THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 14               Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 16               Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats

 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Crunch time is here for the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team.
 
Following a rough week at home against two teams above them in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, SPU faces two more such teams this week. But this time, it's on the road, with visits to Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday.
 
Both contests tip off at 7:00 p.m.
 
The Falcons (7-14, 6-8 GNAC) are coming off losses to Central Washington (74-56) and then-No. 7 Northwest Nazarene (90-71). That has dropped them out of a tie for fifth place into a three-way tie for sixth with Montana State Billings and Concordia-Portland.
 
The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the GNAC Tournament, March 7-9 at Western Washington University in Bellingham. SPU has six games left – four of those on the road – in the final three weeks of the season to separate itself from that current sixth-place pack.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both games this week and all remaining games this season will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Falcon fans planning to make the trip to Bellingham for Saturday's game against arch-rival WWU can purchase their tickets online in advance or at the ticket window on game night. Prices are $15 for reserved seating or $10 for general admission. Those wishing to make an online purchase can do so by clicking on this link.
  
SALUTE TO 4 SENIORS COMING ON FEB. 23
SPU will honors its four senior players prior to the season home finale on Saturday, Feb. 23.
 
Jaylee Albert, Riley Evans, Carly Rataushk, and Cici West will be feted just before the tip-off against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
 

Albert, Evans, and Rataushk have been with the Falcons for four years. All three have gone from reserve roles to become regular starters as seniors.
 
Albert is leading the team in assists, and has a chance to become the first Falcon to top 100 in a season since Suzanna Ohlsen racked up 110 in 2014-15. Evans is leading the team In scoring, with a 13.5 average that has her in the GNAC top 10. Rataushk already has set single-season bests for points and rebounds, and is on track for her first 100-rebound season.
 
 

West is in her second season with the team. A graduate student, she played five games last year before going down with a season-ending knee injury. Granted a medical redshirt, she returned this year, has eight double-doubles and is the GNAC rebounding leader at 9.1 per game.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU is looking to gain a split against Simon Fraser after the Clan won last month in Seattle, 69-60.
-- Simon Fraser was deadly from downtown in that game, hitting 15 of 40, with Tyler Drynan going 7 of 15.
-- Seattle Pacific hit 5 of 15  from behind the arc.
-- The game was tied eight times and had 15 lead changes. But the Falcons managed just one field goal during the fourth quarter.
-- Seattle Pacific won last year's game in Burnaby, 74-63, and has taken three of the last four in Canada.
-- The Falcons are seeking a sweep against Western Washington. If they pull it off, it would be their second straight year of winning both against the Vikings.
-- On Jan. 17 in Brougham Pavilion, SPU was down 23-6 against Western at the end of the first quarter before rallying for a 61-59 victory.
-- That was the largest deficit the Falcons have overcome this season to pull out the win.
-- Although Western owns a 31-14 advantage over SPU in Carver Gymnasium, the Falcons have won their last three games in that building: 68-62 in 2014, then 74-64 in 2015, and 75-63 in 2018.
-- That last one was in the newly-renovated Carver. For the two years prior to that, the teams played at nearby Whatcom Community College, and Western won both of those, 60-43 in 2016, and 71-53 in 2017.
-- The road has not been friendly to the Falcons this season, as they are 2-6 in true away games, and 2-8 overall outside of Brougham Pavilion.
 

-- Junior guard Madi Hingston is coming off career highs of 14 points and four assists in last Saturday's 90-71 loss to No. 7 Northwest Nazarene. Hingston got the start, her sixth of the season, and logged 34 minutes, also a career high
-- Speaking of different starters, sophomore Kaprice Boston made her first as a Falcon. She responded with eight points, four rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
-- Junior guard Jade Skidmore is coming closer to her 1,000th career point. She had 11 against NNU and now totals 969. Of those, 874 came in her two years at Walla Walla.
-- In the NNU game, Seattle Pacific finished with a rebounding advantage for just the sixth time this season, 40-38. All 11 active players got into the game, and 10 of them had at least one board.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 14-7, 10-4 GNAC (3^rd)
All-time series: Simon leads, 22-13. Current series streak: Simon won 1. Last time: Simon 69, SPU 60 (Jan. 19 at Seattle). Clan on the Web. Clan in a nutshell: When the Clan came to Seattle a month ago, they were 7-6 overall, and just 3-3 in GNAC play, tied for fifth place. Their 69-60 win over SPU was the third in their current hot streak during which they have won eight of their last nine (only loss was 68-63 to Alaska Anchorage) and taken over sole possession of third place. Senior 5-foot-11 forward Sophie Swant is the No. 6 scorer in the conference, averaging 14.4 points per game. Also in double-digit territory for Simon Fraser are 5-8 sophomore guard Jessica Jones (12.0) and 5-7 junior point guard Tayler Drynan (10.5). Ozioma Nwabuko, a 5-11 sophomore forward is the best shooter in the conference at 57.3 percent, and she averages 8.9 per game, along with a team-leading 5.9 rebounds. Senior 6-3 forward Samantha Beauchamp is still the GNAC's premier shot blocker with 62, which is 22 more than the next closest on the list.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 12-10, 7-7 GNAC (5^th)
All-time series: WWU leads, 58-32. Current series streak: SPU won 3. Last time: SPU 61, WWU 59 (Jan. 17 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western is coming off a 60-57 loss at Concordia-Portland last Saturday, but still has won two of its last three, moving up to fifth in the standings and enhancing its chances of making the GNAC Tournament. Sophomore 6-foot-1 forward-center Kelsey Rogers continues to do a lot of everything for the Vikings. She leads them in scoring at 13.7 per game (No. 7 in the GNAC), is the conference's fourrth-best shooter from the field at .546, and is the team's top shot blocker with 28 – all of that in an average of 25.8 minutes per game. Anna Schwecke, a junior 6-3 center, adds 11.5 points per game and yanks down a team-high average of 7.4 rebounds, sitting No. 6 on the GNAC list in that department. As well as Rogers shoots, Schwecke is even better at .552 (No. 3). Western averages 40.2 rebounds per game, tied for the conference lead, and allows its opponents just 32.2. Of the 40 per game that the Vikings grab, an average of 12 come off the offensive glass.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Cici West's seventh double-double of the season wasn't enough last Thursday night as Central Washington put 16 straight points on the board in the first quarter and stayed in control the rest of the way to beat the Falcons, 74-56.
-- Madi Hingston tallied a career-high 14 points on Saturday, and West went for another double-double, but Northwest Nazarene outscored SPU by a 23-9 margin during the third quarter on the way to a 90-71 victory.
 
 

SIMONSON SAYS …
(On last week's games)
"Against NNU, we really wanted to be aggressive, and I thought we did that right from the beginning of the game. Against Central, we did not start well, and I thought we started fairly decently against NNU. I felt like we were able to execute some things offensively that we hadn't done in a while.
 
(On Simon Fraser)
"They can shoot the ball really well from 3, So the main thing we have to do up there is we have to guard the basketball very well. That's a huge point of emphasis this week."
 
(On Western Washington)
"They're physical, and they're a great rebounding team. We have to be able to match their intensity, and we need to be able to do that for 40 minutes – and that's tough on their home court."
 
(On Madi Hingston's play vs. NNU)
"Madi is a great passer, a really good shooter, and someone we've known has a lot of tools in her skillset. I think her improved play is a product of her putting in the work and hitting the shots that she has always been capable of hitting."
 
(On staying focused in final three weeks)
"It's still one game at a time. But a huge goal for us is to be playing our best basketball of the year going into the conference tournament."
 
A FAB 5 WHO ARE CLASSY IN CLASS
Senior point guard Jaylee Albert and redshirt senior forward Cici West head a list of five Seattle Pacific players named to the GNAC All-Academic team. Joining them are senior Riley Evans, junior Madi Hingston, and sophomore Hailee Bennett.
 
Albert made it for the third year in a row, the only Falcon on this season's list with that status. She has a 3.52 grade-point average as a business administration major.
 
West has a 3.85 GPA in her graduate studies toward her master of arts in management. While this is her first GNAC honor, she was named to the Big Sky Conference Winter All-Academic team three times during her career at Portland State. That's where she earned her communications degree with a 3.87 GPA.
 
Evans, with a 3.52 GPA as a communications major, is on the squad for the second time. Hingston (3.59 in business administration) and Bennett (3.85 in accounting) are first-time selections.
 
To earn a place on the All-Academic team, players must be a sophomore or higher with a minimum 3.20 GPA. They must be in at least their second year on the team and in position to be letterwinner during the current season.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
With her back-to-back double-doubles last week against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, Cici West is now up to eight for the season.
 
That puts West just one shy of the nine that Courtney Hollander posted during the 2015-16 campaign.
 
Current assistant coach Katie Benson had eight during her senior season in 2013-14.
 
The Falcons do have nine double-doubles as a team this winter. The other one belongs to Jaylee Albert, who had 12 points and 10 assists at Central on Jan. 12.
 
WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
As the regular season nears its conclusion, a few Falcons have a chance to put their names into the program record book – if not on top of the list, then at least into the top 10.
 
-- Riley Evans is shooting .918 at the free throw line (56 of 61). The record is .917 by Suzanna Ohlsen in the 2013-14 season (77 of 84).
-- Evans' career mark is 72 of 81 (.889). Ohlsen has the record at .872 (260 of 298). Evans will need at least 19 more attempts to qualify, as a player must have at least 100 attempts over two years or more.
 

-- Hailee Bennett is in a similar situation for single-season free throw shooting. She's at .897 (35 of 39), which would put her at No. 3. However, a player needs at least 50 attempts to qualify for consideration.
-- Cici West has 192 rebounds, putting her 57 away from the single-season top 10 in that category. Megan Hoisington is currently No. 10 with 249 in 2009-10.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 301 NCAA Division II programs, Seattle Pacific ranks:
-- 49^th in 3-point shooting percentage at .346 (Bentley and Dominican 1^st at .405).
-- 58th in fewest fouls committed with 352 (Tampa 1^st with 233).
 
INDIVIDUALLY:
-- Riley Evans 33^rd in 3-point percentage at .403.
-- Evans 3^rd in free throw percentage at .918
-- Cici West 60th in rebounds per game at 9.1
 
Evans shot just two free throws last week, but hit both of them, adding another three percentage points. The national leader – by .001 – is Lakin Preisner of East Central (Ada, Okla.) at .939 (77 of 82). Right behind at .938 (90 of 96) is Mckayla Roberts of Le Moyne (Syracuse, N.Y.).

Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up nationally across all statistical categories. Click on this link to see where other GNAC teams and players rank.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th point        Natalie Hoff (has 82)
100^th 3-pointer    Jaylee Albert (has 97)
100^th field goal   Hailee Bennett (has 86)
100^th rebound      Kaprice Boston (has 91)
                   Riley Evans (has 91)
300^th field goal   Cici West (has 296)
400^th point        Carly Rataushk (has 388)
1,000^th point      Jade Skidmore (has 969)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
100^th point        Madi Hingston (has 113)
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

AROUND THE WEST
Northwest Nazarene and Alaska Anchorage remain knotted atop the GNAC standings, and both have clinched a spot in the GNAC Tournament, set for March 7-9 in Bellingham. They have identical records (21-1 overall, 13-1 GNAC) Simon Fraser (14-7, 10-4 GNAC) hasn't clinched a spot yet, but is getting close, and Central Washington (14-7, 9-5) is within reach, as well. After that, it's four teams going for the final two spots in the six-team field: Western Washington (7-7), and SPU, Montana State Billings, and Concordia-Portland (all 6-8).
 
UC San Diego is now 20-0 and 16-0 atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The showdown with second-place Cal Poly Pomona last Thursday in Pomona didn't turn into much of a showdown as the Tritons cruised, 101-72. But CPP (19-3, 15-2 CCAA) remains a likely NCAA tourney team, with Humboldt State (13-6, 11-5) and Chico State (12-7, 9-7) still in the hunt.
 
Azusa Pacific maintained its narrow lead over Dominican and Hawaii Pacific in the Pacific West Conference. The Cougars (19-4, 16-1) no doubt are looking forward to the only game on their docket this week: a rematch on Saturday – this time at home – against HPU (17-6, 15-2). It was the Sharks who beat Azusa in Honolulu, 81-72, on Jan. 30. In between those two is Dominican (19-3, 16-2), and its only game this week is Saturday at home against Fresno Pacific 15-8, 11-6).
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons wind up their home schedule next week when Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks come to Brougham Pavilion. The nationally ranked Seawolves are here on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 in the second half of a men's women's doubleheader. (The 5:15 p.m. men's game features a key GNAC contest between the SPU men and Montana State Billings.) On Saturday the 23^rd, it's Senior Day prior to the 4:00 p.m. tip-off against Fairbanks.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Alaska Anchorage        13-1         21-1
Northwest Nazarene      13-1         21-1
Simon Fraser            10-4         14-7
Central Washington       9-5         14-7
Western Washington       7-7         12-10
Concordia-Portland       6-8         11-11
Montana State Billings   6-8         10-10
Seattle Pacific          6-8          7-14
Western Oregon           4-10         7-13
Saint Martin's           3-11         5-17
Alaska Fairbanks         0-14         3-17