THE SCHEDULE: Tuesday, Feb. 22: Simon Fraser at SPU, 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats
Thursday, Feb. 24: W. Washington at SPU, 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats
Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – Just like that, it's here: the final week of regular-season play for the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team.
Certainly, there is more basketball to come. But for now, the Falcons get to hang out at home for the entire week, with two games on the docket. Simon Fraser, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's newest member, comes down from Burnaby, B.C., on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Brougham Pavilion.
Then on Thursday, it's a rematch against rival Western Washington on Senior Night in Brougham. That game also tips off at 7 p.m.
Seattle Pacific brings a four-game winning streak into the week, having tacked on road victories last Thursday at Western Oregon (78-70) and last Saturday at Saint Martin's, (57-47).
The inaugural GNAC Tournament begins next Monday, Feb. 28, with SPU on the verge of clinching a first-round home game.
TOURNEYS AND MAGIC NUMBERS
The Falcons are already guaranteed a spot in GNACs. And, with a win in either game this week, or a Saint Martin's loss in either of its last two games, Seattle Pacific will assure itself of playing at home in next Monday's first round.
Though not officially a certainty yet, that game likely will be the first half of a playoff doubleheader if the Falcon men clinch fourth place in their standings. They currently are No. 4 with two games left.
The Falcon women still can finish as high as third in the GNAC if they win either of their last two games and Montana State Billings loses one of its last two (at home on Tuesday against first-place Western Washington, or at home on Thursday against Simon Fraser).
BIGGER POSTSEASON FISH TO FRY
Seattle Pacific has a run of 14 straight appearances in the NCAA Division II West Regionals. The Falcons have gone a long way in the past two weeks of helping their own chances of making it 15. But, sitting at No. 9 in last week's West Region rankings (the new list will come out Wednesday), they're also going to need some help to move up into that top-eight group that gets into the tournament.
SPU got some of that help last week. While it was winning twice on the road, current West Region No. 8
Hawaii Pacific was losing twice, at Grand Canyon (70-60) and at Dixie State (79-65). Hawaii Pacific faces those same two teams, but this time on its home court, in the final week of the season (Feb. 28 vs. Dixie, March 5 vs. Grand Canyon).
SALUTING THE SENIORS
Maddie Maloney,
Melissa Reich and
Caitlyn Rohrbach will be honored on Thursday night as they play their final regular-season home game in Brougham Pavilion.
Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) and Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) have played all four seasons for the Falcons. Maloney has been a regular starter since her sophomore year; Reich moved into a starting role as a junior and has kept it ever since.
Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) has spent the past three seasons on the court for Seattle Pacific after playing as a freshman at Alaska Fairbanks (2006-07), then sitting out 2007-08 per NCAA rules after transferring here. She was a key reserve her first two seasons before blossoming as a starter this year.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
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.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The Falcons welcome
Simon Fraser to Brougham Pavilion for the first time in GNAC play. It also will be the second time in the past two seasons that a defending national champion has come to town. The George Fox Bruins of Newberg, Ore., visited for an exhibition game in November of 2009 after winning the NCAA Division III title the previous spring. Simon Fraser won its fifth Canadian championship last season.
--SPU will have another “turn-the-tables” opportunity, since
Western Washington won this season's first meeting between the teams, 67-57 at home on Feb. 2. The Falcons made good on a similar chance last Saturday, winning 57-47 at Saint Martin's after the Saints pulled off a 54-53 surprise in Seattle on Jan. 20. During coach
Julie Heisey's six seasons in charge, her teams have had eight tries at getting even in the season series, and have won five of them.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
After not string together back-to-back wins since mid January, the Falcons couldn't have picked a better time to forge a four-game winning streak.
“It's getting to the point of the season where we need to keep excelling,” senior forward
Caitlyn Rohrbach said. “We're still in a fight to even make regionals, so it was a huge win (last Saturday at Saint Martin's). … Road games are tough, but it's good to get wins. I'm excited that well take this momentum into (this) week.”
Coach
Julie Heisey wholeheartedly agreed.
“It feels good to win four in a row, and obviously, to win two in a row on the road was a big deal,” she said. “Three games from the end of the season, and that means a lot. You saw that in the way Caitlyn and Maddie (Maloney) and Melissa (Reich) played. … It was seniors playing like seniors.”
GNAC HONOR FOR MALONEY
Senior guard
Maddie Maloney was named as the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday for her performances in victories at Western Oregon and at Saint Martin's last week. It was the first such honor of her career.
Offensively, Maloney hit 8 of 12 from the field and scored 22 points in the two games combined. She also handed out 10 assists and recorded all five of SPU's blocked shots for the week. But it was her defense that stood out, especially last Saturday against Dara Zack of Saint Martin's. Zack came in averaging 15.5 points per game on 45 percent shooting, and is the GNAC's No. 6 all-time scorer with more than 1,400 points. But Maloney helped limit her to just five points on 1-of-11 shooting.
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN (7-14, 4-12 GNAC)
All-time series: Simon Fraser leads, 13-4.
Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 65, Simon Fraser 60 (Dec. 18, 2010 at Burnaby, B.C).
Simon Fraser on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: The defending Canadian national champions have clinched the eighth and final spot
in the inaugural GNAC Tournament. Simon Fraser has just eight players on its roster, having started the season with nine. One of them is do-everything forward
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe. The 6-foot-2 sophomore leads the conference in scoring (18.5 points per game), rebounding (12.1) and field goal shooting (57.4 percent, making 147 of 256 shots). Raincock-Ekunwe had a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds in December when the Falcons opened GNAC play with a 65-60 victory in Burnaby. Sophomore guard
Kristina Collins is the conference leader in assists with 90 (4.3 per game). With so few players, those who are on the roster get a lot of playing time. Collins averages a GNAC-leading 34.4 minutes per game, sophomore guard
Carla Wyman is second at 33.3, and Raincock-Ekunwe is fourth at 32.6.
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS (23-1, 16-0 GNAC)
All-time series: WWU leads, 49-25.
Current series streak: WWU won 1.
Last time: WWU 67, SPU 57 (Feb. 2, 2011 at Bellingham).
Western Washington on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington set the tone early as the best team in the GNAC, and has
just kept going. The Vikings already have clinched the conference crown and come into the week on an 18-game winning streak – sixth-longest in GNAC history. Their only loss was 65-62 in overtime against Chico State on Dec. 10. Senior guard
Amanda Dunbar is tied for fifth in GNAC scoring at 13.5 points per game, and senior center
Lauren Hefflin is No. 8 at 12.6. Hefflin hits 57.1 percent of her shots, second-best in the GNAC. Senior forward
Gabby Wade ranks No. 3 in rebounding at 7.5, and Hefflin is tied with SPU's
Nyesha Sims for the No. 4 spots at 7.2. Senior guard
Megan Pinske is tied for No. 2 in 3-point shooting at .406. Sophomore guard
Corinn Waltrip, who had 14 points in the Feb. 2 meeting, is the only non-senior in the starting lineup. The Vikings had four double-figure scorers in that game, as Heffllin also had 14, Dunbar 13 and Pinske 12.
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking)
SPU SFU WWU
Points 66.4 (4) 65.8 (5) 70.5 (1)
Points allowed 57.8 (3) 70.1 (8) 53.9 (2)
Rebounds 40.5 (1) 36.2 (10) 37.5 (8)
Assists 16.0 (T1) 14.7 (4) 16.0 (T1)
Steals 8.8 (7) 8.1 (8) 10.0 (T3)
Blocks 2.1 (T8) 4.3 (T2) 3.1 (6)
Turnovers 17.8 (4) 19.9 (7) 16.9 (T2)
FG percentage .413 (3) .433 (2) .440 (1)
3-pt percentage .294 (7) .291 (8) .357 (1)
FT percentage .708 (7) .651 (10) .693 (9)
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific was not among the top 25 teams in last week's
USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches' poll, which was released on Feb. 15. The Falcons received 26 points in the voting for the No. 32 spot on the list. The new poll will be out on Feb. 22.
The rankings that really matter to SPU now are those for the West Region – and the Falcons are at No. 9 on the most recent list (Feb. 16). Seattle Pacific needs to finish in the top eight to advance to next month's NCAA West Regional tournament. The next set of rankings is out on Wednesday, Feb. 23.
MALONEY'S BLOCK PARTY
When senior guard
Maddie Maloney is on the court, look for her to score or rebound. Look for her to pass. Look for her to draw the defensive assignment against the other team's toughest player. But look for her to block shots? Most people wouldn't.
They'd better look again.
In the past four games, Maloney has come up with eight blocks – nearly double her total of five through the first 20 games of the season. She tied her career high of three on Feb. 10 at home against Northwest Nazarene, then tied it again in last Thursday at Western Oregon. She had two more last Saturday at Saint Martin's. Her total of 13 ranks second on the team behind the 17 of senior center
Melissa Reich. Prior to this current streak, Maloney had gone four straight games without a block.
AS ACCURATE AS 1-2-3
The top three shooting teams in the GNAC will share the court in Brougham Pavilion at different times this week.
Seattle Pacific is the third-most accurate team in the conference from the field at 41.3 percent.
Simon Fraser, which visits on Tuesday, is No. 2 at 43.3 percent. And
Western Washington will bring the GNAC's top marksmanship to town on Thursday. The Vikings come into the week at 44.0 percent.
NEW BOARD MEMBER FOR SPU TOP 10
Senior center
Melissa Reich is on the brink of becoming the 10th-best rebounder in SPU history. Reich starts the week with 617 rebounds, and needs just four more to move past
Barb Engebretsen into the No. 10 spot. Engebretsen grabbed 620 boards from 1976-78. The next spot up the list is 676 by
Elisabeth Ford (1992-95).
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Junior guard
Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) picked up her fourth double-double of the season last Thursday at Western Oregon, with a career-high 26 points, plus 10 rebounds. The only other Falcons double-double this season belongs to senior guard
Maddie Maloney, who had 11 points and handed out 10 assists in an 80-64 victory against Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 1.
Melissa Reich has come close three times: nine points and 11 rebounds against Grand Canyon on Dec. 3 and Western Oregon on Jan. 22, and 16 points plus nine rebounds on Feb. 10 against Northwest Nazarene.
AND YOUR POINT IS …
The Falcons were just 1-5 this season when scoring in the 50s. But they pulled out a low-scoring battle last Saturday at Saint Martin's, 57-47. It's the fifth time they have kept an opponent below 50 points, and they've won all five of those game.
At the other extreme, SPU was 0-2 when allowing opponents to score in the 70s – until last Thursday, that is, when a late-game scoring surge produced a 78-70 victory at Western Oregon. The Wolves got to 70 on a 3-pointer with just a few seconds left and the outcome no longer in doubt.
CAREER MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th rebound –
Katie Benson (has 92).
100th assist –
Nyesha Sims (has 94).
200th assist –
Jordan Harazin (has 198).
621st rebound, to move into SPU all-time top 10 –
Melissa Reich (has 617).
800th career point –
Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 796).
CAREER MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th rebound –
Rachel Murray (has 100).
500th SPU point –
Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 508).
FUN WITH GNAC NUMBERS
Points – 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 18.5; 14,
Nyesha Sims 11.0.
Rebounds – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 12.1; T4, Sims 7.2.
Assists – 1, Kristina Collins (SFU) 4.3; T8,
Maddie Maloney 3.0.
Assist/turnover ratio – 1, Kaitlin McBride (UAA) 1.9; 3, Maloney 1.6; 4,
Jordan Harazin 1.5; T9,
McKayla Gorman 1.2.
Steals – 1, Shantell Marquis (MSB) 2.8 (66 total); 3, Maloney 2.3 (55 total).
Blocked shots – 1, Rylee Peterson (WOU) 2.3 (55 total); T13,
Melissa Reich 0.7 (17 total).
FG percentage – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) .574; 9,
Katie Benson .455.
3-point percentage – 1, Heather Adams (NNU) .440; 4,
Katie Benson .404.
FT percentage – 1, Sara Zahler (WOU) .849; 8, 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.
UP NEXT
The GNAC Tournament begins next Monday, Feb. 28, with four first-round games. Seattle Pacific is a likely host for one of those games. Game time and opponent will be firmed up after Thursday's regular-season finales. Semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, with the championship set for Saturday, March 5. In all cases, the higher seed has the homecourt advantage.
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 16-0 23-1
Alaska Anchorage 13-4 22-6
Seattle Pacific 11-5 17-7
Montana State Billings 10-6 14-10
Saint Martin's 9-7 14-10
Northwest Nazarene 8-8 13-11
Western Oregon 7-9 9-15
Simon Fraser 4-12 7-14
Central Washington 2-14 7-16
Alaska Fairbanks 1-16 1-23
