THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, February 13      Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, February15        Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – With six games left to make a decisive move, the Seattle Pacific Falcons won't have to move very far to do it.
 
SPU heads into the final stages of the women's basketball regular season playing host to four of its final half dozen Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents. The first two come to Brougham Pavilion this week, as Central Washington is in town on Thursday, followed by Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
 
Both games tip off at 5:15 p.m. and are the openers of doubleheaders. The nationally ranked Seattle Pacific men will follow them onto the court both nights at 7:30, playing Simon Fraser on Thursday and arch-rival Western Washington on Saturday.
 
The Falcons (14-6, 7-5 GNAC) will be looking to rebound from last Saturday's 74-59 loss at conference-leading Montana State Billings.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and a free live Webcast will be available from this week's game, 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.
 
BUSY, BUSY NIGHT COMING ON SATURDAY
Basketball is merely part of the agenda on Saturday in Brougham Pavilion, as three different events are tying in with the game against Northwest Nazarene.
 
First is the annual Play for Kay Night, an event run in conjunction with the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to focus awareness on and promote the fight against breast cancer.
 
Also part of the schedule is National Girls & Women in Sports Day. That event, with origins dating to 1986, is to honor female athletic achievement and be aware of the significance of sports and fitness participation for all girls and women.
 
Finally, it is Autograph Night following the game. Program-sized team poster cards will be available for fans to obtain autographs from SPU players.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU will be looking to sweep both season series.
-- Seattle Pacific swept the Wildcats last year. But the last time it swept the Crusaders was in 2010-11.
-- The Falcons have had two opportunities this season to climb to 10 games above .500 (Jan. 30 and last Saturday ), but came up short both times. They can get there this week if they win both games, and if they do, it would be the first time since the end of the 2010-11 season, when they finished at 20-9.
-- Central Washington already has a victory in Brougham Pavilion this season, beating Montana Tech in November's Sodexo Classic, 63-58. Senior guard Jessica VanDyke was voted to the all-tournament team.
-- SPU's 27-4 all-time series lead against Northwest Nazarene includes 15-0 in Seattle. But many of those Brougham Pavilion games have come right down to the end, with six of the 15 ending in single-digit margins. Last year's game fell into that group, as the Falcons won the GNAC opener, 76-69.
-- Coach Julie Heisey is 15-2 all-time against Central Washington. She is 4-1 against third-year Wildcats coach Shawn Nelson.
-- Heisey is 14-3 all-time against Northwest Nazarene, from which she graduated in 1989 and is still among that program's all-time leading scorers and rebounders. This will be just her second game against first-year Crusaders coach Ryan Bragdon.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 6-16, 1-12 GNAC (10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 42-29. Current series streak: SPU won 3. Last time: SPU 73, CWU 65 (Jan. 18, 2014 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central's lone GNAC victory was a big one, 63-54 at Simon Fraser on Jan. 11, in which it led from start to finish. But even though they've played several conference opponents close – including SPU – the Wildcats haven't been able to put any more into the win column. They have numerous scoring threats, led by senior guard Jessica VanDyke, who is averaging 14.8 points per game, and has five games of 20 or more points. Sophomore forward / center Jasmine Parker also has become a presence at both ends of the court. The 6-footer averages 9.6 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds. She led the Wildcats with 16 points in the first game against the Falcons. Junior forward Courtney Johnson also can fill it up, averaging 12.2 points per game. She and VanDyke average nearly two treys per game, and Johnson's .368 percentage from behind the arc is tied for No. 9 in the GNAC.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-4. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 82, NNU 77 (Jan. 16, 2014 at Nampa). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Early in January, NNU was rolling along with a 10-2 record and a No. 18 national ranking. But the Crusaders' road has been anything but smooth since then. They've lost three straight and seven of their last nine heading into this week. Even so, they tallied 81 points at home against Western Washington last Thursday (only to see the Vikings ring up a season-high 94), and rallied from 14 down to fall by just two at Alaska Anchorage (72-70) two weeks ago. Senior guards Megan Hingston (16.0 points per game) and Chelsie Luke (14.9) rank Nos. 6 and 7 in the GNAC scoring race, with sophomore guard Taylor Simmons (13.7) just a tenth of a point out of the top 10. HIngston also is tied for the fourth-best GNAC rebounding average at 7.9, and senior guard Kylee Schierman is tied for 10^th at 7.1. Hingston went off for 30 points last time against the Falcons, draining 12 of 15 from the field..
 
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On this week's games)
"Both teams are very good offensively. They just have a lot of weapons. They both have three or four kids who, on any given night, can score in double figures. The bottom line is, it doesn't matter who you're playing – there's not an easy game in our conference. … Everybody can score, and everybody has good depth. It's not like you're trying to stop just one or two players."
 
(On Central Washington)
"Jessica VanDyke is a very good scorer, and Courtney Johnson is also very good at scoring. Jasmine Parker is a 6-foot really athletic post who can drive, post up, and has a nice hook shot. Ally Schmitt is very capable of doing a lot of things. She's very quick and athletic, and can get into the paint really easy. Last time, she caused us some problems defensively because she did a good job of denying Betsy (Kingma) and not letting her get easy touches."
 
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"Last time, we got really hurt by giving up offensive boards – Megan Hingston and Kylee Schierman are really good rebounders. They run a 2-3 zone every possession, so we have to be really disciplined and make sure we get good shots. You don't want to be one-and-done against the zone – that's hard. We want to set the tempo of the game and not get lulled to sleep, because that's easy to do in a 2-3 zone. And NNU is a team that never gives up."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Katie Benson and Suzanna Ohlsen each had 11 points for Seattle Pacific, but Bobbi Knudsen scored 21 points for Montana State Billings, getting 15 of those during the second half, and the Yellowjackets dominated the boards to beat SPU last Saturday, 74-59.
               
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
SPU did not record any double-doubles last week at Montana State Billings. Katie Benson has seven so far this season, and is the only Falcon with a double-double this winter or in her collegiate career.
               
2013-14 double-doubles:
Katie Benson (7 season, 17 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; 16 pts-14 reb vs. Western Oregon, Jan. 23.
 
NO. 11 IS NO. 1 AT THE LINE
Thanks to another perfect performance at the foul line – 4 of 4 – SPU junior Suzanna Ohlsen has taken over the GNAC lead in free throw shooting. Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) boosted her percentage seven points to .892 (58 of 65). That also ranks No. 17 in NCAA Division II this week, up five spots from a week ago.
 
With six regular-season games plus postseason games still to come, Ohlsen is closing in on the school's single-season record percentage at the line. That currently belongs to Amy Taylor, who shot .896 (60 of 67) in 2003-04. While that's well within reach, the GNAC record is way out there at .969 on 94 of 97, set by former Saint Martin's standout Jamey Gelhar,in 2008-09.
 
Ohlsen began the season already atop the Falcons' career free throw shooting list at .878 (based on at least 100 attempts through two seasons). She comes into this week at .884 (152 of 172), and has drained 23 in a row. Ohlsen missed her first two at Central Washington on Jan. 18, but hasn't missed since.
               
ANOTHER RUNG IN SIGHT
Senior forward Katie Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) is about to move up again on the SPU career scoring ladder. Benson comes into this week with 1,518 total points, currently ranking No. 7 for the Falcons. She is 27 points away from passing Linnea Jarvits, who tallied 1,544 from 1993-96.
 
A spot in the all-time top 5 also remains within reach. Lori Robinett is the current occupant of No. 5, having scored 1,606 points from 1986-89. She also is closing in on the GNAC top 5. Benson is now No. 6, sitting 40 points behind Leada Berkey, who scored 1,558 for Western Oregon from 2004-08.
 
PLAYOFF PRATTLINGS
With all due respect to 'one game at a time,' the regular season is getting to the point where playoff scenarios start coming into focus.
 
At 7-5 in the GNAC, Seattle Pacific starts the week in sixth place, with the top six teams qualifying for next month's conference tournament at Saint Martin's. The Falcons, are 2 ½ games ahead of seventh-place Northwest Nazarene. SPU has six games left, and the Crusaders have five, including their contest against each other on Saturday night.
 
In terms of a 'magic number' to clinch a tourney berth, any combination of SPU wins and NNU losses adding up to four will do it.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The first NCAA West Regional rankings are due next Wednesday, Feb. 19. A total of 10 teams will be listed. At the end of the season, the three conference champions – GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Pacific West – earn automatic qualifying berths. Then, the five highest-ranked non-champions fill out the eight-team field. The top-ranked teams earns the right to host the tournament.
 
Barring anything unexpected this week, that top-ranked team very well could be Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos (17-3, 14-2 CCAA) remain the only West Region team in the national top 25, and they now have a three-game lead in the CCAA standings. Jammed into a three-way tie for second at 11-5 are Cal State Dominguez Hills, Chico State (both 15-5 overall) and Cal State Los Angeles (14-6). Positioned two games further back at 9-7 (12-8 overall) is Cal State Stanislaus.
 
Academy of Art remains the Pacific West front runner at 13-1 (14-6 overall). Azusa Pacific is 12-2 (14-6), but is not yet eligible for the D2 tournament this season. Hawaii Pacific is 10-4 (14-6).
 
SPU never made it into last year's regional rankings. The first of the three lists included three teams with eight overall losses, one with five, and one with six.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Katie Benson 28^th in NCAA D2 scoring (19.8).
-- Suzanna Ohlsen 17^th in free throw shooting (.892).
-- SPU 13^th in blocked shots (4.9), 19^th in free throw shooting (.762).

Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
TRACKING THOSE GNAC TOP 10s
- -Katie Benson 2^nd scoring (19.8), 2^nd rebounding (9.3), 3^rd blocked shots (1.5), tie 5^th field goal shooting (.500), tie 6^th steals (1.9).
-- Betsy Kingma tie 2^nd assist / turnover ratio (1.6), tie 3^rd 3-pointers made (2.1), 9^th minutes played (30.3).
-- Suzanna Ohlsen 1^st free throw shooting (.892), 5^th assists (4.1), 5^th minutes played (31.7), tie 6^th steals (1.9), 9^th assist / turnover ratio (1.4).

Click on this link for a full look at GNAC statistical leaders.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th block            Katie Benson (has 98)
100^th point             Hannah Rodrigues (has 85)
200^th point             Maddey Pflaumer (has 198)
700^th rebound       Katie Benson (has 696)
800^th point             Suzanna Ohlsen (has 777)
               
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
None
 
POLLING PLACE
The Falcons continued to receive votes in this week's USA Today Sports / WBCA national poll that was released on Tuesday. Seattle Pacific picked up 10 points, tying with Adelphi of New York for 39th. No GNAC teams are in the top 25. However, Montana State Billings is close, receiving 49 points to rank No. 27 overall.
               
Cal Poly Pomona once again is the lone West Region team in the top 25, rising two places to No. 14. Unbeaten Bentley of Massachusetts (21-0) and Colorado Mesa (21-0) are 1-2.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The final two road games of the regular season are on the calendar for next week. Seattle Pacific heads to Lacey on Thursday, Feb. 20, for a crucial rematch against Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m. Then it's off to Western Oregon in Monmouth on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a special afternoon tip-off time of 2:00 p.m. The Falcons beat Saint Martin's (78-70) and WOU (72-56) in Brougham last month.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC                    Overall
Montana State Billings       10-2                         18-5
Simon Fraser                         9-4                          14-6
Western Washington            9-4                          13-8
Saint Martin's                          8-4                          14-7
Alaska Anchorage                 8-5                           15-6
Seattle Pacific                        7-5                           14-6
Northwest Nazarene             5-8                          12-9
Western Oregon                    3-9                            6-14
Alaska Fairbanks                   3-10                         9-12
Central Washington              1-12                         6-15