THE SCHEDULE:
Saturday, January 11 Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific, 3:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
TV: ROOT Sports (Comcast Ch. 30 in Seattle area)
Live Webcast Live stats
Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are going live on Saturday afternoon.
Aiming to get back into a winning women's basketball groove, SPU will showcase its team around the entire Northwest when it takes on Montana State Billings at 3:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
The game will be shown on ROOT Sports. It is the first of eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference games that will be beamed on the regional network.
Bob Akamian will call the play-by-play, and
Dave Harshman will offer color commentary.
The Yellowjackets, led by GNAC Preseason Player of the Year
Bobbi Knudsen, were tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference crown. The Falcons were picked for second place.
Seattle Pacific (8-4, 1-3 GNAC) has plenty at stake against Billings (10-4, 3-1 GNAC). After a 7-0 start, the Falcons have struggled, and will be out to halt a three-game slide on Saturday as the 26-game season reaches its midpoint.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Saturday's telecast will be on Channel 30 on Comcast systems in the greater Seattle area. Viewers on other systems or in areas outside of Seattle should check their local listing for ROOT's channel.
In addition to the telecast, live stats and a free live Webcast will be available from this game, and for all GNAC contests through the rest of the 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.
TV TIDBITS
Saturday's game will be the third time in the past six years that the Falcons have appeared on television, and the second time in Brougham Pavilion.
On Feb. 9, 2009, SPU defeated Northwest Nazarene, 66-55, as a nationwide audience watched on the CBS College Sports network, and nearly 1,300 fans came into Brougham.
Then on Feb. 2, 2011, the Falcons went to Western Washington and were within one point at halftime before the Vikings pulled away to win, 67-57.
Katie Benson, then a redshirt freshman, came off the bench for eight points and five rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Senior forward
Katie Benson comes into the week leading the GNAC in scoring (21.3) and rebounding (10.1). She has been atop the rebounding stats, but was No. 2 in scoring behind Simon Fraser's
Erin Chambers heading into last week.
-- The Falcons put the clamps on Chambers last Saturday, limiting her to 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
-- MSUB's
Bobbi Knudsen will present just as much of a challenge this week, as she is coming off a career-high 37-point performance in an 82-69 victory against Western Washington on Jan. 4.
-- Knudsen, who hit 14 of 21 from the floor and 6 of 6 from the foul line, also had six assists in that game, which led to another 16 points. So altogether, she factored into 53 of Billings' 82 points.
-- In last year's three SPU-MSUB games, Knudsen totaled 63 points.
Suzanna Ohlsen tallied 50, and Benson had 42.
-- Falcons head coach
Julie Heisey is 8-4 all-time against Montana State Billings and its head coach,
Kevin Woodin. They did not become regular opponents until the Yellowjackets joined the GNAC in 2007-08.
-- This series is by far the closest of any GNAC opponent, with SPU leading, 20-18.
-- It was tied at 18-18 before the Falcons won the most recent two games: 76-71 in last season's home finale on Feb. 23, and 63-60 in the first round of the GNAC Tournament on March 6.
SCOUTING THE MSU YELLOWJACKETS: 10-4, 3-1 GNAC (tie 2nd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-18.
Current series streak: SPU won 2.
Last time: SPU 63, MSUB 60 (March 6, 2013 at Lacey in GNAC 1st round).
Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Billings got off to a slow start, losing its first two games at the high-caliber Disney West Coast Tip-Off Classic. But with a couple of exceptions, the Yellowjackets have been on a winning ride ever since. That includes a pair of homecourt routs last week against Simon Fraser (81-63) and Western Washington (82-69). Senior 5-foot-8 guard
Bobbi Knudsen is averaging a team-high 16.2 points, ranking No. 6 in the conference. She's also proficient at setting up her teammates, averaging 6.0 assists to rank No. 2 and is the GNAC's top free throw shooter at .941 (48 of 51). Junior forward
Kayleen Goggins averages 12.1.
Janiel Olson, a 5-10 junior forward, is a force on the boards, with a 9.6 average that ranks third in the GNAC, one spot behind SPU's
Katie Benson (10.1). Then there's
Chelsea Banis, who came over from Montana State. The 6-4 senior averages 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and is the second-best shooter in the conference at .536 (59 of 110). The Jackets have continued their trend of taking excellent care of the ball, with an average of just 12.4 turnovers per game. That not only is the best mark in the GNAC, it's the third-lowest average in Division II.
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On getting back on track)
"There's a different level of intensity in conference play. We've just made errors at the wrong time or missed lay-ups at the wrong time. A lot of it right now is we've got to get our leadership better and understand time and score, and do it in intense situations."
(On Montana State Billings)
"Billings is really, really good, and they return six of their top seven players. They're pretty experienced."
(On facing GNAC Preseason Player of Year Bobbi Knudsen)
"When the ball is in her hands, she just changes games."
(On other challenges from the Yellowjackets)
"Billings has a lot of good shooters and a lot of good 3-point shooters. They do run a lot of other stuff to get everybody involved. … The thing is you can't let anyone else on the team have above their (scoring) average. And you can't let one of their other role players shoot a wide-open 3, because they can hit it. … Janiel Olson is a very, very good offensive rebounder, so you have to keep her off the boards."
FALCONS REPLAY
--
Suzanna Ohlsen had 18 points for SPU, but Western Washington got 25 from Katie Colard last Thursday to knock off SPU in Brougham Pavilion,
84-77.
--
Katie Benson pumped in 25 points – 21 of those during the second half – but Simon Fraser wiped out a 12-point deficit and hung on to beat the Falcons last Saturday,
63-60.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons did not record any double-doubles last week against Western Washington or Simon Fraser.
Katie Benson has five double-doubles this season, the most recent of which came on Dec. 19 when she had 19 points and 14 rebound in a 78-41 victory against South Dakota Mines.
So far this season, Benson is averaging a double-double of 21.3 points and 10.1 rebounds. The last SPU player to average a double-double through an entire season was
Carli Smith (10.8 points, 10.1 rebounds in 2004-05).
2013-14 double-doubles:
Katie Benson (5 season, 15 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.
REVVING UP THE REBOUNDS
After being badly out-rebounded in a 77-65 loss at Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 7, the Falcons knew they had to crash the boards harder.
In their four games since then, they have done precisely that, with a 41-27 advantage against South Dakota School of Mines, 42-39 against West Texas A&M, 40-26 against Western Washington, and 39-34 against Simon Fraser. On all four of those nights, that lead included anywhere from plus-4 to plus-8 at the offensive end.
Speaking of the boards, two Falcons are approaching significant milestones. Senior forward
Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) is just three rebounds away from joining SPU's career-top 10. She now has 632, closing in on current No. 10 Melissa Reich (635 from 2008-11). Senior center
Riley Butler (Kent, Wash. / Kentlake HS) is one rebound away from her career 100
th.
QUICK START TO STARTING
Becoming a regular starter wasn't necessarily on the radar of freshman
Hannah Rodrigues. But when a season-ending injury forced senior
Aubree Callen to the sidelines, the door opened for Rodrigues.
The 5-foot-10 guard / forward from Eugene, Ore., has made the most of it, starting eight of the nine games since then. In each of those starts, she has pulled down at least two rebounds, with three nights of six boards. She also has scored in seven of the eight starts.
So how tough is it for a freshman to become a starter outside of an injury situation? Consider this: The Falcons have eight players on their roster who were here as freshman. They had a combined five starts as first-year players.
POLLING PLACE
The Falcons are still getting votes in this week's
USA Today Sports / WBCA coaches poll that was released on Tuesday. But they have dropped out of the top 25. SPU received 56 points, ranking 32nd overall. Northwest Nazarene, at No. 18, is the lone GNAC team in the top 25. Simon Fraser tops the 'others receiving votes' list with 73.
Bentley of Massachusetts is still undefeated (12-0), and still No. 1, albeit by just six points ahead of Gannon (Pa.). The number of undefeated D2 teams, including Bentley and Gannon, is down to seven.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th rebound Riley Butler (has 99)
100th steal Suzanna Ohlsen (has 96)
500th field goal Katie Benson (has 494)
1,400th point Katie Benson (has 1,379)
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th point Brianne Lasconia (has 107)
300th field goal Mechela Barnes (has 301)
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
--
Katie Benson tied for 15th in NCAA D2 scoring (21.3 points per game), up two spots from the previous national list. She also is 29th in rebounds (10.1).
--
SPU is No. 19 nationally in blocks per game (4.8), 28
th in free throw percentage (.751) and 46
th 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 1
st in scoring (21.3),1
st in rebounds (10.1), 4
th in steals (2.5), 5
th in free throw shooting (.840), tie 5
th in blocked shots (1.5), 8
th in field goal shooting (.506).
--
Betsy Kingma 6
th in minutes (30.8), tie 7
th assist / turnover ratio (1.3), tie 10
th in 3-pointers made per game (1.5).
--
Suzanna Ohlsen 4
th in minutes (31.0), 6
th in assists (3.7), 7
th in free throw percentage (.839), tie 7
th assist / turnover ratio (1.3).
--
Maddey Pflaumer tie 10
th blocked shots (1.0).
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on
this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
UP NEXT
For the first time since their trip to Alaska in the first week of December, the Falcons are back on the road next week. They head to Idaho for their game at
Northwest Nazarene in Nampa on Thursday, Jan. 16, at 6:00 p.m. PST. On Jan. 18, SPU is in Ellensburg to take on
Central Washington at 7:00 p.m. The next home game will be Thursday, Jan. 23, against
Western Oregon at 7:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Overall
Saint Martin's 3-0 9-3
Alaska Anchorage 3-1 10-2
Northwest Nazarene 3-1 10-2
Montana State Billings 3-1 10-4
Simon Fraser 2-1 8-3
Western Washington 1-2 5-6
Western Oregon 1-2 4-7
Seattle Pacific 1-3 8-4
Alaska Fairbanks 1-3 7-5
Central Washington 0-4 5-7
