Box score (PDF)
 
PORTLAND, Ore. – Not out of reach.
 
But definitely more challenging.
 
That's where the Seattle Pacific Falcons find themselves in their quest to make the postseason.
 
Madi Hingston tied her career high with 18 points on Saturday night, but Concordia-Portland went on an 11-0 scoring run midway through the fourth quarter to beat SPU in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 59-54.
 
The loss, combined with Saint Martin's recording a 62-59 victory at Western Oregon on Saturday, dropped the Falcons (8-16, 6-10 GNAC) into eighth place in the standings. They are one game behind the seventh-place Saints (12-11, 7-9) and two games behind sixth-place Montana State Billings (13-12, 8-8) with four games left.
 
The top six teams qualify for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, which is set for March 5-7 at SPU.
 
It just so happens that the coming week's schedule finds Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., then home against Billings on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Saints eked out a 63-62 win in Brougham Pavilion on Jan. 21. Just two days later, the Falcons beat the Yellowjackets in Montana, 69-63.
 
 

"Our backs are against the wall. We can still reach our goal, but it's going to be difficult," head coach Mike Simonson said. "Let's go out and compete and play our best at Saint Martin's on Tuesday. At the end of the day, we did some good things tonight, but the shots just didn't fall.
 
"Hopefully, we can get that bug out and lick our wounds, and we can hit some shots on Tuesday."
 
FAST START FOR FALCONS, FAST FINISH FOR CAVS
During a second half that saw three ties and nine lead changes, SPU went in front 44-43 on a 3-pointer from the right of the lane by senior guard Hailee Bennett with 7:01 left in the game.
 
But the Cavaliers (5-19, 4-12 GNAC) then ran off 11 points in a row to make it 54-44 with 3:35 to go. Olivia Vezaldinos, who led CU with 15 points, had five of those 11.
 
The Falcons weren't finished yet. A 7-1 surge, capped by a Hingston 3-pointer, cut it to 55-51 with 1:28 to go. Concordia then got its next four from the foul line to put the game out of reach inside the final minute.
 
"At the end of the day, (the Cavaliers) played their best basketball of the season," Simonson said. "In our situation, with a couple of injuries, that's a tough mountain to climb. We needed to be able to sustain (what we did) early on in the game and not let it get to that point in the third and fourth quarter on the road, because that's really hard to do,".
 
Seattle Pacific had the first scoring run of the game. Down 9-5 midway through the first quarter, the Falcons put 10 straight on the board, with freshman post player Kayla Brundidge getting four of those.
 
The lead grew to 21-11 in the second as SPU forced the Cavaliers into missing their first 10 shots that quarter. It was still a 10-point margin at 23-13 when Concordia found some spark, ringing up the last eight points to get within 23-21 by halftime.
 
"Concordia, in my opinion, is one of the more talented teams in the conference," Simonson said. "They've had a tough season with everything they've gone through, on and off the court. (The school announced this past Monday that it is closing for good at the end of the year.) To see them hit a couple shots right before halftime, they went into the locker room having some confidence,"
 
Bennett, who took an inadvertent shoulder to the jaw and missed the second half of Thursday's 55-53 come-from-behind victory at Western Oregon returned to the lineup on Saturday getting the start and playing 22½ minutes. She contributed nine points and five rebounds. But leading scorer Ashlynn Burgess and third-leading scorer Ashley Alter were still sidelined with injuries.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Bennett's streak of 31 straight made free throws ended when her first attempt of the night rolled in and out.
-- Madi Hingston's  first 18-pointer was on Thursday at Western Oregon, topping her previous career high of 17.
-- Saturday's 18 points came on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4 of 9 from downtown.
-- Hingston also had a team high six rebounds, handed out three assists, and, for the fourth time in her career, had two blocked shots.
-- This was the sixth time this season the Falcons kept an opponent below 60 points – but the first time the opponent pulled out the win.
--With this being the final game against Concordia, the all-time series wound up 11-4 in SPU's favor.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
Concordia-Portland 59, Seattle Pacific 54
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-16, 6-10 GNAC)
Hoff 1-2 0-0 2, Bennett 3-12 2-5 9, Berg 0-2 0-0 0, Hingston 6-12 2-4 18, Brennan 3-7 2-2 9, Rexach Roure 1-5 0-0 3, Sterk 2-4 0-0 5, Brundidge 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 20-52 6-11 54.
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND (5-19, 4-12 GNAC)
Wu 7-13 0-1 14, Friaul 3-7 0-0 6, Vezaldenos 6-16 1-2 15, Etherly 2-4 5-7 9, Aplaca 1-5 0-0 2, Hudson 1-5 2-4 5, Simmelink 1-3 0-0 3, LeSure 1-3 0-0 2, Zhang 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 23-58 8-16 59.
 
Seattle Pacific                   15            8         16          15          -- 54
Concordia-Portland          11          10          17          21          -- 59
 
3-point goals – SPU 8-23 (Bennett 1-4, Berg 0-1, Hingston 4-9, Brennan 1-4, Rexach Roure 1-2, Sterk 1-3), CU 5-16 (Wu 0-1, Vezaldenos 2-7, Aplaca 0-2, Hudson 1-3, Simmelink 1-2, Zhang 1-10. Fouled out – SPU: Bennett. Rebounds – SPU 36 (Hingston 6), CU 38 (Etherly 9). Assists – SPU 15 (Rexach Roure 4), CU 14 (Friauf 4, Vezaldenos 4). Turnovers – SPU 18, CU 12. Total fouls – SPU 18, CU 11. Technical fouls – CU: Coach Sean Kelly. Attendance – 112.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Tuesday, Feb. 18     7:00 p.m.
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.