THE SCHEDULE (AT AZUSA PACIFIC CROSSOVER CLASSIC)
 Friday, November 22        Seattle Pacific vs. UC San Diego, 5:30 p.m.
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast
                                                    
Saturday, November 23   Seattle Pacific at Azusa Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast
 
 
        Weekly release, with updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The last time the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team got off to a 4-0 start, the current Falcon seniors were in high school, and the freshmen were in middle school.
 
Now, they're all at SPU, all trying to keep to keep a good thing going this weekend as they head into their final preseason tournament.
 
Following yet another sweep of their own Sodexo Tip-Off Classic last week in Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons fly back to Southern California this week for the Azusa Pacific Crossover Classic. They'll face their toughest challenges so far when they step inside APU's Felix Event Center, meeting UC San Diego on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and host Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 5:30.
 
Not since 2007-08, when coach Julie Heisey was in her third year at the helm have the Falcons started 4-0. In fact, that team, one of the best in school history, won its first 29 games before falling in the NCAA West Regional final.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE          
Live stats and a live Webcasts will be available from this weekend's tournament. The Webcasts will be on a pay-per-view basis, with a charge of $7.95. The links are at the top of this story.
 
Other tournament information can be found on the Tournament Central page by clicking on this link.
 
KNEE INJURY SIDELINES CALLEN
Senior guard Aubree Callen and the Falcons received some bad news earlier this week when an MRI revealed that Callen suffered a torn ACL in her right knee and is out for the season.
 
Callen was knocked hard to the floor as she was sinking a shot from the right of the lane in last Friday's 65-46 Sodexo Tip-Off Classic victory against Montana Tech in Brougham Pavilion. She was down for several minutes, then walked off with assistance.
 
Through her three games, Callen averaged 14.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and was shooting 44.7 percent from the field.
 
Because she played just three games, NCAA rules allow her to obtain a medical redshirt and will retain her final season of eligibility for 2014-15.
 
"Losing Aubree is a huge blow to the team because not only is she a great all-around player, but a fantastic leader," head coach Julie Heisey said. "She plays with a lot of heart and is a senior committed to what we're doing. You can't replace that. But I think what we learned in 2009 and 2010 when we had ACLs is the kids didn't change their goals and they persevered."

PULLING RANK
For the first time since Jan. 25, 2011, the Falcons are back in the national rankings, occupying the No. 21 spot in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association / USA Today Sports poll that was released on Tuesday.
 
SPU received 153 points. That's an increase of114 points for the 39 it received in the preseason poll. The latter was enough to put the Falcons high on the list (No. 35 overall) of "others receiving votes."
 
The top three teams – Bentley of Massachusetts, Gannon of Pennsylvania, and Clayton State of Georgia – remained the same. From around the GNAC and the West Region, Chico State is No. 9, and Western Washington is No. 13 (the Vikings were No. 6 in the preseason poll).
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- UC San Diego has become almost an annual opponent for Seattle Pacific. The teams have squared off each of the past four seasons.
-- SPU coach Julie Heisey is 4-3 all-time against UCSD and 3-0 against Azusa Pacific.
-- The Falcons and Tritons met on the first night of this tournament last November in Bellingham. UCSD drained 10 shots from 3-point land during the first half in building a 20-point lead and went on to beat SPU, 86-67.
-- When they met Azusa Pacific last year, Seattle Pacific got all it could handle from the Cougars, who were in their first season at the NCAA Division II level after moving up from NAIA. The Falcons had a 12-point lead early in the first half, found themselves down by three later in that half, then finally pulled out a 76-74 overtime victory when Mechela Barnes hit two tiebreaking free throws with six seconds remaining.
 
SCOUTING THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS: 1-0, 1-0 CCAA (tie 1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 9-3. Current series streak: UCSD won 2. Last time: UCSD 86, SPU 67 (Nov. 16, 2012 at Bellingham, Wash.). Tritons on the Web.
Tritons in the nutshell: UC San Diego lost two of the West Region's premier players to graduation: guard Daisy Feder (18.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists) and guard Emily Osga (12.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, .503 from the field, including .461 from 3-point range). Feder (6) and Osga (3) accounted for nine of the 10 first-half treys that the Tritons hit in last year's 86-67 victory against SPU. However, UCSD has plenty of talent back, led by senior forward Erin Dautremont, who averaged 11.8 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds while shooting 48 percent from the floor. Junior guard Miranda Seto, who started all 33 games as a sophomore, returns after averaging 6.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists. The Tritons, after losing three of their first four games last year, found their stride and advanced to the NCAA West Regionals, finishing 22-11 overall.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 0-1, 0-0 Pac West
All-time series: SPU leads, 4-0. Current series streak: SPU won 4. Last time: SPU 76, APU 74 (OT) (Nov. 17, 2012 at Bellingham, Wash.). Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Moving up from NAIA to NCAA Division II last year, Azusa Pacific lost its first four games (including a 76-74 overtime decision to SPU) and six of its first eight. But the Cougars went 14-5 the rest of the way for a final mark of 16-11. Azusa has two returning starters, one of whom is sophomore forward Kelly Hardeman, the Pacific West Preseason Player of the Year. Hardeman averaged13.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in starting all 27 games in 2012-13. The other full-time starter back for the Cougars is junior point guard Sullivan Ziegler, who led the conference in assists at 5.5 per game. APU also picked up five transfers, two of whom are from NCAA D1 programs. Junior forward Sendy Valles spent two years at Long Beach State, starting 15 games as a freshman in 2010-11, and junior guard Allison Greene, who played two years at Portland State, averaging 10.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists last year as a sophomore.
 
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On UC San Diego)
"They're just used to winning, and they do things well. They play really good defense, and they find ways to attack the basket. They've only played one game this year, but in looking at their stat sheet, they're a little more balanced. Erin Dautremont has been starting for them since she was a sophomore. She's an undersized post player who is a really good rebounder, can drive, and shoot the 3."
 
(On Azusa Pacific)
 "Last year, they were young and still had a really good season. They play super hard and have added two D1 transfers. They're aggressive, they attack the basket, and they're good 3-point shooters. They're going to be hard to defend, because it's not like they do just one thing well – they do a lot of things well."
 
(On being ranked)
"It's a ranking. It's not going to get us into the national tournament, but it's nice to be recognized. We want to be one of the top teams in the nation, and we're striving to be one of the top teams in the nation. At the same time, we have to take care of business every time we step on the floor."
 
M-V-P, THEN P-O-W
With two impressive games last week, senior forward Katie Benson was on the receiving end of two awards.
 
First, Benson was named the Most Valuable Player of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic. She had 16 points and eight rebounds, five steals, two assists, and two blocked shots in Friday's 65-46 victory against Montana Tech. Then, she had 20 points, 17 boards, two blocks and one steal in the 62-28 rout of Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday.
 
On Monday, Benson was named the GNAC Player of the Week, marking the second time in her career to earn the conference honor.
 
GIVE 'EM AN 'A' ON 'D'
The Falcons came into the season knowing they wanted to – and had to – improve defensively. They certainly showed they're heading in the right direction by allowing just 74 points in two games last week – including a mere 28 to Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday night.
 
Their performance against the Sea Lions was the first time in 30 years that Seattle Pacific has kept an opponent below 30 points. The last such occurrence came on Nov. 18,1983, when the Falcons defeated Trinity Western, 82-26, in the season-opening game.
 
THAT'S MORE LIKE IT AT THE LINE
Seattle Pacific made history last season by winning the NCAA Division II free throw shooting title with a mark of .798. No other Falcon team had finished atop the national list in that category.
 
SPU was uncharacteristically off the mark in its season-opening 71-66 victory against Humboldt State on Nov. 8, draining just 17 of 26 (.654). But since then, the Falcons have gotten back to more familiar territory. In the past three games, they've shot a combined 31 of 39 (.795), including a season-best .875 (14 of 16) last Friday against Montana Tech.
 
Their season average is now up to .738.
 
THRIFTY THIEVERY
In their first four games, the Falcons have shown they have some very quick hands on defense. SPU has recorded double-digit steals in three of those four games: 10 against Humboldt State, 15 against Montana Tech, and 11 against Point Loma Nazarene.
 
Last year, it took until the ninth game of the season to come up with a double-digit steals performance, and Seattle Pacific had five such games for all of 2012-13. The Falcons have 38 steals so far this season; they needed until their sixth game last year to come up with No. 38.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) put another double-double into the books last Saturday night against Point Loma Nazarene. Benson scored 20 points and pulled down a career high-tying 17 rebounds.
 2013-14 double-doubles:
Katie Benson (2 season, 12 career): 20 pts-10 reb vs. Humboldt State, Nov. 8; 20 pts-17 reb vs. Point Loma Nazarene, Nov. 16.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Katie Benson scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, and Suzanna Ohlsen added 13 points last Friday night as SPU rolled past Montana Tech on the opening night of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion, 65-46.
-- A stout defensive performance coupled with 20 points and a career high-tying 17 rebounds from Benson made for an easy 62-28 Falcons victory against Point Loma Nazarene on the final night of the Sodexo last Saturday.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th field goal    Betsy Kingma (has 86)      
200th field goal    Suzanna Ohlsen (has 197)
300th field goal    Mechela Barnes (has 297)
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th rebound     Maddey Pflaumer (has 110)
100th steal            Katie Benson (has 102)
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

UP NEXT                              
Seattle Pacific has Thanksgiving week off from competition. The next time the Falcons return to action will be to open GNAC play on Thursday, Dec. 5, at Alaska Fairbanks, with an 8 p.m. Pacific time tip-off. Then it's on to Anchorage on Saturday, Dec 7, starting at 5:15 p.m. PST. Their final three December games will be in Brougham Pavilion, beginning on Saturday the 14th against Warner Pacific in an exhibition contest at 7 p.m.
  
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC                    Overall
Alaska Fairbanks                   0-0                           4-0
Seattle Pacific                         0-0                           4-0
Northwest Nazarene             0-0                           3-0
Alaska Anchorage                 0-0                            2-0
Montana State Billings         0-0                            2-2
Central Washington              0-0                           1-1
Saint Martin's                          0-0                           1-1
Simon Fraser                         0-0                           1-1
Western Washington            0-0                           1-1
Western Oregon                    0-0                            0-3