Box Score

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BILLINGS, Mont. – It gets drilled into them day after day: Play a full 40 minutes.
 
On Saturday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons came as close to that as they've come all season.
 
Rachel Shim scored 13 points, one of five players in double figures, and Brianne Lasconia netted her 500th career point as the Falcons routed Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 98-57.
 
It was the highest scoring output for SPU (17-5, 9-5 GNAC) since a 106-62 victory against Dixie State in Seattle on Jan. 27, 2007. The Falcons tallied 97 points three times since then, most recently on Dec. 18, 2012 in a 97-59 victory at Notre Dame de Namur.
 
Seattle Pacific swept its four-game road trip, coming on the heels of a four-game losing streak in mid-January. The team is back home this coming week against Western Washington on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Simon Fraser on Homecoming Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

 

"It was a lot of fun. We did a really good job of just playing as a team," coach Julie Heisey said. "I was proud of our second half. When you've scored 59 points in the first half, it's easy to be lax. That's what I really challenged our kids with: We have to be able to play for 40 minutes, and we have to play good defense for 40 minutes."
 
To illustrate Heisey's point:
-- They outscored Billings (7-15, 4-10 GNAC) in each of the four quarters in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
-- They topped 50 percent shooting in each of the four quarters, and never let Billings shoot better than 46 percent in any quarter.
--They had more rebounds than the Yellowjackets in three of the four quarters, and a 27-20 advantage for the game.
-- Of the 15 turnovers SPU forced, 11 of them were steals.
 
"Sometimes when you're shooting well (Seattle Pacific hit 81 percent, 66 percent, 53 percent, and 54 percent in the four quarters, respectively), you start taking quick shots or not playing defense," she said. "But we got second shots in the second half, and we still out-rebounded them in the second half."
 
Junior forwards Courtney Hollander (Lynden, Wash. / Lynden Christian HS) and Erica Pagano (Happy Valley, Ore.) added 11 points apiece for the Falcons. Senior guard Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) and junior guard Lindsay Lee (Spokane, Wash. / Lewis & Clark HS) added 10 points apiece.
 
Senior guard Lasconia (Seattle / Shorecrest HS) tallied eight points to move past 500 for her career. She is the fourth Falcon to do so this season. (Hollander, Jordan McPhee, and Hannah Rodrigues were the others.) She now has 507.
 
All 12 SPU players got into the game, all 12 scored, and 10 of them grabbed at least one of the team's 27 rebounds.

 

Senior guard Shim (Sammamish, Wash. / Skyline HS) scored all 13 of her points during the first half. That included the first six of the game – a traditional three-point play, and then a 3-point shot from the top of the key – as the Falcons never trailed, nor were they ever tied.
 
Up 18-10 midway through the first quarter, SPU ran off 14 straight points and had a 35-12 lead after one, thanks to 13-of-16 shooting from the field, including 85.7 percent (6 of 7) from downtown That was the highest-scoring quarter of the campaign, topping the 33 it put up in the second quarter of a season-opening 90-39 victory against Fresno Pacific on Nov. 11.
 
The Falcons had a 59-28 lead at halftime, shooting 75 percent from the field (21 of 28) to cap their highest-scoring half of the year. Their previous best had been 54 points against Fresno Pacific.
 
For the game, Seattle Pacific came within a percentage point of the school record for field goal shooting, hitting 64.8 percent (35 of 54). The all-time mark is 65.6 (42 of 64) on March 7, 1997 against Western New Mexico. Of the 12 players, nine shot 50 percent or better, including perfect marks for Lee (4 of 4) and Jaylee Albert (3 of 3).

With 50 points, the reserves accounted for than half of the output.
 
"We won four games on the road, and I think our kids have played better every game – that makes a big difference," Heisey said "I thought Stacey Lukasiewicz was really, really good tonight. She gave us a nice spark on defense, and she hit a lot of little shots inside."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
Seattle Pacific 98, Montana State Billings 57
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (17-5, 9-5 GNAC)
Rachel Shim 4-5 2-3 13, Jordan McPhee 1-3 2-2 5, Brianne Lasconia 4-6 0-0 8, Courtney Hollander 5-9 0-0 11, Erica Pagano 2-4 7-8 11, Stacey Lukasiewicz 4-6 2-2 10, Jaylee Albert 3-3 0-0 9, Madi Hingston 0-0 2-2 2, Madison Wright 3-4 3-3 9, Lindsay Lee 4-4 0-0 10, Hannah Rodrigues 1-3 0-0 2, Carly Rataushk 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 35-54 18-20 98.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (7-15, 5-9 GNAC)
Lexi Prevost 3-6 0-1 8, Rylee Kane 4-11 1-2 13, Tiana Hanson 4-6 0-0 9, Marissa Van Atta 5-14 2-5 14, Grace Weeks 2-5 0-0 4, Brina Hull 2-5 0-0 4, Jeanann Lemelin 0-1 1-4 1, Taylor Cunningham 0-3 2-2 2, Abbie Lohof 0-1 0-0 0, Sophia Wass 1-1 0-0 2, Janessa Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 9-14 57.
 
Seattle Pacific                     35           24           21           18           -- 98
Montana State Billings      12           16           15           14           -- 57
 
3-point goals – SPU 10-19 (Shim 3-4, McPhee 1-2, Lasconia 0-1, Hollander 1-2, Pagano 0-2, Lukasiewicz 0-1, Albert 3-3, Wright 0-1, Lee 2-2), MSUB 6-16 (Prevoist 2-4, Kane 1-2, Hanson 1-1, Van Atta 2-5, Hull 0-3, Cunningham 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 27 (Hollander 7), MSUB 20 (Prevost 4). Assists – SPU 19 (Pagano 4), MSUB 9 (Kane 5). Turnovers – SPU 12, MSUB 15. Total fouls – SPU 16, MSUB 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 200.
 
 
 
Next game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Feb. 9     7:30 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion