THE SCHEDULE:              Tuesday, Jan. 21: Saint Marti's at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                           Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
                                           Thursday, Jan. 23: Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, 4:15 p.m. PST
                                           Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
  
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – A week ago, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were looking way up the standings at a chance to make the women's basketball postseason.
 
Now, thanks to a big week in Brougham Pavilion, it's not nearly as far of a climb.
 
Coming off a sweep of the Oregon schools, SPU closes out the first half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with a home-road split this week.
 
On Tuesday, Saint Martin's comes to town for the final contest of a three-game homestand. The Falcons (5-11, 3-5 GNAC) and Saints (8-7, 3-5 GNAC) begin the week tied for seventh in the standings. On Thursday, it's the first of three straight road games for SPU, with this stop being at Montana State Billings. The ball goes up at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
In both of last week's games, Seattle Pacific took command in the first quarter and went on to beat Concordia-Portland, 63-44, and Western Oregon, 73-51.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's games, as well as all GNAC contests, will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
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. On doubleheader days, tickets are good for both games.
 
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.
 
PUSH FOR THE PLAYOFFS
The regular season has six weeks and 12 games remaining before the GNAC Tournament comes to Seattle Pacific for the first time.
 
The top six teams in the final standings will qualify. The first- and second-place finishers get a bye into the semifinals, while No. 3 plays No. 6, and No. 4 plays No. 5 for the other two semifinal berths.
 
SPU is in position to give itself a big boost this week. The Falcons and Saint Martin's are tied for seventh at 3-5 heading Tuesday, just one game below the cutoff line. Currently sitting right above that line are Central Washington and Montana State Billings, both at 4-4 – and MSUB is on the docket for Thursday.
 
The tournament is set for Thursday through Saturday, March 5-7. The opening day is two men's first-round games at noon and 2:15 p.m., followed by two women's first-rounders at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. The semis are on Friday the 6^th (two men's games in the same time slots, then two women's games in the same time slots), and finals are Saturday the 7^th (men's at 5:15 p.m., women's at 7:30).
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons have won their last three home games and are 5-3 overall on Iron Coaching Court.
-- Those three straight wins have come by margins of 13, 19, and 22 points.
-- Last year, SPU and Saint Martin's split, each winning on the other's home court: 68-64 for the Falcons in Lacey, 91-70 for the Saints in Seattle.
-- When the Falcons visit Billings on Thursday, they will be seeking their first road victory of the season.
-- Last year's series between those teams also was a split, with each winning at home: MSUB 72-64, and SPU 79-74.
-- Seattle Pacific had two of its best defensive efforts of the year in last week's sweep of the Oregon schools. Concordia-Portland's 44 points were the fewest allowed by the Falcons this season, and Western Oregon's 51 were the third-fewest.
-- All of that helped the Falcons drop their points-allowed average below 70 for the first time in 2019-20. They are now at 68.1, a full three-point improvement from a week ago.
-- SPU and Saint Martin's are two of the best rebounding teams in the GNAC. The Saints lead the way at 40.4 per game, led by the top two individual averages of Bria Thames (11.8) and Claire Dingus (8.7). the Falcons are No. 3 at 39.8, led by Ashlynn Burgess' 6.6 per game.
-- That 39.8 average includes the most defensive rebounds of anyone in the conference. Seattle Pacific has collected 479 at that end of the court, an average of 29.9 per game. The second-highest total is Central Washington's 466 (29.1 per game).
-- Burgess remains No. 3 in GNAC field goal shooting at .556 (75 of 135).
-- Senior guard Madi Hingston has moved onto that field goal list. Her hot shooting last week (.846, hitting 11 of 13), added a whopping 55 percentage points to her season mark, taking her from .370 to .425.
-- The Falcons had more steals last week (21, including 15 against Concordia-Portland) than any other week this season.
-- In fact, that two-game total is one-quarter of the 82 they now have for the entire year.
-- Coach Mike Simonson is 1-1 against both Saint Martin's and Montana State Billings.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 8-7, 3-5 GNAC (tie 7^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 55-17. Current series streak: StM won 1. Last time: StM 91, SPU 70 (Jan. 29, 2019 at Seattle). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's matched SPU last week by sweeping the Oregon schools, 71-64 against WOU, 53-47 against Concordia. The Saints have been a streaky team. They've had a three-game win streak, a three-game losing streak, and a pair of two-gamers on both sides of the ledger. Leading the way are  6-foot sophomore forward Claire Dingus and 6-foot senior forward Bria Thames. Dingus was last season's GNAC Freshman of the Year and was a unanimous Preseason All-GNAC choice this year. She is averaging 13.1 points per game, ranking No. 9 on the GNAC list. Thames is averaging a monster double-double of 12.5 points and 11.8 rebounds, and shoots .507 from the field. She is the only conference player averaging a double-double. Last Saturday against Concordia, she had a GNAC-record 29 rebounds. That came on the heels of 19 boards against Western Oregon. Not to be overlooked is 5-6 junior guard Tierney DeDonatis. She averages 11.3 points per game, with outings of 26 and 27 within the past month.
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 9-8, 4-4 GNAC (tie 5^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 29-22. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 79, MSUB 74 (Jan. 31,2019 at Seattle). Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Billings is coming off a split of its Alaska road trip, with a dramatic 70-68 comeback win at Fairbanks, followed by an 80-33 loss at Anchorage. Taryn Shelley, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward, and Hannah Collins, a 5-5 junior guard, set the scoring pace with nearly identical averages: 12.2 for Shelley, 12.1 for Collins. Shelley also averages 7.8 rebounds per game, No. 4 in the GNAC, is a solid shooter from the field at .454, and has 23 blocked shots.  She went for 27 points at Fairbanks. Collins had a streak of three game in the 20s: 22 against Chadron State, 24 at Simon Fraser, and 25 at Western Washington. She is one of the conference's best 3-point shooters at .424 (14 of 25), ranking No. 4.
 

SIMONSON

SAYS …
(On playing defense)
"Defense is always first – that's what we always talk about. Now, we're starting to see success on the defensive end, and when you do, it's easier to work hard on defense – and you start to like it."
 
(On Saint Martin's)
"Saint Martin's is a physical team, and they compete very hard. Them coming into our place on Tuesday is going to be a very tough test."
 
(On Montana State Billings)
"(Coach) Kevin Woodin does a very good job. They don't beat themselves, and they're hard to score on. Going to Billings is always tough."
 
BRENNAN IS BRINGING IT
As redshirt freshman guard Bayley Brennan works her way into more playing time, she's making the most of every minute.
 
In last week's games against Concordia-Portland and Western Oregon, Brennan had 18 points, nine rebounds, and shot 60 percent from the floor in 35 total minutes. Her point total included a career-high 11 in Saturday's 73-51 victory against WOU – her first double-digit game as a Falcon.
 
Of those 11 points, six came on back-to-back 3-pointer during an 11-0 first-quarter run that gave Seattle Pacific control of the game.
 
"She has this perseverance that makes her very special," head coach Mike Simonson said. "I know that she pours her heart and soul into the game every day. To see her have a successful night is very encouraging and exciting."
 
Even more so given that Brennan got to practice, but not play last season.
 
"Being a redshirt freshman, there are so many ups and downs, it's hard to be strong and have that perseverance," Simonson said. "(For her) to have that innately proves she is going to be a very good player for us."
 
TOP OF GNAC FREE THROW PACK
When the Falcons began conference play the first weekend of December, they had just managed to push their team free throw percentage above 70 percent – 70.1 percent, to be precise. That ranked No. 5 among the GNAC's 11 teams.
 
Now look where they are: No. 1.
 
Seattle Pacific starts the week with a .761 success rate at the line (166 of 218). That's 11 percentage points ahead of Central Washington (.750 on 192 of 256). Last week, it was the Wildcats with the lead, 778-.754.
 
In the 10 games since they were at .701, the Falcons have shot .779 at the line (106 of 136). That has included games of .889, .864, .870, .842, and last Saturday's .846 against Western Oregon. (There also was a 1.000 game, but that was just 2 for 2 against Concordia last Thursday.)

Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
IN THE MAKING
100^th point:  Grace Sterk (has 92)
200^th point:  Ashley Alter (has 188)
300^th rebound:  Abril Rexach Roure (has 287)
500^th point:  Hailee Bennett (has 459)
600^th rebound:  Ashlynn Burgess (has 560)
900^th point:  Abril Rexach Roure (has 894)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
100^th rebound:  Natalie Hoff (has 105)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 304 NCAA Division II programs, Seattle Pacific ranks:
Team:
-- 28^th in defensive rebounds per game at 29.9 (Anderson (S.C.) 1^st at 33.3).
-- 33^rd in free throw shooting at .761 (Northwest Missouri State 1^st at .823).
Individually:
--Hailee Bennett 12th in free throw shooting at .906 / 48 of 53 (Morgan Brunner (West Liberty) 1^st at .967 / 59 of 61).

AROUND THE WEST
With the exception of Alaska Anchorage, which racked up two more victories and now has won 13 straight games, the other top-half teams in the GNAC standings all had to settle for splits last week. As a result, the Seawolves (18-1, 8-0) are now two games ahead of Northwest Nazarene (11-5, 6-2) and Simon Fraser (11-7, 6-2) as the first half of the conference schedule comes to a close this week. Western Washington (11-5, 5-3) is alone in fourth, bouncing back for a 94-83 victory at NNU on Saturday after falling 82-72 at Central Washington on Thursday.
 
It's now a three-way tie atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association, with three teams at 9-3: Cal State San Marcos (14-3 overall), UC San Diego (13-4) and Cal State East Bay (13-5). Just a game back is Sonoma State at 8-4 (12-5). Sonoma, which just scored a 57-54 victory at East Bay last Saturday, hosts San Marcos on Thursday and is at San Diego on Saturday.
 
The top three teams in the Pacific West Conference are in multiple-game winning streaks, but Hawaii Pacific, winner of 12 in a row, is pulling away at 11-0 (16-2 overall). Concordia Irvine (9-5, 7-2) and Azusa Pacific (14-3, 8-3) are both three games back. Concordia visits HPU next Monday, Jan. 27, in Honolulu.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons started the month of January against the Alaska schools, and will finish it against them, as well. But this time, it'll be on the road. SPU visits Fairbanks next Thursday, Jan. 30, then travels to Anchorage on Saturday, Feb. 1. Both games are the openers of doubleheaders, so will tip off at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
The SPU men are in the second half of those doubleheaders in the same gyms on the same nights. Their games start at 8:30 p.m. PST.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC         Overall
Alaska Anchorage          8-0      18-1
Northwest Nazarene        6-2      11-5
Simon Fraser              6-2      11-7
Western Washington        5-3      11-5
Central Washington        4-4       9-7
Montana State Billings    4-4       9-8
Saint Martin's            3-5       8-7
Seattle Pacific           3-5       5-11
Western Oregon            2-6       5-10
Concordia-Portland        2-6       3-13
Alaska Fairbanks          1-7       6-11