Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
        Postgame video interview

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The halftime scoreboard said 33-33.
 
As far as Julie Heisey was concerned, neither her Seattle Pacific team nor the Alaska Anchorage squad on the other side of the court had any points at all – and it was a brand-new game.
 
Rachel Shim scored 18 points, including four crucial free throws in the final minute, as SPU knocked off the No. 9-ranked Seawolves in the semifinals of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament on Friday night, 74-65.
 
Third-seeded Seattle Pacific (23-6) will take on fourth-seeded Montana State Billings (21-11) in the championship game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. PST in the Alaska Airlines Center. It is the first appearance in the finals for both schools. The Yellowjackets knocked off top-seeded Northwest Nazarene in Friday's other semifinal, 76-69. SPU won both regular-season games against Billings, 70-61 in Seattle, and 66-50 in Montana.
 
After bursting out to a 13-0 lead, the Falcons found themselves down 33-27 late in the first half. But they scored six straight points – the last three on a bomb from downtown by senior guard Lindsay Lee – to forge that 33-33 deadlock.
 
"I told them, 'It's 0-0 again,' Heisey said of how she laid out the game plan for the final 20 minutes. "We revisited some things we needed to do defensively and talked about the press-breaker again. We talked about the same things Thursday (in an 85-59 first-round win against Simon Fraser): making lay-ups and take a deep breath. We stuck together, we defended and really played together."
 
Senior center Julia Haining added 13 points for SPU, which beat the Seawolves for the second time this year. Anchorage (25-4) was seeded No. 2 for the tournament and was hit with its first homecourt loss of the season.
 
None of the current Falcons had ever won in Anchorage. In fact, Seattle Pacific's last victory there was nearly eight years ago, a 67-60 decision on March 6, 2010 in the regular-season finale.

 

"That's always been a goal for our senior class," said senior forward Erica Pagano, who was a high school sophomore at that time. "It was a challenge, and it was a goal at the beginning of the year to be a really good basketball team. To (beat them) twice and do it in their home court means a lot.
 
"This team has worked really hard to get here, so I'm excited we were able to do it in this situation."
 
The Falcons hit five of their first six shots in the first 2 ½ minutes of the game on the way to their 13-0 advantage. That included two makes by Courtney Hollander on either end of that run, and a pair of 3-pointers by Shim in between.
 
But SPU then went cold, missing nine straight shots and going without a point for the next 5 minutes, 14 seconds as Anchorage ran off nine in a row to get right back into the game, coming within 17-13 by the end of the first quarter.
 
The Seawolves scored five straight to open the second quarter and took their first lead of the night at 18-17. They eventually expanded it to six at 33-27 with 1:30 left in the half before Seattle Pacific responded with its six straight.
 
A putback by Haining at the outset of the third quarter provided a 35-33 lead, and SPU never trailed again. It outscored Alaska Anchorage by a 20-9 margin during that period to take a 53-42 lead into the final 10 minutes, as the defense limited the Seawolves to just 2-of-11 shooting in that quarter.
 
The Falcons stretched their advantage to as large as 15 points, the last time at 64-49 with 6:24 left. The Seawolves never came closer than seven after that.
 
"When we played them at our place (a 66-48 win on Jan. 20), we came out really aggressive. Our offense was aggressive because our defense was aggressive," Heisey said. "When we were here two weeks ago (a 73-47 loss), we were not the same team. We did some really good things, but we missed some lay-ups and our defense wasn't as good. As coaches, we realized we needed to do some things differently."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
--The Falcons topped 50 percent shooting for the second straight game, hitting 53.2 (25 of 47). They limited Anchorage to just 39.3 percent (22 of 56).
-- SPU won despite limited playing time for two starters because of foul trouble. Jordan McPhee played just five minutes in the first half after picking up her third. Shim was called for her fourth early in the third quarter. Neither of them fouled out.
-- Shim's four free throws in the final 32 seconds was part of her 8-for-8 night at the line.
-- After 31 assists on 35 baskets in the Simon Fraser game on Thursday – both tournament records – SPU has 22 on 25 baskets in this one.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
GNAC Tournament / Semifinals
Friday, March 2, 2018
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(3) Seattle Pacific 74, (2) Alaska Anchorage 65)
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (23-6)
Rachel Shim 4-8 8-8 18, Julia Haining 6-7 1-2 13, Erica Pagano 3-9 4-4 10, Courtney Hollander 4-9 0-0 9, Lindsay Lee 3-4 1-2 8, Jordan McPhee 2-5 3-6 7, Jaylee Albert 2-3 0-0 6, Hailee Bennett 1-2 -0 3, Riley Evans 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-47 17-22 74.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (25-4)
Sala Langi 6-10 2-4 14, Kaitlyn Huyrley 3-5 4-4 12, Hannah Wandersee 4-9 2-2 10, Yazmeen Good 2-7 4-6 8, Sydni Stallworth 3-8 0-0 7, Rodericka Ware 2-6 3-3 7, Shelby Cloninger 2-4 0-0 5 Tennae Voliva 0-0 1-4 1, Kian McNair 0-5 1-4 1, Tara Thompson 0-2 0-0 0, Nicole Pinckney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 17-27 65.
 
Seattle Pacific                     17           16           20           21           -- 74
Alaska Anchorage              13           20             9           23           -- 65
 
3-point goals – SPU 7-15 (Albert 2-3, Shim 2-4, Bennett 1-2, Hollander 1-2, Lee 1-2, Pagano 0-2), UAA 4-12 (Hurley 2-3, Stallworth 1-1, Cloninger 1-3, Ware 0=3, McNair 0-1, Thompson 0-1). Fouled out – UAA: Cloninger, Ware. Rebounds – SPU 33 (Hollander 7), UAA 27 (Langi 5). Assists – SPU 22 (Haining 6), UAA 14 (Goo 3). Turnovers – SPU 25, UAA 18. Total fouls – SPU 22, UAA 25. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 1,166.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific vs. Montana State Billings
Saturday, 8:30 p.m. PST
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska