THE SCHEDULE:             
                                          Thursday, Feb. 13: Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 5:15 p.m.
                                           New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
                                    Saturday, Feb. 15: Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Portland, 8:30 p.m.
                                           LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are on the brink of make-or-break time for their women's basketball season.
 
Coming off a tough week at home, SPU will try to get back on course and get back into postseason position this week with its trip to Oregon for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games.
 
Up first is a visit to Western Oregon on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The team will remain in Oregon after the game, then head north for Saturday's contest at Concordia-Portland. That one has an unusually late 8:30 p.m. tip-off, owing to another on-campus event taking place earlier in the day.
 
Having picked up a much-needed victory on their Alaska trip, the Falcons (7-15, 5-9 GNAC) were hoping to keep things going at home last week. But they fell short of both times, 77-62 against Western Washington and 75-68 against Simon Fraser.
 
However, with six games left, they remain well within reach of a spot in the conference tournament.
 
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.
 
LAST GAME AGAINST CONCORDIA
When Seattle Pacific plays Concordia-Portland on Saturday night, it will be the last time they ever face the Cavaliers.
 
In a stunning announcement made on Monday morning, the school will close at the end of the current academic year. The decision was made by Concordia-Portland's Board of Regents last Friday, which cited "mounting financial challenges and a challenging and changing educational landscape."
 
The Cavaliers joined the GNAC in time for the 2015-16 school year. They will finish out all of their athletic schedules this winter and spring. Seattle Pacific's only springtime competition against Concordia is in track and field.
 
GNAC leaders are already assessing the situation and will have announcements on future scheduling and other matters as soon as they are resolved.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are going for a season sweep of both series.
-- Both series wound up with splits last year, as the home team won every time. In Oregon, WOU took it, 60-53, then Concordia came out on top, 67-62.
-- Seattle Pacific is 2-9 overall away from home, 2-7 in true road games.
-- Last month in Brougham Pavilion, Seattle Pacific beat Concordia, 63-44, and Western Oregon, 73-51.
-- The 44 points that Concordia scored was the second-lowest total allowed by the Falcons this season.
-- The only team that got fewer points was Alaska Fairbanks, as SPU won 64-41 on Jan. 30 in Alaska.
-- Seattle Pacific had four players in double-digit scoring against Western Oregon – the only time all season it has had that many go for 10 or more in a game.
 

-- Junior forward Ashlynn Burgess has four double-doubles this winter. The last of those came first WOU game as she went for 12 points and 14 rebounds.
-- Those 14 boards represented Burgess' high in an SPU uniform. Her career high is 15 against North Idaho during her freshman year (2018) at Wenatchee Valley college.
-- Burgess is still No. 3 on the GNAC field goal shooting list at .565 (105 of 186). Seattle Pacific's single-season record is .578 (196 of 339) by Valerie Gustafson in 2003-04.
 

-- The two highest-scoring games of sophomore guard Ashley Alter's career have come against the Oregon schools. Her career best is 18 points last year at WOU. She came within one point of that last month against Concordia-Portland in Seattle.
-- That same Concordia game saw the Falcons come up with season highs of 22 assists (on 27 baskets) and 15 steals.
-- Senior guard Hailee Bennett is now up to 31 consecutive free throws made. Her season percentage is .918 (56 of 61), which is No. 1 in the GNAC and is back up to No. 6 on the NCAA Division II list. The leader is still Morgan Brunner of West Liberty (W.V.) at .958 (68 of 71).
-- When just considering conference games, Bennett is shooting .971 (33 of 34). The only miss came at Central Washington on Dec. 5.
-- It's still SPU and Central Washington battling it out for the top free throw shooting team in the GNAC. The Falcons start the week at .762 (215 of 282), with Central right behind at .757 (259 of 342).
-- Junior point guard Abril Rexach Roure ranks No. 6 on the GNAC assists list at 3.4 per game.
-- Coach Mike Simonson is 2-1 against both Oregon schools.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 5-16, 2-12 GNAC (tie 10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 44-5. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 73, WOU 51 (Jan. 18, 2020 at Seattle). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon is looking to snap an eight-game losing streak. Last Saturday, the Wolves were on the brink of a road win as they took a 53-43 lead into the fourth quarter at Montana State Billings. But the Yellowjackets doubled them up the rest of the way, 44-22, including 16-4 in overtime, to pull out an 87-75 victory. Junior 6-foot guard Keyonna Jones, who averages 11.5 points per game, went off for 28, the team's individual high of the season. Jones had 15 against SPU last month. Senior 6-0 forward / center Shariah Green is the other Western Oregon player who averages double figures, at 10.3. She also is tops on the boards for the Wolves at 5.1 per game. Another factor for WOU is 6-1 sophomore forward Amber Winkler. She has 46 blocked shots, easily the most in the conference, for an average of 2.2 per game. Her total is tied for No. 24 nationally.
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND CAVALIERS: 4-18, 3-11 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 11-3. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 63, CU 44 (Jan. 16, 2020 at Seattle). Cavaliers on the Web.
Cavaliers in a nutshell: Concordia-Portland snapped a seven-game losing streak by winning at Western Oregon, 83-73, but then dropped a 74-50 decision at Montana State Billings. Freshman 6-foot guard / forward Dorcas Wu and junior 6-1 forward Riley Friauf have been at the forefront the past three games for the Cavaliers, with Wu leading the way in scoring (including 21 at WOU) and Friauf setting the pace on the boards. Wu averages 9.7 points per game, and Friauf is Concordia's top rebounder at 6.0. Leading the way in scoring is junior 5-7 guard Olivia Vezaldenos at 10.3 points per game. Vezaldenos got injured just three minutes into the game at Seattle Pacific on Jan. 16, and missed three games over the next two weeks. But she returned on Jan. 30 at Western Washington and has seen steadily increasing playing time off the bench ever since.
 
BLENDING BOOKS AND BASKETBALL
Hailee Bennett and Madi Hingston have been named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic team for the second time in their careers. The two seniors were among four Falcons who earned a place on the squad, joined by sophomores Rachel Berg and Natalie Hoff.
 
 

Bennett is an accounting major with a 3.81 grade-point average. She has started all 22 game this winter, one of just two Falcons to do that – and she is making the most of every minute, averaging 10.9 points and 2.3 assists per game.
 
 

Hingston carries a 3.60 GPA as a business administration major. She has played more minutes than anyone on the team, logging 615 (28 per game). She averages 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and leads the Falcons in steals with 28. Hingston recently put her 300^th career point into the book.
 
 

Hoff is on the academic team for the first time and has a 3.83 GPA, majoring in visual communications. She has provided a solid boost off the bench all season, averaging 4.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16 minutes per game. Last Saturday against Simon Fraser, she earned her second start of the year and responded with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and also pulled down six rebounds.
 
 

Berg has a 3.75 GPA as a business administration major. She has provided steady play off the bench with averages of 3.2 points and 2.7 rebounds, and plays nearly half of every game (19.9 minutes on average). She is one of SPU's best passers with 41 assists.

SIMONSON SAYS …
(On Western Oregon)
"Western Oregon is one of those teams that is way better than their record indicates. I'm pretty impressed with them defensively and their ability to compete night in and night out. They've been in almost every game they've played. The last few games, Keyonna Jones is shooting at a really high percentage. She's somebody we have to key on for 40 minutes."
 
 

(On Concordia-Portland)
"They are one of the more talented teams in our conference. They have a lot of firepower. They've put up 80-some points on a lot of teams this year."
 
(On SPU's solid passing)
"We're one of the most unselfish teams I've ever been around. It seems like we've had multiple players with double-digit scoring games. One game, it's Natalie Hoff. Another game, Ashley Alter will go off. It's really nice to see us have different kids contribute. A real exciting piece is when everyone is on, we're tough to stop. We just want to feed the hot hand, and we have a good understanding of who that person is."

 
TOURNAMENT TALK
Heading into the week, Seattle Pacific is tied with Saint Martin's for seventh place, as both are 5-9. That's two games out of the sixth and final spot into the GNAC Tournament. Montana State Billings (7-7) is the current occupant of that position.
 
All teams have six games remaining. SPU, Saint Martin's, and Billings, the three teams who likely will battle for that sixth spot, have each other on their schedules next week. While the Falcons and Saints are in Oregon this week, MSUB will be home against conference-leading Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, followed by Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday.
 
So far, Alaska Anchorage (13-1) is the only team to have officially clinched a spot in the tournament. Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser (both 11-3) are each one win away from clinching.
 
Since going to a 20-game schedule in 2015-16, the last teams into the tournament have been Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington (both 10-10 in 2016), Central (9-11 in 2017), Simon Fraser (9-11 in 2018), and Western Washington (11-9 in 2019).
 
The opening day of the tourney on March 5 is two men's first-round games (noon and 2:15 p.m.), followed by two women's first-rounders (5:15 and 7:30 p.m.). The semis are on Friday the 6^th (two men's games, then two women's games at the same times as Thursday), and finals are Saturday the 7^th (men's at 5:15, women's at 7:30).
 
ROAD GAMES ARE HOME FOR HINGSTON
Senior guard Madi Hingston has played plenty of road games during her SPU career. But this week's contests will be her last in her home state.
 
Hingston is a native of Keizer, Salem's next-door neighbor. She graduated from McNary High School, which is a mere 21 miles from Thursday night's game at Western Oregon in Monmouth. From McNary to Saturday's game at Concordia-Portland, it's approximately a 50-mile drive.
 
With a chance to play in front of family and friends, Hingston is looking to show them why this has been the finest season of her college career. Her totals in all of the major statistical categories this year exceed the numbers she recorded in her first three years combined.
 
Hingston wouldn't mind replicating what senior teammate Hailee Bennett did three weeks ago at Montana State Billings. In her final home state game, the native of Kalispell poured in 18 points, grabbed three rebounds and dished three assists in SPU's 69-63 victory.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
IN THE MAKING
100^th assist: Madi Hingston (has 77)
100^th point:  Grace Sterk (has 94)
100^th rebound:  Kayla Brundidge (has 93)
200^th rebound: Hailee Bennett (has 185)
300^th rebound:  Abril Rexach Roure (has 300)
500^th assist: Abril Rexach Roure (has 473)
600^th rebound:  Ashlynn Burgess (has 594)
1,000^th point: Abril Rexach Roure (has 911)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
100^th field goal:  Ashley Alter (has 105)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 304 NCAA Division II programs, Seattle Pacific ranks:
-- 45^th in defensive rebounds per game at 28.5 (Anderson (S.C.) 1^st at 33.5).
-- 33^rd in free throw shooting at .762 (Ashland and Southeastern Oklahoma tie 1^st at .813).
 
Individually:
-- Hailee Bennett 6^th in free throw shooting at .918 / 56 of 61 (Morgan Brunner (West Liberty) 1^st at .958 / 68 of 71).
 
AROUND THE WEST
It's not over until it's over, but Alaska Anchorage has command to claim the GNAC regular-season crown. The Seawolves (23-2, 13-1 GNAC) won at second-place Northwest Nazarene last Thursday, 68-54, thus sweeping the two-game season series. They now have a two-game lead on the Nighthawks (16-6, 11-3) and Simon Fraser (16-8, 11-3). Western Washington (16-6,10-4) slipped to No. 4, beating Seattle Pacific, but falling at Saint Martin's, 71-63. Simon and Western are home against Central Washington and NNU this week.
 
UC San Diego keeps winning – it's now 10 in a row – but still has just a one-game lead on Cal State San Marcos in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Tritons (18-4, 14-3) and Cougars (18-4, 13-4) are in prime position to reach the NCAA Tournament, while Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State East Bay (both 14-8, 11-6) and Sonoma State (14-8, 10-7) are keeping their hopes alive.
 
Hawaii Pacific now has a four-game lead atop the Pacific West Conference. The Sharks (21-1,16-0) have won 17 in a row. The 17^th of those was Monday's 85-71 victory at second-place Azusa Pacific (18-4, 12-4). That snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Cougars. Staying in the NCAA tourney hunt are Concordia Irvine (13-7, 11-4), Biola (15-8, 11-6) and Point Loma Nazarene (14-8, 10-6).
 
UP NEXT The Falcons play their final road game next week, then play the first of three straight home games to conclude the regular season. SPU visits Saint Martin's next Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:00 p.m. Montana State Billings comes to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 23 for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off. Both games will have big postseason implications for all three schools.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC         Overall
Alaska Anchorage          13-1     23-2
Northwest Nazarene        11-3     16-6
Simon Fraser              11-3     16-8
Western Washington        10-4     16-6
Central Washington        8-6      13-9
Montana State Billings    7-7      12-11
Saint Martin's            5-9      10-11
Seattle Pacific           5-9       7-15
Concordia Portland        3-11      4-18
Alaska Fairbanks          2-12      7-16
Western Oregon            2-12      5-16