Box score, play-by-play

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Nyesha Sims needed just seven seconds to find her shooting touch on Thursday.

She never lost it the rest of the night.

Sims scored a career-high 26 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds, and Seattle Pacific went on a 13-point scoring run late in the game to turn a two-point deficit into an 11-point lead on the way to beating Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest, 78-70.

Junior guard Sims (Portland, Ore.) easily surpassed her previous career high of 17 points, which she recorded twice, most recently at home against UC San Diego last November 20. She started Thursday night's performance with a 3-pointer on the very first shot of the game.

“It was just having confidence and coming out and playing my game – especially when I hit my first 3-point shot,” said Sims, who hit 10 of 13 from the field, including both of her 3-pointers and both of her free throws. She made it a double-double – her fourth of the season – by pulling down 10 rebounds.

A certain irony in Sims' performance wasn't lost on SPU coach Julie Heisey.

“It was kind of funny – at lunch tonight, Nyesha said, 'I'm going to be the 4 (power forward) next year.' So at a timeout, I said, 'OK, Nyesha, you get your wish – you get to be 4.' And she just found a way to attack around the basket, and did a great job rebounding and finishing around the basket,” Heisey said.





The win was the third straight for Seattle Pacific and the 27th in a row against Western Oregon – a streak which began after the Wolves won the first two games of the all-time series back in 1981-82. It moved the Falcons closer to clinching homecourt advantage for the first round of the GNAC Tournament. And, coupled with Montana State Billings' 63-55 loss at Saint Martin's, it moved SPU into sole possession of third place in the conference.

Also on the postseason scene: Hawaii Pacific, the team currently one place ahead of Seattle Pacific for the eighth and final spot in the NCAA West Region tournament, lost at Grand Canyon, 70-60.

The Falcons got it done on Thursday despite senior starting center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) sitting out the entire game with knee pain – the first missed game of her career after playing in 111 straight.

Then, freshman forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS), who started in place of Reich, sprained her ankle on a hard fall under the hoop moments after she scored on a lay-in with 13:11 left in the game. She sat out the rest of the way for precautionary reasons.

Reich and Benson both will be evaluated on Friday, and again Saturday. The Falcons return to action on Saturday at Saint Martin's at 5:15 p.m.

“We had a lot of things that weren't right tonight. We didn't have Melissa Reich, who is a key to our offense,” Sims said. “Other people had to step up and make plays.”

Two of those people were senior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) and senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS), who added 13 points apiece for the Falcons (16-7, 10-5 GNAC). Maloney factored into eight straight points during SPU's game-breaking run, assisting on two baskets and scoring two of them herself.

“Maddie and Caitlyn played fearless,” Heisey said. “They made hustle plays and led the charge. And Nyesha tag-teamed perfectly.”





The Falcons scored the first eight points of the game and led by as many as nine during the first half at 28-19.

But it was Western Oregon on top, 67-65, when Wolves senior guard Sara Zahler bombed in a 3-pointer with 4:41 to play. That, however would be the last point for Western Oregon (9-14, 7-8 GNAC) until the game was well out of reach in Seattle Pacific's favor.

“In the last three minutes, we played together and played strong and pulled out the win,” said Maloney who delivered yet another workman-like performance with seven assists, five rebounds, three blocked shots (tying her career high in that category for the second time in three games) and one steal to go along with her 13 points. “Everyone just really needed to step up and come together because we were playing positions that we're not normally used to playing.”

Junior center Joani Reimer (Ferndale, Wash./Lynden Christian HS) started SPU's 13-point spurt when she hit the second of two free throws with 4:13 left. The Falcons then went in front for good at the 3:33 mark when Rohrbach broke free under the hoop and Maloney hit her right on target for the lay-in and a 68-67 lead.

Maloney banked in an eight-foot runner at 2:32 for a 70-67 advantage, then found Sims for a lay-in to make it 72-67 with 1:41 left. Maloney drove in from the left side and banked in a shot at 1:04, pushing the lead to 74-67. Freshman Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) dropped in two free throws with 38.8 seconds left, and Sims, appropriately, closed out SPU's scoring with two more free throws for a 78-67 margin with just 18 seconds to go.

The Falcons kept Western Oregon off the board for more than four minutes until a 3-pointer in the last seconds that did nothing except change the final margin.

“It showed we can deal with adversity and come off a close game and come out with a win,” Maloney said.

Rohrbach's 13 points put her past 500 for her Seattle Pacific career (she's at 504). Junior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash.) handed out five assists and is now just three shy of 200 as a Falcon.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 17, 2011
New P.E. Building/Monmouth, Ore.

Seattle Pacific 78, Western Oregon 70

SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-7, 10-5 GNAC)
Gorman 1-2 2-2 4, Sims 10-13 4-4 26, Maloney 5-7 3-4 13, Benson 3-8 1-2 7, Rohrbach 4-7 5-7 13, Harazin 1-5 0-1 3, Thralls 0-0 0-0 0, Callen 0-2 2-2 2, Murray 3-4 2-2 9, Reimer 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 27-49 20-26 78.

WESTERN OREGON (9-14, 7-8 GNAC)
Clifford 1-2 0-0 3, Richardson 4-10 2-2 10, Zahler 8-16 2-3 23, Peterson 3-9 0-0 6, Fowler 2-4 6-7 10, Whitsett 2-9 0-0 6, Hass 3-3 0-1 6, Bellando 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 25-57 12-15 70.

Seattle Pacific..............40   38 -- 78
Western Oregon..........37   33 --70 

3-point goals – Seattle Pacific 4-7 (Gorman 0-1, Sims 2-2, Maloney 0-1, Harazin 1-2, Murray 1-1), Western Oregon 8-22 (Clifford 1-1, Richardson 0-2, Zahler 5-10, Peterson 0-1, Whitsett 2-8). Fouled out – Seattle Pacific: Murray. Western Oregon: None. Rebounds – Seattle Pacific 33 (Sims 10), Western Oregon 26 (Fowler 5). Assists – Seattle Pacific 19 (Maloney 7), Western Oregon 1 (Bellando 4). Technical fouls – None. A – 286.