THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Feb. 28 Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 5:15 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats
Saturday, March 2 Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 4:15 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
Live Webcast Live stats
Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – For some teams, it's the final week of the women's basketball season. For the Seattle Pacific Falcons, it's just the final week of the regular season.
There's more basketball to come.
SPU hits the road to wind up the Great Northwest Athletic Conference portion of its schedule. The Falcons visit Central Washington in Ellensburg on Thursday at 5:15 p.m., then travel to Idaho for a contest at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. PST. They have not seen either team since beating both during the opening weekend of GNAC play on Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 in Seattle.
From there, it's on to next week's conference tournament at Saint Martin's in Lacey. The Falcons clinched a spot last Saturday by beating Montana State Billings on Senior Day in Brougham Pavilion, 76-71.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and free live Webcasts will be available from both of this week's games. The Webcasts are carried on Stretch Internet, the new Webcast home of the GNAC. Details can be found by clicking on the appropriate links at the top of this story.
PLAYOFF POSSIBILITIES
The Falcons come into the final week of the regular season with a berth in the
GNAC Tournament secure – but their seeding position anything but secure.
With a 9-7 conference record, SPU can find itself anywhere from third to sixth in final standings. Besides its own two games, three others will factor into the picture: Montana State Billings at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, and at Central Washington on Saturday, and Alaska Anchorage at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday.
For the Falcons to finish third, they would have to win both games, Billings would have to beat NNU, and Fairbanks would have to upset Anchorage. Other various scenarios would leave Seattle Pacific in fourth, fifth or sixth.
Regardless, SPU would get Northwest Nazarene, Anchorage or Billings in a first-round game next Wednesday, March 6, at Saint Martin's in Lacey.
The situation should become more clear – though not necessarily final – after Thursday's games.
GNAC Tournament tickets, ranging from $8 for general admission to a single session, to $48 for an all-tournament reserved seat, can be purchased at Marcus Pavilion on the Saint Martin's campus on game days, or by clicking
this online link.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are going for a season sweep of both series. SPU opened conference play by beating Northwest Nazarene, 76-69, then topped Central Washington two nights later, 65-48.
-- Last year in these same two venues, Seattle Pacific saw two lengthy series winning streaks come to an end. The Falcons had beaten both teams nine straight times before falling 81-77 at NNU and 80-75 at Central. In both cases, the home team overcame a 13-point first-half deficit.
-- Winning both games would lift SPU to 5-6 in true road games and 7-7 overall away from Brougham Pavilion.
-- The Crusaders' 76-69 loss to SPU on Nov. 29 was their first after a 5-0 start.
-- Seattle Pacific has three double-digit scorers who account for 43 of its average 72 points per game:
Katie Benson (16.5),
Aubree Callen (13.3) and
Suzanna Ohlsen (13.2).
-- At NNU, the Falcons will take on the GNAC's leading scorer. Crusaders junior guard
Megan Hingston leads the conference at 18.4 points per game.
-- Coach
Julie Heisey is 13-2 all-time against both the Wildcats and Crusaders.
-- Of those 15 games against alma mater NNU, seven have been decided by four or fewer points. Of those, five have been in Nampa, including last season's 81-77 Crusaders victory.
-- Central is one of just two teams against which SPU has 40 victories – this case, exactly 40. The other is Saint Martin's (47).
-- Seattle Pacific is still atop NCAA Division II in
free throw shooting, now at 79.8 percent.
Suzanna Ohlsen is No. 8 with her .896 percentage.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Although they haven't seen either team for three months, coach
Julie Heisey and the Falcons know they'll face tough challenges in both games, especially on the road.
“Central is a very talented team and very capable. You can't look at their record, because they're better than their record – and we lost there last year,” Heisey said. “Jasmine Parker is real good in the post, and you can tell she is really improved since the beginning of the season. Jessica Van Dyke is a strong competitor and a very good scorer, and we know she can hit a 3, and Ally Schmitt is playing more point guard. They have a lot of balance, maybe four or five kids who can all have double figures. They're hard to guard.”
SPU's games at Northwest Nazarene always seem to come down to the wire.
“We're going into a place where they're going to be fighting mad because they've lost three in a row (heading into Thursday), and we play them on their Senior Night,” Heisey said. “They lost their leading scorer from last year (Briaunna King, who graduated), so for them to come in third in the conference, they've been remarkably steady. And they obviously have real good leadership with Heather Adams and Megan Hingston and Chelsie Luke. They're always a hard opponent, and they've done really well.”
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 9-15, 4-12 GNAC (8th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 40-29.
Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 65, CWU 48 (Dec. 1, 2012 at Seattle).
Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington has lost four in a row and eight of its last nine after winning three straight GNAC contests in January. The Wildcats spread their scoring around, as only junior guard
Jessica Van Dyke has a double-figure scoring average at 12.2 points per game. That includes a pair of team-high 26-point performances this season, the most recent of which was Feb. 7 at Western Oregon, and her 58 treys are the most in the GNAC. Since then, six different players have paced the offense for Central, so the points can come from anywhere. Junior guard
Ally Schmitt can be dangerous, as she showed during the season-opening Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Brougham Pavilion with 19- and 24-point performances. Freshman 6-foot-2 forward / center
Jasmine Parker is a solid rebounder, with her 6.8 average ranking No. 7 in the conference.
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 18-6, 10-6 GNAC (3rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-3.
Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 76, NNU 69 (Nov. 29, 2012 at Seattle).
Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: NNU no doubt will come in plenty fired up – and with plenty to play for – after a rough week on the road, falling by 30 points at Western Washington and by 21 at Simon Fraser, both nationally ranked teams. Those came on the heels of a 94-82 defeat to red-hot Alaska Anchorage on Feb. 16 in Nampa. Prior to that, NNU had won 13 of its previous 14, including string of nine straight from early December to late January. The Crusaders can throw any number of weapons at opposing teams. Junior guard
Megan Hingston leads the conference in scoring at 18.4 per game and had 19 last time against SPU. Junior guard
Chelsie Luke averages 14.8 points, the No. 8 GNAC mark. Hingston also ranks No. 3 in GNAC rebounding at 8.9 per game, and she's the fourth-leading shooter from the field at 48.7 percent. Not to be overlooked is senior guard
Heather Adams, who averages 9.3 points and has led NNU in scoring in the two games when it wasn't Hingston or Luke.
HOW DO THEY COMPARE
(GNAC rankings)
SPU CWU NNU
Points 72.3 (2) 64.9 (7) 71.1 (4)
Points allowed 68.2 (9) 63.4 (5) 63.9 (6)
Rebounds 40.2 (2) 38.6 (5) 42.0 (1)
Assists 15.5 (3) 13.5 (6) 11.9 (9)
Steals 7.6 (9) 7.1 (10) 9.2 (5)
Blocks 2.7 (7) 4.3 (2) 2.3 (9)
Turnovers 19.2 (9) 16.8 (6) 16.5 (5)
FG percent .437 (3) .391 (6) .405 (5)
3-point percent .385 (1) .326 (7) .300 (8)
FT percent .798 (1) .653 (8) .759 (3)
FALCONS REPLAY
--
Aubree Callen pumped in 25 points – just one short of her career high – and
Suzanna Ohlsen scored the team's last eight points on Saturday afternoon as Seattle Pacific clinched a spot in the GNAC Tournament by beating Montana State Billings on Senior Day in Brougham Pavilion,
76-71.
ACADEMIC HONORS FOR FALCONS
Seattle Pacific has four players on the GNAC All-Academic team, which was released on Wednesday.
Leading the way is senior
Rachel Murray (Eglington, Australia), making the squad for the third time. She has a 3.85 grade-point average as a psychology major.
Junior forward
Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) and senior guard
Michelle Teng (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue Christian HS) are both on for the second straight year. Benson has a 3.69 GPA in communications, and Teng sports a 3.67 as an accounting major.
Sophomore guard
Suzanna Ohlsen is on her first conference academic team. She has a 4.0 in biochemistry and is one of two GNAC players with a perfect mark.
UP TWO RUNGS
Although the Falcons had just one game last week, that was enough for junior
Katie Benson to climb past two players and move into 17th place on the all-time school scoring list. Benson tallied 20 points in Saturday's 76-71 victory against Montana State Billings in Brougham Pavilion, giving her 1,060 for her career. That put her ahead of
Debbie Miller (1,041 from 1995-98) and
Daesha Henderson (1,051 from 2007-10).
With two regular-season games left and at least one postseason contest – more if the Falcons keep winning – a few additional rungs on the ladder are within Benson's reach. At No. 16 is
Michelle Beaumont (1,070 from 2002-05), No. 15
Carli Grant (1,082 from 2003-06), and No. 14
Elizabeth Fenner (1,128 from 1992-95).
WANT MORE RUNGS?
Junior guard
Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) and sophomore guard
Suzanna Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) are in prime position to join not one, but two single-season SPU top-10 lists by season's end.
One of those would be free throw percentage, based on at least 50 attempts. Coming into this week, Ohlsen is at .896 (60 of 67), and Callen is at .880 (95 of 108). The all-time leading mark is
Amy Taylor (.896 on 60 of 67) in 2003-04. The next closest is
Kerie Hughes (.867 on 104 of 120 in 2001-02).
The other is 3-point percentage, based on at least one make per game. Ohlsen is at .441 (41 of 93), Callen is at .432 (41 of 95). The top mark is
Mandy Wood's .480 (36 of 75) in 2002-03. One current Falcon – junior
Betsy Kingma (out with a season-ending injury) joined that list last year at .432 (38 of 88), currently No. 6 all-time.
SWEET 16 FINISH FOR SPU ALUM
Former Falcons star
Beth Christensen Madill guided her Enumclaw High School girls team to the final 16 of this year's Washington Class 3A (larger mid-size schools) state playoffs. The Hornets reached last Friday's regional round before falling to Glacier Peak on the Grizzlies' home court, 47-40.
Madill, in her fourth year as coach, guided her team to a 19-7 overall record, including a 9-1 mark in South Puget Sound League 3A play.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
With her 18 points and 10 rebounds against nationally ranked Simon Fraser on Valentine's Thursday,
Katie Benson put her sixth double-double of the season into the books. She now has 10 for her career.
Junior guard
Aubree Callen joined the double-double list on Dec. 31 when she scored 10 points and pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in a 76-66 non-conference victory against Dixie State. That was the first of Callen's career.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING, SPU IS …
-- No. 1 in
free throw shooting at .798. Winona State of Minnesota is at .796.
-- No. 5 in
3-point percentage at .385. Truman of Missouri leads at .421.
-- No. 9 in
rebounding margin at +8.1 – a jump of seven places. Shaw of North Carolina leads at +14.1.
-- No. 21 in
field goal shooting at .437. Ashland of Ohio leads at .476.
-- No. 29 in
scoring offense at 72.3. Glenville State of West Virginia leads at 96.6
--
Suzanna Ohlsen is No. 8 in
free throw percentage – a three-place climb from last week – at .896.
--
Aubree Callen is No. 13 in free throw percentage – also a three-place climb – at .880.
--
Katie Benson is No. 65 in scoring at 16.5 points per game. One week into January, she was 159th at 14.3. Bianca Simmons of Massachusetts-Lowell currently leads at a whopping 27.6 points per game.
Click on
this link to see how SPU players and other GNAC players and teams stack up nationally.
POLLING PLACE
Western Washington (No. 1) and Northwest Nazarene (No. 7) remain in the same places this week as they were last week on the
NCAA West Region rankings list, and Simon Fraser moved up one place to No. 2, and Alaska Anchorage, which has won five in a row, moved onto the list at No. 9. Montana State Billings, which had been No. 8, dropped off after last Saturday's 76-71 loss at Seattle Pacific.
The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) has three teams, led by No. 3 Chico State, which dropped one place. The Pacific West Conference had the other three schools, topped by No. 5 Grand Canyon.
Seattle Pacific is not on the list, so as of now would have to win the GNAC Tournament to qualify for regionals. The three conference tournament champions will receive automatic bids to the NCAA West Region tourney. The other five spots in the eight-team regional will go to the highest-ranked teams among the non-champions.
Click on
this link for a look at this week's USA Today Sports / WBCA national coaches poll.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th assist Katie Benson (has 95)
200th assist Aubree Callen (has 195)
200th field goal Aubree Callen (has 188)
300th rebound Aubree Callen (has 286)
400th rebound Erin Stephens (has 394)
500th rebound Katie Benson (has 490)
600th point Erin Stephens (has 597)
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th rebound Suzanna Ohlsen (has 103)
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on
this link for a look at news, notes and statistics from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
UP NEXT
Regardless of where they finish in the final standings, the Falcons will play on the first day of the
GNAC Tournament next Wednesday, March 6, at Saint Martin's in Lacey. Game times are 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The conference has yet to announce which game -- No. 3 vs. No. 6, and No. 4 vs. No. 5 -- will be in which time slot. Semifinals are set for Friday, March 8, at noon and 2:15 p.m., and the championship is on Saturday, March 9, at 5:15 p.m.
GNAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall
x-Western Washington 15-1 21-3
x-Simon Fraser 13-3 20-4
x-Northwest Nazarene 10-6 18-6
x-Alaska Anchorage 10-7 16-9
x-Montana State Billings 9-7 15-9
x-Seattle Pacific 9-7 15-9
y-Saint Martin's 5-11 12-14
y-Central Washington 4-12 9-15
y-Western Oregon 3-13 8-18
y-Alaska Fairbanks 3-14 5-20
x-clinched GNAC Tournament berth
y-eliminated from GNAC Tournament contention
