THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Dec. 10              Cal State Los Angeles at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats

 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – Finals are finished. For the rest of December, the only tests Seattle Pacific women's basketball players have to concern themselves with are on the court.
 
Fresh off of two road victories last weekend to begin the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule and this week's conclusion of the fall quarter, the Falcons put their seven-game winning streak on the line on Saturday when they play host to Cal State Los Angeles in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The non-conference contest tips off at 2:00 p.m. It will be significant because the Golden Eagles are members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association, so that means the outcome counts toward the West Region rankings that ultimately determine who gets into the NCAA Division II tournament.
 
Saturday's game is the first of seven straight at home for SPU, a portion of the schedule that stretches all the way through the first week of January.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
The game will have a live Webcast and live stats available. The Webcast 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.
 
WELCOME TO A LEGEND
The game against Cal State Los Angeles will have a very noteworthy sidelight. The Golden Eagles are coached by 1984 Olympic gold medalist and Basketball Hall of Fame legend Cheryl Miller, who is in her first year at the helm.

 

Miller led the University of Southern California to consecutive NCAA championships in 1983 and 1984. She helped the United States win gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and at the 1986 FIBA World Championships. She later coached USC for two seasons, going 42-14 and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament both years. Miller then was coach and general manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury for four years, guiding the team to the 1998 finals.
 
She returned to coaching in 2014-15 at Langston University in Langston, Okla. In her lone season there, the Lions had a 28-4 record and made it to the second round of the NAIA Tournament.
 
Miller is the older sister of former NBA star Reggie Miller.

LOOK WHO'S IN THE TOP 25
For the first time since March of 2015, Seattle Pacific is in the national top 25.
 
The Falcons are at No. 23 in this week's voting by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association panel. SPU received 99 points.
 
After not even receiving votes in the preseason poll that was released on Nov. 1, Seattle Pacific has gradually gained more notice among the coaches. The Falcons had 18 points in "others receiving votes" and were 38th overall in the Nov. 22 poll. Last week, they got 46 points, and were up to 27th.
 
SPU's last appearance in the top 25 was at No. 24 on March 10, 2015, after advancing to the second round of the NCAA West Regionals.
 
The Falcons already were being recognized in the in the D2SIDA national poll, voted upon by sports information directors. They are No. 9 on this week's list after being at No. 5 last week.

SPU is No. 2 in the D2SIDA West Region rankings, Alaska Anchorage took over No. 1 on that list following its sweep of Western Washington and Simon Fraser to begin GNAC play last week. The NCAA West Region rankings, which ultimately determine who gets into the national tournament, won't begin until February.
  
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU's 7-0 start is tied for the fourth-best  in school history. The 2013-14 team also won its first seven. The only better starts were 12-0 in 1997, then 29-0 in 2002-03 and 2007-08, and 30-0 in 2003-04.
-- The Falcons' last game against Cal State L.A. was Dec. 29, 2005, at the GNAC / CCAA Challenge in Brougham Pavilion. SPU won, 107-53, one of 30 victories during a season that extended all the way to the NCAA Division II national championship game.
-- Since then, SPU has gotten into triple digits just once: a 106-62 victory against Dixie State on Jan. 27, 2007, in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Seattle Pacific kept its first five opponents of the season below 50 points, and nearly did it again last Saturday at Concordia. The Cavaliers got a 3-pointer with 1:29 left to reach their final total of 51.
--This is Seattle Pacific's third and final game against a CCAA opponent this season. It has won the first two: 67-36 vs. Humboldt State at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic on Nov. 12 in Brougham, and 62-45 against UC San Diego at the West Region Crossover Classic on Nov. 18 in Bellingham.
-- Those two victories are part of the GNAC's 16-7 overall record against CCAA teams this season. Alaska Anchorage (84-41 on Nov. 11) and Alaska Fairbanks (75-59 on Nov. 12) both beat Cal State L.A. last month.
-- SPU coach Julie Heisey comes into Saturday's game with 398 career victories, having earned 236 of those at SPU.
-- This will be Heisey's first game against the Golden Eagles.
 
 

 
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE L.A. GOLDEN EAGLES: 5-3, 2-0 CCAA (tie 1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-0. Current series streak: SPU won 7. Last time: SPU 107, CSULA 53 (Dec. 29, 2004 at Seattle). Golden Eagles on the Web.
Golden Eagles in a nutshell: Cal State L.A. got off to a bumpy start, falling at both Alaska Anchorage and at Alaska Fairbanks. Since then, it has won five of its past six, including a pair of close ones against Humboldt State (76-68) and Sonoma State (63-56) to start conference play last weekend. The point total against Humboldt was a season high. Setting the pace for the Golden Eagles is 6-foot-2 junior center Rikke Fabricius, a native of Denmark and an All-CCAA honorable mention pick last season Fabricius averaged 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds. She's also a solid shooter from the floor, hitting at a 51.9 percent clip (40 of 77), and gets to the foul line plenty, having taken 50 free throws already in just eight games, and hitting 35. Da'Jah Jackson, a 5-6 freshman guard, averages 12.5 points, and has a team-high 15 makes from behind the 3-point arc (15 of 39). Also making contributions offensively is 5-5 sophomore guard Christine Delapina. It's not just her 8.5 points, it's her team-leading 34 assists. She is a strong shooter, as well, hitting 42 percent from the field (21 of 50), with 50 percent accuracy (8 of 16) from downtown, and an .810 mark at the line (17 of 21). Delapina also leads CSULA with 19 steals.
 
FALCON REPLAY
-- Courtney Hollander pumped in a career-high 23 points on Thursday night, and Jordan McPhee recorded the second double-double of her career as SPU overcame a 13-point second-quarter deficit to beat Western Oregon in the GNAC opener, 68-59.
-- Rachel Shim scored a career-high 14 points – all during the first half – and Courtney Hollander logged her second double-double of the season as Seattle Pacific beat Concordia-Portland in a GNAC game last Saturday, 66-51.

SHIM-MERING AND SHINING
A year ago at this time, Rachel Shim was just coming off major knee surgery that wiped out the rest of her junior season.
 

Now a senior, she has been making up for that lost time in a big way. Coming into Saturday's game, Shim is the team leader in assists (18 for a 2.6 average), field goal shooting (55.6 percent, hitting 20 of 36), and 3-point accuracy (52.6 percent, hitting 10 of 19).
 
Shim is coming off a career-high game last Saturday at Concordia. Her 14 points all came during the first half, and she was perfect from everywhere on the floor: 4 for 4 overall, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range, and 3 of 3 from the foul line.
 
WELCOME ABOARD TO COMASTRO
Ashlee Comastro, who already has two Player of the Year awards to her credit, will be bring her talent to Seattle Pacific University after signing a national letter of intent to join the women's basketball program.
 
The 6-foot-1 post player averaged 13 points and 9.5 rebounds a game last year for Skyview High School in Vancouver, Wash., helping the Storm advance to the Class 4A state tournament.
 
Comastro was named Player of the Year in the 4A Greater St. Helens League last winter by the coaches. She also was named as the All-Region Player of the Year by the Columbian newspaper of Vancouver.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 302 programs in D2, SPU is …
-- 1st in scoring defense (46.6)
-- 4th in field goal defense (.309)
-- 6th in scoring margin (+27.1)
-- 12th in assists per game (18.7)
-- 14th in steals per game (12.9)
-- 17th in assist / turnover ratio (1.26)
-- 29th in rebound margin (+9.4)
-- 36th in free throw shooting (.760)
-- 42nd in field goal shooting (.439)
-- 49th in total assists (131)
 
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.
 
AROUND THE WEST
SPU, Alaska Anchorage, and Northwest Nazarene all swept through their first two GNAC games last week. Anchorage (6-1) has just one loss, while Simon Fraser (9-2, 1-1) has the best overall record among the trio of two-loss teams.
 
Cal State Los Angeles is one of four CCAA teams with 2-0 conference records after the opening weekend. Cal State San Bernardino (5-1 overall), Cal State East Bay (5-3), and Cal Poly Pomona (4-4) are the others. San Bernardino's overall mark is the best in the conference.
 
Likewise in the Pacific West, four teams went 2-0 through the first weekend of conference play: Cal Baptist (9-2), Hawaii Pacific (4-2), Academy of Art (4-4), and Notre Dame de Namur (4-5). CBU has the best overall record. Chaminade (0-5 overall) and Dixie State (0-7) are the only West Region teams still seeking their first victory of the year.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
TICKET TALK
Tickets will be available at the door of Brougham Pavilion, with windows opening 60 minutes prior to tip-off time. Prices are $9 for adult reserved, $6 for adult general admission, and $3 for youths, students with identification, and senior citizens age 65 and older. SPU students, faculty and staff members with proper school identification are free.

UP NEXT
The Falcons will play their final preseason tournament next Friday and Saturday when they host the SPU Classic in Brougham Pavilion. Concordia-Portland, Concordia Irvine, and national power Nova Southeastern of Florida will be in town for the two-day, four-game event. On Friday, Concordia-Portland meets Nova at 5:00 p.m., followed by Seattle Pacific and Concordia Irvine at 7:00. The Saturday schedule pits the two Concordias against each other at 3:00, and SPU against Nova Southeastern at 5.