THE SCHEDULE                
Thursday, Dec. 5                 Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 5:15 p.m.
                                                Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Dec. 7                  Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 4:15 p.m. PST
                                                Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have had their fair share of tough non-conference opponents during the first three weeks of the women's basketball season.
 
That trend is going to continue now that Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule is getting started.
 
The Falcons tip off their 20-game GNAC slate on the road this week with trips to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. The game against the Wildcats in Nicholson Pavilion tips off at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday. Then, after a bus ride back to Seattle, the team will hop a flight to Idaho on Friday to get ready for Satuday's game against the Nighthawks in Nampa. Tip-off for that one is at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
SPU (0-6) remains in search of its first victory. It had last week off from competition after dropping both games of the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic at home, 66-55 to Colorado School of Mines on Nov. 22, and 62-53 to Regis University on Nov. 23.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC games, home and away, will have free live Webcast and free live stats available to fans who aren't able to get to the gym in person. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this page.
 
FALCONS PICKED FOR 9^TH
Seattle Pacific has been tabbed for a ninth-place finish in the GNAC preseason coaches poll.
 
The Falcons compiled 39 points in the voting.
 
When the team steps onto the Nicholson Pavilion court on Thursday, it will do so against a Central Washington team that is an ever-so-slight favorite to win the GNAC title.
 
Although it essentially is seen as a three-team race for the top spot, the Wildcats did come out ahead in the preseason conference coaches poll, collecting five of the 11 first-place votes and 109 points. That left them just ahead of Western Washington (three first-place votes, 107 points) and Alaska Anchorage (three firsts, 104 points).
 
Saturday's opponent, Northwest Nazarene, was picked fourth with 88 points.
 
QUIET DECEMBER
A total of 31 days hath December, but Seattle Pacific will be in action on just four of those days.
 
This week's GNAC openers account for two of those four game days, and it will be the only road trip of the month. The only other games are at home against Cal State Los Angeles (Dec. 16) and Academy of Art (Dec. 19).
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are 16-2 all-time in GNAC openers. That includes 8-2 on the road.
-- Last year, SPU opened at home, defeating Concordia-Portland, 75-64.
-- In fact, the Falcons went 2-0 in that first week of GNAC play, beating Western Oregon in the second game, 73-68.
-- Their conference road opener last year also went into the 'W' column, 68-64 at Saint Martin's.
-- Seattle Pacific went 2-8 in GNAC road games last season. Along with Saint Martin's, the other victory came at Alaska Fairbanks.
-- In 18 years of GNAC play, the Falcons have the second-best overall conference record of 241-85 (a .739 winning percentage). That is slightly behind Western Washington's 245-81 (.752).
-- During those same 18 years, SPU has the best overall record of 390-135 (.743). Western Washington is next at 379-150 (.716).
-- This week's opponents are in the middle of the all-time pack. Northwest Nazarene is fifth in GNAC play at 188-138 (.577) and fifth overall at 298-202 (.556). Central Washington is seventh for GNAC games at 138-188 (.423) and seventh overall at 239-246 (.493).
-- Seattle Pacific's last win at both of these venues came in 2017: 68-63 at NNU and 54-51 at Central.
-- Ashley Alter, now a sophomore, had 10 points in last year's game at Ellensburg – her first double-digit outing as a Falcon. She wound up with two double-digit games last season, and already has two this season, one of which was half of her first collegiate double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Fresno Pacific on Nov. 9.
-- SPU has the fourth-best 3-point shooting mark in the GNAC, hitting at a .312 clip (39 of 125).
-- In the first six games, Seattle Pacific has scored in the 50s four times, the 60s once, and the 70s once. Opponents have three in the 60s, two in the 70s, and one in the 90s.
-- Falcons second-year head coach Mike Simonson is seeking to beat both Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene for the first time. The Wildcats and Nighthawks swept last year's series.
-- CWU and NNU are both led by former Seattle Pacific assistant coaches. Randi Richardson-Thornley is in her third year at the helm in Ellensburg. She was with the Falcons from 2013-15. Steve Steele starts his fourth year in charge in Nampa. He was SPU from 2013-16.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 3-3, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 49-33. Current series streak: CWU won 3. Last time: CWU 74, SPU 56 (Feb. 7, 2019 at Seattle). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington is coming off a split of its tournament in Colorado this past weekend, beating Colorado Christian by 12, but losing to Metro State by two. The Wildcats are the top shooting team in the GNAC, not only from the field (44.3 percent), but also from the free throw line (78.5). One of the big reasons for that success from the field is sophomore 6-foot-2 center Samantha Bowman, who is blistering the nets at a 66 percent pace (31 of 47). Senior 6-foot forward Kaelie Flores also can bury 'em. Hitting 49.1 percent. Then there's senior 5-9 guard Alexis Pana, the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. Not only is she the leading scorer in the GNAC at 17.2 points per game, she's also the leading playmaker at 5.5 assists per game. Pana is coming off a 28-point performance in last Saturday's loss to Metro State. Those three also give Central a big presence on the boards. Bowman ranks No. 5 in rebounding at 8.2 per game, Pana is No. 8 at 7.2, and Flores is No. 9 at 7.0.
 
NORHTWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 4-3, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 32-11. Current series streak: NNU won 4. Last time: NNU 90, SPU 71 (Feb. 9, 2019 at Seattle). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene has been streaky so far, but comes into the week with two straight W's, the latest of which was a 90-61 rout of Whitworth on Nov. 26. The Nighthawks have a handful of players who can fill up the hoop, but senior 5-foot-9 guard Avery Albrecht is filling it up the most so far, averaging 16.3 points per game that ranks No. 4 in the GNAC. That includes a 29-point outburst against Dixie State on Nov. 22 and a pair of 21-pointers. The sharp-shooting Albrecht connects on 49.4 percent of her shots from the field (38 of 77), the 12th-highest mark among conference players, and 44.1 percent from long range (15 of 34). She also is team's leader on the boards at 6.0 per game. Senior 5-8 guard Marina Valles averages 13.3 points per game (No. 12 in the GNAC), but she does much more than just score. She leads the conference in steals at 5.0 per game, and is No. 4 in assists at 5.0. Sophomore 6-0 forward Erin Jenkins averages 11.6, and she shoots 50 percent from the floor (34 of 68), one notch above Albrecht at No. 11 in the GNAC.
 
 

SIMONSON SAYS …
(On the focus for the past several days)
"We've really been trying to fine-tune some of the areas that have cost us in crunch time, and trying to fine-tune our offensive and defensive philosophy. I feel that in the past week our team has been able to grasp a couple concepts that have taken a long time to master."
 
(On Central Washington)
"I think they're probably the most athletic team in our conference. And they have who I think is the best player in our league in Alex Pana. They seem to make big shots at the right time."
 
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"They make it tough on you. They pressure and force a lot of turnovers. They've had games where they've forced teams into 30-plus turnovers. So we really have to make sure we're taking care of the ball."
 

BURGESS BRINGIN' IT
Just three weekends into her SPU career, junior Ashlynn Burgess is showing that she has plenty of tools in her box.
 
 

The 5-foot-10 forward, who led Wenatchee Valley College to the Northwest Athletic Conference title for two-year schools last season, leads the Falcons in scoring, shooting, and rebounding – and is among the GNAC leaders in all three categories.
 
Burgess is averaging an even 13 points a game, which ranks No. 13 among GNAC players. She is piling up those points by shooting 55.2 percent from the field, connecting on 32 of her 58 shots. And, Burgess is pulling down rebounds at a 6.2 per-game clip for the No. 11 spot on the conference ladder in that category. She leads the Falcons at both ends of the court: 3.5 defensively, and 2.7 offensively. The latter average is tied for No. 6 in the GNAC.
 
In her six games, Burgess has been in double-digit scoring four times. That started with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds in the season-opener at Humboldt State on Nov. 8.
 
GRACE IS AMAZIN' ON DEFENSE
She hasn't put up any eye-popping numbers just yet. But there is one noteworthy statistic for freshman post player Grace Sterk:
 
Minutes played..
 
 

Sterk is the only SPU freshman to have earned a starting role so far, being on the floor for the opening tip-off in four of the six games. In those four games, she went 31 minutes against Fresno Pacific, 20 at Azusa Pacific, 24 against UC San Diego, and 29 against Colorado School of Mines. Even the two games she came off the bench, she reached double-digits: 14 minutes against Humboldt State and 10 against Regis University.
 
Certainly, her 5.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 43.8 percent shooting from the field factor into that. But there's an even bigger factor that doesn't show up in the box score: Her defense.
 
"Grace does a really good job of being sound fundamentally on defense," head coach Mike Simonson said. "She moves her feet well, and she finds good positioning in the post. We've played some bigger teams the past couple weeks, so we have had to use her a lot in the post.
 
"She has been a pleasant surprise."
 
LET'S PLAY TWO – AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
Both of this week's games are part of doubleheaders. These stand out a bit because the SPU men and women both will be playing in the same gym on the same night: Falcons-Central Washington on Thursday, and Falcons-Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
 
In fact, doubleheaders are the rule rather than the exception on this year's GNAC schedule.
 
Of Seattle Pacific's 20 conference games, 14 will be part of a twin bill. And of those 14, eight will involve both Falcon teams at the same venue.
 
Along with this week's games at Central and NNU, the same-opponent situation will happen on Thursday, Jan. 2 against Alaska Anchorage; Saturday, Jan. 4 against Alaska Fairbanks (both at home); Thursday, Jan. 30 at Fairbanks; Saturday, Feb. 1 at Anchorage; Thursday, Feb. 27 at home against Northwest Nazarene, and Saturday, Feb. 29 at home against Central Washington.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage was the third team among the three bunched together at the top of the GNAC preseason coaches poll. But right now, the Seawolves have by far and away the best overall record in non-conference tournament play at 7-1. Western Washington, second in the poll, has the second-best mark at 4-2. Preseason favorite Central Washington is sitting at 3-3.
 
The California Collegiate Athletic Association already has tipped off conference play, with some teams having three games already. One of those is Cal State San Marcos, one of three remaining undefeated team in the West Region at 7-0. That includes a 3-0 CCAA record. Humboldt State (5-1 overall), Cal Poly Pomona (6-2), Cal State East Bay (5-2) and Stanislaus State (4-3) all have won their first two conference games.
 
Pacific West Conference action begins this week. Azusa Pacific has a 5-0 record through preseason play, Academy of Art also is unbeaten at 2-0, but has not played since sweeping non-conference games from Western Oregon and Concordia-Portland in Monmouth on Nov. 8-9. Hawaii Pacific and Dominican are off to solid starts a 5-1 and 4-1, respectively.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons wrap up the calendar year at home during the middle week of December. Cal State Los Angeles visits Brougham Pavilion for a non-conference game on Monday, Dec. 16, at 7:00 p.m. The non-conference schedule concludes on Thursday, Dec. 19 against Academy of Art at 2:00 p.m.