Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE – They enjoyed their best shooting night since 2008. But offense wasn't what head coach Julie Heisey emphasized  to her Seattle Pacific women's basketball team during a first-half break in the action against Sonoma State on Friday night.
 
Katie Benson pumped in 16 points, and Nyesha Sims logged her second straight double-double as the Falcons – thanks in large part to 60 percent accuracy from the field – rolled to an 83-65 victory against the Seawolves on the first night of the GNAC-CCAA Challenge women's basketball tournament in Brougham Pavilion.
 
“We really challenged the girls during a timeout that we had to get three defensive stops in a row,” Heisey said after SPU improved to 6-2 overall. “We were attacking the basket, and got the defense going again, and that changed the game.”
 
Sophomore forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS), coming off a career-high 24 points in last Saturday's 82-66 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory at Western Washington, led the Falcons in scoring for the fifth straight game. She also handed out a career-high five assists on Friday and grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Senior guard Sims (Portland, Ore.) tallied 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, coming on the heels of her 10-point, 13-rebound double-double last week at Western. She now has seven double-doubles for her career.
 




Sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) added 12 points. Senior guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) and sophomore guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) chipped in 10 apiece. Sophomore center Riley Butler, in her first game of the season, posted career highs of five points and four rebounds.
 
The Falcons hit 30 of their 50 shots from the field on for an even 60 percent. The last time Seattle Pacific shot in the 60s was Nov. 22, 2008, when it 61.7 percent in a 90-58 victory against Cal Poly Pomona. SPU limited Sonoma State to 39.4 percent (26 of 66).
 
“We knew we wanted to start on defense strong, and defense always brings the offense,” Gorman said.
 
Added Heisey, “It was just a good overall effort. Betsy and Aubree came in and did good things, and Katie Thralls came in (during the second half) and right off the bat had an assist. It was a great tag-team effort all the way down.”
 
Seattle Pacific will take on Chico State in the final game of the tournament on Saturday night at 7. Chico beat Western Washington in Friday's first game, 66-63.
 
The Falcons took control of the game with a 14-0 run that spanned 3 minutes, 46 seconds late in the first half. Gorman started it with a four-point play that snapped a 24-24 tie at the 5:42 mark. She banked in a 3-pointer from 23 feet straight away, was knocked to the floor, and sank the ensuing free throw.
 
Benson accounted for the next six points on two baskets and two free throws; senior center Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) added two free throws, then Kingma hit two free throws to make it 38-24 with 1:56 left in the half.
 
Coming out of the intermission with a 44-29 lead, SPU hit its first four shots – including three in a row by junior forward Rachel Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia) – to push it past 20 at 52-31 with 18:04 left in the game.
 
Seattle Pacific also dominated on the boards, 37-24.
 
Sonoma State (2-3) was led by the 11 points of Desirae Sanchez. But leading scorer Jaclyn Bisordi (10.3 per game) was limited to just six. The Seawolves topped 60 points for the first time this season.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKEBALL
GNAC-CCAA Challenge
Friday, December 9, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 83, Sonoma State 65
 
SONOMA STATE (2-3, 1-2 CCAA)
Sanchez 4-6 0-0 11; Newma 3-8 0-0 8; Henington Aly 4-7 0-0 8; Rentschler 2-5 2-2 7; Carroll 3-3 0-2 7; Bisordi 3-8 0-0 6; Vigil 3-8 0-0 6; Sweet 2-8 0-0 4; Sheahan 1-3 0-0 3; Conway 0-1 2-2 2; Day 1-7 0-0 2; Fahey 0-1 1-2 1; Ito 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 5-8 65.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-2, 1-1 GNAC)
Benson 7-10 2-2 16; Sims 5-8 0-0 12; Callen 4-7 0-0 12; Kingma 3-5 2-2 10; Gorman 3-4 3-3 10; Murray 3-4 3-4 9; Harazin 2-4 0-0 5; Butler 2-3 1-1 5; Ohlsen 1-3 0-0 2; Reimer 0-1 2-2 2; Thralls 0-0 0-0 0; Teng 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-50 13-14 83.
 
Sonoma State..................   29   36  -   65
Seattle Pacific.................   42   41  -   83
 
3-point goals--Sonoma State 8-25 (Sanchez 3-5; Newman 2-5;Sheahan 1-2; Carroll 1-1; Rentschler 1-4; Fahey 0-1; Sweet 0-2; Bisordi 0-4; Henington 0-1), Seattle Pacific 10-20 (Callen 4-6; Kingma 2-4; Sims 2-3; Harazin 1-2; Gormanm 1-2; Ohlsen 0-1; Benson 0-2). Fouled out--Sonoma State-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds—Sonoma State 24 (Vigil 6), Seattle Pacific 37 (Sims 11). Assists--Sonoma State 16 (Ito 5), Seattle Pacific 21 (Benson 5). Turnovers – Sonoma State 134, Seattle Pacific 23. Total fouls--Sonoma State 12, Seattle Pacific 9. Technical fouls—Sonoma State-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-163
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 6-2, 1-1 GNAC. Sonoma State 2-3, 1-2 CCAA.
 
Next game – Chico State at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.