THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 14          Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
                                            Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                            Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 16           Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                            Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                            Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
               
SEATTLE – The road was rough. So the Seattle Pacific Falcons are hoping familiar confines will make a difference on the basketball court.
 
Coming off of four straight away games, the SPU women are back in Brougham Pavilion this week, taking on Simon Fraser and Western Washington as part of Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheaders.
 
Thursday's game against the Clan from Canada tip off at 5:15 p.m. It will be followed by the Seattle Pacific men going against Central Washington at 7:30.
 
The time slots flip-flop on Saturday. The Falcon women tangle with arch-rival WWU at 7:30 p.m. That game will be preceded by the men's contest against Northwest Nazarene at 5:15.
 
SPU is still in search of its first victory in calendar year 2016. The last time the Falcons came out on top was 52-49 at Central Washington on New Year's eve.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Free live Webcasts and live stats will be available for all GNAC games. Webcasts will be through Stretch Internet, the conference's official internet provider. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Tickets can be purchased on the day of the game at the Royal Brougham Pavilion ticket windows, which open 60 minutes before tip-off time. Prices are $9 for adult reserved, $6 for adult general admission, and $3 for senior citizens and non-Seattle Pacific students. SPU students, faculty, and staff are admitted free with proper current school identification.
 
For this week's doubleheaders, one ticket will be good for both games.
               
SCHEDULE FINALLY TAKES A FRIENDLY TURN
With 13 of their 27 games into the book, the first half of the season is essentially over the Falcons – and they've spent most of it on the road.
 
Of those 13 games, nine have been played out of town – usually far out of town. SPU's women have taken trips to Arcata, Calif.; Azsua, Calif. San Diego; Ellensburg; Nampa, Idaho; Lacey; and Billings, Mont. That's seven locales, all crammed into a span of 60 days, from departing for Humboldt State on Nov. 12, to arriving back from Billings this past Sunday.
 
Altogether, those treks covered approximately 6,730 miles round trip.
 
The longest single leg was 1,257 miles from San Diego to Seattle after playing at Point Loma Nazarene on Nov. 24. That flight also was the last part of SPU's longest overall trip so far: 1,156 miles from Seattle to Azusa for the West Region Crossover Classic, 122 miles from there to San Diego, then the 1,257 back to Seattle for a total distance of 2,535 miles.
 
This week's games mark the start of a stretch with six of the next eight in Brougham, where the Falcons are 3-1. The only journey in there is up to Alaska next week, playing at Anchorage on Thursday (1,438 air miles), then flying to Fairbanks for a game on Saturday, Jan. 23 (260 miles), and returning to Seattle afterward (1,521 miles) for a total of 3,219).





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The GNAC is turning into a couple of big traffic jams in the standings: three teams tied for first at 5-1 (including Western Washington), and four tied for fourth at 3-3 (with SPU and Simon Fraser in that group).
-- For the second time this season the Falcons will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak.
-- The first one was Nov. 20-24, with road losses to UC San Diego, Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene. SPU followed that with three straight wins, all at home.
-- The Falcons swept Simon Fraser last year for the first time since the 2010-11 season, when the Clan joined the GNAC.
-- SPU also swept Western Washington last season, the first time that has happened since 2007-08.
-- Western, however, had the last word in 2014-15, rallying from 14 points down midway through the second half of the GNAC Tournament semifinals in Billings to beat the Falcons in overtime, 72-67.
-- Seattle Pacific is coming off its lowest scoring night of the season, having put just 50 points on the board at Montana State Billings last Saturday.
--Simon Fraser, on the other hand, comes to Brougham fresh from its highest offensive output of the year, ringing up 90 points at home last Saturday against Northwest Nazarene to win by 17.
-- SPU allows barely more than 60 points a game (60.9) – and that's crucial. When opponents score fewer than 60, the Falcons are 5-0. But when the other team tops 60, the record is just 1-7.
-- Coach Julie Heisey is 10-11 against Western Washington and head coach Carmen Dolfo. She is 6-7 against Simon Fraser and coach Bruce Langford.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 5-6, 3-3 GNAC (tie 4^th)
All-time series: SFU leads, 18-9. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 89, SFU 76 (Jan. 29, 2015 at Seattle). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Simon Fraser has gotten balanced production from its starters as four of them average in double figures, led by 5-foot-10 redshirt sophomore guard Elisa Homer at 15.4 points per game. Ellen Kett, a 5-7 junior point guard, adds 12.2 points per game and also is the GNAC's top playmaker at 6.3 assists per game. Also scoring at a double-digit pace are 5-7 senior guard Alisha Roberts (12.2) and 6-2 sophomore forward Rachel Fradgley. The Clan would have even more firepower with 6-1 senior forward Meg Wilson. But she has been battling an injury all season, and so far has played just two games, both of those at a preseason tournament in Pomona, Calif., in mid-November. In just those two games, she had 33 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, and seven steals. Simon Fraser beat Cal Poly Pomona, a Sweet 16 team last season, by three points at Pomona in November,  and played nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage within two points in December.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 9-5, 5-1 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: WWU leads, 54-29. Current series streak: WWU won 1. Last time: WWU 72, SPU 67 (OT) (March 6, 2015 at Billings, Mont.) Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western got off to a slow start, dropping three of its first four, including blowouts against Azusa Pacific (91-67) and UC San Diego (79-56) at the West Region Crossover Classic in Azusa. But as they always do, the Vikings got on track, winning five straight. That included a 71-62 victory in Bellingham against then-No. 3 Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 5. That remains the only blemish on the Seawolves' record. Western Washington was the last team with a perfect GNAC record until Central Washington won last Saturday in Bellingham, 67-56. Setting the scoring pace for the Vikings is 5-foot-9 junior guard Taylor Peacocke at 14.6 points per game, ranking No. 6 in the conference. Also averaging double figures are 6-3 senior center Kayla Bernsen (11.5), 5-10 junior forward Kiana Gandy (10.9), and 6-1 junior forward Tia Briggs (10.4). Bernsen is a force on the boards at 7.1 per game, and 57 of her 99 total rebounds this season have come at the offensive end. Bernsen had two big games against SPU last year, going for double-doubles of 16 points-10 rebounds in Bellingham, and 12 points-11 rebounds in Seattle, although the Falcons did take both of those.
 
FALCON REPLAY
-- Brianne Lasconia scored a career-high 17 points, and drained four straight 3-pointers at the outset of the second quarter, but Saint Martin's went on an 8-0 fourth-quarter scoring run to beat the Falcons last Tuesday in Lacey, 78-70.
-- SPU built a 15-point lead during the first quarter, but went cold from the field after that and fell at Montana State Billings last Saturday night, 61-50.
 
DIALED IN FROM DOWNTOWN
Everyone knows how it goes with 3-point shooters: Some nights, the hoop seems a mile wide, other nights, there's a lid on it.

 

Last Tuesday in Lacey, it definitely seemed a mile wide for Falcons junior guard Brianne Lasconia. At the start of the second quarter, Lasconia banged in four straight shots from behind the arc, accounting for SPU's first 12 points of the period.
 
The four makes for Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS) are the most in a game this season for the Falcons. She shot six times from long range, tying her for the most by a Seattle Pacific player for 2015-16.
 

Heading into this week, Lasconia leads SPU with 15 treys, one more than sophomore forward Courtney Hollander and three more than sophomore guard Lindsay Lee. Hollander's .389 percentage (14 of 36) ranks No. 7 in the GNAC. Lasconia is at .333 (15 of 45), tied for 13th in the conference.
 
Lee actually has the team's best percentage at .444 (12 of 27), but is one make short of qualifying for a spot among the conference leaders. Players must average at least one make per game.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Seattle Pacific has six double-doubles in the book through the first 13 games.

2015-16 double-doubles:
Courtney Hollander (4 season / 4 career)
13 pts-13 reb vs. Fresno Pacific, Nov. 14
17 pts-13 reb at Point Loma, Nov. 24
20 pts-10 reb vs. Concordia, Dec. 5
11 pts-12 reb at Northwest Nazarene, Jan. 2
 
Stacey Lukasiewicz (1 season / 1 career)
13 pts-12 reb vs. W. Oregon, Dec. 3.
 
Jordan McPhee (1 season / 1 career)
20 pts-10 reb vs. Concordia, Dec. 5.
 
MORE THAN A TOKEN APPEARANCE
When coach Julie Heisey sends her reserves onto the court, they're not in for just one or two plays and then back on the sidelines.

 

Of the six players coming off the bench, four of them are averaging double-digit minutes. At the top of that list is junior forward / guard Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.), who is averaging 21.9 minutes per game, contributing 7.4 points and 4.2 rebounds.
 
Freshman guard Jaylee Albert (Hamilton, Mont.) is averaging 17.1 minutes, sophomore guard Lindsay Lee (Spokane, Wash. / Lewis & Clark HS) is at 12.4, and sophomore forward Erica Pagano (Happy Valley, Ore.) is at 11.3.
 
FORMER FALCONS SHINING ON SIDELINES
Aubree Callen always knew coaching would be a good fit for her. That certainly has been case so far at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, where Callen is in her first year as the lead assistant on Brian Orr's staff.

 

The NAIA Warriors, have a 13-3 overall record. That includes a 4-1 mark in the Frontier Conference. Callen, who helped the Falcons go 22-7 last year and reach the NCAA Division II West Region semifinals, is a native of Jerome, Idaho, about 390 miles southeast of Lewiston.

 

Farther south in Salt Lake City, Lynne Roberts is in her first year at the helm of the Utes. Her team is off to an impressive start, coming into the week with an 11-4 record and 3-1 in the Pacific-12 Conference. Roberts is a 1997 SPU grad and still owns four of the team's nine records for 3-point shooting.
 
One of Roberts' wins is an 88-83 decision against the Washington Huskies on Jan. 4 at Salt Lake. She and the Utes will be in Seattle on Thursday, Feb. 25, for a 7:00 p.m. rematch against UW in Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 318 programs in Division II, SPU ranks …
-- 63rd in 3-point defense (.284)
-- 68th in rebounding margin (+4.5)
-- 77th in scoring defense (60.9)
-- 94th in free throw shooting (.715)
 
Click on this link to see how SPU stacks up nationally. Click on this link to see where GNAC teams and players rank within Division II.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th field goal     Stacey Lukasiewicz (has 92)
400th point             Hannah Rodrigues (has 395)       
 
MILESTONES MADE RECENTLY
100th field goal      Brianne Lasconia (has 104)
                                   Molly Grager (has 101)                                     
200th rebound       Courtney Hollander (has 206)
300th rebound       Hannah Rodrigues (has 305)
               
AROUND THE WEST
The two teams who started last week with just one overall loss are still there this week. Alaska Anchorage is 18-1 and now part of a three-way tie for first place in the GNAC. Cal Baptist is 13-1, but is still third in the Pacific West at 5-1 trailing Academy of Art (7-0, but just 12-5 overall) and Azusa Pacific (6-0 conference, 12-2 overall).
 
Still linked with Azusa in the two-loss group are California Collegiate Athletic Association members Cal State East Bay (13-2, 7-0 CCAA) and UC San Diego (12-2, 7-1 CCAA). Undefeated in the conference but with just an average overall record is Cal State Dominguez Hills (9-6, 7-0 CCAA).
 
Aside from the pair of teams with one loss and the trio with two, the other 33 schools in the West Region include four teams with just four losses, five teams with five, and three with six. SPU is one of the two teams with seven losses.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
                                                                                                                                                   
UP NEXT
The first half of the GNAC schedule concludes next week when Seattle Pacific heads to Alaska. First stop is Anchorage for a game against the nationally ranked and defending conference champion Seawolves next Thursday, Jan. 21, at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time. Then it's a short flight north to face Alaska Fairbanks next Saturday the 23rd at 7:00 p.m. PST. After that, it's four in a row at home, beginning Thursday, Jan. 28 against Northwest Nazarene at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                                GNAC                 Overall
Alaska Anchorage             5-1          18-1
Montana State Billings       5-1           9-5
Western Washington           5-1           9-5
Central Washington           3-3          10-4
Simon Fraser                 3-3           5-6
Seattle Pacific              3-3           6-7
Saint Martin's               3-3           5-8
Alaska Fairbanks             2-4           7-9
Northwest Nazarene           2-4           4-8
Concordia                    1-5           3-11
Western Oregon               1-5           2-12