Box score, play-by-play

NAMPA, Idaho – They just couldn't get started on Saturday afternoon. But now, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get a chance at a fresh start on Wednesday night.
 
Megan Hingston scored 32 points, getting 20 of those during the first half and Northwest Nazarene's first eight of the game, as the Crusaders raced to an 11-0 lead and beat SPU in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball regular-season finale, 82-67.
                           
The Falcons (16-10, 10-8 GNAC) will be the No. 6 seed into the GNAC Tournament, which begins on Wednesday at Saint Martin's in Lacey. SPU will take on Montana State Billings in a first-round game at 5:15 p.m. The winner of that one will face No. 2 seed Simon Fraser in a Friday semifinal at noon.
                           
The other first-round pairing on Wednesday will be Northwest Nazarene-Alaska Anchorage, with the winner getting No. 1 seed Western Washington in the semifinals.
 
Junior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) scored 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead Seattle Pacific. Junior guard Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) added 11 points.
                                                                                                                                                                
“We knew they would come out and play well. They're at home, they had lost four in a row, and it was their Senior Night,” SPU coach Julie Heisey said. “I think our worst possible nightmare happened. Hingston came out and had 12 points right off the bat, and once they got a little confidence going, and that's what happened.”
 
With GNAC leading scorer Hingston setting the pace – she came in averaging 18.4 points per game and tallied her 18th with 1:18 to go before intermission – Northwest Nazarene (19-7, 11-7 GNAC) had a double-digit lead before Benson finally put SPU on the board on a lay-in more than four minutes into the game. The Crusaders allowed Seattle Pacific within single digits just twice more the rest of the day, the last time at 18-9.
 
NNU pushed the lead to as many as 20 points during the first half and took a 40-22 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Falcons got as close as 12 points in the second half at 61-49 with 9:41 to play. The Crusaders responded with an 8-2 run, pushing it back to an 18-point bulge.
 
“The second half, we were able to become more aggressive defensively and attack more offensively,” Heisey said. “We got it down to 12, we were able to get to the line and make free throws, and we were able to force turnovers. But we didn't have an answer for them.”
 
Benson pulled down a team-leading six rebounds, moving her past 500 for her career. She now has 501. Benson's 26 points on Saturday pushed her up to 15th place on the all-time Seattle Pacific scoring list. She now has 1,103, moving ahead of Carli Grant, who scored 1,082 from 2003-06.
 
The Falcons hit just 37.5 percent from the field (18 of 48). But they took and made season-highs at the free throw line, draining 28 of 32 (87.5 percent). NNU hit 52.4 percent from the floor (33 of 63), led by Hingston's 14 of 18.
 
“It's hard to beat someone when they're shooting 50 percent,” Heisey said. “Their pressure (defense)  got to us. It was a combination of them shooting well and taking us out of our offensive rhythm.” 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Northwest Nazarene 82, Seattle Pacific 67
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (16-10, 10-8 GNAC)
Ohlsen 2-9 4-5 8, Callen 4-10 3-3 11, Murray 3-5 2-2 8, Barnes 1-4 4-4 6, Benson 8-12 7-8 26, Teng 0-0 0-0 0, Lasconia 0-2 3-4 3, Pflaumer 0-2 4-4 4, Grager 0-0 0-0 0, Stephens 0-3 0-0 0, Butler 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 18-487 28-32 67.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (19-7, 11-7 GNAC)
Adams 4-8 4-4 14, Schierman 2-5 0-0 4, Hingston 14-8 4-4 32, Luke 7-17 0-0 15, Ferrenburg 0-1 0-0 0, Schumann 0-2 0-0 0, Simmons 1-1 2-4 5, White 0-0 0-0 0, Motu 0-1 0-0 0, Skokankova 4-7 2-5 10, Swanson 0-1 0-0 0, Warwick 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 33-63 12-17 82.
 
Seattle Pacific                      22           45           -- 67
Northwest Nazarene           40           42           -- 82
 
3-point goals – SPU 3-12 (Ohlsen 0-1, Callen 0-2, Murray 0-2, Barnes 0-2, Benson 3-4, Lasconia 0-1), NNU 4-9 (Adams 2-4, Luke 1-3, Schumann 0-1, Simmons 1-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 37 (Benson 6), NNU 28 (Hingston 8). Assists – SPU 7 (Ohlsen 2, Callen 2), NNU 16 (Adams 7). Turnovers –SPU 26, NNU 13. Total fouls – SPU 18, NNU 25. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 987.
 
Next game – GNAC Tournament at Saint Martin's: Seattle Pacific vs. Montana State Billings, Wednesday, 5:15 p.m.