THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 7                  Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 9                  Northwest Nazarene 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 – A quality win over a quality team. And a few extra days off from competition.
 
With the women's basketball season winding down, those might have been just the kinds of springboards the Seattle Pacific Falcons were seeking.
 
Not having played since last Thursday's 79-74 victory against Montana State Billings, the Falcons will try to carry that momentum into this week's home contests against two of the top teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Central Washington comes to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. On Saturday, current-conference co-leader and No. 7-ranked Northwest Nazarene is in town, with that one starting at 2:00 p.m.
 
SPU (7-12, 6-6 GNAC) is still very much picture for next month's conference tournament. It comes into the week tied with Western Washington for fifth place. The top six in the final standings make the tourney.

FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both games this week and all remaining games this season will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. Maxwell Gun will be on the play-by-play call for both contests. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Ticket prices are $10 for reserved seats for all ages, $7 for adult general admission, and $5 for youths, students, and senior citizens. Children 2 and under are free. SPU students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free with a valid current identification card.
 
A new ticketing system, which will allow online ordering and payment by credit card at Brougham Pavilion ticket windows, is up and operating. Cash will continue to be accepted at the ticket windows, as well.
 
SALUTE TO FEMALE ATHLETES
Saturday's game against Northwest Nazarene will be National Women & Girls in Sports Day  in Brougham Pavilion.
The day will start with a giveaway to the first 50 girls to come through the door, and they are encouraged to wear their own basketball jersey, if they have one.
 
They will be invited to be pre-game benchwarmers during the warm-up period, and then will have the opportunity to stand with the SPU players as anthem buddies during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner.
 
LOOK WHO'S NO. 1 AT THE FREE THROW LINE: IT'S EVANS
Falcon senior Riley Evans begins this week as the best foul shooter in the GNAC – and fourth-best in the country.
 
 

Evans hit all nine of her shots at the line last week, including 6 of 6 in the 79-74 win against Billings, to raise her season percentage to .915. She came into the week at exactly 90 percent (45 of 50), then pushed above it by going 3 for 3 in the game against Saint Martin's last Tuesday.
 
She had a streak of 24 in a row going until missing her second one at Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 24. She has hit 11 straight since then.
 
Having taken 59 fouls shots for the season (hitting 54 of those), Evans is now officially in the running for the single-season school record. That mark is .917 (77 of 84) set by Suzanna Ohlsen in 2013-14. A player must have at least 50 attempts to qualify for consideration.
 
For her career, Evans is at .886 (70 of 79). She will need at least 21 attempts in the remaining eight regular-season games, plus any potential postseason games, to reach the minimum 100 needed to qualify for the career record. Ohlsen also owns that mark at .872 (260 of 298) from 2012-15.
 
The current D2 leader is Lakin Preisner of East Central (Ada, Okla.) at .938 (75 of 80).
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are seeking a split of both season series.
-- They did split with Central last year, each team winning at home, but lost both to Northwest Nazarene.
-- When SPU and Central Washington met in Ellensburg on Jan. 12, the Wildcats built a 21-point lead at 60-39 with 1:57 left in the third quarter. The Falcons then went on a 22-5 run, closing to 65-61 with 4:05 still left in the game. But the Wildcats tallied seven of the next eight points to regain control.
-- Sparking that comeback were three of SPU's youngest players: sophomore Hailee Bennett, and freshmen Ashley Alter and Natalie Hoff. That trio combined for 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot, a steal, and a 5-for-6 performance at the free throw line (each of them getting there twice).
 

-- Senior point guard Jaylee Albert dished a career-high 10 assists in that game, the first time in eight years that a Falcons player had double-digit assists
-- Along with 12 points, Albert logged the first double-double of her career.
-- The top three 3-point shooters in the GNAC will be coming through Brougham Pavilion this week. Central's Alexis Pana is No. 1 at .500 (39 of 78), Northwest Nazarene's Avery Albrecht is No. 2 at .460 (29 of 63), and Nighthawks teammate Jordan Pinson is No. 3 at .451 (32 of 71).
-- Redshirt senior forward Cici West tied her career high with 18 rebounds in the game at Central.
-- SPU's 50 rebounds against Montana State Billings last Thursday was the first time since Nov. 11, 2016, that it has had at least 50 in a game.
-- With their 50-35 advantage against MSUB, the Falcons won the battle of the boards for the first time in 13 games. Prior to that, Seattle Pacific's last rebounding advantage was 44-31 against Concordia-Portland on Nov. 29.
-- The game-breaker in Nampa against Northwest Nazarene last month was a 15-0 Nighthawks run during a span of 5 minutes, 46 seconds. That turned a 7-6 deficit into a 21-7 lead. NNU had another run in the third quarter, this one 13-4.
-- SPU's last win against the Nighthawks was 71-60 in the first round of the 2017 GNAC Tournament.
-- Both opponents are coached by former Seattle Pacific assistants. Randi Richardson-Thornley is in her second year at the Central helm (after two years as an assistant) and has a 2-1 record against the Falcons. Steve Steele is in his third year at Northwest Nazarene, and is 4-2 vs. SPU.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 12-7, 7-5 GNAC (4^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 49-32. Current series streak: CWU won 2. Last time: CWU 77, SPU 70 (Jan. 12 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central is coming off a bumpy week at home, falling by nine in overtime to a hot Concordia-Portland team, then losing by four to Western Oregon. Nevertheless, this is still a team that knows how to put points on the board, ranking No. 2 in the GNAC at 76.2 per game. That's in large part because Central is one of the best shooting teams in the conference, ranking No. 2 in overall field goal percentage (.460) and from behind the 3-point line (.395). Junior 5-foot-9 guard Alexis Pana is second among the GNAC scoring leaders, averaging 15.4 points per game. She also is No. 1 among GNAC 3-point shooters at .500 (39 of 78). But opponents can't just key in on her, as all five starters are averaging in double figures – the only team in the GNAC that can make that claim. Kaelie Flores, a junior 6-foot forward is at 12.5, then 5-11 sophomore forward Kassidy Malcolm, 5-9 senior guard Sadie Mensing, and 5-8 junior forward Taylor Shaw are all in the 10s. Shaw is coming off a 25-pointer against Western Oregon last Saturday.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 19-1, 11-1 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 32-10. Current series streak: NNU won 3. Last time: NNU 82, SPU 64 (Jan. 10 at Nampa, Idaho). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Going undefeated is tough, and NNU's 17-game win streak ended at Simon Fraser ended on Jan. 26 with a final-minute 76-73 loss. But the Nighthawks got right back on track last week at home, beating Western Oregon by 34 and Concordia-Portland by 27. They are where they are because they do so many things well. That starts with scoring, averaging 86.2, ranking No. 1 in the GNAC and No. 4 in Division II. The defense is solid, too, yielding just 63.2 points per game, the second-stingiest total in the conference. NNU's .473 field goal percentages leads the GNAC and is 10^th nationally. And it is one of just two GNAC teams averaging double-digit steals per game at 12.2. The Nighthawks spread it around, as 5-foot-9 junior guard Avery Albrecht leads in scoring at 13.4 points per game. Redshirt senior guard Ellie Logan, who stands 5-9, is at 11.5 per game, and junior 5-8 guard Marina Valles chips in 10.4. All three are sharpshooters: .503 for Logan, .497 for Valles, .489 for Albrecht. In fact, Northwest Nazarene has three other players among its regulars who are hitting better than.500 from the field, led by the .525 (63 of 120) of 5-11 senior starting guard Raquel Jardine.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Saint Martin's had first-half surges of 8-0, 11-0, and 10-0, and rolled to a 91-70 win against the Falcons last Tuesday in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Riley Evans pumped in 18 points, including a key pair of free throws with 51.5 seconds left, and Cici West recorded her sixth double-double of the season last Thursday night to help SPU down Montana State Billings, 79-74.
 
 

SIMONSON SAYS …
(On having a full week between games)
"It was great to get a breather after four games in eight days. We got out and worked on some things offensively to give us some different looks. At this stage of the game, it's just trying to get good at what we do."
 
(On Central Washington)
"Central really can score from a variety of positions. Alexis Pana is arguably the best guard in the conference. Last time we played them, I thought we had a good first quarter and a good fourth quarter, and did some good things against them. They share the ball very well, and they attack from all five positions. So we have to play good team defense. We can't scheme against just one player."
 
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"They're going to press you all the time and really try to force a lot of turnovers – similar to Anchorage, but less physical. NNU uses their speed and athleticism, where Anchorage is more physical. I thought we did a good job I stretches at their place, but we have to do better. Those turnovers fueled their scoring runs. We have to take care of the basketball."
 
QUICK OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Being the momentum game that it is, a big first quarter doesn't always carry through to the final buzzer.
 
Still, the Falcons finally did manage a big opening 10 minutes when they hosted Montana State Billings last week, and it did help carry them through the subsequent 30 minutes. They built a double-digit lead (18-7 and 20-9), something they had not managed to do in any of the previous 18 first quarters this winter.
 
That lead had shrunk to six at 20-14 by quarter's end. But SPU still stayed ahead for the entire rest of the game.
 
In 19 games, the Falcons have been ahead after one quarter in just seven of them. They are 4-3 in such games. They were tied in one game (14-14 at Alaska Fairbanks) and won. In the other 11, they trailed after one, but came back to win three of those (home vs. Holy Names, at Saint Martin's, and home vs. Western Washington).
 
CAN'T GET MORE EVEN THAN THAT
When SPU's Cici West and Central Washington's Kassidy Malcolm step onto the court Thursday night, they will do so as the co-leaders for GNAC rebounding. But that co-leadership extends beyond their matching 8.9 per-game average.
 
 

Of course, averages can be pushed up or down to arrive at a round number. But for these two, that isn't necessary. West and Malcom each have grabbed 170 rebounds in 19 games.
 
Malcolm has more defensively, 123-116. West has the advantage at the offensive end, 54-47 – and even those are dead even in the sense that Malcolm is plus-7 at one end of the court and West is plus-7 at the other end.
 
But that's not the only stat where it's all level this week: West and Central's Alexis Pana both shoot .542 from the field – 77 of 142 for West, 97 of 179 for Pana.
 
YOU CAN BANK ON BENNETT
While Riley Evans certainly is getting her job done at the free throw line (see item above), she's not the only one.
 
 

Sophomore Hailey Bennett has hit 26 straight foul shots, elevating her season average to .897 (35 of 39). All 26 of those have come in just the last eight games, beginning when she hit the back end of a two-shot foul on Jan. 10 at Northwest Nazarene.
 
In her first eight games (she missed three in November with an injury), Bennett got to the line just 12 times, hitting nine of those. She missed her first one at NNU, leaving her season percentage at .692. That means with the 26 straight makes since then, she has added 205 percentage points for her current .897.
 
Her streak coincides with an overall improvement for the Falcons. In their last six games, they are 98 of 113 (.867), and have topped 80 percent in all six. Of those 113, attempts, Bennett is 23 of 23, Evans 19 of 20, and Carly Rataushk 10 of 12. With not as many attempts, but still very reliable have been Jade Skidmore (7 of 8) and Jaylee Albert (5 of 6).
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 301 NCAA Division II program, Seattle Pacific ranks:
-- 50^th in 3-point shooting percentage at .345 (Shepherd 1^st at .407).
-- 54^th in fewest fouls committed with 320 (Jefferson 1^st with 212).
-- 60^th in free throw shooting at .733 (Carson-Newman 1^st at .814)
 
INDIVIDUALLY::
-- Jaylee Albert 68^th in assists per game at 4.1
-- Riley Evans 32^nd in 3-point percentage at .410.
-- Evans 4^th in free throw percentage at .915
-- Cici West 66^th in rebounds per game at 8.9
 
In the past six games, the Falcons have climbed 149 places in fouls shooting. Prior to that, they ranked 209^th nationally (out of 301 programs) at .671.

Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up nationally in all statistical categories. Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players are faring.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th point             Madi Hingston (has 92)
                             Natalie Hoff (has 80)
100^th 3-pointer      Jaylee Albert (has 93)
100^th field goal      Hailee Bennett (has 84
100^th rebound        Riley Evans (has 89)
                            Kaprice Boston (has 84)
300^th field goal     Cici West (has 286)
400^th point           Carly Rataushk (has 381)
1,000^th point         Jade Skidmore (has 958)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
400^th point            Riley Evans (has 413)
 
AROUND THE WEST
Northwest Nazarene and Alaska Anchorage remain deadlocked atop the GNAC at 11-1 (19-1 overall). They're bound for the conference tournament, and likely bound for the NCAAs, as well. But the two hottest teams in the conference just might be Simon Fraser (12-7, 8-4 GNAC) and Concordia-Portland (10-10, 5-7 GNAC). The Clan have won six of their last seven, and Concordia has won four of its last six.
 
UC San Diego is one of just three teams still unbeaten in D2. The Tritons are 18-0, 14-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Right behind them is Cal Poly Pomona at 18-2, 14-1 CCAA. Those two teams are set for a Thursday night clash in Pomona in their only meeting of the regular season.
 
Azusa Pacific, Hawaii Pacific, and Dominican have separated themselves from the rest of the field in the Pacific West Conference. Last Wednesday in Honolulu, HPU (16-5, 14-1 Pac West) dealt Azusa (18-4, 15-1) its first conference loss of the season, 81-72. This Wednesday, the Sharks are home against Dominican (16-3, 13-2).

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
After four straight home games, the Falcons return to the road next week, visiting Simon Fraser on Valentine's Thursday in Burnaby, B.C, and Western Washington on Saturday Feb. 16, in Bellingham. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m. Last month in Seattle, SPU beat Western, 61-59, but fell short of Simon Fraser, 69-60.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Alaska Anchorage         11-1        19-1
Northwest Nazarene       11-1        19-1
Simon Fraser              8-4        12-7
Central Washington        7-5        12-7
Western Washington        6-6        11-9
Seattle Pacific           6-6         7-12
Concordia-Portland        5-7        10-10
Montana State Billings    5-7         9-9
Western Oregon            4-8         7-11
Saint Martin's            3-9         5-15
Alaska Fairbanks          0-12        3-13