Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Hello to the bye.
 
Suzanna Ohlsen and Aubree Callen scored 23 points apiece on Saturday night, and Seattle Pacific led for all but 14 seconds of the game in beating Alaska Fairbanks in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball regular-season finale, 79-66.
 
The victory in The Patty Center clinched second place in the final standings for the 19^th-ranked Falcons (21-5, 13-5 GNAC). Along with that goes a first-round bye for next week's conference tournament at Montana State Billings. SPU won't play until the next Friday in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Pacific time against the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between No. 3 seed Western Washington and No. 6 Central Washington.
 
SPU and Western both had 13-5 records to tie for second, but the Falcons owned the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the two-game season series.

"It's always important," coach Julie Heisey said of wrapping up the first-round bye. "Just having a day of rest is a big deal, having a day for the kids to do homework is important. And physically, it makes a big difference to get rested and ready."
 
Seattle Pacific bounced back from Thursday's 83-7 0 loss at No. 1-ranked Alaska Anchorage to complete a sweep of Fairbanks (14-14, 6-12 GNAC) and record its 27^th straight victory against the Nanooks, dating back to 2002.
 
On Saturday, SPU raced to a 9-1 lead as four different players scored early points. Alaska Fairbanks ran off nine straight points for a 10-9 edge – its only lead of the day. But Falcons freshman Courtney Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) drained a 3-pointer to put them in front permanently.
 
The lead twice grew to 11 points before Seattle Pacific took a 39-31 lead at the break. The Nanooks never got it below six during the second half, the last time at 62-56 with 5:59 left. From there, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run to make it 72-58 with 4:29 to go.

 

"I was proud of our kids for showing toughness," Heisey said. "Fairbanks is a good team, and their post players are good. We beat a good team today. The first half, we didn't shoot as well as we could have. But in the second half, we only gave up two offensive boards. We worked together really well and had 17 assists. And we did a good job of eing able to change defenses."
 
Senior point guard Ohlsen (Monroe, Wash. / Monroe HS) drained 10 of 19 from the floor, handed out four assists, and came up with four steals. Redshirt senior guard Callen (Jerome, Idaho) was 7 of 14 and grabbed six rebounds.
 
Junior center Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) came off the bench for 10 points to tie her career high. Sophomore forward / guard Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.) led SPU with eight rebounds.
 
Alaska Fairbanks (14-14, 6-12 GNAC) was led by the 18 points of Kaillee Skjold. The Nanooks started the day with a chance to make the conference tournament for the first time, but needed to win and get some help from other teams, as well.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 28, 2015
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
(No. 19) Seattle Pacific 79, Alaska Fairbanks 66
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (21-5, 13-5 GNAC)
Suzanna Ohlsen 10-19 1-2 23, Aubree Callen 7-14 7-9 23, Betsy Kingma 2-7 0-0 5 Maddey Pflaumer 4-10 0-0 8, Hannah Rodrigues 0-7 1-2 1, Stacey Lukasiewicz 0-0 2-2 2, Rachel Shim 0-0 0-0 0, Molly Grager 5-6 0-0 10, Courtney Hollander 2-2 0-0 5, Jordan McPHee 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-66 11-15 79.
 
ALASKA FAIRBANKS (14-14, 6-12 GNAC)
Benissa Bulaya 2-6 0-3 4, Jordan Wilson 6-15 2-2 14, Aubumn Childer 0-2 1-2 1, Kaillee Skjold 8-16 2-2 18, Stephanie Toumson 4-9 3-6 11, Victoria Milton 0-0 0-0 0, Victoria Elleby 0-1 2-2 2, Daron Mainville 4-9 2-3 10, Cassi Williams 2-2 0-0 6, Heather Heild 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 12-20 66.
 
Seattle Pacific                     39           40           -- 79
Alaska Fairbanks                               31           35           -- 66
 
3-point goals – SPU 6-20 (Ohlsen 2-6, Callen 2-7, Kingma 1-3, Rodrigues 0-3, Hollander 1-1), UAF 2-9 (Childers 0-1, Skjold 0-3, Elleby 0-1, Mainville 0-1, Williams 2-3). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 387 (Rodrigues 8), UAF 39 (Mainville 8). Assists – SPU 17 (Ohlsen 4), UAF 14 (Bulaya 8). Turnovers – SPU 13, UAF 20. Total fouls – SPU 17, UAF 19. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – NA.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific vs. Western Washington or Central Washington
Friday, March 6    11:00 a.m. or 1:15 p.m. PST
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.