THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Dec. 1       Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m.
                                       New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats

Saturday, Dec. 3        Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Portland, 2:00 p.m.
                                       LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats


        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are starting to get noticed in the women's basketball world.
 
A 5-0 start to the season will make things like that happen.
 
Fresh off a brief breather for Thanksgiving, SPU returns to the court and takes to the road in Oregon this week for the start of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. The Falcons visit Western Oregon in Monmouth on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Then on Saturday, it's a trip to the Rose City for a game against Concordia-Portland. That one tips off at 2:00 p.m.
 
After sweeping both games at the West Region Crossover Classic in Bellingham on Nov. 18-19, Seattle Pacific is coming off an 88-47 victory against Evergreen State last Tuesday in Brougham Pavilion. The last time the Falcons started 5-0 was in 2014-15.
 
These are SPU's only two December road games.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All games for the rest of the season, both home and away, will have live Webcasts and live stats available. The Webcasts will be through Stretch Internet, the official Internet provider of the Great Northwest Athletic conference. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LEGEND IS BROUGHAM-BOUND
 

With academic finals set for next week, just one game is on SPU's docket, as Cal State Los Angeles comes to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 2:00 p.m. More than just another ordinary non-conference game, this one feature a women's basketball legend, as Hall of Famer and Olympic gold medalist Cheryl Miller is in her first year as coach of the Golden Eagles.

Miller led Southern California to consecutive NCAA championships in 1983 and 1984, and helped the United States win gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and at the 1986 FIBA World Championships. She later coached Southern Cal for two seasons, then was coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury for four years. She is the older sister of former NBA star Reggie Miller.
 
FALCONS TABBED NO. 5 IN THE GNAC
Seattle Pacific has been picked for a fifth-place finish in the GNAC standings. The 11 conference coaches gave the Falcons 79 points in the preseason voting.
 
Western Washington is the ever-so-slight favorite, receiving six first-place votes and 112 points. Simon Fraser is second with one first-place vote and 105 points. Defending champion and 2016 Division II national runner-up Alaska Anchorage is third with four first-place votes and 103 points. The other team ahead of SPU is Montana State Billings with 84 points.
 
In another preseason tabulation, juniors Courtney Hollander and Jordan McPhee were voted the GNAC preseason all-conference team.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Seattle Pacific is the only GNAC team without a loss through November's non-conference games. Simon Fraser (8-1), Western Washington (5-1) and Alaska Anchorage (4-1) are sitting on just one loss apiece.
-- The Falcons are starting this season where they finished the last one. SPU closed out the 2015-16 schedule with a 64-49 win at Concordia and a 55-40 decision at Western Oregon.
-- SPU also swept those two schools in last year's conference openers: 79-58 against Western Oregon, and 55-46 against Concordia. Those were played in Brougham Pavilion.
-- While the Falcons are riding a five-game winning streak into this year's start of GNAC play, they were on a three-game losing streak heading into last season's first two conference contests.
-- Seattle Pacific is 14-1 all-time in GNAC openers.
-- That includes 7-1 when the opening game is on the road.
-- The only loss for the Falcons in a GNAC opener was 79-74 at Simon Fraser on Dec. 1, 2011.
-- In GNAC-opening games, coach Julie Heisey has a 10-1 all-time record.
-- This is the third time that SPU and Western Oregon will open against each other, and the second time in Monmouth. The other one in WOU's New P.E. Building was a 75-62 Falcons victory on Jan. 9, 2010, when conference play still began after Christmas.
-- Of the seven previous games against Concordia (all SPU victories), the first five were played when the Portland school was still in the NAIA.
-- At one point, Seattle Pacific had a 28-game winning streak against Western Oregon. That ended on Jan. 28, 2012, when the Wolves won in Monmouth, 79-74.
-- Heisey is 21-1 against Western Oregon and 5-1 against fourth-year head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter. She is 2-0 vs. Concordia and coach Sean Kelly.

SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 3-2, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 38-4. Current series streak: SPU won 3. Last time: SPU 55, WOU 40 (Feb. 27, 2016 at Monmouth, Ore.). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon split its first four preseason games, all against CCAA teams, then beat D3 member Oregon Tech last Saturday in Monmouth. Shelby Snook, a 5-foot-9 guard in her first year with the Wolves after playing previously at Lane Community College in Eugene, has led the team in scoring for three of the first five games, topped by a 25-point outing in a 70-67 loss at Chico on Nov. 18. She averages 14.6 points and is hitting from all over the court, with a .491 overall field goal percentage, and a .462 mark (12 of 26) from 3-point range. Junior 5-foot-11 forward Jasmine Miller has been highly effective at both ends of the court. She averages 11.6 points, shoots .610 (25 of 41) and averages a team-leading 6.6 rebounds. Kaylie Boschma, a 5-8 sophomore guard, also is in double figures at 10.4 points per game. At 66 points per game, this is a far more potent offensive team than last year, when the scoring mark was just 52.1 points, and no one averaged in double figures.
 
SCOUTING THE CONCORDIA CAVALIERS: 2-4,0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-0. Current series streak: SPU won 7. Last time: SPU 64, CU 49 (Feb. 25, 2016 at Portland). Cavaliers on the Web.
Cavaliers in a nutshell: Concordia opened the year with wins at home against Cal State Monterey Bay and Stanislaus State, but comes into the week having lost four in a row. However, two of those losses were close: 65-64 at home against Westminster, and 55-52 last Friday at Concordia-St. Paul. In their six games, the Cavaliers have been led in scoring by five different players. The only one to set the pace more than once is 6-foot sophomore forward Erin Higbie, with 12 in the loss to Westminster and 13 in a 70-55 defeat to Metro State. Her average of 9.5 leads the team, as does her field goal shooting mark of .447 (21 of 47). Higbie also is Concordia's top rebounder at 5.3 per game. Close behind her on the board – and on the boards – is 5-9 junior guard Danielle Hartzog at 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds. Concordia has had a tendency to start slow, getting outscored in the first quarter, 112-65. On the other hand, the Cavs have been in their groove by the fourth quarter, outscoring its six opponents, 130-107.
 
FALCON REPLAY
-- Erica Pagano had 14 points and Courtney Hollander double-doubled in a 62-45 victory against UC San Diego at the West Region Crossover Classic on Nov. 18 in Bellingham.
 

-- Pagano had 12 points, leading Seattle Pacific for the second night in a row, as the undefeated Falcons continued their hot start to open the year with a 75-49 rout of Azusa Pacific in the West Region Crossover Classic
-- Hollander poured in 17 points, and the senior-freshman combo of Brianne Lasconia and Madi Hingston added 12 apiece off the bench as Seattle Pacific rolled to an 88-47 non-conference victory against Evergreen State on Nov. 22 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
CLOSING THE BOOK ON OPEN LOOKS
Coach Julie Heisey is of the belief that during the early part of the season, defense should usually be ahead of offense "because defense is just working hard," while offense requires a bit more time to get everyone in sync.

 

The November numbers show that the Falcons have been working plenty hard on defense.
 
Through five games, SPU has not allowed anyone to put 50 points on the board, and its average of 43.2 points allowed per game ranks No. 1 in all of NCAA Division II – just slightly ahead of GNAC rival Alaska Anchorage, which is No. 2 at 44.0. Those sub-50 outings include then-No. 17 UC San Diego (just 45) in a West Region Crossover Classic game on Nov. 18 in Bellingham. The closet anyone has come was the following night when Azusa Pacific had 49.
 
A big part of the reason for that is SPU ranks No. 4 nationally in field goal defense. Its five opponents have shot a combined 29.4 percent (80 of 272).

NATIONALLY SPEAKING

Among the 302 programs in D2, SPU is …
-- 1st in scoring defense (43.2)
-- 4th in field goal defense (.294)
-- 5th in scoring margin (+33.2)
-- 12th in assist / turnover ratio (1.32)
-- 13th in assists per game (19.6)
-- 17th in rebound margin (+12.2)
-- 19th in 3-point defense (.217)
-- 29th in field goal shooting (.452)
-- 38th in total assists (98)
 
Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up nationally in all statistical categories. Click on this link to see how other GNAC teams and players rank.
 
POLLING PLACE
Depending upon which list someone might be looking at, the Falcons are either already among the elite teams in the country, or are at least working their way toward that group.
 
In this week's D2SIDA West Region poll, SPU is No. 1 by a slim margin ahead of Alaska Anchorage. The falcons received three of the six first-place votes and 57 points. The Seawolves received the other three firsts and 53 points. That poll is voted on by two sports information directors each from the GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West Conference.
 
The D2SIDA national poll finds Seattle Pacific in the No. 5 spot this week, receiving 295 points. Emporia State of Kansas is No. 1, with Ashland (Ohio) second. Other West Region teams in that poll are No. 11 Alaska Anchorage, No. 14 Cal Baptist, and No. 20 Western Washington.
 
In the Women's Basketball Coaches Association national top 25, the Falcons moved the 'others receiving votes' list to an overall standing of No. 27. SPU got 48 points, 30 more than a week ago when they received votes for the first time. Emporia State also is No. 1 there, with Anchorage at No. 9 and Cal Baptist at No. 10.
 
HISTORY OF HOT STARTS
While winning their first five games is certainly a plus, SPU has done that sort of thing several times in the past.
 
Heading into this week's road trip, the Falcons have a chance to be 6-0 for the first time since 2014 if they win at Western Oregon on Thursday night. A sweep of this week's two games would give them their first 7-0 start since 2013.
 
Seattle Pacific also won its first five games in 2000, its first six in 1990 and again in 2001, and its first seven in 1989. The team had a 12-0 start in 1997.
 
The longest-ever winning streaks from the start of the season came during a stretch in the early 2000s. SPU won its first 29 games in 2002-03, and in 2007-08. Both of those ended in the West Region championship game, Division II's version of the Sweet 16. The 2003-04 team went 30-0 before falling to Drury in the first round of the Elite Eight.
 
AROUND THE WEST
SPU is one of just two teams in the West Region with an undefeated record. Joining the Falcons with a perfect mark so far is Sonoma State at 4-0.
 
Among the three West Region conferences, the GNAC has put together the best non-conference record through November. The 11 schools are a combined 43-24, with eight teams above .500, one at .500, and two below .500. All 11 have at least two victories.
 
The 13 schools in the California Collegiate Athletic Association have gone 37-37 in their non-conference contests, with five above .500, three at .500, and five below .500.
 
The Pacific West, with 14 members, has a 29-46 non-conference ledger. Just two schools (Cal Baptist 7-2, Point Loma Nazarene 5-1) are above .500, with four right at .500, and eight below .500. Of those, four (Chaminade 0-2, Hawaii Hilo 0-2, Dixie State 0-6, Holy Names 0-6) are still seeking their first win.
 


GNAC STANDINGS                   
                                                            GNAC                   Overall
Seattle Pacific                                      0-0                          5-0
Simon Fraser                                       0-0                          8-1
Western Washington                          0-0                          5-1
Alaska Anchorage                              0-0                          4-1
Saint Martin's                                       0-0                          4-2
Western Oregon                                  0-0                          3-2
Central Washington                            0-0                          4-3
Alaska Fairbanks                                0-0                          4-3
Northwest Nazarene                          0-0                          2-2
Concordia                                            0-0                          2-4
Montana State Billings                      0-0                          2-5