Box score (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons gift-wrapped an early present for themselves:
 
A two-game women's basketball winning streak.
 
Hailee Bennett scored 15 points and was one of three players in double figures as the Falcons rolled past Academy of Art in a non-conference game on Thursday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion, 76-50.
 
SPU (2-8) thus closed out a 2-0 week with another strong wire-to-wire game, much the same way it played in Monday's 70-57 non-conference victory against Cal State Los Angeles.
 
"If you didn't know our record and what the age of our team was, you would have thought we had a bunch of upperclassmen playing, because we responded to almost every situation in this game very well," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We didn't have a great second quarter. But then we had a tremendous third quarter, and that showed our maturity and our ability to make adjustments and come back and execute."
 
In addition to senior guard Bennett's 15, freshman Grace Sterk with 12 points and sophomore Ashley Alter added 10.
 




DOUBLE-DIGITS RIGHT AWAY
The Falcons rang up the first 11 points of the game on Iron Coaching Court; a 3-pointer from the right of the lane by Bennett, a lay-in by Sterk, a 3 from the top of the key by Alter, then another 3 from the left of the lane by Alter. Aside from her own basket, Bennett earned assists on the other three.
 
Art U (2-4) finally got onto the board on a pair of free throws by Lily Perkins with 6:18 left in the quarter. But SPU then ran off another 11 points in a row, making it 22-2 – the first time the Falcons had been up by 20 since the fourth quarter of an 85-59 victory against Simon Fraser in the first round of the 2018 GNAC Tournament on March 1, 2018.
 
After missing their first 14 shots, the Urban Knights finally hit a field goal with 2:26 left in the quarter, making it 22-5. They continued chipping into that margin during the second quarter, getting as close as 11 at 37-26.
 
SPU took a 39-26 lead into halftime. It was 41-30 early in the third quarter, then the Falcons put up 12 straight, stretching it out to 23 at 53-30. Academy of Art never got closer than 18 after that.
 
 

"I've been challenging them with that word: consistency," Simonson said. "To have two game be really back-to-back 40 minutes, that's hard to do. And to do that shows how much we really are growing."
 
On Thursday, that was especially evident defensively. Seattle Pacific forced the Knights into missing 60 shots – they hit just 19 of 79 (24.1 percent). The Falcons rebounded 46 of those misses, part of their season-high total 61 boards – with 10 of those being pulled down by freshman Kayla Brundidge, tying her career high.
 
"We're a pretty solid defensive team," Simonson said. "That hasn't shown statistically, probably because of our offensive struggles, and teams have hit some really tough shots on us early in the year. But I've been pleased with our defense the last five outings. And now, we're seeing our offense finally click, so it gets you excited for conference play."
 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
Junior forward Ashlynn Burgess had a tough time getting shots to fall on Thursday, as she hit just 2 of 7 and finished with six points. But she also collected seven boards, and provided something intangible that was particularly pleasing to Simonson.
 
"Just her excitement from the bench – she's just an incredible teammate," he said. "When your best offensive player has a bad night and she's able to be excited and yelling on the bench for people like Kayla (Brundidge) and Grace (Sterk) and Rachel (Berg) who are playing in her spot, that's really special."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Along with her 12 points, Grace Sterk had six rebounds and two steals – all in just 16 minutes.
-- Ashley Alter delivered a solid all-around stats line. In addition to 10 points, she had four rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 25 minutes. The assist total was a career high.
-- Hailee Bennett had five rebounds and four assists. For the week's two games, that gave her 44 points, 14 rebounds, 57 percent shooting from the field (12 of 21), with 60 percent from downtown (6 of 10), and 87.5 percent from the free throw line (14 of 16).
-- The Falcons shot 42.4 percent from the field (28 of 66).
-- SPU had a 61-39 advantage on the boards – including 35-15 during the second half. In the past three games, the team is plus-60 in rebounding: plus-19 (48-29) at Northwest Nazarene on Dec. 7; plus-19 (49-30) against Cal State L.A. on Monday, and now plus-22 against Art U.
 
UP NEXT
After some time off for Christmas, the Falcons will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 2 against Alaska Anchorage in Brougham Pavilion. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. and is the second half of a doubleheader. The Seattle Pacific men face Anchorage at 5:15 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 76, Academy of Art 50
 
ACADEMY OF ART (50)
Sanders 2-2 0-0 4, Jefferson 0-2 1-2 1, Wilmore 7-21 1-3 156, Cates 0-5 0-0 0, Bennett 5-18 2-3 13, Perkins 1-12 3-4 5, Morris 3-12 0-0 8, Medina 1-7 0-0 3. Totals 19-79 7-12 50.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (76)
Alter 4-11 0-0 10, Burgess 2-7 2-2 6, Sterk 6-8 0-2 12, Bennett 5-8 3-4 15, Rexach Roure 2-3 2-4 6, Berg 4-11 0-0 8, Hingston 1-5 0-0 3, Brennan 1-34 0-0 3, Brundidge 3-8 2-2 8, Hoff 0-1 5-6 5. Totals 28-66 14-20 76.
 
Academy of Art      7           19             8           16           -- 50
Seattle Pacific     27           12           18           19           -- 76
 
3-point goals – AAU 5-36 (Wilmore 1-7, Cates 0-1, Bennett 1-10, Perkins 0-1, Morris 2-11, Medina 2-6), SPU 6-21 (Alter 2-7, Burgess 0-2, Sterk 0-1, Bennett 2-3, Rexach Roure 0-1, Berg 0-2, Hingston 1-3, Brennan 1-2). Fouled out – AAU: Bennett. Rebounds – AAU 39 (Sanders 6, Medina 6), SPU 61 (Brundidge 10). Assists – AAU 5 (Wilmore 3), SPU 16 (Alter 6). Turnovers – AAU 11, SPU 18. Total fouls – AAU 23, SPU 18. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 103.
 
 
Next game
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Jan. 2     7:30 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.