THE SCHEDULE:       Wednesday, Feb. 2: SPU at W. Washington, 6:00 p.m. 
                                     Carver Gym/Bellingham, Wash. 
                                     Live telecast on FSN Northwest TV 
                                     No live Webcast        Live stats 

                                    Saturday, Feb. 5: SPU at Mont. St. Billings, 4:15 p.m. PST 
                                    Alterowitz Gymnasium/Billings, Mont. 
                                    Live Webcast        Live stats 


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Finally, it's here: the day on the Seattle Pacific women's basketball calendar with Western Washington circled in red.

The players who typically heed the advice to focus only on the game at hand now can focus on the first-place Vikings – because that's the game at hand, scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Carver Gym on WWU's Bellingham campus.

There's a reason for the unusual Wednesday date: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference battle will be shown live across the region on FSN-Northwest television. It is one of nine games in the first-year package between the conference and the network, and is the only women's game that will be shown.

Brad Adam will call play-by-play, with color commentary from Seattle Storm broadcast analyst Adia Barnes. 

Although the Western game is commanding the bulk of the Falcons' attention, it's not the only contest on their schedule this week. On Saturday, they visit Montana State Billings for a 4:15 p.m. PST tip-off. The Yellowjackets already have a leg up on SPU in this year's series, having scored a 59-50 upset victory on Jan. 8 in Seattle.

DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL!
Wednesday's game at Western Washington is one of three straight weeks that a Seattle Pacific team will be featured on FSN. Last Wednesday, the men downed Western Washington Brougham Pavilion 69-61, and they'll be back on the air next Wednesday, Feb. 9, when they visit GNAC-leading Central Washington at 7 p.m.

This is the third time the Falcon women will have their action beamed to a live television audience. The first time was the 2005 NCAA Division II championship game, which was won by Washburn of Kansas, 70-53.That game was shown on ESPN2.

Then in February 2009, SPU and Northwest Nazarene played in Brougham in a game shown on the CBS College Sports network. The Falcons prevailed, 66-55.





FOLLOW IT LIVE
Because of the live FSN telecast, Wednesday's game at Western Washington will not have a Webcast. However, live stats will be available on this link.

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 exception will be no live stats from the game at Saint Martin's on Feb. 19.

CLOSING IN ON 300 WINS
That 300-victory mark is getting ever closer for SPU coach Julie Heisey. She comes into the week with 298 following last Saturady's 93-39 road rout of Alaska Fairbanks.

In her 15th season as a head coach and sixth on the SPU bench, Heisey is 298-147 overall, and 136-30 with the Falcons.

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

--Seattle Pacific came into the season as the favorite to win the GNAC title. But now, it's Western Washington, which was picked for third and received just one first-placek vote, setting the pace.
 --To give themselves a chance to win, the Falcons will have to find more offense than in their last two trips to Bellingham when they didn't even put 50 points on the board. SPU fell 84-44 in 2009, and 54-40 in 2010. 
--Of the eight holdover GNAC opponents, Western Washington is the only one against which Seattle Pacific does not have a winning record. The Vikings lead the all-time series, 48-25. Simon Fraser, which joined the conference this year, is 13-4 all-time against the Falcons. 
--SPU has seen two double-digit win streaks disappear this season, and one of those was a 10-gamer against Billings when the Yellowjackets won on Jan. 8 in Seattle, 59-50. (The other was a 12-game run against Saint Martin's that ended with a 54-53 Saints victory on Jan. 20 at SPU.)

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Coach Julie Heisey will have spent plenty of time looking at film of the Vikings prior to venturing into Western Washington's gym on Wednesday. But she already has had a chance to see them play parts of four different games in preseason tournaments at SPU and at Sonoma State.

“Western in some ways is probably harder to guard this year. They play so well together,” Heisey said. “Last year, they had three or four players who could do things on their own. They haven't lost since their game against Chico (65-62 in overtime on Dec. 10), and I think they're playing with a lot of confidence.”

The Falcons regained some confidence of their own last Saturday, shooting 50 percent from the floor in a 93-39 victory against Alaska Fairbanks just two days after a mere 33-percent shooting mark in a 68-56 loss at Alaska Anchorage.

“We didn't finish the game as well as we wanted to at Alaska Anchorage. That hurt, and it should have hurt – it was a bad loss,” Heisey said. “There's a feeling of urgency. We're No. 8 in the region (the top eight advance to the NCAA tournament), and we've never been in that position before. But there's also a sense of confidence that we're doing some really good things, and we just have to take it one game at a time.”

SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS (17-1, 10-0 GNAC)
All-time series: WWU leads, 48-25. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 70, Western Washington 67 (Feb. 20, 2010 at Seattle). Western Washington on the Web.

Vikings in a nutshell: Good teams find ways to win tough games, and Western has found that way this season, especially at home. The Vikings scored overtime victories against both Montana State Billings (80-70) and Saint Martin's (63-54), and last week hung on for a 64-59 win against Northwest Nazarene in Bellingham. Western Washington is atop the GNAC pile on offense (71.5 points per game) and No. 2 on defense (54.9 points). Senior guard Amanda Dunbar leads the Vikings in scoring and is seventh in the conference at 13.3. Senior 6-foot-2 center Lauren Hefflin is No. 9 in GNAC scoring at 12.8. Hefflin and Gabby Wade are 2-3 in GNAC rebounding at 7.9 and 7.5, respectively, and Hefflin is the conference's second-best shooter at 57.2 percent.

SCOUTING THE MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS (11-8, 6-5 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 17-15. Current series streak: MSUB won 1. Last time: Billings 59, SPU 50 (Jan. 8, 2011 at Seattle). Montana State Billings on the Web.

Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Montana State Billings has split six games since winning in Seattle on Jan. 8. Senior 6-2 forward Beata Bak, a native of Poland and transfer from Division I Montana State, continues to set the scoring pace at 14.3 points per game, fourth-best in the GNAC. She went for a team-high 12 against the Falcons in Brougham. Kayla Ryan, a 6-1 senior forward, is tied with SPU guard Nyesha Sims for fifth in conference rebounding at 7.2 per game, and 5-11 redshirt senior guard Shantell Marquis has a narrow lead on Maddie Maloney of the Falcons in the battle for No. 1 in steals, 2.6 per game (50 total) to 2.5 (45 total).

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking) 
                                    SPU           WWU         MSUB
Points                        67.1 (5)     71.5 (1)     65.6 (6)
Points allowed        57.2 (3)     54.9 (2)     61.5 (5)
Rebounds                 41.3 (1)     37.9 (7)     36.1 (9)
Assists                     16.1 (1)     15.8 (2)     15.5 (4)
Steals                          9.1 (6)     10.1 (4)       9.6 (5)
Blocks                         2.0 (4)       2.9 (6)       4.7 (T1)
Turnovers                17.7 (4)     17.0 (3)     16.0 (1)
FG percentage        .405 (4)     .439 (2)     .391 (6)
3-pt percentage     .282 (7)     .361 (1)     .303 (6)
FT percentage        .711 (6)     .680 (9)     .721 (3)

FROM COLD TO HOT
While racking up 31 straight points in last Saturday's 93-39 victory at Alaska Fairbanks, the Falcons hit 9 of 15 from the field – including their first five shots in a row to start the run – and 9 of 11 from the foul line.

That certainly was a far better feeling than what happened in Anchorage two nights earlier when SPU went a frigid 4 of 23 during the final 15 minutes of the game, and they fell short of the Seawolves, 68-56.

ROHRBACH'S BOARD GAME
While senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach collected her 300th SPU rebound last Saturday at Alaska Fairbanks, she now has the career 500-rebound mark well within reach. Rohrbach has 464 boards altogether, counting the 161 she pulled down as a freshman at Alaska Fairbanks during the 2006-07 campaign.

PASS GO, COLLECT 200 POINTS
Junior guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) and redshirt freshman forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) are closing in on the career 200-point mark. Gorman comes into this week's games with 182; Benson has 181.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Seattle Pacific is known around the GNAC for its tough, tenacious defense. But the Falcons also stack up very well nationally in that regard. Among 294 NCAA Division II teams, SPU ranks 38th this week in fewest points allowed at 57.2. And as good as that is, there are two GNAC teams ranked above the Falcons: Alaska Anchorage at No. 7 (53.1) and Wednesday's opponent, Western Washington, at No. 15 (54.9).

Individually, the highest-ranked Falcon in any category is senior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS), who is No. 66 in steals at 2.5 per game.

REICH TAKES IT UP A NOTCH
Heading into last week's games, senior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) was two blocked shots away from joining the GNAC's career top 20 in that department. Now, she's there, having picked up two last Thursday at Alaska Anchorage. With 66 for her career, she is in a tie for 19th with Stephanie Urrutia, who played for Seattle Pacific from 1999-2003. The next step up that ladder is 68, which would lift Reich into a tie for 17th. Reasonably within reach could be a spot in the all-time top 15. It'll take 73 to get there.

CAREER MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
200th point – McKayla Gormann (has 182), Katie Benson (has 181).
200th field goal made – Maddie Maloney (has 198), Nyesha Sims (has 188).
300th coaching victory – Julie Heisey (has 298).
500th point – Nyesha Sims (has 479).
600th point – Maddie Maloney (has 574).
600th rebound – Melissa Reich (has 583; No. 600 would put her above that total in points and rebounds).

CAREER MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th free throw made – Maddie Maloney (has 103)
300th SPU rebound – Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 303; has 464 career).

FUN WITH GNAC NUMBERS
Points – 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 19;9; 14, Nyesha Sims 10.9.
Rebounds – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 11.5; T5, Sims 7.2.
Assists – 1, Kristina Collins (SFU) 4.5; 8, Maddie Maloney 3.0.
Assist/turnover ratio – 1, Kaitlin McBride (UAA) 2.1; T3, Maloney 1.6; 6, Jordan Harazin 1.5; T7, McKayla Gorman 1.3.
Steals – 1, Shantell Marquis (MSB) 2.6 (50 total); 2, Maloney 2.5 (45 total).
Blocked shots – 1, Rylee Peterson (WOU) 2.4 (44 total); T12, Melissa Reich 0.7 (13 total).
FG percentage – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) .624; 9, Katie Benson .480.
3-point percentage – 1, Megan Pinske (WWU) .464; 7, Katie Benson .392.
FT percentage – 1, Sara Zahler (WOU) .860; 9, Benson .774.

Click on this link for a look at GNAC statistical leaders. Click on this link to see how Seattle Pacific and GNAC players and coaches stack up nationally in NCAA Division II.

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific isn't among the top 25 teams in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches' poll, which was released on Tuesday. But the Falcons aren't that far out of it, either, receiving 46 points in the voting for the No. 28 spot on the list. SPU was No. 25 last week before splitting its two games in Alaska.

Lander (S.C.) remained No. 1 with its 21-0 record, receiving 27 of the 29 first-place votes and 723 points.
The West Region still has five teams among the top 25. From the GNAC, Western Washington climbed one spot to No. 7, and Alaska Anchorage moved up two places to No. 15. Dixie State rose one place to No. 10, Grand Canyon held at No. 12 for the second straight week, and Cal State Monterey Bay, the top-ranked team in the West Region, joined the national ratings at No. 25. The Otters had been atop the 'others receiving votes' list last week at No. 26. 

UP NEXT
Home again. That's where the Falcons will be next week after four straight road games. On Thursday, Feb. 10, they play host to Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. Then on Saturday, Feb. 12, it's Pink Zone Night in recognition of the fight against breast cancer when Central Washington comes to town for a 7 p.m. game.

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                 10-0         17-1
Alaska Anchorage                         8-3         17-5
Seattle Pacific                                7-3         13-5
Saint Martin's                                 6-4         11-7
Northwest Nazarene                    6-5         10-9
Montana State Billings                 6-5         10-9
Western Oregon                            5-5           7-11
Simon Fraser                                 2-8           5-10
Central Washington                     1-9            6-11
Alaska Fairbanks                          1-10         1-17