Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
FRESNO, Calif. – What should be the easiest shot in a basketball game isn't always so easy.
 
But the Seattle Pacific Falcons certainly made it look easy in a record-setting performance on Friday night.
 
Rachel Shim, Jordan McPhee, and Julia Haining scored 13 points apiece, and SPU broke the school standard for best free throw percentage in a game, as the Falcons beat Humboldt State on Friday in the season-opener at the Fresno Pacific West Region Crossover Classic, 69-49.

 

Senior center Haining made it a double-double – the first of her career – by grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds. Senior forward / guard Courtney Hollander also double-doubled, scoring 11 points and collecting 11 rebounds.
 
SPU hit 23 out of 24 at the foul line for 95.8 percent. That bettered the old record of 92.9 percent (26 of 28) set against Merrimack of Massachusetts in a 73-64 semifinal win at the 2005 NCAA Division II Elite Eight. The record is based on a minimum 20 attempts in a game.
 
"Obviously, free throws were huge – they change momentum," said SPU head coach Julie Heisey, who now has 12 wins in 13 season openers since taking the helm in 2005. "We had six kids make 10 of 10 the other day (during practice). I'm just really happy that we were poised when things could have gotten a little bit ugly."
 
Seattle Pacific beat Humboldt for the 29th straight time, a streak that began on Dec. 30, 1993. The Falcons have won 30 of the 31 all-time meetings.

 

"We knew they had 11 returners, and we knew they would really pressure and play very aggressive," Heisey said of the Lumberjacks. "I didn't know they would switch as much as they did. They disrupted us, and we had to find flow at different times, Thankfully, we did."
 
The Falcons scored the first six points of the game, never trailed, and were tied just once, that at 11-11 late in the first quarter.
 
However, while the 20-point final margin might have indicated a blowout, it was anything except that. What had been a 12-point Seattle Pacific lead at 42-30 early in the second half twice dwindled to three. The last time at 47-44 with 8:46 left in the game as the Falcons went through a 6½-minute cold spell bridging the third and fourth quarters when they hit just 2 of 10 from the floor and turned it over five times.
 
McPhee put together her own 6-0 scoring run – a pair of free throws, a driving lay-in off an assist from Hollander, and a 12-footer from the right of the hoop – to push the lead back to nine at 53-44. That was the start of a 22-5 SPU scoring surge, including the last 13 points of the game as it kept Humboldt off the scoreboard for the final 3 minutes, 25 seconds.
 
"At the end of the game, we were able to get stop and not foul, and we only had two turnovers in the last six minutes," Heisey said. "We got smarter. There was more of a sense of urgency, and the kids made plays. Different people were able to step up when we needed them."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons are now 34-9 all-time in season-openers, with the last six in a row and 17 of the last 18.
-- The second of McPhee's two free throws to start that 6-0 fourth-quarter run was the 200th make of her career. It also capped her 6-of-6 night at the line.
-- Along with that milestone, McPhee also pushed past 700 career points, now having 708.
-- Lindsay Lee was 3 of 7 from the field, including her 100th career field goal. She now has 102.
-- SPU hit 18 of 19 foul shots during the first half and 5 of 5 during the second half.
-- Julia Haining's 16 rebounds beat her previous career high of 14, set at Simon Fraser this past Jan. 2.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to Fresno Pacific's Special Events Center on Saturday to take on the host Sunbirds at 7:30 p.m. FPU fell to Western Washington in Friday's second game, 86-72.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Fresno Pacific West Region Crossover Classic
Friday, Nov. 10, 2017
Special Events Center / Fresno, Calif.
 
Seattle Pacific 69, Humboldt State 49
 
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-0)
Rachel Shim 4-8 2-2 13, Jordan McPhee 3-8 6-6 13, Julia Haining 3-7 7-8 13, Courtney Hollander 4-7 2-2 11, Hailee Bennett 2-7 3-3 8, Lindsay Lee 3-7 1-1 7, Carly Rataushk 1-4 2-2 4, Erica Pagano 0-1 0-0 0, Jaylee Albert 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-50 23-24 69.
 
HUMBOLDT STATE (0-1)
Kindall Murie 4-10 4-4 13, Tyla Turner 1-8 8-1010, Isamar Conde 3-6 2-2 9, Madeline Hatch 2-5 0-0 6, Tyra Turner 1-8 2-2 5, Jovanah Arrington 0-1 2-3 2, Mikaela Shannon 1-6 0-0 2, Ashlynn Cox 1-2 0-2 2, Darian Gore 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Zalin 0-0 0-0 0, Riann Thaer 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 13-50 18-23 49.
 
Seattle Pacific         20           18             9           22           -- 69
Humboldt State       13           15           12             9           -- 49
 
3-point goals – SPU 6-20 (Shinm 3-3, Hollander 1-4, McPhee 1-3, Bennett 1-4, Pagano 0-1, Albert 0-1, Lee 0-4), HSU 5012 (Hatch 2-4, Kindall 1-3, Conde 1-2, Turner 1-2, Cox 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 45 (Haining 16, Hollander 11), HSU 26 (Tyla Turner 9). Assists – SPU 14 (Bennett 4, Hollander 4), HSU 8 (Tyra Turner 8). Turnovers – SPU 23, HSU 17. Total fouls – SPU 19, HSU 19. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 134.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Fresno Pacific
Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Special Events Center / Fresno, Calif.