Box Score Box score, play-by-play (HTML) SEATTLE – Remember all those shots that were bouncing agonizingly off the rim or swirling in and out during a nasty nine-game losing streak in January?
Now that the Seattle Pacific Falcons have regained their winning ways in February, those same shots are bouncing and swirling through the net.
Courtney Hollander scored 15 points,
Jordan McPhee came off the bench for 14, and the two sophomores teamed up for 13 of their points during the fourth quarter on Thursday night as SPU beat Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 52-43.
The Falcons (8-13, 5-9 GNAC) won their second straight, and in so doing, stayed in the race for a spot in the conference tournament. They started the night 2½ games behind Northwest Nazarene for the sixth and final berth. But the Crusaders (8-11, 6-7 GNAC) lost at home to Simon Fraser, 87-65, so the gap is now 1½ games
SPU also gained a split of the season series against Montana State Billings (14-7, 10-3 GNAC), which began the night tied for second place with Western Washington.
"We have two wins in the back end of a four-game, eight-day stretch when kids are taking midterms," SPU head coach
Julie Heisey said. "We didn't play well in the second half at all last week. So it was nice to see two really solid efforts for 40 minutes."
Seattle Pacific has a full week before its next game, visiting Western Washington next Thursday at Whatcom Community College in Bellingam. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m.
GOT 'EM AT THE RIGHT TIMETo be sure, not a lot of shots were falling for either team on Thursday. Seattle Pacific hit just 30.4 percent from the field (17 of 56), and Billings was barely much better, hitting 34.8 percent (16 of 46).
But on three occasions when the Falcons needed a basket, they got one.
- After SPU missed its first three shots to start the third quarter and fell into a 22-17 hole, Hollander took a pass from McPhee and drove for a lay-in that nestled the net as the shot clock buzzer went off. Those were the first two points of a 16-3 run that turned the five-point deficit into an eight-point advantage at 33-25.
- Up 38-31 midway through the fourth and with the outcome far from certain, junior guard Stacey Lukasiewicz found redshirt freshman center Julia Haining open on the left side of the foul line. Haining launched a jumper that bounced high off the back rim – and fell straight through for a 40-31 advantage with 6:20 left.
- As the clock slipped under five minutes, Haining took an eight-footer from the right side. It flew over the rim, so there was no reset of the shot clock. But McPhee grabbed the offensive rebound and took it back outside the lane. Haining got open underneath, McPhee found her, and Haining scooped it in with two seconds on the 30. She was fouled, and finished the three-point play at the 4:46 mark to make it a 12-point advantage at 43-31.
Julie Heisey"What I'm most proud of is, we've been doing the right things in practice. These last two games, we've needed different people to step up," Heisey said. "
Lindsay Lee gave us a huge boost tonight. Jordan was another big boost Molly (Grager) and Julia came off the bench and helped us.
Hannah Rodrigues did a fabulous job on defense in the first half and set the tone on (MSUB scoring star) Alisha Breen.
"It was different people being able to adjust and add what we needed."
In spite of missing their first 10 shots of the game, the Falcons were down just 4-0, and by halftime had forged in front, 17-16. It was their lowest scoring half of the year, but also was the fewest points they had allowed in any half.
SPU got its last 10 points at the free throw line, hitting 10 of 11 in the final 4:46. For the night, they drained 16 of 19.
The Falcons had a season-low 10 turnovers, allowing just three points. They forced the Yellowjackets into 18, converting those into 23 points. Billings is the best ball-handling team in the conference, averaging just 15.1 turnovers per game.
Led by junior forward Rodrigues, the defense kept leading Yellowjackets scorer Breen in check. Breen, averaging 17.4 points, tallied just nine, getting off just seven shots (4 of 7). The only MSUB player in double figures was Marissa Van Atta with 10.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALLThursday, February 4, 2016Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash. Seattle Pacific 52, Montana State Billings 43 MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (14-7, 10-3 GNAC)Alisha Breen 4-7 1-2 9, Monica Grimsrud 2-8 2-3 7, Janiel Olson 0-4 1-2 1, Rylee Kane 1-2 1-2 4, Marissa Van Atta 4-10 2-4 10, Taylor Edwarsd 1-1 0-0 3, Brina Hull 0-0 0-0 0, Cierra Lamey 1-1 0-0 2, Vanessa Stavish 2-7 0-05, Lexi Prevost 0-0 0-0 0, Tiana Hanson 1-6 0-1 2. Totals 16-46 7-14 39.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-13, 5-9 GNAC)Hannah Rodrigues 1-4 0-0 2,
Erica Pagano 0-5 0-0 0,
Stacey Lukasiewicz 2-3 0-0 5,
Brianne Lasconia 1-7 1-2 3,
Courtney Hollander 5-16 4-5 15,
Jaylee Albert 0-1 0-0 0,
Jordan McPhee 4-10 6-7 14,
Julia Haining 2-4 3-3 7,
Lindsay Lee 1-3 0-0 2,
Molly Grager 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 17-56 16-19 52.
Montana State Billings 9 7 11 16 -- 43Seattle Pacific 9 8 17 18 -- 52 3-point goals – MSUB 4-16 (Grimsrud 1-3, Olson 0-2, Kane 1-1, Van Atta 0-3, Edwards 1-1, Stavish 1-6), SPU 2-18 (Rodrigues 0-1, Lukasiewicz 1-2, Lasconia 0-2, Hollander 1-8, Albert 0-1, McPHee 0-2, Lee 0-2).
Fouled out – None.
Rebounds – MSUB 39 (Olson 9), SPU 36 (Lasconia 5, Hollander 5).
Assists – MSUB 10 (Grimsrud 4), SPU 8 (Lasconia 2, McPhee 2).
Turnovers – MSUB 18, SPU 10.
Total fouls – MSUB 21, SPU 16.
Technical fouls – None.
Attendance – 178.
Next game -- Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
Thursday, Feb. 11 7:00 p.m.
Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash.
