nazarene 0-0 1-1
Seattle Pacific 0-0 1-1
Western Washington 0-0 1-1
Central Washington 0-0 0-0
Simon Fraser 0-0 0-0
Western Oregon 0-0 0-1
Alaska Fairbanks 0-0 0-2
Saint Martin's 0-0 0-3
