THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 5   Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 8:00 p.m. PST
                                  The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
                                  Live Webcast       Live stats             
 
Saturday, Jan. 7   Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, 8:00 p.m. PST
                                 Wells Fargo Center / Anchorage, Alaska
                                 Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
        Recent photo galleries:  Pacific Lutheran   Western Oregon

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are off to The Last Frontier.
 
Fresh off of convincing homecourt Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victories against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's, the Falcons make their annual trip to Alaska this week. SPU will call on Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and No. 9 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 8 p.m. Pacific time.
 
The Falcons will land in Alaska as sole occupants of second place in the conference standings at 3-1, thanks to last week's pair of Brougham Pavilion blowouts – 74-51 against Western Oregon on Thursday, and 70-39 against Saint Martin's on Saturday. The New Year's Eve afternoon victory against the Saints, coupled with other results from around the GNAC, put Seattle Pacific all alone in the No. 2 spot, trailing only nationally ranked Anchorage (3-0). 
 




FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and live Webcasts will be available for both of this week's games. Links can be found at the top of this story.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The Falcons have won 19 straight games against Alaska Fairbanks. The last time the Nanooks got the better of SPU was on Jan. 12, 2002 in Fairbanks, 75-71 in overtime.
--Last Jan. 29 in Fairbanks, Seattle Pacific put up its highest point total of the season (93) and allowed the fewest points (39) of the season.
--In their last four games at Anchorage, the Falcons have had the lead at halftime, only to see the Seawolves come back and win three of those games: 68-66 in last year's GNAC Tournament semifinals (SPU was up 39-24 at the break), 68-66 last Jan. 29 (SPU 29-25), and 53-49 on Jan. 24, 2009 (SPU 30-20). The one game Seattle Pacific did win at UAA during that stretch was 67-60 on March 7, 2010 after leading 30-19 at the break.
--The Falcons will face a nationally ranked opponent for just the second time this season. They opened the regular season against then-No. 13 (and current No. 3) UC San Diego on Nov. 11 at the CCAA-GNAC Challenge in San Francisco, with the Tritons winning, 68-47. Alaska Anchorage, at 12-2 overall, is ranked No. 9 this week.
--SPU's seniors now have won in every GNAC gym, thanks to an 82-66 victory at Western Washington on Dec. 3. But the last time the Falcons won at both Western and at Anchorage in the same season was 2007-08 – when the current seniors were still high school seniors.
 
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Having had to play at Western Washington during the first week of the GNAC schedule in December, the Falcons now find themselves heading to Alaska in the first week of the new year.
 
“It's early to be playing them, but obviously, it's a great test,” Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey said. “Fairbanks is a tough place to play, and Cody (Burgess, the Nanooks' head coach) is doing a great job, and they're better.
 
“Anchorage is scoring a lot of points, they have a lot of depth, and they're the ones to beat.”
 
Wins, losses and statistics aside, Heisey likes some of the intangible things she's seeing from her team, both during practice and during games.
 
“One of the things in building a team is learning to trust each other in any situation, and I like everybody's attitude,” she said. “Everybody is hungry and is trying to be coachable and do things right – playing defense, running the floor and working hard. Suzanna Ohlsen and Betsy Kingma are coming in and doing a great job off the bench. Nyesha (Sims) had another solid rebounding performance, and Katie was really solid (against Saint Martin's).
 
“To have four kids in double figures again and only 13 turnovers in a game after just a couple days of practice … top to bottom, there are reasons why our team is getting better.”
 
ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 4-9, 0-3 GNAC (10th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 47-12. Current series streak: SPU won 19. Last time: SPU 93, UAF 39 (Jan. 29, 2011 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks, under the guidance of second-year coach Cody Burgess, already is way ahead of last season, when it went just 1-24 overall, 1-17 in the GNAC. The Nanooks are led by senior center Nicole Bozek, whose 15.8 scoring average ranks No. 7 in the GNAC. Senior forward Autumn Greene, at 11.5 per game, is 13^th in conference scoring. Bozek also is strong on the boards, with an 8.3 average that ranks No. 6 in the conference. She has three scoring games in the 20s and two double-doubles. Freshman guard Nicole Hartzog has quick hands, with her average of 1.9 steals per game tied for No. 6 among GNAC players. The Nanooks have lost three straight, most recently 97-74 at Central Washington last Saturday.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 12-2, 3-0 GNAC (1^st).
All-time series: SPU leads, 38-17. Current series streak: UAA won 2. Last time: UAA 68, SPU 66 (March 2, 2011 at Anchorage). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage has had things mostly its way so far. The only two losses for the Seawolves have been to NCAA Division I teams (72-55 to Miami (Fla.) and 90-84 in overtime to Central Michigan, both in Anchorage), and the Seawolves rolled to an early-season 95-58 victory against 2011 NCAA D-2 West Region qualifier Dixie State. Junior guard Haley Holmstead, who transferred in from Salt Lake Community College, leads the Seawolves in scoring at 15.0 points per game, ranking No. 8 in the GNAC. Senior forward Hanna Johansson averages 13.9 points, ranking 10^th in the conference, and 8.5 rebounds, ranking No. 4. Senior forward Kaylie Robinson, UAA's top reserve last year, leads the Seawolves on the boards at 9.2 per game, second-best in the conference.
 
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC / NWC rankings)
                                                SPU                        UAF                        UAA
Points                                     73.7 (4)                  60.9 (8)                  83.4 (1)
Points allowed                     59.4 (3)                  70.2 (9)                  54.5 (1)
Rebounds                             42.2 (4)                  40.2 (5)                  47.2 (1)
Assists                                  17.3 (3)                  11.2 (8)                  19.7 (1)
Blocks                                      2.8 (6)                    3.1 (T3)                  3.0 (5)
Steals                                       7.3 (10)                  8.8 (6)                  11.8 (2)
Fewest turnovers                17.3 (3)                  19.9 (7)                  18.6 (4)
FG percent                            .450 (3)                  .327 (10)                .469 (1)
3-point percent                    .366 (2)                  .255 (9)                  .384 (1)
FT percent                             .775 (1)                  .714 (5)                  .687 (9)
 
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics. Click on this link to see now GNAC players and individuals stack up nationally in NCAA Division II.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
--Nyesha Sims had 14 points and 13 rebounds for her second straight double-double, and SPU led from start to finish last Thursday night in a 74-51 GNAC rout of Western Oregon.
--Sophomore forward Katie Benson scored 15 points, and Seattle Pacific blew open the game with a 20-0 first-half scoring spree to rout Saint Martin's on New Year's Eve afternoon, 70-39.
 
TURN OF THE CENTURY
On the calendar, it's another 88 years away. But on the stat sheet, not one, two or three, but four SPU players hit century marks in different statistical categories last week.
--Senior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) played in her 100^th game, that coming last Saturday against Saint Martin's.
--Sophomore forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) sank her 100^th free throw. She now has hit 107.
--Sophomore guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) tallied her 100^th point. She now has 117.
--Sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) grabbed her 100^th rebound. She now has 102.
                                                                                                                                                          
In addition, Benson's sixth and final rebound against Saint Martin's gave her an even 200 for her career.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Chalk up another one – another double-double, that is – for Falcons senior guard Nyesha Sims (Portland, Ore.). In last Thursday's 74-51 homecourt victory against Western Oregon, Sims logged her second straight double-double, this time contributing 14 points and 13 rebounds. Starting with an 82-66 victory at Western Washington on Dec. 3, Sims has double-doubled in four of her last six games. She now has nine for her career, with the other five coming last season.
 
SPU's only other double-double this year belongs to sophomore forward Katie Benson.
 
THAT WINDEX SHINE
The Falcons are holding up their end of the bargain on the boards. Seattle Pacific has out-rebounded its opponent in 11 straight games. The only game in which the Falcons have not had an advantage was the season-opener on Nov. 11 against UC San Diego. The Tritons have a sizable 43-27 advantage on the way to a 68-47 victory.
 
LET'S PLAY TAG
Coach Julie Heisey loves to emphasize taking an effective tag-team approach to games, with the reserves making contributions every bit as important as those made by the starters. The stats show that the reserve crew is indeed stepping up and delivering. Falcons coming off the bench have played 996 of 2400 available minutes (41.5 percent), scored 323 of the team's 884 points (36.5 percent) and pulled down 157 of the 507 rebounds (31.0 percent). They have outscored the opposing reserves in seven of the 12 games, and also out-rebounded the other side's bench bunch in seven of the 12 games.
 
HOT HANDS FROM ALL OVER
Seattle Pacific has had six different players set the scoring pace in the 12 games so far this season. Katie Benson has done it most often – six times, including a stretch of five straight games from mid November through early December. Junior forward Rachel Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia) has done it twice, and leading the way in one game apiece are senior guard Nyesha Sims, sophomore guard Aubree Callen, senior guard Jordan Harazin  and sophomore guard Betsy Kingma.
 
EVERYONE GETS INTO THE ACT
All 13 active players on the SPU roster have led or shared the team lead in at least one single-game statistical category. It might be Katie Benson in scoring (six times), Nyesha Sims in rebounding (six times), or senior guard McKayla Gorman (Parker, Colo.) in assists (five times). But even those who haven't played as many minutes are somewhere atop one of the lists. That includes junior guard Katie Thralls (Livermore, Calif., two assists against UC San Diego), junior guard Michelle Teng (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS, one blocked shot against UC San Diego), and sophomore center Riley Butler (Kent, Wash./Kentlake HS, one blocked shot against Sonoma State).
 
HARAZIN PASSES HER WAY UP THE LIST
Among current GNAC players, senior guard Jordan Harazin ranks highest on the assists list. Harazin comes into the week with 242 assists, putting her in 32^nd place all-time. She is just 29 assists away from a spot in the top 20, with No. 20 currently being occupied by Jessica Reilly, who had 271 assists for Alaska Anchorage from 2001-05.
 
The all-time GNAC leader is former Seattle Pacific star Beth Christensen, who had 501 assists from 2004-08.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th point – Joani Reimer (has 88).
100^th rebound – Joani Reimer (has 94).
100^th steal – Nyesha Sims (has 85).
500^th point – Katie Benson (has 463).
600^th point – Jordan Harazin (has 593).

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news, notes, schedule and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.              
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are back in Brougham Pavilion for two games next week. They'll welcome Central Washington to town on Thursday, Jan. 10., at 7 p.m., then will tip off against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, Jan. 12, at 2 p.m. 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                             GNAC   Season
Alaska Anchorage               3-0          12-2
Seattle Pacific                      3-1            9-3
Western Washington          2-1            8-3
Simon Fraser                       2-1            7-4
Montana State Billings       2-2          10-5
Northwest Nazarene           2-2            8-4
Western Oregon                  2-2            3-11
Saint Martin's                       1-3            6-8
Central Washington            1-3            4-7
Alaska Fairbanks                 0-3            4-9