Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Seattle Pacific Falcons needed some help from everyone on Thursday night.
 
They got it.
 
Suzanna Ohlsen scored a season-high 19 points, and Mechela Barnes hit a free throw with three seconds left to provide the final margin as No. 6-ranked SPU hung on to beat Alaska Fairbanks in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball opener for both teams, 71-68.
 
Katie Benson, who played just 13 minutes because of foul trouble, chipped in 17 points, including a free throw with 42 seconds left to give the Falcons (7-0, 1-0 GNAC) a 69-63 lead in The Patty Center. Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) also had six rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot, and a steal.
 
Junior guard Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) pulled down five boards and handed out two assists as SPU beat the Nanooks for the 24th straight time, dating back to 2002. She got nine of her 19 points by draining three straight shots from behind the 3-point arc during a first-half surge that helped turn a 17-15 deficit into a 24-18 lead.
 




"Suzanna hit some big shots, and some timely ones that helped put the momentum back in our favor," head coach Julie Heisey said. "We had a lot of kids step up. Riley Butler came off the bench and did a great job, Stacey Lukasiewicz and had some big rebounds, and Brianne (Lasconia) played well. It was a total team effort."
 
Sophomore center Maddey Pflaumer (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) grabbed eight rebounds to go along with eight points, and freshman guard Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) had a career-high eight boards and two blocked shots to go along with four points. Sophomore guard Brianna Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS) added six points, four rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots.

Lasconia's second block –  the last of SPU's season-high nine – came on a desperation halfcourt try by UAF's Benissa Bulaya at the buzzer.
 
Seattle Pacific led throughout the second half, and was up by 11 at 53-42 with 9:51 to play before the much-improved Nanooks (6-3, 0-1 GNAC) began chipping away. Benson, the team's leading scorer (21.3) and rebounder (11.0), was still on the bench, having gone out with her fourth foul at the 17:02 mark. Then, starting guard Betsy Kingma had to leave for a while after being whistled for her fourth with 7:57 left.
 
Benson returned with 6:04 to go and almost immediately got a putback and one to help SPU take its final double-digit lead of the night at 61-51. Kingma returned at 4:46 on the clock, and, after Fairbanks closed to 63-61, nailed a trey for a 66-61 edge at 2:06.
 
The Nanooks again got within two at 70-68 on a traditional three-point play by Brianna Kirk with five seconds remaining. Senior guard Barnes (Tacoma, Wash. / Bellarmine Prep HS) was fouled with three seconds showing. She missed the front end of the double-bonus, but hit the second.
 
Out of timeouts, UAF inbounded, and Bulaya took it down the right side, only to have her attempt from just over the midcourt line swatted by Lasconia at the buzzer.
 
The Falcons, now 12-1 all-time in GNAC openers, was back in action for the first time in 12 days, not having played since an 83-74 at Azusa Pacific on Nov. 23.
 
"Tonight was a little scrappy, and you could definitely tell there was some touching up that needed to be done," Ohlsen said. "But we got that out of our system, and the whole team is excited to play on Saturday (at Alaska Anchorage, 6:15 p.m. PST)."
 
The Falcons took a 28-25 lead into the locker room at halftime even though leading scorer Benson was on the bench for the last 10 minutes, 12 seconds with three fouls.
 
Ohlsen stepped up with 12 first-half points.
 
Alaska Fairbanks put together a 7-0 run to go up 25-24 with 1:10 left in the half. But Seattle Pacific got the last four points on a driving lay-in by Lasconia and a pair of free throws by Butler.
 
In addition to converting 23 SPU turnovers into 16 points, Alaska Fairbanks stayed in the game with 22 second-chance points, thanks to 15 offensive rebounds.
 
"Those two things caused us some problems tonight, so we have to get better, because it's going to backfire on us if we don't," Heisey said.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, December 5, 2013
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
(No. 6) Seattle Pacific 71, Alaska Fairbanks 68
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-0, 1-0 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 0-4 2-4 2, Katie Benson 5-8 7-8 17, Maddey Pflaumer 4-7 0-2 8, Suzanna Ohlsen 7-15 2-4 19, Betsy Kingma 2-6 0-0 5, Stacey Lukasiewicz 2-2 0-0 4, Rachel Shim 1-1 0-0 2, Brianne Lasconia 2-8 2-2 6, Molly Grager 0-0 0-0 0, Mechela Barnes 1-4 1-3 3, Riley Butler 1-4 3-6 5. Totals 25-59 17-29 71.
 
ALASKA FAIRBANKS (6-3, 0-1 GNAC)
Jordan Wilson 10-16 5-5 25, Ruth O'Neal 0-0 0-0 0, Benissa Bulaya 4-16 1-1 9, Kelly Logue 4-10 2-3 10, Autumn Childers 2-11 3-4 8, Victoria Milton 0-5 1-2 1, Brianna Kirk 3-7 2-4 8, Delisa Chapman 0-1 0-0 0, Kaillee Skjol d2-6 3-5 87, Samantha Thornton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-72 17-23 68.
 
Seattle Pacific         28           43           -- 71
Alaska Fairbanks   25           43           -- 68
 
3-point goals – SPU 4-12 (Ohlsen 3-7, Kingma 1-1, Lasconia 0-2, Barnes 0-2), UAF 1-8 (Bulaya 0-1, Logue 0-1, Childers 1-4, Milton 0-1, Kirk 0-1). Fouled out – SPU: Benson. Rebounds – SPU 43 (Pflaumer 8, Lukasiewicz 8), UAF 44 (Skjold 11). Assists – SPU 12 (Lasconia 4), UAF 10 (Skjold 4). Turnovers – SPU 23, UAF 15. Total fouls – SPU 20, UAF 21. Technical fouls – None. A – 181.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 7-0, 1-0 GNAC. Alaska Fairbanks 6-3, 0-1 GNAC.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, Saturday, 6:15 p.m. PST.