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SEATTLE – Maddie Maloney had no idea she was hitting a milestone. Hitting a big basket when Seattle Pacific needed it – and then coming up with an even bigger steal when the Falcons needed it – was all that mattered to her.

Maloney scored 10 points – including six of the last eight for Seattle Pacific, and the 600th of her career – then latched onto a loose ball in the final 10 seconds with the possession arrow in the Falcons' favor, as SPU halted a two-game losing streak on Thursday night by hanging on to beat Northwest Nazarene in Brougham Pavilion, 65-62.

Melissa Reich led the way with 16 points and also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds for Seattle Pacific (14-7, 8-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) as she took command under the hoop.

But it was Maloney's heads-up play at both ends of the court in the waning moments that helped the Falcons secure the win and gain some all-important late-season momentum in the drive for a trip to the NCAA Division II West Regionals.

“We really needed that just to build confidence for the rest of the season,” said senior guard Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS). “And to actually win a close game, which is not what we've been able to do this year – that really helped us a lot, too.'

SPU and Montana State Billings remained in a third-place GNAC deadlock. The Yellowjackets beat Central Washington, 59-48. Saint Martin's, which had been part of a three-way knot heading into Thursday's games, fell into a tie for fifth at 7-6 with a 64-48 loss at Alaska Anchorage.





The Falcons, with their victory and Central Washington's loss, officially have clinched a spot in the inaugural GNAC Tournament, which begins Feb. 28. But plenty remains at stake, including homecourt advantage for the first round that will go to the top four teams in the final standings.


Toward that end, SPU head coach Julie Heisey was both delighted and relieved with Thursday's result after last week's road losses at Western Washington and Montana State Billings.

“Our kids have been doing a lot of things very well, but we haven't been able to get over the top,” Heisey said. “Especially at this time of year, confidence is so much of what you're doing. For us to get a win right now, especially in a tough way where it took a lot of mental toughness and we had to do a lot of little things right, I think it's a huge confidence builder.”

The game was a typical SPU-NNU contest. Although the Falcons now have won eight straight in the series and have an all-time 24-2 lead, seven of the last nine games have been decided by single digits. One of the two exceptions to that was on Jan. 15 in Nampa, Idaho, when Seattle Pacific pulled away to a 70-57 victory.





Seattle Pacific had a 48-42 lead on a lay-in by senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale hS) with 13:04 left in the game, but didn't get another field goal until the 5:43 mark. During that stretch, Northwest Nazarene ran off 10 straight points to take a 52-48 lead with 10:07 remaining.

From there, the game was tied three more times, and the lead changed hands three more times. At 57-57 with 3:13 left, Maloney buried two free throws, which were answered by a 3-pointer from NNU senior Beth Johnson for a 60-59 Crusaders lead at the 2:49 mark.

Junior guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) tied her career high with nine points, the last two of which were two free throws with 1:48 left to put the Falcons back on top, 61-60.

Then, with NNU's shot clock winding down, senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach came up with a steal. SPU set it up, with Maloney cutting underneath the hoop to take the pinpoint pass from Rohrbach for the lay-in – her 600th point -- and a 63-60 advantage with 1:11 left.

Chelsie Luke pulled the Crusaders within one at 63-62 on a third-chance lay-in with 37 seconds to go. Northwest Nazarene then rebounded a missed shot by Gorman with 18 seconds left, and called back-to-back timeouts at the 9.8-second mark.

But the Crusaders' plan never got a chance. The ball was knocked loose, and Maloney dove onto the floor after it, tying it up and returning possession to SPU on the friendly arrow at 7.7 seconds. She was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play, and both of her high-arcing free throws swished through, making it 65-62. 

“It was definitely our on-ball communication,” Maloney said of the crucial loose ball that ultimately was awarded to SPU. “Caitlyn was guarding ball and calling that out, and I was able to jump in and get my hands on it. Luckily, the jump ball went our way.”

A last-gasp try by NNU's Johnson fell short and went out of bounds as the final buzzer sounded.

“We won on defense, we won by making free throws (14 of 19), and we won by won by getting the ball into the post and Melissa (Reich) scored and made good plays,” Heisey said. (Reich hit 7 of 14.)

Northwest Nazarene's Johnson led all scorers with 18 points.

Maloney wasn't the only one to hit a career milestone on Thursday. Reich collected her 600th rebound to join the 600-600 club. She now has 607 rebounds to go along with 666 points.

Junior guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) scored six points to pass the 500 mark (she now has 505). And freshman forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS), although she scored just two points, is now at an even 200 as a Falcon.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.

Seattle Pacific 65, Northwest Nazarene 62

NORTHWEST NAZARENE (12-10, 7-7 GNAC)
Johnson 8-18 1-1 19, Hingston 2-7 5-8 9,. Garcia 34-11 1-2 8, Smith 2-5 2-2 6, King 2-4 2-2 6, Adams 2-9 0-0 5, Luke 1-7 2-2 4, Warwick 1-1 0-0 2, Ruettgers 1-1 0-0 2, Ramirez 1-2 0-0 2, Dzhidzhiyeshvili 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-68 13-17 62.

SEATTLE PACIFIC (14-7, 8-5 GNAC)
Reich 7-14 2-4 16, Rohrbach 5-11 0-0 11, Maloney 3-9 4-4 10, Gorman 2-5 3-4 9, Sims 3-6 0-1 6, Murray 2-2 0-0 4, Callen 1-1 2-2 4, Harazin 0-3 3-4 3, Benson 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-55 14-19 65.

Northwest Nazarene............ 30 32 - 62
Seattle Pacific....................... 35 30 - 65

3-point goals--Northwest Nazarene 3-13 (Adams1-3; Garcia 1-3; Johnson1-3; Luke0-2; Dzhidzhiyeshvili 0-1; mSmith 0-1), Seattle Pacific 3-12 (Gorman 2-4; Rohrbach1-2; Sims 0-1; Harazin 0-1; Benson 0-1;
Maloney 0-3). Fouled out--Northwest Nazarene-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds--Northwest Nazarene 43 (Hingston 12), Seattle Pacific 37 (Reich 9). Assists--Northwest Nazarene 12 (Adams 6), Seattle Pacific 15 (Harazin 4). Total fouls--Northwest Nazarene 20, Seattle Pacific 15. Technical fouls--Northwest Nazarene-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-313.

Records – Seattle Pacific 14-7, 8-5 GNAC. Northwest Nazarene 12-10, 7-7 GNAC.

Next game – Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.