Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play

BILLINGS, Mont. – For 32 1/2 minutes, the Seattle Pacific Falcons just couldn't get over the hump.
 
Then, on what should have been an easy basket for Montana State Billings late in the game, the Yellowjackets couldn't get over the Falcons' defense.
 
That one stop ultimately led to the go-ahead basket and the only lead change of the night as 14^th-ranked SPU pulled out a 70-60 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory on Saturday in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
               
Aubree Callen scored 18 points in her 100^th college contest, and Suzanna Ohlsen had 16, with each of them contributing six during the late-game comeback. The Falcons (12-1, 4-1 GNAC) were down 57-50 with 7:39 left, but outscored Billings the rest of the way, 20-3.

 

"That was a huge win," said head coach Julie Heisey, whose team now has won six straight, including three in a row on the road against last season's top three GNAC finishers – Western Washington (74-64 last Thursday), Simon Fraser (61-56 last Saturday), and now defending champion MSUB. "Three games in a row, we've taken on a team that has been to the national tournament, and we said. 'OK, how do we do that?'"
 
With defense, for starters. At no time was that more true than during Saturday's final 7½ minutes. Seattle Pacific limited Billings (9-6, 1-4 GNAC) to 1-of-7 shooting and forced six turnovers during the game-changing run.
 
One of those missed shots came with 4:44 left. Clinging to a 59-58 lead. MSUB's Rylee Kane got wide-open for what looked like an easy lay-in. But sophomore forward / guard Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.) and junior center Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) collapsed on Kane.
 
Her shot missed, Falcons' sophomore Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) grabbed the rebound and handed off to Ohlsen. She took the ball toward the left sideline, then drove into the lane and banked a shot off the glass from 12 feet straight in front. That put SPU up 60-59 with 4:28 left, and the Falcons stayed in front the rest of the way.
 
"Once we were able to get a lead, our offense got better and our defense got better," Heisey said. "We just showed a lot of resilience and poise."
 
The Falcons, whose last five games have been away from Brougham Pavilion, get to tip off at home for the first time since Dec. 13 when they welcome Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. That's the first game of a doubleheader, followed by the SPU men against Alaska Anchorage at 7:30.

 

Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) scored a career-high 10 points on Saturday. She had five of those last 20 for the Falcons, who won their sixth straight game and continued their best start since the 2008-09 season when they went 13-1. Grager also pulled down a team-leading six rebounds. Senior center Maddey Pflaumer (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) chipped in 11 points.
 
"I thought a really big key was Molly being able to step in when Maddey got in foul trouble (early in the second half)," Heisey said. "She did so many big things, made two key baskets, and her free throws were huge."
 
Except for a 20-20 tie late in the first half, Seattle Pacific trailed all night, once by as many as 10 at 54-44 with 10:53 to go.
 
Facing the 57-50 deficit, the Falcons ran off six straight, with back-to-back lay-ins by Grager and a short turnaround shot by redshirt senior guard Callen (Jerome, Idaho) to close within one.
 
Senior center Kayleen Goggins scored on a lay-in – the last of her game-high 24 points – to restore a three-point Yellowjackets lead at 59-56 with 5:11 remaining. But SPU senior guard Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) pumped in six straight points: two free throws cutting it to 59-58, the go-ahead banker, and two more free throws for a 62-59 edge.
               
MSUB's final point came on a free throw by Alisha Breen with 2:04 to go. Seattle Pacific tallied the last seven points.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
(No. 14) Seattle Pacific 70, Montana State Billings 60
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (12-1, 4-1 GNAC)
Aubree Callen 7-14 4-5 18, Suzanna Ohlsen 4-11 8-10 16, Maddey Pflaumer 5-8 1-1 11, Molly Grager 3-4 4-5 10, Betsy Kingma 3-11 0-0 9, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-1 0-0 3, Rachel Shim 0-2 2-2 2, Hannah Rodrigues 0-2 1-2 1, Jordan McPhee 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Hollander 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 20-25 70.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (9-6, 1-4 GNAC)
Kayleen Goggins 11-20 2-7 24, Rylee Kane 4-6 3-4 13, Alisha Breen 2-9 6-9 10, Annie DePuydt 4-5 0-1 8, Quinn Peoples 2-9 0-0 5, Monica Grimsrud 0-1 0-0 0, Marissa Van Atta 0-0 0-0 0, Vanessa Stavish 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Henry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 11-20 60.
 
Seattle Pacific                       28           42           -- 70
Montana State Billings        35           25           -- 60       
 
3-point goals – SPU 4-17 (Kingma 3-8, Lukasiewicz 1-1, Rodrigues 0-1, Ohlsen 0-3, Callen 0-4), MSUB 3-14 (Kane 2-2, Peoples 1-6, Breen 0-3, Goggins 0-3). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 29 (Grager 6), MSUB 28 (Brteen 9). Assists – SPU 12 (Ohlsen 7), MSUB 15 (Grimsrud 5). Turnovers – SPU 11, MSUB 15. Total fouls – SPU 21, MSUB 19. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 437.
 
 
Next game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 15,   5:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.