THE SCHEDULE:             
Monday, Dec. 16:         Cal State Los Angeles at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                           Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Thursday, Dec. 19:      Academy of Art at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                           Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The rigors of fall-quarter academic finals are behind them.
 
Now, the Seattle Pacific Falcons have a pair of challenging women's basketball tests in front of them.
 
Following a week away from competition (but not practice) to conclude their classwork for this term, the Falcons are back action this week with their final two non-conference games of the year – and their final two games before the calendar flips to 2020.
 
Cal State Los Angeles comes to Brougham Pavilion on Monday at 7:00 p.m. Then on Thursday, Academy of Art is in town for a special 2:00 p.m. tip-off time.
 
SPU (0-8) is coming off its first two Great Northwest Athletic Conference games of the year, both on the road. The Falcons fell at Central Washington, 65-46 on Dec. 5, then were defeated by Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, 77-47, on Dec. 7.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's games, as well as all GNAC contests, will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. Maxwell Gun will call the action on Monday night against CSULA, and Mark Aucutt will be on the mic for the Academy of Art game.
 
TICKET TALK
Tickets for all Seattle Pacific home sports events are available either online, or at the Brougham Pavilion ticket window. Prices for basketball are $10 for reserved seating, $7 for adult general admission, and $5 for student / youth / senior citizen general admission. SPU students and faculty / staff members with current valid school identification are admitted free.
 
Fans who wish to purchase tickets online can do so by clicking on this link. Otherwise, ticket windows open 60 minutes prior to tip-off. Cash and credit cards are accepted at the windows.
 
TIME FOR A BREATHER
December is usually quiet for the Falcons, and that's true for a couple of reasons. The first of those is the aforementioned week of academic finals. Teams are allowed to schedule games during that time, but most choose not to do so in order that players can give their attention to exams.
 
The other reason is the NCAA Division II-mandated seven-day break surrounding the Christmas holiday. This year, that period starts Dec. 23 and extends through Dec. 29. (The dates vary from year to year.) No kind of organized team activity – games, practice, film sessions, or weight training, to name a few – can be scheduled during that time. Players are allowed to work out individually on their own.
 
The mandatory "quiet period" is unique to Division II.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- These games will be Seattle Pacific's third this season against teams from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (Humboldt State and UC San Diego were the first two) and the Pacific West Conference (Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific).
-- It marks the third straight year the Falcons have played Cal State Los Angeles. SPU scored a 54-48 victory in 2017 in Seattle, but the Golden Eagles prevailed last December on their home court, 68-54.
-- The past two years, legendary player and coach Cheryl Miller was guiding the Eagles. The team is now under the direction of Torino Johnson, who was one of Miller's assistants.
-- When the teams met last year in L.A., the Falcons were playing for the first time in 16 days. The Golden Eagles were in action for the second time in 24 hours. It's somewhat similar this year. Monday's game will be SPU's first since Dec. 7 – a span of nine days – while Cal State L.A. will be playing for the second time in 48 hours, having visited Central Washington on Saturday.
-- Hailee Bennett hit what might wind up being the most memorable shot of her career in that 2018 game at CSULA. With the clock winding down in the first quarter, Bennett fired one from just behind the midcourt line – and it went in, beating the buzzer, and getting the Falcons within nine at 24-15. Bennett finished with nine points.
-- In the Cal State L.A. game, Seattle Pacific is going for its 100^th all-time win against a CCAA school. It has an 99-22 overall record vs. CCAA opponents, including 7-1 against CSULA.
-- Academy of Art had been on SPU's schedule last December. But the Urban Knights, who also were supposed to play at Central Washington, canceled the trip when injuries and illnesses sidelined several of their players. They are playing in Ellensburg on Tuesday, then will head across the Cascades to Seattle.
-- The Knights will play more games this week (four in six days) than they have played all season (three in six weeks): home against Chaminade on Sunday, at Central Washington on Tuesday, at SPU on Thursday, and home against Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday.
-- While this is their first meeting against San Francisco-based Academy of Art, the Falcons have a 35-10 record against current Pac West schools.
--Once that game is in the books, Seattle Pacific will have played 10 of the current 12 PWC schools. The two that still have not been on the schedule are Dominican and Hawaii Hilo.
--Long-time Falcon fans might recall the days when their team was part of the Pacific West. SPU played in that conference from 1992-93 through 2000-01 before becoming a charter member of the GNAC.
-- Seattle Pacific ranks No. 4 in GNAC free throw shooting at .707 (65 of 92). Central Washington is on top at .770 (97 of 126).
-- Junior Ashlynn Burgess is No. 4 on the conference field goal shooting list at 54.7 percent (41 of 75). 
 
SCOUTING REPORT
CAL STATE LOS ANGELES GOLDEN EAGLES: 4-5, 2-3 CCAA (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-1. Current series streak: CSULA won 1. Last time: CSULA 68, SPU 54 (Dec. 17, 2018 at Los Angeles). Golden Eagles on the Web.
Golden Eagles in a nutshell: Cal State L.A. got off to a slow start, dropping three of its first four games. It got back on track starting with a 78-77 victory at Simon Fraser on a buzzer-beater by 5-foot-7 freshman guard Nicole Flennaugh, thus giving the Golden Eagles a split of their mid-November back-to-back games in Burnaby, B.C. Flennaugh is one of the go-to players, averaging 13.7 points per game. She's deadly at the free throw line, hitting a team-high 88.5 percent (23 of 26). Leading the scoring parade is 5-7 grad student guard Sydney Bordonaro at 16.4 points per game, ranking No. 3 in the CCAA. Her production includes four games in the 20s, topped by a 28-point outing in an 85-82 victory at Stanislaus State on Dec. 7. More than half of her field goals (32 of 52) are from 3-point range. She also pulls down an average of 4.8 rebounds and leads CSULA with 26 assists. Alyssa Fisher, a junior 5-7 guard, scores at a 10.8 clip
 
ACADEMY OF ART URBAN KNIGHTS: 2-1, 0-1 Pac West (tie 7th)
All-time series: First meeting. Urban Knights on the Web.
Urban Knights in a nutshell: While most schools played in two or three preseason tournaments, Art U was in just one, that being the West Region Challenge on Nov. 8-9 at Western Oregon in Monmouth. It was a productive road trip, as the Knights beat the host Wolves, 72-63, and edged Concordia-Portland, 79-77. They then had nearly four weeks off from competition before opening Pac West play with a 95-63 loss at Fresno Pacific on Dec. 5. In the limited action so far, 5-7 grad student point guard Tayler Bennett and 5-6 junior guard Pam Wilmore are providing the preponderance of the points: 17.7 per game for Bennett and 14.0 for Wilmore. Both are solid shooters: 57.7 percent for Wilmore (15 of 26), and 51.3 percent for Bennett (20 of 39), and the team as a whole shoots a solid 45.3 percent. Megan Jefferson, a junior 5-10 forward collects an average of 6.7 rebounds per game. Academy of Art averaged 71.3 points per game, but has allowed 78.3.
 
SIMONSON SAYS …
(On the team's play in the game at Northwest Nazarene)
"When we played well and executed our game plan, I thought we were pretty good. I know the final score doesn't say it, but there were stretches of the game when we held our own. There were some moments when I thought we were going to have one of those magical comebacks, but they hit a couple of shots."
 
 

(On points of emphasis in practice)
"We've really been focusing on taking care of the basketball. That was kind of our Achilles heel last week. We have been putting ourselves in tough situations (in practice) to ensure ball security. We're starting to have a comfort level and confidence with the ball in our hands, which is good to see."
 
(On CSULA and Academy of Art)
"Cal State L.A. is a super-athletic team and gritty. I've been impressed with their rebounding. Academy of Art wants to play up-tempo. They haven't played (since Nov. 9), so it will be interesting to see how they come out and play and what they have worked on."
 
(On the key going forward)
"We have to improve in a lot of areas – we know that. Ultimately, consistency is the key word that we need to get better at. It's my job to replicate that word 'consistency' in practice."
 
RACKING UP THE REBOUNDS
While their shots haven't been dropping as much as they would like, the Falcons have been giving themselves opportunities for shots with their strong rebounding efforts.
 

I

n the game at Northwest Nazarene on Dec. 7, SPU had a whopping plus-19 advantage on the boards, 48-29. Leading the way was 5-7 senior guard Hailee Bennett with a career-high eight, three more than her previous best.
 
Through the first eight games, the Falcons have had more rebounds in four of them and tied in one. For the season, they are plus-23 on the boards, 299-276. That includes a 216-193 edge at the defensive end, and 83-83 at the offensive end. Ashlynn Burgess' average of 6.0 leads the way.
 
"I've said before, one of the things I'm pleased with is we've been rebounding well for such an undersized team," coach Mike Simonson said.
 
LENDING A HAND
When those shots are going in, any one of several players could be responsible for finding her teammate with a timely pass, as the Falcons have a four-way race going for most assists.
 
 

Leading the way is senior Madi Hingston with 21. Hingston has tied her career high of four assists in three games this season: back-to-back against Azusa Pacific and UC San Diego on Nov. 15 and 16, and again against Regis University on Nov. 23.
 
Right behind is junior Abril Rexach Roure with 20, having dished eight of those at Azusa. Sophomore guard Rachel Berg has 18, topped by a career-high four in the season opener at Humboldt State on Nov. 8, and Hailee Bennett has 15, earning four of those against Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 22.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
100^th assist: Hailee Bennett (has 93)
100^th point: Natalie Hoff (has 99)
100^th rebound: Madi Hingston (has 96)
                        Natalie Hoff (has 80)
200^th point: Madi Hingston (has 199)
 
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage will head to a holiday tournament in Hawaii with the GNAC's best overall record of 9-1, and is one of three conference teams to have gone 2-0 on the opening weekend. Northwest Nazarene (6-3 overall) and Central Washington (5-3) are the other two who swept their first two conference contests.
 
Humboldt State and Cal State East Bay are atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Both are 4-1 in conference play; Humboldt is 8-2 overall, with East Bay right behind at 8-3. Right behind them are a trio of teams with 3-1 CCAA marks: Cal State San Marcos (7-1 overall), Sonoma State (7-2) and Stanislaus State (5-4).
 
Biola, Point Loma Nazarene, and Hawaii Pacific are the early pacesetters in the Pacific West. The Eagles and Sea Lions have identical record of 7-2 overall, 3-0 in conference play. However, one of them will drop a notch on Saturday, as they clash on Point Loma's home court. HPU has the best overall record (7-1) and is 2-0 in conference.
 
UP NEXT
SPU will return to action right after the holidays with a pair of home games. Alaska Anchorage comes to town on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the second half of a doubleheader. Then on Saturday, Jan. 4, Alaska Fairbanks visits Brougham Pavilion for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off in the first half of a doubleheader. The Seattle Pacific men will play those same two schools on those same two days, facing Anchorage on the 2^nd at 5:15 p.m., and Fairbanks on the 4^th at 4:15 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                   GNAC          Overall
Alaska Anchorage         2-0      9-1
Northwest Nazarene       2-0      6-3
Central Washington       2-0      5-3
Western Washington       1-1      5-3
Alaska Fairbanks         1-1      6-5
Simon Fraser             1-1      6-6
Montana State Billings   1-1      4-5
Concordia-Portland       1-1      2-8
Saint Martin's           0-2      3-4
Western Oregon           0-2      2-6
Seattle Pacific          0-2      0-8