Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play
 
SEATTLE – Trying to rebound from a tough loss, the Seattle Pacific Falcons knew the best way to do that was to rebound the ball at both ends and shoot it better at their end.
 
Got it done.
 
Aubree Callen scored 21 points, Suzanna Ohlsen added 19, and together, they accounted for Seattle Pacific's final eight points on Saturday – all at the free throw line – as the No. 15-ranked Falcons hung on to beat Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 69-64.
 
The victory on Senior Night in Brougham Pavilion gave SPU its 20^th victory of the season (20-4, 12-4 GNAC). That's the 18^th time in program history and the first time since 2010-11 that the Falcons have won at least 20.
 
They were hoping to have put that 20^th 'W' into the book on Thursday night. But shooting just 34 percent from the field and getting out-boarded 49-38, SPU fell way short, 68-52.
 
"Our kids did a lot of things really well, and I think we did a good job of bouncing back," head coach Julie Heisey said. "As much as we would like everything to be a perfect season, it isn't over, and we keep on keeping on. At this point, we beat a good team tonight, and we're going to enjoy the moment."





Saturday's win, coupled with Western Washington's 81-78 loss to No. 1-ranked Alaska Anchorage in Bellingham, put the Falcons back in second place by half a game in front of the Vikings (12-5 GNAC). It also reduced to one the magic number for clinching a first-round bye in the GNAC Tournament. One more Falcons victory or WWU loss will do it – and SPU gets its shot at Anchorage on Thursday night in Alaska at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Seattle Pacific improved its shooting considerably on Saturday, hitting 47.2 percent (25 of 53). That included 9 of 18 from 3-point territory after a dismal 1-of-14 performance against the Saints.
 
The Falcons also dominated the boards, 37-27, as Ohlsen and sophomore Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.) grabbed six apiece. SPU had 12 at the offensive end, leading to 12 second-chance points. Ohlsen also had five assists and three steals, and Callen had four assists.
 
Heisey said both of those aspects were points of emphasis during Friday's practice.
 
"Rebounding, and just being aggressive – we have good shooters, and we can't be hesitant," she said.
 
WIRE TO WIRE
Seattle Pacific led from start to finish on Saturday, scoring the first basket of the game on a 3-pointer by senior guard Betsy Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Newport HS). The Falcons had a 15-point lead at 22-7 before the midpoint of the first half.
 
It was still 15 at 37-22 with 3:45 to go until halftime. That's when SPU hit a dry spell stretching through the rest of the first half and through the first 2 minutes, 45 seconds of the second half as Western Oregon (7-17, 4-12 GNAC) closed to 37-30.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Callen and Ohlsen returned the lead to double digits at 43-30, and the Falcons eventually pushed it back out to 15 at 57-42 with 7:30 remaining.

 

"When we were denying hard and had a lot of ball pressure, that caused them a lot of problems," Heisey said. "Our kids came out both halves and started strong offensively and defensively, and that's what we needed to do. I'm disappointed that we weren't able to pull away, but give them credit – they don't give up, and their kids hit shots when they  needed to."
 
Indeed, the Wolves twice got the margin all the way down to four, the last time at 65-61 on a lay-in by Dana Goularte with 22 seconds left. But Callen drained two free throws at the 21-second mark, and Ohlsen added two more with three seconds to go.
 
Goularte led all scorers with 22 points.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 15) Seattle Pacific 69, Western Oregon 64
 
WESTERN OREGON (7-17, 4-12 GNAC)
Dana Goularte 9-18 4-5 22, Sami Osborne 5-9 1-4 145, Katie Goddard 4-8 0-0 11, Jordan Mottershaw 3-7 1-2 7, Elise Miller 2-5 0-0 5, Michelle Bromagem 1-2 0-0 3, Shyla Akins 1-1 0-1 2, Emily Howey 0-4 0-0 0, Sydney Azorr 0-2 0-0 0, Jasmine Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-66 6-12 64.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (20-4, 12-4 GNAC)
Aubree Callen 7-13 4-4 21, Suzanna Ohlsen 6-12 4-4 19, Betsy Kingma 3-8 0-0 9, Molly Grager 4-5 1-2 9, Maddey Pflaumer 3-6 1-2 7, Courtney Hollander 1-3 0-0 2, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-1 0-0 2, Jordan McPhee 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Rodrigues 0-4 0-2 0, Rachel Shim 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 10-14 69.
 
Western Oregon                 26           38           -- 64
Seattle Pacific                     37           32           -- 69
 
3-point goals – WOU 8-15 (Goddard 3-5, Osborne 3-5, Miller 1-2, Bromagem 1-1, Goularte 0-2), SPU 9-18 (Ohlsen 3-6, Kingma 3-7, Callen 3-4, Rodrigues 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – WOU 27 (Osborne 4, Goularte 4, Goddard 4), SPU 37 (Rodrigues 6, Ohlsen 6). Assists – WOU 11 (Azorr 3), SPU 17 (Ohlsen 5). Turnovers – WOU 14, SPU 18. Total fouls – WOU 14, SPU 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 519.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska