SODEXO CLASSIC SCHEDULE
All games in Brougham Pavilion (2.650) / Seattle, Wash.
 
Friday, Nov. 16                             UC San Diego vs. Western Washington, 1:00 p.m.
                                             Seattle Pacific vs Azusa Pacific, 5:00 p.m.
 
Saturday, Nov. 17                        Azusa Pacific vs. Western Washington, 1:00 p.m.
                                            Seattle Pacific vs. UC San Diego, 5:00 p.m.
 
LIVE WEBCASTS (all games)        LIVE STATS (all games) 


        Weekly release, with updated season stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are hoping their home court might be more favorable toward them than what they experienced last weekend in Bellingham.
 
This week's two opponents, however, might have other ideas.
 
After two tough losses to Fresno Pacific and Humboldt State in the season-opening Western Washington West Region Crossover Classic, SPU will aiming for the win column when it hosts the annual Sodexo Classic on Friday and Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons will be across the court from two of the West Region's best teams. They'll tip off against Pacific West Conference preseason favorite Azusa Pacific on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Then on Saturday at 5, California Collegiate Athletic Association preseason pick UC San Diego will be waiting.
 
Western Washington will play the opposite team in the 1:00 p.m. game each day.
 
Seattle Pacific also will host the men's Sodexo Classic, making for a pair of four-game days. The Falcons have both of the 7:00 p.m. games, facing Azusa Pacific on Friday and Westminster College of Utah on Saturday. Central Washington has the 3:00 p.m. games against the opposite opponents.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All eight games will have live stat and free live Webcasts. Veteran broadcaster and public address announcer Mark Aucutt will call the play-by-play for the two Friday afternoon games and all four Saturday contests. Alex Payton will be behind the microphone for the two games involving SPU on Friday evening. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Ticket prices are $10 for reserved seats for all ages, $7 for adult general admission, and $5 for youths, students, and senior citizens. Children 2 and under are free. SPU students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free with a valid current identification card.
 
For the Sodexo Tournament, separate tickets will be needed for each day. However, one ticket is good for all four games for that particular day.
 
A new ticketing system, which will allow online ordering and payment by credit card at Brougham Pavilion ticket windows, is up and operating. Cash will continue to be accepted at the ticket windows, as well.
 
 

WEST AMONG THE BEST
Falcons redshirt senior Cici West was named to the All-Tournament team at last weekend's WWU West Region Crossover.
 
The 5-foot-10 forward / guard scored 23 points and pulled down 19 rebounds in the two games combined. That included her first SPU double-double, as she had 13 points and 10 boards against Humboldt State on Saturday.
 
West shot a sizzling 62.5 percent for the weekend, draining 5 of 6 against Fresno and 5 of 10 against Humboldt. She also dished four assists and came up with two steals.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The Falcons will be trying to bounce out of the team's first 0-2 start since 1985.
--Like last week's games against Fresno Pacific and Humboldt State, the Azusa Pacific-UC San Diego combination has become a regular part of the preseason schedule. This is the seventh straight year the Falcons have faced those two teams back-to-back in a tournament.
--Through the first six years, SPU has swept the tournament four times (2013, '14, '16, and '17), split once (2012), and lost both once (2015).
--Last year in Azusa, the Cougars were ranked No. 16, but SPU scored an 80-69 victory on the opening night of the tourney. The following night, they came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat UC San Diego, 65-59.
-- This is the 14^th Sodexo tournament. The food services company took up sponsorship in 2005. It was known previous by other sponsor names.
-- Seattle Pacific has a near-perfect record in the tournament. The Falcons are 31-1 overall, including 23-1 during the Sodexo years.
-- Their only Sodexo loss was in 2015, when Wisconsin Parkside came away with a 60-53 victory.
-- Because their 2017-18 schedule was road-heavy during November, this is Seattle Pacific's first home tournament since the 2016 Sodexo.
-- The Falcons have played once at home this season, falling one point short of George Fox University, 75-74, in an exhibition game on Nov. 3.
-- Last year, SPU went 10-1 in Brougham. The only loss was 58-57 to Northwest Nazarene.
-- Unlike 2017 when the Falcons played eight of their first 10 on the road, they have six of their first eight at home – with those six coming up consecutively between now and Dec. 12: Azusa and San Diego this week, non-conference against Holy Names next Tuesday, the first two GNAC games vs. Concordia-Portland and Western Oregon on Thursday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and Dec. 1, and a non-conference visit from Academy of Art on Wednesday, Dec. 12.
-- Among this season's returners, senior guard Jaylee Albert got the start in the games against Azusa and San Diego last year. She played 23 minutes in the APU game with three points, two rebounds, and an assist. Against UCSD, Albert got 28 minutes, contributing four points, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
 




SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 2-0, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: SPU leads, 8-1. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 80, APU 69 (Nov. 17, 2017 at Azusa, Calif.). Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Azusa Pacific went 27-5 last year, a solid enough record to host the NCAA West Regionals, but then fell to No. 8 seed Humboldt State in the first round, 66-60. From that team, two of their biggest contributors are gone, as Abbigail Goodsell (16.3 points, 4.6 rebounds) and Gabrielle Kaiser (14.5 point, 5.9 boards) both graduated. Returning, however, is 6-foot junior guard Savanna Hanson, who averaged 13.6 points and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds. She had one double-double last weekend (19 points and 10 rebounds in a 74-70 win against Cal Poly Pomona), and nearly had two (11 and 9 in a 68-53 victory vs. Cal State San Bernardino). Also capable of filling up the basket is 5-4 junior guard Zoe March. She popped in 22 and also dished seven assists in the San Bernardino game. March got just nine against Pomona, but still found her teammates for five more baskets. She was last year's NCAA Division II leader in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.40 (143 assists, just 42 turnovers).Others who are potentially dangerous are 6-2 sophomore forward Laura Pranger (9.5 points, 6.5 rebounds through the first two games) and 6-2 junior forward Cierra Roufasse (11.5 points, 8.5 rebounds).
 
SCOUTING THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS: 2-0, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: SPU leads, 13-4. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 65, UCSD 59 (Nov. 18, 2017 at Azusa, Calif.). Tritons on the Web.
Tritons in a nutshell: UC San Diego posted a pair of wins in last weekend's tournament at Cal State San Marcos: 75-70 against Falcons GNAC rival Simon Fraser, and 76-64 against Hawaii Pacific. The Tritons had an outstanding 28-5 season in 2017-18, including a 64-51 victory against SPU in the first round of the NCAA West Regionals. Heading the list of returning players is 6-foot-1 junior forward Mikayla Williams. She was already in fine form last weekend, posting a double-double of 25 points and 12 boards against Simon Fraser, then following that with a career-high 36 points, along with seven rebounds, versus Hawaii Pacific. She shot a combined 24 of 38 from the field and 13 of 15 from the foul line. Kayla Sato, a 5-8 senior guard, is another of UCSD's top talents. She was in double-digits both nights, with 15 vs. Simon and 14 vs. Hawaii Pacific. Adding inside presence is 6-1 junior forward Haleigh Hatfield, a transfer from NCAA Division I High Point University in North Carolina. She had 17 points and 17 rebounds in the two games combined last week.
 
SIMONSON SAYS …
(On reflections from Bellingham)
"We definitely improved from game to game. I loved our energy against Humboldt State. We came out ready to go, focused, and had a great, complete first half. The second half, we didn't respond to their runs very well, with a couple of fouls in crucial moments that gave momentum to Humboldt. Those are things, with an inexperienced team, we have to be able to clean up. But I loved our grit. We were down 10 (late), and that grit we showed makes me so excited to get back onto the court."

 

(On bouncing back from the two losses)
"We had a very competitive practice on Monday, which was great. That shows we're ready to get back after it. Sometimes after a tough loss or two, it's hard to get your mojo. But we came right to the core and really competed and did a lot of tough, very physical drills. The competition level was very high, and I really appreciate that about this group that they were able to bounce back after that."
 
(On playing Azusa Pacific and UC San Diego this week)
"They're both the favorites to win their conferences, so having them come to play on our home court, I couldn't ask for a better opportunity. Azusa is very talented. They mix up a lot of different things offensively and defensively, so they're very tough to prepare for. UC San Diego is very talented, as well, and they're more methodical than Azusa. They're going to do their system. They typically run the Princeton offense, so we have to be able to prepare for that on one day's notice. But we get to see them play live on Friday (against Western Washington), and then play them on Saturday."
 
 

REVVING UP THOSE RESERVES
While the results didn't go their way during the opening weekend of the season, the Falcons did bring back a few positives from Bellingham.

  One of those was the production from their players off the bench.
 
In the game against Fresno Pacific, six players came in as reserves, and all six combined for 34 of SPU's 69 points, led by the 10 of junior guard Jade Skidmore. In addition four of the six had at least two rebounds; as a group, they collected 18 of the 42 boards.
 
The following night against Humboldt State, seven players subbed in, combining for 26 points, five rebounds, eight assists, and nine steals. Skidmore led with seven points and handed out four of those assists.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th point      Kaprice Boston (has 92)
100^th rebound    Carly Rataushk (has 86)
200^th point      Riley Evans (has 158)
300^th point      Jaylee Albert (has 274)
                 Carly Rataushk (has 250)
600^th point      Cici West (has 576)
600^th rebound    Cici West (has 608)
1,000^th point    Jade Skidmore (has 881)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
600^th rebound       Cici West (has 608)
 
ROOT FOR HOME TEAMS? MAYBE NOT
All of them are now playing in Seattle, but none of the new Falcons actually came from Seattle (though a few are from nearby).
 
That being the case, their favorite teams to root for aren't necessarily the Seahawks, Mariners, Sounders, Storm, Reign, Thunderbirds, or Huskies.
 
So then … for whom do they root?
 
Freshman Ashley Alter (Stanwood, Wash.): The Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sophomore Kaprice Boston (Everett, Wash.): "Anywhere King James is, so go Lakers!."
Freshman Bayley Brennan (Post Falls, Idaho): Los Angeles Lakers.
Sophomore Leitasi Cravens (Temecula, Calif.): Did not list one.
Freshman Natalie Hoff (Beaverton, Ore.): Portland Trail Blazers.
Jr. Jade Skidmore (Terreton, Idaho): Boston Celtics
 
Redshirt freshman guard Rachel Berg is in her second year with the program, and she's from Bellevue, just east of here across Lake Washington. But her favorite team isn't from Seattle, either. It's the Cleveland Cavaliers.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The GNAC has seven unbeaten teams through the first weekend, although only five played a pair of games. That group includes both Alaska schools, Central Washington, Concordia-Portland, and Northwest Nazarene. The Nighthawks and UAA were effectively tied (116 points for the Nighthawks, 115 for the Seawolves) for the role of GNAC favorite in the preseason poll.
 
The California Collegiate Athletic Association has five unbeatens, with a pair of 3-0 squads: Humboldt State (which beat both SPU and Western Washington in Bellingham last week) and Chico State. Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, and UC San Diego are all 2-0.
 
It's a different story in the Pacific West Conference. Among those dozen schools, only Azusa Pacific is undefeated (2-0). There are six winless teams (four 0-2s, and two 0-3s), while neither Chaminade nor Hawaii Hilo has played a game yet.

 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific's month-long six-game homestand continues with a single contest next week when Holy Names of the Pacific West comes to Brougham for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference game on Tuesday, Nov. 20. The Falcons still have three more non-conference games next month, but this one against the Hawks will be the last one before the start of GNAC play on Thursday, Nov. 29. That one is part of a women's-men's doubleheader and tips off at 5:15 p.m.