Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play

 
ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Right shooter. Right shot.
 
Jordan McPhee's 3-pointer from well outside the arc with four seconds remaining gave Seattle Pacific its first lead since the end of the opening quarter, and the Falcons hung on to beat Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game on Thursday, 52-49.
 
In a game between two stingy defenses, in which good looks at the basket came at a premium, sophomore guard McPhee's 23-footer was one of the few shots to slide smoothly through the net. She finished with a career-high 21 points, 17 coming in the second half.
 
SPU heads into 2016 with a perfect 3-0 mark in the conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 season. After a slow start, the Falcons are now 6-4 overall, and have won four of their last five.
 
Central sustained its first home loss and fell to 8-3, 1-2 in GNAC.

 

"That was a really big win – we needed that win," head coach Julie Heisey said. "We work really hard, and if you look at our losses, they're all to good teams. But you need to beat a good team, and we beat a team that was 8-2, and we did it on the road in a tough situation."
                                                                      
Thursday's game was the milestone 75^th between the in-state rivals. The Falcons beat the Wildcats for the seventh straight time and now heads to Northwest Nazarene for a Saturday game that tips off at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Both SPU and Central were allowing fewer than 60 points per game. For 40 minutes they relentlessly chased, hurried and hounded one another. Seattle Pacific made just  33 percent of its field goals (18 of 55) and finished with its lowest winning score in five years. The Wildcats shot slightly better from the floor, but committed five more turnovers and, critically, missed nine of their 14 free throws.
 
"It was two very, very good teams," Heisey said. "I have to give credit to Central because they made plays. We were doing a great job, but they got a lot of lay-ups. I was really proud of our kids because we had to fight back.
 
"We were being really gritty and having the confidence to stick with it."
 
After a quiet first half, McPhee (Normandy Park, Wash. / Mount Rainier HS) carried the scoring load for the final 20 minutes. When the Wildcats threatened to break open the game, she answered with a series of mid-range jumpers.
 
McPhee drained three of those during the third quarter, including a 17-footer that the deficit to 36-34 going into the final 10 minutes. Later, her layup tied it at 40-40 with 5:53 to go. She hit 8 of 12 for the game, adding eight rebounds (seven off the offensive glass), four assists, two steals, and no turnovers in 32 minutes.
 
Central forged back in front. Mandy Stewart connected on a trey to break the tie and then drove from the right side to make it 47-42 with 2:26 left.

 

The Falcons responded with the game's next five points: a lay-up from junior forward Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.), then a clutch three by sophomore forward Courtney Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) which reluctantly swirled into the basket with 50 seconds left.
 
Central reclaimed the lead at 49-47 when Jasmin Edwards muscled in a driving layup at the 14-second mark.
 
Following McPhee's go-ahead trey, Alexis Berrysmith of the Wildcats got open underneath. But her close-range shot missed with 3.8 seconds to go. Briannne Lasconia provided the final margin, sinking two free throws with one second showing.
 
McPhee also corralled eight rebound – seven off the offensive glass – and had four assists. Hollander contributed 10 points and six boards.
 
Berrysmith topped Central with 12 points and center Jasmine Parker posted a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. However, Parker was held scoreless in the second half.
 
Early on, the teams traded spurts. SPU reeled off seven straight points for a 9-4 lead before the hosts responded with 10 in a row. Shortly before halftime, Central's lead widened to 28-19 as Parker intimidated by blocking three shots and affecting several more of the Falcons' inside opportunities. At the other end, Parker hit 5 of 6 from the floor through the first half.
 
It was Seattle Pacific's seventh straight victory over the Wildcats. The Falcons remain on the road Saturday, visiting Northwest Nazarene for a 4:15 Pacific time start.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                  
Seattle Pacific 52, Central Washington 49
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-4, 3-0 GNAC)
McPhee 8-12 4-6 21; Hollander 3-11 3-4 10; Lee 2-5 0-2 5; Rodrigues 2-8 1-2 5; Grager 1-5 2-2 4; Pagano 1-3 0-0 3; Lasconia 0-5 2-2 2; Lukasiewicz 1-6 0-0 2; Albert 0-0 0-0 0; Evans 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 12-18 52.
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (8-3, 1-2 GNAC)
Berrysmith 5-9 2-4 12; Steward 5-11 0-4 12; Parker 5-7 1-2 11; Edwards 5-13 0-2 10; Matheson 1-1 2-2 4; Grattic 0-0 0-0 0; Valdez 0-3 0-0 0; Lorentson 0-1 0-0 0; Mensing 0-1 0-0 0; Richardson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 5-14 49.
 
Seattle Pacific...............          9   12   13   18  -   52
Central Washington............    8   21    7   13  -   49
 
3-point goals--SPU 4-16 (Lee, Lindsay 1-3; Hollander 1-4; McPhee 1-1; Pagano 1-2; Lasconia 0-3; Rodrigues 0-3), CWU 2-9 (Steward 2-4; Edwards 0-2; Valdez 0-2; Lorentson 0-1). Fouled out--SPU-Lukasiewicz, CWU-Edwards. Rebounds--SPU 33 (McPhee 8), CWU 34 (Parker 11). Assists--SPU 13 (McPhee 4; Lukasiewicz 4), CWU 10 (Valdez 3; Edwards 3). Total fouls--SPU 20, CWU 15. A-427