AZUSA PACIFIC WEST REGION CROSSOVER CLASSIC SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 17                    Western Washington vs. UC San Diego, 5:30 p.m.
                                             Seattle Pacific at Azusa Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                          Live Webcasts (all pay-per-view)        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 18              Seattle Pacific vs. UC San Diego, 5:30 p.m.
                                            Western Washington at Azusa Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                Live Webcasts (all pay-per-view)        Live stats


        Weekly release (PDF)

SEATTLE – That 2-and-0 start for the Seattle Pacific Falcons in last weekend's season-opening Fresno Pacific West Region Crossover Classic certainly was nice to have.
 
But now, things get a lot more interesting – and potentially a lot more challenging, too.
 
SPU takes on not one, but two conference preseason favorites this week at the Azusa Pacific West Region Crossover Classic.
 
Up first is host APU on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars are the co-favorite with Point Loma Nazarene to win the Pacific West Conference crown.
 
Then, it's long-time West Region rival UC San Diego on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Tritons were the pick – by a mere five-point margin – to claim the California Collegiate Athletic Association crown.
 
All four teams bring perfect records to the Felix Event Center. SPU, Western Washington and UC San Diego are all 2-0. Azusa is 6-0, having won three games at the Division II Top-Off Classic in Orange, Calif., on the first weekend of November, when most other D2 teams were still playing exhibition games.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All four tournament games will have pay-per-view live Webcasts. Live stats, for which there is no charge, also are available. The appropriate link can be found at the top of this story.
 
After this weekend, all of SPU's games, home and away, will be available with a free Webcast, along with free live stats.
 
THAT'S ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOK
It's not every year that a team comes away from its season opener in record-setting fashion. But the Falcons did precisely that when the final buzzer sounded in their Humboldt State game last Friday.
 
SPU broke the school record for single-game free throw accuracy by draining 95.8 percent from the line – 23 of 24 – in its 69-49 victory.
 
Leading the way was senior Jordan McPhee (photo right) with 6 of 6. Others with multiple makes were Hailee Bennett (3 of 3), Courtney Hollander (2 of 2), Carly Rataushk (2 of 2), and Rachel Shim (2 of 2).

The old record of 92.9 percent (26 of 28) was set on March 24, 2005, in the NCAA Elite Eight semifinals against Merrimack of Massachusetts. The Falcons won that game, 73-64.
 
Seattle Pacific got most of its free throws in the first half last Friday, hitting 18 of 19, then drained all five of its second-half tries.





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU has a 2-0 record for the sixth straight season.
-- In three of the past five years, the Falcons have gone beyond 2-0. That includes 7-0 in 2013, then 6-0 in 2014, and 11-0 in 2016.
-- This is the sixth straight year of being in a preseason tournament with UC San Diego and Azusa Pacific.
--Through the last five, Seattle Pacific won both games three times (2013, '14, and '16), split once (2012, losing to San Diego, but beating Azusa), and lost both once (2015 in Azusa).
-- Last year in Bellingham, UCSD came into the game ranked No. 17 nationally, but the Falcons scored a 62-45 victory.
-- SPU led for all but 2 minutes, 4 seconds of the game, that coming early in the first quarter. Courtney Hollander had a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.
-- The Falcons never trailed against Azusa after scoring the first nine points of the game. Erica Pagano's 12 points led the way, and Hollander was just one rebound away from another double-double (10 points, 9 boards).
-- Last Friday, SPU led for all but an 11-11 tie against Humboldt State.
-- The Falcons were down for just 57 seconds against Fresno Pacific at 3-2, then jumped right back ahead just 21 seconds later – all within the first minute of the first quarter.
-- Azusa Pacific is ranked No. 16 in the preseason Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll that was released on Oct. 31.A new poll has not come out since then.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 6-0, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-1. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 75, APU 49 (Nov. 19, 2016 at Bellingham). Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Except for a 105-79 season-opening victory against Wisconsin Parkside in the Division II Tip-Off Classic, the Cougars haven't blown anyone away. But they keep finding ways to win, as evidenced by last week's sweep of Cal Poly Pomona (75-72) and Cal State Domininguez Hills (65-54) in their own Pac West / CCAA Conference Challenge. Savanna Hanson, a 6-foot sophomore guard, averages a double-double of 18.8 points and 10.0 rebounds. She can handle the ball, too, averaging 3.7 assists per game. Senior 6-1 forward Gabrielle Kaiser pours in 19 points a game and averages 8.8 rebounds. She has a sharp eye from the field, as well, hitting 51.9 percent in the five games she had played (42 of 81). Another Cougar to keep an eye on is 5-7 senior guard Abbigail Goodsell. She has played just one game so far, that being Tuesday's 72-57 win against Westmont. But she poured in 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
 
SCOUTING THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS: 2-0, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: SPU leads, 12-4. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 62, UCSD 45 (Nov. 18, 2016 at Bellingham). Tritons on the Web.
Tritons in a nutshell: Led by 6-foot-1 junior forward Dalayna Sampton, last season's CCAA Newcomer of the Year, UC San Diego has the talent and experience to defend its conference crown. Sampton averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds, and is close to that already through the first two games at 10.0 and 7.6 But UCSD has an even more potent weapon in 6-1 sophomore forward Mikayla Williams. She averaged 8.5 points in playing all 30 games as a reserve last year, but now has more than doubled those numbers to 20 points and 14.5 boards through the first two games. Williams already has two double-doubles, with 22 points and 12 boards in a 69-52 win against Simon Fraser last Friday, followed by 18 points and 17 rebounds in a 78-64 victory over Cal Baptist on Saturday. Also off to a solid start is 5-8 junior transfer guard Kayla Sato, at 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. Tanita Taylor, a 5-4 senior guard, averaged 9.7 points last season, and led San Diego in the game against SPU with 10 points.
 
COACH JULIE HEISEY SAYS …
(On Azusa Pacific)
"They have most of their team back, and they have some key newcomers. They have Savanna Hanson, who is a local (from King's High School in nearby Shoreline), and I know her well. She's averaging almost 11 rebounds a game – and she's a guard. They're really good, and they have a lot of weapons."
 
(On UC San Diego)
"San Diego has improved some from last year – not that they weren't good before. But they're different. Their post players have really stepped up their game."
 
(On what she's looking for this week)
"This is why we always like playing this Classic, because we're playing two really good teams. We're facing teams that could win their conference. It's a great test, it's an early test. It's only the second week of the season, so it's kind of challenging. I'm excited to see how we control the things we can control."
 
A DOUBLE-DOUBLE AVERAGE
Last season, SPU recorded six double-doubles: five for Courtney Hollander, and one for Jordan McPhee.
 
In last weekend's first two games of the new season, the Falcons already find themselves with half that many.
 
Senior guard  / forward  Hollander has two of them. Hollander went for 11 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 69-49 victory against Humboldt State. Then in Saturday's 78-70 win vs. Fresno Pacific, she tallied 10 points and another 10 boards. That gives Hollander 16 double-doubles for her career.
 
Delivering her first career double-double was senior center Julia Haining. She had 13 points and a team-high 16 rebounds on Friday vs. Humboldt. The rebound total was a career high.
 
Those numbers give both players a double-double average: 12 and 12 for Haining, 10.5 and 10.5 for Hollander.
 
DAZZLING DEBUT FOR WEST
After not seeing any action in last Friday's season opener against Humboldt State, senior transfer Cici West made it plain the next that it's going to be hard to keep her off the court.
 
West got in for 10 minutes in SPU's 78-70 victory against Fresno Pacific on the final night of the FPU West Region Crossover Classic – and made the most of all 10 of those minutes. She put 12 points on the board hitting 4 of 7 from the floor pulled down five rebounds, and came up with a steal.
 
"It was awesome. I was so grateful for the opportunity to get on the court and show what I can do," West said. "Usually, my role is just rebounding. I was lucky that I was able to get out there and get some points for my team as well, and help out as much as I could."
 
West played three years at Portland State and graduated with her communications degree earlier this year. With one year of eligibility remaining, she chose to return to her native Seattle, where she graduated from Holy Names Academy, just five miles southeast of SPU.
 
RESERVES REV IT UP
It's one thing to talk about depth – and the Falcons have plenty to talk about. But it ultimately comes down to that depth delivering – and it delivered in bunches at last week's Fresno Pacific tourney.
 
In the 69-49 decision against Humboldt State on Friday, the four reserves who saw a combined 65 minutes of action contributed 19 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals.
 
The production off the bench was even more pronounced the following night against Fresno Pacific. Led by Cici West's 12 points and five boards, seven reserves saw playing time that totaled 98 minutes. Senior guard Lindsay Lee (photo right), with 27 minutes, got more time than anyone, including the five starters. Contributing eight points and a team-high six assists.
 
Altogether, the reserves chipped in 34 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals.
 
LET'S GO TO THE REPLAY
-- Rachel Shim, Jordan McPhee, and Julia Haining scored 13 points apiece, and SPU notched the first six points of the game, never trailed, and was tied just once in a season-opening 69-49 victory against Humboldt State.
-- Cici West scored 12 points coming off the bench, and Courtney Hollander double-doubled for the second night in a row, this time with 10 points and 10 rebounds as SPU fended off the host Cougars in the Fresno Pacific West Region Crossover Classic basketball tournament last Saturday night, 78-70.
 
MARKING A MILESTONE
In reach
100th rebound         Jaylee Albert (has 87)
200th point            Julia Haining (has 190)
300th point            Lindsay Lee (has 283)
800th point            Courtney Hollander (has 757)
 
Made last week
100th field goal      Lindsay Lee (has 105)
200th free throw   Jordan McPhee (has 201)
200th rebound       Erica Pagano (has 204)
700th point           Jordan McPhee (has 713)
 
AROUND THE WEST
All 11 GNAC teams played last weekend, and six of them went 2-0 in their respective tournaments. Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene are each 3-0, each of them having played a single game that counted prior to the first full weekend of the season. There are 10 of the conference schools with at least one win. The only team that doesn't have a 'W' yet is Saint Martin's, which is 0-2.
 
Just one of the 13 California Collegiate Athletic Association schools came through opening weekend unblemished. That was UC San Diego, SPU's opponent on Saturday in Azusa. The Tritons went 2-0 in the CBU Conference Challenge at Cal Baptist, with one of those wins a 69-53 decision against Simon Fraser. Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State East Bay, and Sonoma State are all 2-1, while five schools are still seeking their first win.
 
Azusa Pacific, the Pacific West Conference co-favorite and awaiting Seattle Pacific on Friday, is now 6-0 overall after winning two more games last weekend at its own Pac West / CCAA Conference Challenge. Point Loma Nazarene, the other co-favorite is 3-0. Dominican is 2-0, and Concordia Irvine 1-0, while five schools remain without a 'W' (although Chaminade has yet to play a game).
 
UP NEXT: HOME AT LAST
The Falcons will be in Brougham Pavilion for their only home non-conference game of the year when they play host to Biola next Wednesday. The Thanksgiving Eve games has a special tip-off time of 5:00 p.m. Los Angeles-based Biola is a member of the Pac West, and is in its first year of transitioning up to Division II.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Alaska Anchorage         0-0         3-0
Northwest Nazarene       0-0         3-0
Montana State Billings   0-0         2-0
Seattle Pacific          0-0         2-0
Western Oregon           0-0         2-0
Western Washington       0-0         2-0
Simon Fraser             0-0         2-1
Alaska Fairbanks         0-0         1-1
Central Washington       0-0         1-1
Concordia-Portland       0-0         1-1
Saint Martin's           0-0         0-2