Box score, play-by-play (HTML)

IRVINE, Calif. – The long ball made it a long day for Seattle Pacific.
 
Concordia Irvine drained 11 shots from 3-point range – with three of those midway through the fourth quarter to choke off a Falcons rally – and went on to an 82-66 non-conference women's basketball victory on Wednesday afternoon.
 
SPU (3-6) fell short in both games of its California road trip to conclude non-conference play and the 2018 calendar year.
 
 

"We let them have their best shooting night of the year," SPU coach Mike Simonson said after CUI hit 29 of 59 from the field (49.2 percent), including 11 of 23 from behind the arc (47.8 percent). "I don't think we dictated it at all defensively. They had two banked 3's, and two of their players who aren't particularly good 3-point shooters had great nights. Part of that is kudos to them, part of that is on us."
 
Redshirt senior forward / guard Cici West pumped in 20 points, her highest total in a Seattle Pacific uniform and just three shy of her career high. She hit 10 of 12 from the floor. West also collected eight rebounds, leading the Falcons in that department for the eighth time in nine games.
 
"We leaned on her a lot during a bunch of our runs," Simonson said. "She was physical and took advantage of mismatches. She carried our offensive workload, so credit to our team for knowing who the hot hand was."
 
After yielding the initial basket of the game, the Eagles (2-8) ran off seven straight points and never trailed again. Even during that first quarter, they were on target from behind the arc, hitting 4 of 9, on the way to building a 22-14 lead.
 
Concordia stretch the margin to 17 during the second quarter, the last time at 39-22, before SPU found some spark. The Falcons closed the half on a 10-2 run, with West contributing six of those points, to get within 41-32 by the break.
 
It was back up to 16 early in the third at 52-36 when Seattle Pacific put together another surge, this one a 10-pointer, to cut it to 52-46.
 
Still within six at 56-50 during the opening moments of the fourth quarter, SPU saw Concordia put 11 straight on the board, capped by back-to-back treys from Michaela VanderKlugt and Jasmine Rachal, expanding the margin back to 17 at 67-50 with just 5;08 left in the game.
 
The Falcons had a number of quality shots either roll off the rim, or rattle in and out.
 
"We had opportunities to take the lead. We just missed so many shots that we normally make," Simonson said. "I thought we executed very well to get high-percentage shots. It just wasn't our night, and it was their night."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- With her 10-of-12 shooting (83.3 percent) on Wednesday, Cici West is up to 59.1 percent for the season (39 of 66). That ranks No. 3 in the GNAC. The only two ahead of her are Western Oregon's Ali Nelke (.610) and Alaska Fairbanks' Marian Wamsley (.592).
-- Senior guard Riley Evans added 15 points, bouncing back from a scoreless outing in Monday's 68-54 loss at Cal State Los Angeles. She got nine of those points from long range, hitting 3 of 5.
-- Prior to this week, senior guard Jaylee Albert had never topped five assists in a game. Now she has done it twice: a career-high seven on Monday, and six more on Wednesday.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will be off from Dec. 20-26 during the NCAA Division II-mandated holiday break. They'll resume play on New Year's Night with a visit to Saint Martin's in Lacey as they get fully in to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference portion of the schedule. Tip-off in Marcus Pavilion is at 7:00 p.m.
 
""It's a good time for self-reflection to analyze where we're at in our approach to the game," Simonson said. "We can't let teams jump on us like that. We have a good long break to evaluate ourselves and getting on the same page as a basketball team."

 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018
CU Arena / Irvine, Calif.
 
Concordia Irvine 82, Seattle Pacific 66
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-6)
Evans 6-14 0-0 15, Albert 2-8 0-0 5, Hingston 0-4 0-0 0, West 10-12, 0-2 20, Rataushk 5-16 2-3 12, Skidmore 1-2 0-0 2, Alter 2-4 0-0 5, Bennett 0-4 1-2 1, Hoff 3-4 0-2 6. Totals 29-68 3-9 66.
 
CONCORDIA IRVINE (2-8)
Friaujf 7-9 5-7 18, Fulcher 1-1 1-2 3, Rachal 8-15 2-2 22, Lowery 4-12 0-0 12, Vanderklugt 6-13 5-7 19, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Timmerman 2-8 0-0 5, Kwok 0-0 0-0 0, Wade-Sanchez 1-1 0-0 2, Ito 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 13-18 82.
 
Seattle Pacific                     14           18           16           18           -- 66
Concordia Irvine                 22           19           15           26           -- 82
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-16 (Evans 3-5, Albert 1-4, Hingston 0-2, Rataushk 0-1, Alter 1-2, Hoff 0-2), CUI 11-23 (Rachal 4-7, Lowery 4-9, Vanderklugt 2-3, Timmerman 1-4). Fouled out – SPU: Alter. Rebounds – SPU 32 (West 8), CUI 43 (Vanderklugt 11). Assists – SPU 11 (Albert 6),, CUI 20 (Timmerman 5). Turnovers – SPU 14, CUI 22. Total fouls – SPU 18, CUI 11. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 60.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Tuesday, Jan. 1     7:00 p.m.
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash..