Box Score

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BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons had climbed back in – and then the shots stopped going in.
                                                                                                                                                      
A frigid second-half shooting spell was the ultimate difference on Thursday night as SPU dropped a 60-43 decision to Western Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game
 
The Falcons (8-14, 5-10 GNAC) missed their last 12 shots of the third quarter the Whatcom Community College Pavilion and went just 2 of 24 through the first 17 minutes after halftime. The Vikings (17-6, 13-2 GNAC) took advantage, going on a 12-0 run to close the third and extending a 32-30 lead to 44-30.
 
 "We had a lot of good shots inside the key, shots that were uncontested, but they didn't fall," head coach Julie Heisey said. "When we went up against Kayla (Bernsen), she's a big post presence (at 6-foot-3), and we couldn't change things."
                                                                    
No one got into double-figure scoring for Seattle Pacific, kept to a season low point total. Sophomore guard Lindsay Lee came off the bench to lead with nine points, all of them from behind the 3-point arc, from where she hit 3 of 7.
 
Sophomore forward Courtney Hollander added eight. Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman guard Jaylee Albert (Hamilton, Mont.), getting her first college start as junior Brianne Lasconia missed the game with an illness, had four assists and two steals, tying her career highs in both departments.
 
Kayla Bernsen led Western Washington with 18 points, one of four Vikings in double figures.
 
SPU hit a season-low 24.6 percent from the floor (15 of 61), including just 16 percent (5 of 31) during the second half. Western, which hit its first six shots of the game, wound up at 56 percent (28 of 50), including 62.5 percent (15 of 24) through the final 20 minutes.
 
"We couldn't get anything easy, and then things weren't falling from the outside," Heisey said.
 
With Northwest Nazarene's 82-53 loss at No. 1-ranked Alaska Anchorage, Seattle Pacific remained one game behind the Crusaders (6-9 GNAC) for the sixth and final berth in the conference tournament. Both teams have five games left. The Falcons return to action on Saturday at Simon Fraser. Tip-off in Burnaby, B.C., is at 7:00 p.m.
 
Western Washington was up 21-13 at the end of the first quarter, and expanded its advantage to double digits at 26-14 early in the second at the end of a 14-4 scoring surge.
 
But SPU rallied, narrowing the gap to four by halftime as senior center Molly Grager (Kirkland, Wash. / Juanita HS) beat the second-quarter buzzer with a lay-in off a feed from sophomore guard Jordan McPhee.
 
It was down to a two-point margin at 32-30 after junior guard Hannah Rodrigues (Eugene, Ore.) drained two free throws with 6:47 to go in the third.
 
That, however, was the last point for the Falcons until Lee buried a 3-pointer from the right of the key with 9:12 left in the game. That made it 46-33, but Western Washington put it away by scoring 14 of the next 16 points for a 60-35 advantage.
 
"Western is a very, very good shooting team. They came out in the first half and hit a lot of shots," Heisey said. "I was proud of our kids for coming back.
 
"We had a great week of practice, and I felt like we were ready to play," she added. "It's hard when shots don't fall. We got down, had some turnovers, had some defensive lapses, and it got out of control."
 
Even so, SPU had just 14 turnovers for the night, its second straight game below 15 (and coming off a season-low 10 in last Thursday's 52-43 victory against Montana State Billings). The Falcons forced Western into 21 turnovers.
 
Seattle Pacific kept an opponent to 60 or fewer points for the 10^th time this season. Western was coming off a 97-point outing at Northwest Nazarene last Saturday.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Western Washington 60, Seattle Pacific 43
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-14, 5-10 GNAC)
Jordan McPhee 1-8 2-2 4, Courtney Hollander 3-15 2-4 8, Molly Grager 1-6 0-0 2, Stacey Lukasiewicz 1-5 0-0 2, Jaylee Albert0-3 0-0 0,Riley Evans 1-3 1-2 4, Julia Haining 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsay Lee 3-7 0-0 9, Hannah Rodrigues 2-7 4-4 8, Erica Pagano 3-6 0-0 6, Carly Rataushk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-61 9-12 43.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (17-6, 13-2 GNAC)
Rachel Albert 5-6 0-0 9, Kiana Gandy 4-9 0-0 8, Kayla Bernsen 8-10 2-418, Taylor Peacocke 5-13 0-1 11, Aleisha Hathaway 5-7 0-0 11, Mail Barnett 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Lance 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Evans 0-3 0-0 0, Nikki Corbett 1-2 0-0 2, Jasmine McCleave 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 2-5 60.
 
Seattle Pacific                     13           13             4            13           -- 43
Western Washington         21             9            14           16             -- 60
 
3-point goals – SPU 4-15 (McPhee 0-2, Hollander 0-1, Lukasiewicz 0-2 , Albert 0-2, Evans 1-1, Lee 3-7), WWU 2-10 (Gandy 0-3, Peacocke 1-4, Hathaway 1-2, Evans 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 31 (Hollander 9), WWU 40 (Albert 9). Assists – SPU 11 (Albert 4), WWU 21 (Hathaway 6). Turnovers – SPU 14, WWU 21. Total fouls – SPU 8, WWU 11. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 475.
                                                                                                                                       
 
Next game --        Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
                                Saturday, 7:00 p.m.
                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.