Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – The 'Bench Bunch' came up big on Thursday night
 
Katie Benson, playing the 100^th game of her Seattle Pacific career, had a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds, but the Falcons also got 35 points and 13 rebounds from their reserves to beat Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest, 72-56.
 
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) logged her seventh double-double of the season and the 17^th of her career. Her most recent one was 18 points and 10 boards in a 63-57 win against Montana State Billings on Jan. 11.
                                                                  
Sophomore guard Brianne Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS) and senior center Riley Butler (Kent, Wash. / Kentlake HS) each contributed 11 points off the bench. Lasconia also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Her previous high on the boards was four, which she had reached five times.
                                                                         
Freshman guard Rachel Shim (Sammamish, Wash. / Skyline HS) added eight points, doubling her previous career high, and freshman guard Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) chipped in five points.
 
"I'm really proud of our bench players tonight," head coach Julie Heisey said. "If we couldn't rely on them, we wouldn't be in a situation where we can continue to win. It's easy just to focus on the task at hand, but you don't keep winning and don't keep growing in practice unless people step up."
 
After a three-game skid bridging the end of 2013 and the start of 2014, the Falcons (12-4, 5-3 GNAC) have kept winning – Thursday's victory was their fourth straight. After starting the night in a two-way for fifth place in the standings, they're now in a four-way deadlock for third with Saint Martin's, Simon Fraser, and Alaska Anchorage, all at 5-3.
 
Saint Martin's, part of a four-way tie for first before falling 75-56 at Montana State Billings on Thursday, will be in Brougham Pavilion on Saturday night at 7. In a Thursday game involving the other two co-leaders, Western Washington rallied from eight points behind midway through the second half to beat Alaska Anchorage, 76-70.
 
The Falcons were down 14-13, but outscored Western Oregon (5-11, 2-6 GNAC) by a 19-5 margin through the final 9:48 of the first half to take command
 
 Of those 19 points, 17 came from the reserves, who took advantage of some added playing time when starters Suzanna Ohlsen and Betsy Kingma each were whistled for a pair of first-half fouls. Lasconia contributed nine points during that surge, and Shim had six to help SPU take a 32-19 lead by the break.
 
"We had two starters in the first half with two fouls, and our bench came in and held them to 19 points," Heisey said after her team kept an opponent below 20 for the third time this season.
 
The lead never dipped below 11 during the second half, and was as large as 22 points at 46-24 with 15:13 left in the game.
 
"I was really pleased with our defense," Heisey said. "They're a bunch of drivers, so with them driving every time and with the new rules, it's easy to put them on the foul line. But we did a good job with our game plan of trying to keep them out of the paint (just 16 points) and not putting them on the free throw line. Our goal was to make more free throws than they attempted, and we did that. (SPU was 26 of 29; Western Oregon was 13 of 19.)
 
That defense also included six blocked shots, with sophomore center Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) getting a career-high three. Seattle Pacific is the 12^th-best blocking team in NCAA Division II, averaging 5.1 per game.
 
Dana Goularte led Western Oregon with 27 points, tallying 19 of those during the second half. She started the night as the No. 3 scorer and rebounder in the GNAC, with Benson No. 2 in both categories. Goularte had five boards.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 72, Western Oregon 56
 
WESTERN OREGON (5-11, 2-6 GNAC)
Melissa Fowler 2-5 0-0 4, Dana Goularte 9-16 7-10 27, Kelsey Henry 4-9 3-5 11, Chantel Divilbiss 2-9 1-2 6, Elise Miller 1-4 0-0 3, Shyla Akins 1-2 0-0 3, Jordan Mottershaw 0-5 0-0 0, Katie Goddard 0-3 0-0 0, Jackie Steiger 0-1 2-2 2, Amber Reade 0-3 0-0 0, Rebecca Buck 0-1 0-0 0, Leah Nicklason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 13-19 56.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (12-4, 5-3 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 0-4 3-4 3, Katie Benson 7-17 2-2 16, Molly Grager 0-0 2-2 2, Suzanna Ohlsen 2-6 2-2 7, Betsy Kingma 3-7 1-2 10, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-2 3-3 5, Rachel Shim 2-3 4-4 8, Caitlin Heinly 0-0 0-0 0, Brianne Lasconia 4-7 2-2 11, Riley Butler 2-4 7-8 11. Totals 21-50 26-29 72.
 
Western Oregon  19           37           -- 56
Seattle Pacific      32           40           -- 72
 
3-point goals – WOU 5-18 (Goularte 2-4, Divilbiss 1-5, Miller 1-4, Akins 1-1, Mottershaw 0-1, Goddard 0-2, Buck 0-1), SPU 4-11 (Rodrigues 0-2, Benson 0-1, Ohlsen 0-1, Kingma 3-5, Shim 0-1, Lasconia 1-1). Fouled out – SPU: Butler. Rebounds – WOU 33 (Mottershaw 6), SPU 42 (Benson 14). Assists – WOU 9 (Fowler 3, Miller 3), SPU 10 (Ohlsen 4). Turnovers – WOU 18, SPU 19. Total fouls – WOU 22, SPU 19. Technical fouls – None. A – 206.
 
Next game – Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.