THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 15 Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m. Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats Saturday, Jan. 17 Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m. Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF) SEATTLE – Three tough road venues – and three crucial women's basketball victories for Seattle Pacific.
Now, after five straight games away from Brougham Pavilion, the No. 12-ranked Falcons get a welcome stretch back on their home court.
That stretch begins on Thursday when Northwest Nazarene comes to town for a 5:15 p.m. tip-off in the first game of a women's-men's doubleheader. That will be followed by the SPU men against Alaska Anchorage at 7:30 p.m.
On Saturday, the time slots are reversed. A much-improved Central Washington team visits at 7:30. That will follow the 5:15 men's game against Alaska Fairbanks.
SPU (12-1, 4-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) polished off an impressive road sweep last Saturday with a come-from-behind 70-60 victory at Montana State Billings. That came on the heels of a 74-64 win at Western Washington on Jan. 1, and a 61-56 decision at Simon Fraser on Jan. 3, as the Falcons went into the houses of last year's first-place (Billings), second-place (Western) and third-place (Simon) GNAC finishers and emerged triumphant in all three.
FOLLOW IT LIVELive stats and free live Webcasts will be available from both games. The Webcasts will be through Stretch Internet, the official Internet provider of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
TICKET TALKTickets are available at Brougham Pavilion beginning 60 minutes before tip-off. Prices are $9 for reserved seating, $6 for adult general admission, and $3 for students and senior citizens (65 and older). SPU students, faculty, and staff presenting a current valid ID card will be admitted free. Complimentary programs are available at the entrance to the gym.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DEFICIT? NOT A PROBLEMThe odds weren't necessarily in SPU's favor to win all three of their GNAC road games to start calendar year 2015. For a portion of all three, the scoreboard wasn't in the Falcons' favor, either.
At Western Washington on New Year's night, Seattle Pacific found itself in a 16-5 hole just six minutes into the game. Still down by four early in the second half, the Falcons ran off 18 straight points to take charge on the way to a 74-64 victory.
Just two nights later, Simon Fraser raced to a 15-4 lead in the opening 6 ¼ minutes. SPU responded with a 31-10 run to close out the first half and never trailed or was tied again. The Clan pulled within one late in the game before the Falcons hung on to win, 61-56.
Then on Saturday at Billings the Falcons were down 54-44 with 10:53 to go. They still trailed by seven with 7:39 left, but outscored the Yellowjackets the rest of the way, 20-3, to pull out a 70-60 decision.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?-- These will be SPU's
first home games since a 79-58 romp past Northwest University of Kirkland on
Dec. 13.
-- The Falcons are 5-1 at home.
-- Northwest Nazarene is the
only team to beat 15-1 Alaska Anchorage this season, scoring a 79-64 upset on New Year's night in Alaska.
-- Seattle Pacific and NNU
split last year, with each winning on the other's court.
-- In the game at Seattle, the
Crusaders scored 22 points off turnovers on the way to a 75-67 victory.
-- SPU has
won four straight and 13 of the last 14 against Central Washington.
-- Prior to that stretch, which started in 2007-08, the overall series was just 30-28 in the Falcons' favor. Now, it's 43-29.
-- Redshirt senior guard
Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) played in her 100th career game last Saturday.
-- SPU junior center
Molly Grager and Northwest Nazarene junior forward
Kate Cryderman were high school teammates at Juanita.
-- Coach
Julie Heisey, a 1989 NNU graduate, is 14-4 all-time against her alma mater and 1-1 against second-year coach
Ryan Bragdon.
-- Heisey's all-time record against Central Washington is 16-2. This will be her first game against new Wildcats coach
Jeff Harada, whose eight overall wins at the midpoint of the season already is one more than Central had all of last year.
SCOUTING THE NW NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 4-11, 2-4 GNAC (7th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-5.
Current series streak: NNU won 1.
Last time: NNU 75, SPU 67 (Feb. 15, 2014 at Seattle).
Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: After splitting its first two GNAC games against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's in early December, Northwest Nazarene has had a tough go of it, losing seven of the past eight. That includes home games last week against Simon Fraser (103-86, the second time an opponent has gone for 100 or more), and Western Washington (85-68). The one victory during that stretch was an attention-grabbing 79-64 decision at Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 1. The Crusaders graduated 2013-14 top scorers
Megan Hingston (16.0 per game, with 50 in the two games combined against SPU) and
Chelsie Luke (15.0). Junior 5-foot-8 guard
Taylor Simmons is averaging a team-high 14.2 points, up from her 12.7 average of a year ago, and also is the leader at getting her teammates involved, averaging 4.9 assists per game to rank No. 3 in the GNAC.
CoCo Gall, a 5-11 freshman guard / forward, scores at a 12.8 clip, and leads NNU on the boards at 6.7 per game.
Kate Cryderman, a 6-0 junior forward, averages 10.4 points per game.
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 8-6, 3-3 GNAC (6th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 43-29.
Current series streak: SPU won 4.
Last time: SPU 68, CWU 47 (Feb. 13, 2014 at Seattle).
Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington has made huge strides with first-year coach
Jeff Harada at the helm. The Wildcats are allowing, on average, fewer than 60 points per game (59.8), a drop of a whopping 9.2 points from last season's mark of 69.0 per game. They kept Simon Fraser's Erin Chambers, the leading scorer in NCAA Division II, to 16 points (nearly eight below her average) last Saturday and scored a 66-54 win against the Clan in Ellensburg.
Courtney Johnson, a 6-foot senior forward, leads Central at 14.9 points per game, and is averaging 6.3 rebounds.
Jasmin Edwards, a 5-5 freshman guard, has played her way into the starting lineup, averaging 13.5 points and a team-leading 4.1 assists. Junior guard
Hannah Shine is capable of providing some instant offense off the bench, as she pops at almost 50 percent from 3-point range (.486), and her 17 makes behind the arc are tied with Johnson for the team lead.
FALCON REPLAY--
Aubree Callen scored 18 points,
Suzanna Ohlsen had 16, and each of them contributed six during a 20-3 run in the final 7 ½ minutes of the game last Saturday as SPU rallied for a
70-60 road victory at Montana State Billings.
NICE ROUND NUMBERSFor a week with just one game, it was a busy one for milestones last Saturday night in Billings.
--
Aubree Callen (Jerome, Idaho) played in her 100
th SPU game. She's the only current Falcon with that many, but senior point guard
Suzanna Ohlsen is on the brink of joining her. Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) now has 94 games on her college ledger.
-- Ohlsen shot her way past two milestones. She drained her 200
th free throw (and now has 201), as well as her 400
th field goal (now with 402).
-- Junior center
Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) moved past 100 career points, thanks to her first-ever double-digit performance as a Falcon. She poured in a career-high 10 and now has 106.
NICE EVEN NUMBERS: 888 and 1,000Exactly halfway through her final season in maroon,
Aubree Callen begins this week with 888 career points following a team-leading 18-point performance in last Saturday's 70-60 victory at Montana State Billings.
Aubree Callen That means Callen is just 112 points away from 1,000 for her career. With 13 regular-season games remaining, Callen would need to average just 8.6 points to get there. Shouldn't be a problem, as she is up to 13.7 per game.
Callen would be the second Falcon this season to hit the millennium mark.
Suzanna Ohlsen got there on Dec. 4 against Alaska Fairbanks.
GETTING A GRIPWith just 11 turnovers last week at Billings, Seattle Pacific lowered its per-game average to 14.8. That puts it in the top 50 among the 289 NCAA Division II women's teams for taking care of the basketball.
The Falcons' assist / turnover ratio of 1.06 (meaning a positive ration of 1.06 assists for every turnover) ranks even higher at No. 35 in this week's national stats.
NATIONALLY SPEAKINGSPU is (out of 289 Division II teams) …
-- 6
th in free throw percentage (.785)
-- 7
th in 3-point percentage (.394)
-- 18
th in field goal percentage (.454)
-- 35
th in assist / turnover ratio (1.06)
-- 41
st in average points scored (75.6)
-- 48
th in assists (15.7)
-- 50
th in fewest turnovers per game (14.8)
In addition,
Suzanna Ohlsen ranks 20
th in steals (3.0), and
Betsy Kingma is 26th in 3-point percntage (.447) and 27th in 3-pointers made per game (2.92).
Click on
this link to see where SPU and its players rank in all Division II statistics. Click on
this link to see how GNAC teams and players rank nationally.
AROUND THE WESTWith most teams either right at the midseason mark or slightly on either side of it, five have risen slightly above the rest in the West Region.
SPU, of course, is one of those, with its 12-1 overall record. Conference rival
Alaska Anchorage is definitely another, going 15-1 so far.
The other standout team is
California Collegiate Athletic Association leader
Humboldt State, with its 12-1 overall record and 8-0 mark in conference play. The only loss for the Lumberjacks is 83-74 in overtime at Seattle Pacific on Nov. 15 in the SodexoTip-off Classic when the Falcons rallied from six points down in the final three minutes to force the extra period.
In the
Pacific West Conference,
Hawaii Pacific and
Cal Baptist are both 13-2 overall, with HPU leading conference play at 8-0, while the Lancers are next at 6-1. Everyone else in the Pac West has at least five overall losses.
IT'S HALFTIMELast week's contest at Montana State Billings was the 13
th on SPU's 26-game regular season schedule. Here's a look at how they compare statistically through the first half of this season and last season.
2014-15 2013-14
Record 12-1 9-4
Scoring 75.6 67.8
Points allowed 60.2 61.2
Rebounds 36.7 40.6
Assists 15.7 14.4
Blocked shots 3.5 4.9
Steals 10.2 8.5
Field goal shooting .454 .411
3-point shooting .394 .252
Free throw shooting .785 .748
POLLING PLACEThe Falcons kept moving up in the
USA Today Sports / WBCA national poll, climbing two places to No. 12 this week. They and Alaska Anchorage (No. 5, also up two places) remain the only West Region teams in the top 25.
SPU is No. 8 in this week's
D2SIDA national poll, conducted by sports information directors. In the
D2SIDA West Region poll, the Falcon and Anchorage flip-flopped, with UAA moving up to No. 1.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
200th rebound Betsy Kingma (has 190)
Hannah Rodrigues (has 178)
300th assist Suzanna Ohlsen (has 278)
900th point Aubree Callen (has 888)
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th point Molly Grager (has 106)
100th game Aubree Callen (has 100)
200th free throw Suzanna Ohlsen (has 201)
400th field goal Suzanna Ohlsen (has 202)
UP NEXT The Falcons are back on the road next week. They'll head to Monmouth for a game against
Western Oregon on Thursday, Jan. 22, and visit
Saint Martin's in Lacey on Saturday the 24th. Both of those games tip off at 7:00 p.m. and will bring Seattle Pacific to the midpoint of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule.
SPU starts the second half of conference play with a three-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 29, when Simon Fraser comes to town for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off in Brougham Pavilion.
AROUND THE GNACClick on
this link for results, stats, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC OverallAlaska Anchorage 5-1 15-1
Seattle Pacific 4-1 12-1
Alaska Fairbanks 4-2 12-4
Western Washington 3-2 9-5
Simon Fraser 3-2 7-6
Central Washington 3-3 8-6
Northwest Nazarene 2-4 4-11
Montana State Billings 1-4 9-6
Saint Martin's 1-4 4-9
Western Oregon 1-4 4-9
