Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – On a night celebrating them, the Seattle Pacific seniors went out and gave themselves one more thing to celebrate:
 
Another win.
 
Jordan McPhee scored 19 points, and fellow seniors Julia Haining, Rachel Shim, and Courtney Hollander joined her in double figures as the Falcons saw most of a 24-point lead vanish before hanging on to beat Concordia-Portland in in Brougham Pavilion, 72-65.
                                                                                                                                           Photo by Dean Smith

 At 21-6 (15-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference), the regular season is now complete for SPU. Next up are the games that matter most,, beginning with the GNAC Tournament next Thursday at Alaska Anchorage. Simon Fraser will be the first-round opponent, with the game tipping off at 8:30 p.m. Pacific time. The winner faces No. 2 seed Anchorage in a Friday semifinal, also at 8:30 p.m. PST.
 
The Falcons already had the No. 3 seed locked up even before the tipped off on Saturday. Simon Fraser locked up No. 6 without even stepping onto the court as Concordia and Western Washington, both of which could have tied the Clan with nine conference wins, both lost.

Senior guard McPhee was one rebound away from a double-double, finishing with nine, along with three assists and one steals.
 
Senior center Haining added 14 points, seven boards, and a key blocked shot late in the game that prevented Concordia from coming any closer. Senior guard Rachel Shim had 12, draining the first eight of the game for SPU, and Hollander tallied 11 to go along with nine rebounds.
 
Senior guard Lindsay Lee logged four points, four rebounds, and four assists, and senior forward Erica Pagano added six points.

 

"Our four-year players as a group came in as freshmen and probably have been the hardest-working group of kids I've had from freshmen to seniors," SPU coach Julie Heisey said. "All four of them (Hollander, McPhee, Pagano, and Lee) have been gym rats. Julia and Rachel have had starts and stops (because of injuries), but they've both overcome a lot of adversity."
 
The Falcons had everything going their way through the first 24½ minutes of the game. A 9-0 run in the first quarter expanded a 6-5 lead to 15-5. Another 9-0 burst early in the second made it 30-9, and SPU took a 38-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Approaching the middle of the third quarter, Seattle Pacific had doubled up on Concordia, 48-24 when the momentum started to shift. Danielle Hartzog drained a 3-pointer near the end of the shot clock to make it 48-27. Away from the play, Hollander was whistled for a foul and an ensuing technical. Keesha Sarman converted both technical free throws, and the Cavaliers retained possession. They converted it with a second-chance trey by Kizzah Maltezo.
 
That capped an 8-0 run and cut SPU's lead to 16 at 48-32. It was still 16 at 61-45 with nine minutes left in the game when Concordia rang up 12 straight points. Just like that, it was 61-57 with 4:54 still on the clock.
 
A Sarman 3-pointer brought the Cavaliers within 63-60 at the 3:55 mark. But SPU then kept them off the board for the next 3 minutes, 10 seconds, limiting them to just two shots during that span. Maltezo nailed another 3 to make it 67-63 with 45 seconds left, then the Falcons put five straight on the board to push the advantage back to nine at 72-63 with 21 seconds remaining.
 
"The first half, we played really purposeful. We came out and dictated a lot of things, offensively and defensively," Heisey said. "The second half, we had some defensive mistakes, and we became unaggressive on offense.
 
"Our goal is to finish strong, and I still want us to put together a solid 40 minutes," she added.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- With the Falcons up by nine and just 19.5 seconds left, Heisey subbed out her five senior starters – Haining, Hollander, Lee, McPhee, and Shim. One of those who subbed in was senior forward Pagano, because Heisey did not have five non-seniors available. When the clock stopped again seven seconds later, Heisey sent Hollander back in so Pagano could have a formal Senior Night exit, same as her teammates.
-- Led by Hollander's five, the Falcons had assists on 18 of their 25 baskets.
-- SPU committed just seven turnovers, its second-lowest total of the season. That was the second straight single-digit turnover game, and the fifth of the year.
 
ABOUT SIMON FRASER
-- SPU won both games against the Clan this season, 74-63 in Burnaby, and 68-49 in Seattle.
-- Both teams come in on three-game winning streaks. The Falcons beat Alaska Fairbanks, Western Oregon and Concordia. Simon Fraser downed Central Washington, Western Washington, and Montana State Billings.
-- This will be the fourth time the Falcons and Clan have met in the GNAC Tournament. Simon has won the previous three: 69-61 in 2012 (first round), 66-55 in 2013 (semifinals), and 87-79 in 2014 (first round).
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 72, Concordia-Portland 65
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (14-14, 8-12 GNAC)
Erin Higbie 2-5 2-2 6, Bailey Cartwright 6-8 0-2 12, Iraide Juez 1-3 0-0 2, Danielle Hartzog 4-15 1-2 10, Keesha Sarman 3-9 4-4 11, Georgia Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Tamika Etherly 0-2 0-0 0, Abby A-laca 0-1 0-0 0, Nakiyah LeSure 0-0 1-2 1, Kizzah Maltezo 7-16 3-3 23, Rebecca Taylor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 11-15 65
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (21-6, 15-5 GNAC)
Julia Haining 4-5 6-6 14, Rachel Shim 4-7 2-3 12, Jordan McPhee 6-15 6-9 19, Courtney Hollander 5-12 0-0 11, Lindsay Lee 1-8 2-2 4, Riley Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Jaylee Albert 0-2 0-0 0, Hailee Bennett 0-2 0-0 0, Erica Pagano 3-8 0-0 6, Carly Rataushk 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 25-63 18-22 72.
 
Concordia-Portland             6           14           23           22           -- 66
Seattle Pacific                     19           19           19           15           -- 72
 
3-point goals – CU 8-21 (Higbie 0-1, Hartzog 1-6, Sarman 1-2, Williams 0-1, Maltezo 6-11), SPU 4-19 (Shim 2-3, McPHee 1-3, Hollander 2-5, Lee 0-5, Evans 0-1, Albert 0-2). Fouled out – CU: Hartzog. Rebounds – CU 33 (Cartwright 11), SPU 38 (McPhee 9, Hollander 9). Assists – CU 10 (Cartwright 3, Hartzog 3), SPU 18 (Hollander 5). Turnovers – CU 13, SPU 7. Total fouls – CU 21, SPU 19. Technical fouls – SPU: Hollander. Attendance – 347..