Box score, play-by-play

LACEY, Wash. – Every time they fell behind on Thursday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons found a way to climb back into the game.
 
The only thing they weren't able to find was a way to climb into the lead.
 
Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe pumped in 20 points and was one of four Simon Fraser players in double figures the Clan ended the women's basketball season for Seattle Pacific with a 69-61 victory in the first round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament at Saint Martin's.
                   
Sophomore forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) led the Falcons with 18 points before fouling out with 1:37 left in the game. Junior forward Rachel Murray (Eglington, New South Wales, Australia) added 18 for SPU (17-10).

“We kept encouraging each other, and our bench was amazing. We had so much fight in us,” said senior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS), who had six points and eight rebounds, the latter of which was just one short of her carreer high. “They'd hit a 3, and we'd come down and fight back again. That has just been our character all year.”
 
Added head coach Julie Heisey, “We just couldn't get over the hump. You can only fight for so long. Once you get it down to one point, you have to get that lead. We've had that happen several times this year.”
 
The fifth-seeded Clan (17-10) advance to play No. 2 seed Western Washington (20-6) in a Friday semifinal.
 
Except for a 14-14 tie in the first half, Simon Fraser led from start to finish. Several times, that lead extended into double digits, the last time at 54-43 with just less than 10 minutes left in the game.
 
Seattle Pacific rallied, going on a 16-6 run to cut its deficit to 60-59 on a putback by senior guard Jordan Harazin (Colfax, Wash./Colfax HS) with 3:15 to play.
 
But Kristina Collins replied with a 3-pointer from the left corner, making it 63-59. The Falcons got just two more points the rest of the way, that on another putback by Harazin with 1:07 left. That still left Simon Fraser with 66-61 lead, and the Clan got their final three points at the free throw line.
 
“I felt like our kids responded when we got down,” Heisey said. “At the 10-minute mark (of the second half), we told them, 'Hey, we're behind and we have to find ways to score and stop the clock, and we have to get stops.' And Betsy Kingma got to the line immediately after that. We only had four turnovers in the second half, and that was a big deal, and we had 24 points in the paint (in the second half), and that was huge.”
 
 “Credit to Simon Fraser – every time we got close, they answered,” Heisey said. “It was a one-point game, then they shoot a 3, and you're chasing again.
 
Added Harazin, “They played really well together. When they're on, they're on. They played for a substantial amount of time playing their best. We didn't come out in the first half playing like we could, and that was an extra five or 10 minutes for them.”
 
It was just last Saturday in Brougham Pavilion when the two teams met in the regular-season finale, and SPU rolled to a 71-50 victory. But Simon Fraser junior forward Raincock-Ekunwe, who averages a double-double of 18.7 points and 13.3 rebounds, was hampered by early foul trouble that night and played just 20 minutes, scoring 12 points and grabbing just five boards.
 
As expected, Thursday night was far different. Raincock-Ekunwe played 38 minutes, adding 12 rebounds to her 20 points.
 
Simon Fraser built a quick 8-0 lead as the Falcons missed their first six shots of the game and didn't get on the board until McKayla Gorman found Rachel Murray for a lay-in with 14:30 left in the first half.
 
The Falcons ran off eight in a row to tie it at 14-14, with sophomore guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) getting the equalizer on a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 8:14 remaining in the half.
 
But Simon Fraser then went on a 7-0 surge to take a 21-14 lead, and twice extended it to 12, the last time at 31-19 with 2:17 before the break. The Falcons closed the half with 7-0 run to get within 31-26.
 
Although Seattle Pacific had just 14 turnovers for the game (and only four in the second half), the Clan converted those into 22 points. Simon Fraser turned it over just 10 times.
 
Because they were not in the final set of regional rankings, the Falcons needed to win the conference tournament in order to advance to the NCAAs for the 16^th straight year. Heisey, however, was already looking ahead to what's next.
 
“Big picture, our kids have grown as people and have responded to adversity in positive ways,” she said. “We just have to find a way to be consistent so we do come out on top. 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC Tournament – 1^st Round
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
Simon Fraser 69, Seattle Pacific 61
 
SIMON FRASER (16-11)
Chambers 3-8 2-2 10, Raincock-Ekunwe 9-16 2-6 20, Collins 3-13 0-1 8, Reist 3-7 4-4 10, Wyman 7-11 1-2 16, Lowen 0-0 0-0 0, Van Laare 0-4 0-0 0, Petit 2-5 0-0 5, Langmead 0-0 0-0 0, Binns 0-1 0-0 0, Carolsfeld 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 9-15 69.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (18-9)
Harazin 3-9 0-0 6, Ohlsen 0-5 0-0 0, Callen 2-5 2-2 8, Murray 6-9 0-2 12, Benson 8-13 2-5 18, Gorman 1-9 0-0 2, Teng 1-2 00 2, Kingma 1-4 4-4 6, Reimer 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 25-61 9-15 61.
 
Simon Fraser       31           38           -- 69
Seattle Pacific      26           35           -- 61
 
3-point goals – SFU 6-22 (Chambers 2-3, Collins 2-8, Wyman 1-4, Van Laare 0-3, Petit 1-4), SPU 2-11 (Harazin 0-1, Ohlsen 0-1, Callen 2-2, Murray 0-1, Gorman 0-5, Kingma 0-1). Fouled out – SPU: Benson. Rebounds – SFU 42 (Raincock-Ekunwe 12), SPU 40 (Harazin 8). Assists – SFU 16 (Collins 4), SPU 14 (Callen 4). Turnovers – SFU 10, SPU 14. Technical fouls – None. Total fouls – SFU 16, SPU 16. A – 155.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 17-10. Simon Fraser 17-10.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific vs. Alaska Anchorage, GNAC semifinals, Friday, Marcus Pavilion at Saint Martin's, 7:30 p.m.