Box Score

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PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons did enough solid things through the first 20 minutes to help them get through the much more challenging second 20.
 
Rachel Shim scored a career-high 14 points – all during the first half – and Courtney Hollander logged her second double-double of the year as SPU extended its season-opening women's basketball winning streak to seven on Saturday by beating Concordia-Portland in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game, 66-51.
 
Junior guard Jordan McPhee (Normandy Park, Wash. / Mount Rainier HS) led SPU with 15 points, pulled down seven rebounds, handed out three assists, and came up with three steals.
 
The Falcons (7-0) scored the first six points of the contest on LCEF Court, were never tied, and never trailed. They now have matched the fourth-best start in program history. The 1989-90 and 2013-14 teams also won their first seven games. The only better starts are 12-0 (1997-98), 29-0 (2002-03) and 30-0 (2003-04).

 

"Our defense was really aggressive in the first half, and it pretty much dictated a lot of things," head coach Julie Heisey said. "I told the kids that I think we've done a pretty good job of letting our defense dictate our offense. In the second half, I thought we got frustrated offensively, and it caused us to let down a little bit defensively.
 
"But it was one of those games where we won, and it's a conference win on the road right before (academic) finals."

 

With those finals scheduled for this coming week, the Falcons won't play again until next Saturday, Dec. 10, when they host Cal State Los Angeles in a non-conference game at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. One of the legends of the women's game will be in town for that one, as the Golden Eagles are coached by Cheryl Miller, an Olympic gold medalist and Basketball Hall of Famer.

 

Senior guard Shim (Sammamish, Wash. / Skyline HS) was perfect from wherever she shot on Saturday. She was 4 of 4 overall, with three of those from behind the 3-point arc. Shim also nailed all three of her free throws, had four assists, four steals, and even one blocked shot. Her previous career-best was 10 points in the season opener on Nov. 11 against Fresno Pacific.
 
"Rachel so good offensively and defensively today," Heisey said.

 

Junior forward Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) had an off shooting day, but still managed 10 points, with six of those during the fourth quarter. Along with her 11 rebounds, she now has 11 double-doubles for her career.
 
Shim had Seattle Pacific's first nine points of the game: a fast-break lay-in and ensuing free throw, a 3-pointer from the left of the lane, and another trey from the right corner, helping forge a quick 13-3 lead.
 
Concordia (3-5, 1-1 GNAC) got as close as four at 22-18 early in the second quarter. The Falcons responded with nine straight points – Shim supplying the last five of those on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws – to expand it to 31-18.
 
Up 39-24 at halftime, SPU kept the advantage in double digits for all but 1:46 of the second half when the Cavaliers got within nine at 45-36. The margin was 13 heading into the fourth quarter and never dropped below 10.
 
The Falcons shot 44.8 percent for the game (26 of 58), a seven-point jump from their 37.8 percent mark in the 68-59 victory at Western Oregon on Thursday. Saturday's mark also included 70 percent (7 of 10) from downtown.
 
Junior forward Erica Pagano (Happy Valley, Ore.) dished a career-high four assists.
 
"Jordan had a really solid third quarter, and Julia gave us some nice spark again," Heisey said. "Every game, we go out and look at it as a learning opportunity. We did a lot of really good things today. And there are a lot of things we can get better at."
 
Danielle Hartzog led Concordia with 21 points. The Cavaliers had the advantage on the boards, 38-32, but Seattle Pacific got at least one rebound from 10 of the 11 players who saw action.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 66, Concordia-Portland 51
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-0, 2-0 GNAC)
Jordan McPhee 7-15 0-01 5, Rachel Shim 4-4 3-3 14, Courtney Hollander 4-17 0-0 10, Julia Haining 4-7 -0-0 8, Erica Pagano 1-4 4-4 6, Lindsay Lee 2-2 0-0 5, Madison Wright 2-3 0-0 4, Stacey Lukasiewicz 2-3 0-0 4, Hannah Rodrigues 0-1 0-0 0, Brianne Lasconia 0-1 0-0 0, Madi Hingston 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 7-7 66.
                                           
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (3-5, 1-1 GNAC)
Danielle Hartzog 8-24 2-6 21, Erin Higbie 3-9 1-2 7, Georgia Williams 2-3 1-2 6, Bailey Cartwright 1-1 2-2 5, Briannah Smith 2-6 0-0 5, Jordyn Peacock 2-4 0-0 4, Keesha Sarman 1-9 1-2 3, Iraide Juez 0-1 0-0 0, Stephanie Luce 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 7-14 51.
 
Seattle Pacific                     20           19           14           13           -- 66
Concordia-Portland           11           13           16           11           -- 51
 
3-point goals – SPU 7-10 (Shim 3-3, Hollander 2-4, Lee 1-1, McPhee 1-1, Hingston 0-1), CU 6-14 (Hartzog 3-5, Cartwright 1-1, Williams 1-2, Smith 1-4, Sarman 0-1, Peacock 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 32 (Hollander 11), CU 38 (Sarman 7). Assists – SPU 17 (Shim 4, Pagano 4), CU 12 (Sarman 6). Turnovers – SPU 17, CU 21. Total fouls – SPU 15, CU 10. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 137.
 
 
Next game
Cal State Los Angeles at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Dec. 10     2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle Wash.