Box score, play-by-play
PORTLAND, Ore. –
Katie Benson scored 19 points and
Nyesha Sims added 16 for Seattle Pacific on Wednesday night, but in a game of big scoring runs, the Portland Pilots had the last one to beat the Falcons in exhibition women's basketball at the Chiles Center, 73-61.
Sophomore forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) produced her second straight double-figure game in exhibition play. She had 21 in last Saturday's 72-60 loss at Washington State.
Senior guard Sims (Portland, Ore.), playing in her hometown for the final time as a collegian, added eight rebounds to lead SPU in that department. That was her second consecutive time atop that statistical category, following her seven-rebound performance at WSU.
ReZina TecleMariam led the NCAA Division I Pilots with 28 points, hitting 10 of 13 from the floor, including all five of her 3-pointers.
Down 44-35 at the end of a 16-0 Portland scoring surge that bridged the first and second halves, Seattle Pacific took off on a 14-2 run – including 13 straight – to take a 49-46 lead with 12:51 left in the game. The Falcons kept the Pilots off the board for 5 minutes, 21 seconds.
The teams traded the next several points, and SPU took a 56-53 lead on a shot by senior guard
Jordan Harazin with 7:38 to play.
But the Falcons didn't score again until the 1:54 mark, by which time Portland had run off 11 straight points to go in front for good at 64-56.
Late in the first half, Seattle Pacific put together a 12-0 run, turning a 28-23 deficit into a 35-28 lead with 3:10 remaining before intermission.
But Portland, after a dry spell of nearly five minutes, scored 10 unanswered points during the final 2:30 of the half to take a 38-35 into the locker room. The Pilots then came out and scored the first eight points of the second half to make it 46-35 before Benson finally got SPU back on the board with 16:54 left in the game when she hit the second of two free throws.
Sophomore guard
Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) chipped in 12 points for Seattle Pacific. Callen made her college debut last November in the Chiles Center, opening her Falcons career with 10 points, although Portland also won that game, 67-61.
The Falcons conclude exhibition play on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion against George Fox University in a game that is free to all fans. The Bruins, from Newberg, Ore., have made three straight trips to the NCAA Division III Elite Eight, and won it all in 2009. This is the fourth straight year they have visited Seattle, and the Falcons have won the previous three, including last season's 97-48 rout.
SPU's official regular-season opener is Nov. 11 against West Region rival UC San Diego at the CCAA-GNAC Challenge in the San Francisco Bay area. The Falcons will take on San Francisco State the following day before heading home to prepare for the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion on Nov. 18-19.
NCAA EXHIBITION WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Chiles Center / Portland, Ore.
Portland 73, Seattle Pacific 61
SEATTLE PACIFIC (0-2 EXHIBITION)
Murray 1-3 0-2 3, Bensno 5-13 7-10 19, Harazin 2-6 0-0 5, Callen 5-9 0-0 12, Sims 6-10 1-2 16, Gorman 0-5 0-1 0, Ohlsen 2-5 0-0 4, Thralls 0-0 0-0 0, Kingma 0-2 0-0 0, Reimer 101 0-0 2, Stephens 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 8-15 61.
PORTLAND (1-0 EXHIBITION)
Day 4-10 0-0 8, N. Brown 3-5 0-0 9, Pupa 1-3 0-0 2, TecleMariam 10-13 3-3 28, Byrd 5-13 2-2 12, Olinger 0-0 0-0 0, C. Brown 2-6 1-2 7, Luttinen 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 2-8 0-2 4, Wooton 1-7 0-2 3, Snyder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 6-11 73.
Seattle Pacific 35 26 -- 61
Portland 38 35 -- 73
3-point goals – SPU 9-26 (Murray 1-2, Benson 2-4, Harazin 1-3, Callen 2-4, Sims 3-6, Gorman 0-3, Ohlsen 0-2, Kingma 0-2), Port 11-25 (Day 0-3, N. Brown 3-4, TecleMariam 5-5, Byrd 0-2, C. Brown 2-5, Luttinen 0-1, Wooton 1-5). Fouled out – None. Technical fouls – None. Rebounds – SPU 37 (Sims 8), Port 37 (Pupa 6, TecleMariam 6). Assists – SPU 16 (Gorman 6), Port 15 (Byrd 5).Turnovers – SPU 18, Port 14. Attendance – 291.
