THE SCHEDULE:      Thursday, Feb. 10: NW Nazarene at SPU, 7:00 p.m. 
                                    Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash. 
                                    Live Webcast        Live stats 

                                    Saturday, Feb. 12: C. Washington at SPU, 7:00 p.m. 
                                    Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash. 
                                    Live Webcast        Live stats 


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – No doubt about it: The road was rough. But the Seattle Pacific Falcons are hoping to find a bit of a smoother women's basketball path back home.

After four straight games away from Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons are back on campus this week to take on Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m.

Since their last home contest on Jan. 22 – a 64-54 victory against Western Oregon on Homecoming Saturday – the Falcons have dropped three of four on the road, including last Saturday's 54-51 decision at Montana State Billings. As a result, they now find themselves in a three-way tie for third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Of SPU's final six regular-season games, four will be at home. The last two on the road are next week at Western Oregon on Thursday and at Saint Martin's on Saturday.





TOURNEYS AND MAGIC NUMBERS
The inaugural GNAC Tournament is less than three weeks away. The top eight teams qualify, with the top four in the standings playing host to first-round games on Monday, Feb. 28. The two highest remaining seeds after the first round will be at home for the semifinials on Wednesday, March 2, and the highest-seeded survivor of those two games will host the championship on Saturday, March 5.

Any combination of SPU wins and Central Washington or Simon Fraser losses that adds up to two clinches a tournament spot for the Falcons. The first-round homecourt scenario isn't nearly so clear-cut, as Seattle Pacific (7-5), Saint Martin's (7-5), Montana State Bilings (7-5), Western Oregon (6-6) and Northwest Nazarene (7-6) are all still in the hunt for places among the top four.

THINK PINK
When Central Washington comes to town on Saturday, it will be Pink Zone Night in Brougham Pavilion. Pink Zone is an annual initiative of the Women's Basketball Coach Association to highlight the ongoing battle against breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game.  More information is available online at www.wbca.org/2011pinkzone.

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. The only exception will be no live stats from the game at Saint Martin's on Feb. 19. A video feed of that game will be available, but there is no audio.

CLOSING IN ON 300 WINS
This could be the week that SPU coach Julie Heisey hits the 300-victory mark. Coming into the week, Heisey has earned 298 victories.

In her 15th season as a head coach and sixth on the SPU bench, Heisey is 298-149 overall, and 136-32 with the Falcons.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
Looming story lines from this week's games:
--Whether home or away, Northwest Nazarene typically is one of SPU's toughest opponents. While the Falcons won by 13 last month in Nampa, 70-57, six of the seven games prior to that were decided by single digits. That includes last year's 63-62 Falcons victory in Brougham Pavilion.
--Central Washington has had its struggles in GNAC play with a 2-10 record. But the Wildcats have been competitive with most everyone, playing Western Washington within 10 points at Bellingham last week, and earlier beating Montana State Billings by 10 – the same Yellowjackets team that just finished a two-game season sweep of Seattle Pacific.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
From head coach Julie Heisey's point of view, the Falcons don't have to make any major changes to their game plan to get back on the winning track – except hit their shots, especially the short ones.

“That's our biggest challenge: We can't focus on being discouraged,” she said. “We have to focus on things we can get better at. All the things we are lacking are things we can fix. You're not going to make every shot. But make the lay-ups, make the free throws, and make your own confidence.”

Heisey is looking forward to being back in Brougham – and not just for this week's two games.

“The bottom line is the season is not over yet, and we have a couple days to practice,” she said. “That will be good. Coming back from Alaska (the previous weekend) and traveling last week and having a game in the middle of the week (last Wednesday's regionally televised contest at Western Washington in Bellingham), we didn't get as much practice as we probably need.”

While homecourt give the Falcons an edge, they still need to get the job done.

“Northwest Nazarene is a very, very good team, and they're playing very well,” Heisey said. “And Central has the ability to play well. But right now, we have to focus on us.”

SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS (12-9, 7-6 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 23-2. Current series streak: SPU won 7. Last time: SPU 70, Northwest Nazarene 57 (Jan. 15, 2011, at Nampa, Idaho). Northwest Nazarene on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene can rack up the points (69.6 per game, third-best in the GNAC), which is 12 more than SPU's defense allows on average. But like the Falcons, NNU spreads its offense around, as only junior post player Briaunna King (11.6 per game) averages in double figures. Senior post player Beth Johnson, who hails from nearby Kentwood High School southeast of Seattle, is the conference's third-best shooter at 52.5 percent (74 of 141) and averages 9.8 points per game. Johnson went for a game-high 16 against Seattle Pacific last month in Nampa. Sophomore guard Heather Adams is deadly from downtown with a GNAC-leading 44.3 percent success rate (39 of 88).

SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS (7-12, 2-10 GNAC)
All-time series: SPU leads, 38-28. Current series streak: SPU won 7. Last time: SPU 77, CWU 52 (Jan. 13, 2011 at Ellensburg). Central Washington on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: With Central Washington, it's not any one particular player who has to be stopped every game. It's any one of several. A total of seven different Wildcats have led the team in scoring this season. Most recently, it was 22 points by freshman point guard Daisy Burke in last Saturday's 85-73 homecourt victory against Alaska Fairbanks. Junior guard Alisha Love has posted a pair of 20-point outings, with a season- and team high of 27 against Montana State Billings on Jan. 15 (an 81-71 CWU victory). Junior guard Sophie Russell has Central's only double-figure average, at 10.9 points per game. Sophomore forward/center Stacy Albrecht is No. 7 in the GNAC at 6.8 rebounds per game. One thing the Wildcats do very well is block shots – 4.6 per game (tied with Montana State Billings for the conference lead).

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC ranking) 
                                    SPU             NNU         CWU
Points                         65.8 (6)     69.6 (3)     64.7 (8)
Points allowed         57.5 (3)     64.1 (6)     67.2 (7)
Rebounds                  41.0 (1)     38.7 (5)     40.7 (3)
Assists                       15.8 (2)     13.3 (7)     13.7 (6)
Steals                            8.9 (7)     11.0 (2)       7.2 (9)
Blocks                           1.9 (10)     2.0 (9)       4.6 (T1)
Turnovers                  17.7 (4)     19.4 (7)     20.8 (8)
FG percentage          .403 (3)     .402 (4)     .375 (9)
3-pt percentage       .288 (8)     .355 (2)     .307 (4)
FT percentage          .701 (8)     .707 (6)     .710 (5)

AT LEAST SHE'S CONSISTENT
One of these nights, senior guard Maddie Maloney (Issaquah, Wash./Skyline HS) is going to get that extra steal or two she needs to set or tie her career high, which currently is five. In the meantime, the Falcons can count on her to come up with a few timely swipes every game. Maloney had four steals against UC San Diego on Nov. 20 in the second game of the season. She has matched that seven times since then.

In Seattle Pacific's 20 games this season, only twice – at home against Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 3, and at Western Washington last Wednesday – has Maloney not recorded a steal. And in the 18 other games, she has had multiple steals in 14 of them.

FIFTY IS NIFTY -- OR NOT
Once again this season, the Falcons are doing a credible job of stopping their opponents from lighting up the scoreboard. In 12 of their 20 games, the have kept the other side in the 50s or lower, and have won eight of those 12 games.

But it has been a different story on the other side of that same scoreboard. When SPU scores in the 50s, it has won just once and lost five times.

HALF A MILLENNIUM IN THE MAKING
Junior guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.) is now just one point away from the 500th of her Seattle Pacific career. She started last week with 479, then picked up 20 more in the games at Western Washington and Montana State Billings. That means Sims, who leads the Falcons in scoring at 10.8 points per game, should hit that mark on Thursday against Northwest Nazarene.

CRACKIN' THOSE BOOKS
Senior forward Caitlyn Rohrbach keeps climbing the academic ladder. Last week, Rohrbach (Edmonds, Wash./Meadowdale HS) was named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District first team. It was the third CoSIDA selection of her career, and each one has been better than the last. Rohrbach was a third-team pick as a sophomore in 2009 and moved up to the second team last year. She has a near-perfect 3.93 grade-point average as a psychology major.

As a first-team selection, Rohrbach now will be placed on the national ballot and be eligible for consideration as an Academic All-American. CoSIDA teams are voted on by college sports information directors. 

UP THE LADDER WITH REICH
Senior center Melissa Reich (Bothell, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) has climbed into a tie for 17th on the GNAC career blocked shots list. Reich now has 68, the same as Willow Cabe, who graduated from Western Washington last year, and Alison Graham (Saint Martin's, 1998-2002). One more block will tie Reich with Central Washington's Alayna Vincent (2001-05) for the No. 16 spot on the list. A spot in the top 15 will take 73 career blocks, putting Reich well within reach of that.

The all-time blocks leader is former SPU star Brittney Kroon (2002-06) with 419. That's way ahead of No. 2 all-time Rebecca Kielpinski (Alaska Anchorage 2005-09), who finished with 262. Of the current crop of GNAC players, no one is even in triple digits, although Kayla Ryan of Montana State Billings, with 92, certainly could get there.

NOW THAT'S A TONGUE-TWISTER
SPU fans might want to listen carefully when one of Northwest Nazarene's reserves get into the action on Thursday. Simply put, she has game – and she has name. Junior guard Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili is from Ontario, Ore., and transferred to NNU this year from Treasure Valley Community College. Her last name is pronounced ghzee-ghzee-yesh-VEE-lee.

CAREER MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th rebound – Rachel Murray (has 94).
200th point – Katie Benson (has 198), McKayla Gorman (has 185).
200th field goal made –Nyesha Sims (has 196). 
200th assist – Jordan Harazin (has 188).
300th coaching victory – Julie Heisey (has 298).
500th point – Nyesha Sims (has 499).
500th rebound – Caitlyn Rohrbach (has 470).
600th point – Maddie Maloney (has 592).
600th rebound – Melissa Reich (has 598; No. 600 would put her above that total in points and rebounds).

CAREER MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
200th field goal made – Maddie Maloney (has 204).

FUN WITH GNAC NUMBERS
Points – 1, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 19.8; 16, Nyesha Sims 10.8.
Rebounds – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) 12.0; 5, Sims 7.0.
Assists – 1, Kristina Collins (SFU) 4.5; 8, Maddie Maloney 3.0.
Assist/turnover ratio – 1, Kaitlin McBride (UAA) 2.0; 3, Maloney 1.7; 4, Jordan Harazin 1.6; 8, McKayla Gorman 1.3.
Steals – 1, Shantell Marquis (MSB) 2.6 (52 total); 2, Maloney 2.5 (49 total).
Blocked shots – 1, Rylee Peterson (WOU) 2.6 (49 total); 11, Melissa Reich 0.8 (15 total).
FG percentage – 1, Raincock-Ekunwe (SFU) .617; 11, Katie Benson .465.
3-point percentage – 1, Heather Adams (NNU) .443; 2, Katie Benson .418.
FT percentage – 1, Sara Zahler (WOU) .868; 8, Benson .768.

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 is not among the top 25 teams in this week's USA Today/ESPN Division II coaches' poll, which was released on Tuesday. The Falcons received 26 points in the voting for the No. 29 spot on the list.

The rankings that really matter to SPU now are those for the West Region. The Falcons were No. 8 last week, which would give them the final berth in the regional tournament. The West's three conference champions – Great Northwest Athletic Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West Conference – automatically qualify for the tournament. After that, the next five highest-ranked team from among the non-champions earn a berth.

UP NEXT
After this week, just four games remain before the GNAC Tournament. The Falcons will head out onto the road next week for the final time in regular-season play, visiting Western Oregon in Monmouth next Thursday, Feb. 17, at 5:15 p.m. They'll call on Saint Martin's on Saturday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m.

TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home games can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start times.

Reserved seats are $8 for center court and $7 for the foul lines. General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.

SPU students who show their school identification will be admitted free to all home games.

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         13-0               20-1
Alaska Anchorage               10-3              19-5
Seattle Pacific                        7-5               13-7
Saint Martin's                         7-5               12-8
Montana State Billings         7-5               11-9
Northwest Nazarene            7-6               12-9
Western Oregon                   6-6                 8-12
Central Washington             2-10              7-12
Simon Fraser                        2-10               5-12
Alaska Fairbanks                 1-12               1-19