THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, January 16       SPU at Northwest Nazarene, 6;00 p.m. PST
                                                Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                                Live Webcast and live stats
 
Saturday, January 18       SPU at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast and live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Sometimes, it takes just one ball going into the basket to boost a shooter's confidence.
 
Sometimes, it takes just one win to boost a team's confidence.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons are counting on it.
 
After grinding out a 63-57 women's basketball victory against Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason favorite Montana State Billings last Saturday afternoon, SPU returns to the road this week. On Thursday, the Falcons will visit Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. Then on Saturday, they'll board the bus for a trip across the Cascades to Ellensburg and their 7:00 p.m. game at Central Washington.
 
By beating Billings in Brougham Pavilion and in front of a ROOT Sports regional television audience, Seattle Pacific (9-4, 2-3 GNAC) halted a three-game losing streak and kept itself very much in the thick of what has become a wildly unpredictable conference race.
 
With 13 games now in the books, this week's games begin the second half of the 26-game regular-season.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and free live Webcasts will be available from both of this week's games, and for all GNAC contests through the rest of the regular season. The Webcasts are through Stretch Internet, the conference's official video streaming provider. Appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
IT'S ANOTHER TOP-10 MOMENT FOR BENSON
Having joined Seattle Pacific's all-time top 10 scorers earlier this season, senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) now is among the top10 rebounders, too.
 
Benson entered last week's only game in 11th on the career list. With the 10 boards she pulled down on Saturday against Montana State Billings, she now has 642 for her career, moving past Melissa Reich into 10th place. Reich collected 635 rebounds from 2008-11.
 
With her current average of 10.1 per game, it shouldn't be long before Benson moves up to No. 9. That spot now belongs to Elisabeth Ford, who grabbed 676 from 1992-95.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU's last road game was Dec. 7, a 77-65 loss at Alaska Anchorage.
-- The Falcons are 5-1 away from Brougham Pavilion: 3-1 in true road games, 2-0 on neutral courts.
-- Although SPU is 26-4 all-time against Northwest Nazarene, the Crusaders have won the last two times in Nampa: 81-77 in 2012, and 82-67 last season.
-- Head coach Julie Heisey is 13-3 all-time against her alma mater (Class of 1989), including 5-3 in Idaho.
-- Of the eight games her team has played in Nampa, six have been decided by single digits: 5-, 1-, 4-, and 2-point SPU victories; 1- and 4-point NNU victories.
-- This will be Heisey's first game against new Crusaders coach Ryan Bragdon.
-- Heisey is 14-2 all-time against Central Washington, with both losses coming in Ellensburg.
-- She is 3-1 against third-year Wildcats coach Shawn Nelson.
-- The Wildcats rolled to a 15-point lead early in last year's game at Nicholson Pavilion, but SPU stormed back to win, 71-65.
-- Katie Benson still leads all GNAC rebounders at 10.1 per game, but Simon Fraser's Erin Chambers regained the scoring lead this week, now averaging 22.1 points, thanks to outings of 25 against Northwest Nazarene and 32 against Central Washington. Benson, with 18 in her only game last week, is second at 21.1.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 10-4, 3-3 GNAC (6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-4. Current series streak: NNU won 1. Last time: NNU 82, SPU 67 (March 2, 2013 at Nampa). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: NNU will be seeking to get back on track after losses at Simon Fraser and Western Washington last week. The Crusaders have three players in particular who can do some serious damage. Senior guard Megan Hingston averages 16.6 points per game, ranking No. 6 in the GNAC. Simon Fraser stopped her at just two points, and Western limited her to 12. Sophomore guard Taylor Simmons also is among the GNAC's top 10 scorers, sitting at No. 9 with her 14.7 average. Senior guard Chelsie Luke is No. 11 in scoring at 14.1. Simmons had 18 against Simon; Luke had 20 at Western. Hingston also pulls down 8.0 rebounds per game, almost dead even with senior guard Kylee Schierman, who averages a team-high 8.1. Simmons is more effective than anyone in the GNAC at getting to the line, hitting 101 of 122 for an .828 percentage. No other conference player is in triple digits.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 6-8, 1-5 GNAC (10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 41-29. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 71, CWU 65 (Feb. 28, 2013 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: After losing its first five conference games, Central Washington scored a huge victory last Saturday, defeating Simon Fraser in Canada, 63-54. The Clan kept leading scorer Jessica Van Dyke to just 10 points (she now averages 16.7), but sophomore forward / center Jasmine Parker stepped up In a big way, pumping in 21 points after she came into the game averaging 9.3. CWU scored the first four points of the game and led from start to finish. Van Dyke is the No. 5 GNAC scorer, and junior forward Courtney Johnson chips in 12.2 points per game. Parker and Van Dyke are both among the conference's best rebounders. Parker is No. 4 at 8.1, and Van Dyke is No. 9 at 7.3. Parker also is the GNAC's best shot blocker with 32 (2.3 per game). Senior forward / center Amber Moser, at 6 feet even, shoots .532 from the field, ranking No. 3 in the conference.
 
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"You still have to guard Megan Hingston, who is just a great player, great rebounder, great scorer. Chelsie Luke is a great player with a pull-up jumper, and she hits big 3's. Taylor Simmons has become a very strong player offensively, as well as defensively – she was always a good defensive player. NNU has always been known for playing aggressive man-to-man, but now, they're playing almost all zone. We need to be able to play our tempo and still be active because zones make you stand, and you lose your shooting rhythm a lot of times. … We have our hands full there."
 
(On Central Washington)
"Central is a really scary team because they can beat anybody on any given night. They proved that last week (winning at Simon Fraser). They have a lot of weapons. They can beat you from 3-point range, they can beat you off the dribble. They're hard to guard, because if you help too much, you're giving them 3's, and they can knock down some deep 3's."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Betsy Kingma scored a season-high 15 points, Katie Benson recorded a double-double, and Suzanna Ohlsen added 16 points as SPU defeated Montana State Billings in a regionally televised game last Saturday afternoon, 63-57, thereby halting a three-game losing streak.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Katie Benson put another double-double into the books last Saturday, delivering 18 points and 10 rebounds as the Falcons beat Montana State Billings, 63-57. That was her sixth of the season and 16th of her career.
  
2013-14 double-doubles:
Katie Benson (6 season, 16 career): 20 pts-10 reb vs. Humboldt State, Nov. 8
20 pts-17 reb vs. Point Loma Nazarene, Nov. 16
31 pts-14 reb at Azusa Pacific, Nov. 23
26 pts-12 reb at Alaska Anchorage, Dec. 7
19 pts-14 reb vs. South Dakota Mines, Dec. 19
18 pts-10 reb vs. Montana State Billings, Jan. 11
 
HALFTIME REPORT
Playing better defense and taking better care of the basketball have been among the keys to the first half of the season for the Falcons. They are allowing four fewer points per game, coming up with more steals, more blocked shots, and are committing four fewer turnovers on average through the first 13 games of the 26-game schedule.
 
Below is a comparison of 2013-14 to the first 13 games of the 2012-13 campaign.
 
                                2013-14                 2012-13
Record                   9-4, 2-3 GNAC     10-3, 4-1 GNAC
Points                     67.8                        74.9
Points allowed     61.2                        65.7
Rebounds              40.6                        42.9
Assists                   14.4                        16.3
Blocked shots         4.9                          2.8
Steals                        8.5                          8.0
Turnovers              15.2                        19.5
FG percent            .411                        .444
FG defense           .382                        .399
3-point percent    .252                        .386
3-point defense   .297                        .336
FT percent            .748                         .797
 
500 HERE, 100 THERE
Katie Benson and Riley Butler both hit major milestones last Saturday.
 
Senior forward Benson drained her 500^th field goal. Appropriately, it was a big one: a 3-pointer that snapped the game's final tie, giving the Falcons a 56-53 lead, as they hung on to beat Billings, 63-57.
 
That made Benson the sixth player in school history with 500 field goals. The all-time leader is Linda Johnson, who had 799 from 1986-89 on her way to becoming SPU's leading career scorer. Others topping 500 were Diane Black (723 from 1983-86, Gus Balogh (701 from 1998-2001), Jan Bolton (668 from 1989-92), and Shannon Holland (535 from 1979-81).
 
Senior center Butler (Kent, Wash. / Kentlake HS) grabbed the 100^th rebound of her career. She comes into this week with 101.
 
A LITTLE VARIETY IS NICE
While Katie Benson usually is the leading scorer and rebounder for SPU, and Suzanna Ohlsen typically hands out the most assists in a game, just about anyone could be leading the way in steals or blocked shots this season. In fact, of the 13 players who have seen action, 10 – including two of the freshmen – have been on top in either or both of those stat categories for at least one game.
 
A total of seven players have the single-game leader or co-leader in steals, led by Aubree Callen's six against Montana Tech on Nov. 15. (She is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.) For blocked shots, eight different players have had the most or been tied for the most in a single game, topped by Maddey Pflaumer's four at Alaska Anchorage.
 
POLLING PLACE
The Falcons remain among other teams receiving votes in this week's USA Today Sports / WBCA coaches poll that was released on Tuesday. The GNAC does not have any teams in the top 25, as Northwest Nazarene dropped out following two losses last week. The only West Region team in there is Cal Poly Pomona, which climbed to No. 17.
 
Bentley of Massachusetts is still undefeated (14-0), and still No. 1. The top six teams are still undefeated. Simon Fraser (48) and NNU (46) are the first two teams among 'others receiving votes.'
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th steal             Suzanna Ohlsen (has 98)
200^th point             Maddey Pflaumer (has 187)
700^th point             Suzanna Ohlsen (has 679)
1,400^th point          Katie Benson (has 1,397)
                                                                     
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100^th rebound       Riley Butler (has 101)
500^th field goal     Katie Benson (has 500)       
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Katie Benson 19^th in NCAA D2 scoring (21.1 points per game), up two spots from the previous national list. She also is 32nd in rebounds (10.1).
-- SPU is tied for No. 15 in blocks per game (4.9), is 31^st in free throw percentage (.748) and 39th in fewest points allowed (61.6).

Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
TRACKING THOSE GNAC TOP 10s
SPU has four of its starters among the top 10 in various GNAC statistical categories.
-- Katie Benson 2^nd in scoring (21.1),1^st in rebounds (10.1), 4^th in steals (2.4), tie 5^th in blocked shots (1.5), 8^th in free throw shooting (.830), 9^th in field goal shooting (.490).
-- Betsy Kingma 7^th in 3-pointers made per game (1.5), 7^th in minutes (30.8), tie 10^th assist / turnover ratio (1.3).
-- Suzanna Ohlsen 4^th in free throw percentage (.857), tie 5^th in minutes (31.0), 6^th in assists (3.8), 7^th assist / turnover ratio (1.4).
-- Maddey Pflaumer 9^th blocked shots (1.1).
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific wraps up the first half of GNAC play next week in Brougham Pavilion. Western Oregon visits on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 7 p.m., followed by Saint Martin's on Saturday, Jan. 25, also at 7. The Saints were the last undefeated team in conference play before falling at Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 9, but then won at Alaska Anchorage two nights later.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC                    Overall
Saint Martin's                         4-1                        10-4
Alaska Anchorage                 4-2                        11-3
Simon Fraser                         3-2                          9-4
Montana State Billings         3-2                        10-5
Western Washington            3-2                          7-6
Northwest Nazarene             3-3                        10-4
Seattle Pacific                         2-3                          9-4
Alaska Fairbanks                   2-4                          8-6
Western Oregon                    2-3                          5-8
Central Washington              1-5                          6-8