THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 28       Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                         Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                         Live Webcast        Live stats                      
 
Saturday, Jan. 30        Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 5:00 p.m.
                                         Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash. 
                                         Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
               
SEATTLE – Home always has a nice sound to it. But now more than ever, it has never sounded so good to the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team.
 
With 11 of their first 17 games having been out of town, the Falcons now get to hang around Brougham Pavilion for the better part of three weeks. That includes a stretch of four consecutive games on their own court.
                                                                                                                                               
The first of those is set for Thursday when Northwest Nazarene comes to town at 7:00 p.m. The Crusaders will be followed by Central Washington on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
 
Those two games will begin the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. Just 10 games remain in the regular season, and the Falcons will be home for six of those. The four remaining road contests are all van or bus rides to Bellingham, Burnaby, B.C., Portland, and Monmouth, Ore.
 
THEY'RE HOME FOR HOMECOMING, TOO
The game against Central Washington on Saturday will be one of the final highlights of SPU's 2016 Homecoming and Parents Weekend. It also will mark the second straight year that Falcon women have been scheduled for a home game as part of that weekend.
                                                                                                                      
Last January, Seattle Pacific celebrated in style with a 64-55 victory against Montana State Billings. This year is unusual in that the women have the Brougham court all to themselves, as the Falcon men are on the road at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday afternoon.
 
On Friday, the Pavilion will be the site of the annual Homecoming talent show at 7:00 p.m., preceded by a tailgate party in the parking lot adjacent to Otto Miller Hall and directly across from Brougham. Other events around campus will include a theatre production, a concert at First Free Methodist Church, and various worship services.
 
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.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons will be out to halt a seven-game losing streak on Thursday.
-- The last lengthty streak like that was 12 in a row to end the 1982-83 season.
-- The Falcons are 3-3 at home.
-- SPU split with these teams the first time, coming from behind for a 52-49 victory at Central Washington in Ellensburg on New Year's Eve afternoon, but falling short at Northwest Nazarene two days later, 66-65.
-- From the second quarter on at Central, the Falcons never led until Jordan McPhee drained a 3-pointer from way beyond the arc with four seconds remaining for a 50-49 advantage.
--The game at NNU featured 16 lead changes and nine ties.
--That it was a tight one between the Falcons and Crusaders shouldn't have been a surprise. Of the 35 all-time games between the teams, 20 have been decided by single digits, with 13 of those by five or fewer points.
-- The close calls include four one-pointers, with the Falcons winning three of them. SPU also has won once by two, twice by three, once by four, and twice by five. Northwest Nazarene, in addition to the one-point victory on Jan. 2, has a two-point win and a pair of four-pointers.
-- On Saturday, Randi Richardson will be back in the gym where she spent the past two seasons on the Falcon sidelines as an assistant coach on Julie Heisey's staff. She now is the lead assistant to Central Washington head coach Jeff Harada.
-- A win against Central would give Seattle Pacific its fourth straight season sweep of the Wildcats.
-- Heisey, a 1989 Northwest Nazarene grad, is 16-5 against her alma mater. That includes 3-2 against third-year Crusaders coach Ryan Bragdon.
-- Against Central, Heisey's teams are 19-2, with a 3-0 mark vs. second-year coach Harada.
 
SCOUTING THE NW NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 6-10, 4-6 GNAC (tie 6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 29-6. Current series streak: NNU won 1. Last time: NNU 66, SPU 65 (Jan. 2, 2016 at Nampa). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: The Crusaders split on the road last week against the conference's bottom two teams losing at Concordia, but bouncing back to beat Western Oregon. They are the GNAC's second-highest scoring team at 71.2 points. But in allowing 73.7 per game, they also give up the most points on average. NNU has a very balanced offense, led by 5-foot-9 sophomore guard Ellie Logan at 12.9 points per game. She was well beyond that against the Falcons earlier this month, pouring in 19. Logan also averages 4.7 rebounds. The only other Crusader averaging in double digits is 5-8 senior guard Taylor Simmons at 10.2. She also leads the way in assists (4.5 per game) and steals (2.6), and shoots a team-best .467 from the field. Behind those two are four players who average between 9.0 and 7.1 points per game. That includes 5-11 sophomore guard / forward CoCo Gall, whose 8.4 points is complemented by a team-leading 4.8 rebounds.
                                                                                                                                            
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 13-5, 6-4 GNAC (4^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 45-30. Current series streak: SPU won 7. Last time: SPU 52, CWU 49 (Dec. 31, 2015 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central, after ending 2015 at home with a loss to Seattle Pacific and starting 2016 with a loss to Saint Martin's, has been rolling along ever since, winning five of its past six. The only loss was at home to Alaska Anchorage, and one of the five wins was 67-56 at Western Washington on Jan. 9, the Vikings' first conference loss of the season. The Wildcats are in the middle of the GNAC pack offensively, but remain one of the best defensive teams, allowing just 54.2 points per game – almost on par with Anchorage's 53.3. Opponents shoot just 35.4 percent from the field, and get have a shot blocked an average of 5.1 times per game, led by the 2.6 average of 6-1 senior forward / center Jasmine Parker. She also leads Central Washington on offense with her average of 12.2 points per game, and pulls down a team-high 8.2 rebounds each night. She shoots .572, ranking No. 3 in the conference. Jasmin Edwards, a 5-5 sophomore guard, averages 11.1 points, but when she isn't scoring, she's setting up her teammates. Edwards has an even 100 assists (one of just two GNAC players in triple digits) for an average of 5.6.
                                                                                                                                                                            
FALCON REPLAY
-- National No. 1-ranked Alaska Anchorage put together three scoring runs – 7-0 in the first quarter, 12-0 in the second, and 20-0 spanning the third and fourth – to beat the Falcons last Thursday in Alaska, 82-47.
-- Molly Grager scored a career-high 16 points last Saturday, but Alaska Fairbanks came from behind with four points in the final 15 seconds to edge SPU last Saturday, 58-56.
 
POSTSEASON POSSIBILITES? THEY START THURSDAY
With just 10 regular-season games remaining, SPU currently is on the outside looking in at the playoffs – albeit not by much.
                                                                                           
The top six teams in the final standings make the GNAC Tournament, set for March 3-5. The tournament winner gets the conference's automatic entry to the NCAAs.
 
The Falcons start the week tied for eighth with Saint Martin's in the GNAC standings at 3-7, one game behind Northwest Nazarene and Alaska Fairbanks (both 4-6).
 
Fairbanks is not eligible for the tournament because it is serving a one-year postseason ban for rules violations. So if the season ended today, NNU would get the final berth.
                                                                 
That makes Thursday's game against the Crusaders doubly important. First, a Seattle Pacific win would leave the teams even at 4-7. Second, it would result in a split of the season series, thus taking the first tiebreaker scenario (head-to-head competition) off the table and bringing other scenarios into play.
                                                     
RATAUSHK MAKES SPU DEBUT
She worked and waited all season for the opportunity. Finally, last Thursday night in Anchorage, opportunity knocked for Carly Rataushk.

 

The Seattle Pacific freshman center answered the call late in the second half, getting onto the court with 3:12 remaining in the game against the Seawolves. Just 65 seconds later, she grabbed her first rebound.
 
Her first field goal try was off the mark, but with one minute to go, Rataushk (Kirkland, Wash. / Lake Washington HS) blocked a shot and hustled downcourt in time to be on the receiving end of a pass from Lindsay Lee (Spokane, Wash. / Lewis & Clark HS). She buried a short-range jumper for the first two points of her career and SPU's last two of the game.
 
The play was set up when another freshman, Riley Evans (Terrigal, Australia) grabbed the rebound after Rataushk's block. That was Evans' first collegiate rebound.
 
All currently active Falcons now have seen playing time this season.
 
PASSING FANCY
In last week's games at Anchorage and Fairbanks, baskets weren't easy to come by. But the Falcons did everything they could to create the best possible shooting opportunities.
 
Of the 40 field goals in the two games combined, 33 were assisted – 82.5 percent. That included 15 of 16 at Anchorage (93.8 percent).
 
It was by far Seattle Pacific's best two-game stretch this season in that regard. In the first two games of the season (Humboldt State and Fresno Pacific), the Falcons had 42 assists on 65 baskets (64.6 percent). They also topped 60 against Eastern New Mexico and Wisconsin Parkside just before Christmas (28 assists on 43 baskets, 65.1 percent).

 

No surprise, then, that two players set career highs and three others tied theirs. Junior guard Brianne Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS) had six assists at Fairbanks (previous best was five vs. Western Oregon on Dec. 3), and freshman guard Jaylee Albert (Hamilton, Mont.) dished four at Anchorage (previous was three on three occasions, most recently at Montana State Billings on Jan. 9).
 
Tying their highs were Courtney Hollander (four at Fairbanks), Hannah Rodrigues (two at Fairbanks), and Erica Pagano (two at Anchorage). In addition, freshman Riley Evans had one at Anchorage, her first college assist.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Sophomore forward Courtney Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) logged her fifth season and career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 rebounds last Saturday at Alaska Fairbanks. SPU now has seven double-doubles through 17 games, well ahead of last season's two and approaching the eight that were recorded I both 2012-13 and 13-14.
 
2015-16 double-doubles:
 

Courtney Hollander (5 season / 5 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
14 pts-12 reb at Alaska Fairbanks, Jan. 23.
 
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.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 318 programs in Division II, SPU ranks …
46th in rebounding margin (+5.4)
50th in offensive rebounds (15.0)
 
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 assist           Stacey Lukasiewicz (has 94)
100th field goal      Jordan McPhee (has 88)
300th point             Jordan McPhee (has 283)
                                  Stacey Lukasiewicz (has 273)
                                  Molly Grager (has 272)
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100th assist           Hannah Rodrigues (has 100)
100th field goal     Stacey Lukasiewicz (has 103)
300th point             Courtney Hollander (has 302)
                                  Brianne Lasconia (has 303)
                                               
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage (22-1, 9-1 GNAC) and Cal Baptist (18-1, 10-1 Pacific West) continue to dominate in the West Region. The Seawolves have won 10 straight since their only loss of the season, Dec. 5 at Western Washington. The Lancers are on an 11-game winning streak since a 74-63 loss at Azusa Pacific on Dec. 5.
 
While Anchorage is tied atop the GNAC standings with Montana State Billings (the Yellowjackets are 13-5 overall), the Pac West is a three-way tie at 10-1 between Cal Baptist, Azusa Pacific (16-3 overall) and Academy of Art (15-6).
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills tightened its grip atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association last week with an 89-82 victory at second-place UC San Diego. Dominguez Hills is 11-0 in conference play, 13-6 overall. San Diego still has the CCAA's best overall record (15-3) and is 10-2 in conference. Cal State East Bay (15-4, 9-2 CCAA) and Cal State Stanislaus (13-4, 9-2 CCAA) also are well positioned.
 
Altogether, the West has 14 teams with double-digit wins and no more than six 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 Falcons have an unusual schedule next week. They'll play host to Saint Martin's on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., then will be home against Montana State Billings on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. That game will the first half of a doubleheader followed by the SPU men against Concordia of Oregon at 7:30 p.m. Because of the Tuesday-Thursday slate, the women will have a rare Saturday off.

 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                                      GNAC                 Overall
Alaska Anchorage                9-1         22-1
Montana State Billings          9-1         13-5
Western Washington              8-2         12-6
Central Washington              6-4         13-5
Simon Fraser                    5-5          7-8
Alaska Fairbanks                4-6          9-11
Northwest Nazarene              4-6          6-10
Seattle Pacific                 3-7          6-11
Saint Martin's                  3-7          5-12
Concordia                       2-8          4-14
Western Oregon                  2-8          3-15