THE SCHEDULE:             
                                           Tuesday, Feb. 18: Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m.
                                           Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats
 
                                   Saturday, Feb. 22: Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific, 4:00 p.m.
                                           Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                           Live Webcast        Live stats

        
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Make. Or break.
 
That is where the Seattle Pacific Falcons find themselves as they head into what is – at least for now – the most crucial week of their women's basketball season.
 
Having played themselves into contention for a spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, the Falcons take the court this week against the two opponents that currently stand between them and a spot in the postseason picture.
 
SPU takes a quick drive south to Lacey on Tuesday to face Saint Martin's. Tip-off in Marcus Pavilion is at 7:00 p.m. Then, after a bye on Thursday, the Falcons are back home in Brougham Pavilion on Saturday against Montana State Billings. That game on Iron Coaching Court begins at 4:00 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific is coming off a split of its Oregon road trip, rallying to beat Western Oregon last Thursday, 55-53, but falling at Concordia-Portland on Saturday, 59-54.
 
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.
 
TOURNAMENT TALK
SPU (8-16, 6-10 GNAC) begin this week in eighth place. It is one game behind Saint Martin's (12-11, 7-9) and two games behind sixth-place Billings (13-12, 8-8). The top six teams make the GNAC Tournament.
 
Alaska Anchorage (25-2, 15-1) and Northwest Nazarene (18-6, 13-3) have already clinched. Western Washington (17-7, 11-5) and Simon Fraser (16-10, 11-5) are close to clinching. So is Central (14-10, 9-7).
 
So it could come down to the Falcons, Saints, and Yellowjackets possibly vying for the last spot – and so far, none of those three has a huge advantage. Saint Martin's beat SPU in Seattle, 63-62, then the Falcons went and won at Billings, 69-63, and Billings bounced back two night later to down the Saints, 72-64.
 
Western Oregon and Alaska Fairbanks, both with 2-14 GNAC records, are the only two teams out of contention.
 
The opening day of the tourney on Thursday, 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).

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.
  
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- For the first time this season, Seattle Pacific kept opponents under 60 points for two straight games. It has a 5-1 record when that happens.
-- The Falcons' average of 66.2 points allowed is a season-low. That is No. 7 in the GNAC.
-- Tuesday's game at Saint Martin's will be SPU's final one on the road this season. The team has a 3-10 overall record away from home.
-- Last month's game in Seattle was tied six times, and the lead changed hands 15 times.
-- The last of those lead changes came with 1:26 left when Bria Thames drained a pair of free throws for the Saints. Thames finished with yet another double-double, this one with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
-- But Thames wasn't the only one finding the hoop for Saint Martin's that night. Tierney DeDonatis poured in 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4 of 5 from 3-point range).
-- The Falcons had six more field goals than the Saints, with a 27-21 advantage, thanks to a season-high shooting mark of 51.9 percent (27 of 52). Just two nights later, SPU shot 49 percent at Billings (25 of 51). Those are still the two highest-percentage games of the season.
-- But Saint Martin's had the advantage at the foul line, hitting 15 of 20 while SPU was just 3 of 4.
 

-- Junior forward Ashlynn Burgess had a 25-point night vs. Saint Martin's and hit 80 percent (12 of 15) from the field.
-- If SPU can win in Lacey, it would mark the second straight year when the visiting team won both games. In 2019, the Falcons took the road win, 58-54, then the Saints got even a few weeks later, 91-70.
-- The Seattle Pacific-Montana State Billings game on Jan. 23 was nearly identical to the Saint Martins game on one respect: It had nine ties and 15 lead changes.
 

-- Redshirt freshman guard Bayley Brennan hit all four of her 3-point attempts at Billings as she finished with a career-high 12 points.
-- The Falcons hit 10 of 20 treys that night – one of three times they've been in double digits from downtown. Their 50 percent shooting mark was one of two times they've done that – and those came back to back, as Seattle Pacific hit 7 of 14 at Alaska Fairbanks five nights later.
-- Seattle Pacific continues to move up the GNAC's 3-point shooting ladder for overall percentage. It comes into into the week ranked No. 4 on the conference list at .317. Just before Christmas break, the Falcons were dead last at .268.
-- Senior guard Madi Hingston, who has played more minutes than any Falcon, is No. 10 in average minutes per game among GNAC players at 28.3. Saint Martin's has two players who see an abundance of time (Claire Dingus is No. 2 at 34.6, and Bria Thames is No. 4 at 31.7), and Montana State Billings has one (Jeanann Lemelin at 31.2).
-- Coach Mike Simonson is 2-1 against both the saints and Yellowjackets.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 12-11, 7-9 GNAC (7^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 55-18. Current series streak: STM won 1. Last time: STM 63, SPU 62 (Jan. 21 at Seattle). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's gave itself a boost by sweeping its games in Oregon last week. Senior 6-foot forward Bria Thames double-doubled at Western Oregon on Saturday with 25 points and 10 rebounds. She has 12 for the season and continues to average a double-double of 14.9 points (No. 4 in the GNAC) and 11.6 rebounds (No. 1). Sophomore 6-foot forward Claire Dingus completes the second half of the Saints' 1-2 rebounding combo with her 9.1 average. She also averages 13.0 points, tied for No. 10 in the conference. In fact, while those two have each collected 200-plus boards for the season (267 for Thames, 210 for Dingus), the next-highest total on the team is 54. Saint Martin's ranks No. 2 in GNAC rebounding at 39.3 per game, just off Western Washington's 39.6. Junior 5-6 guard Tierney DeDonatis, who lit up SPU for 26 points last time, averages 11.4 points per game – and if she doesn't have the best shot, she finds someone who does, with a team-high 66 assists (2.9 per game).
 
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 13-12, 8-8 GNAC (6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 30-22. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 69, MSUB 63 (Jan. 23 at Billings). Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: After a stretch during which it lost four of five, Montana State Billings has gotten back on track, winning three of its past four, the only loss coming last Thursday against No. 8 Alaska Anchorage, 83-69. The Yellowjackets have a trio of players who can pile up the points. Sophomore 6-foot-3 forward Taryn Shelley, who hails from nearby Shoreline, leads the way at 13.5 per game, No. 9 in the GNAC, on .476 shooting. She also hauls down an average of 8.6 rebounds per game, good for No. 3 on the conference list, and has the fourth-highest amount of blocked shots with 28. Hannah Collins, a junior 5-5 guard, averages 12.4 per game, and senior 5-6 guard Jeanann Lemelin chips in 11.1 per game, and she is a threat from long range with her team-high 53 treys. Lemelin (18) and Shelley (17) combined for 35 points in last month's SPU game in Billings. Lemelin followed that with a 30-point outing just two days later in an 82-74 homecourt victory against Saint Martin's.
 
SIMONSON SAYS …
(On the two games this week)
"Our backs are against the wall. We can still reach our goal, but it's going to be difficult. 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 (at Concordia-Portland), 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."

 

(On the quick turnaround from Concordia)
"It was a really fun game last time, competitive and physical. It's two evenly matched teams. I'm excited to see what we can do on Tuesday and how we can respond from this lesson we had."
 
(On staying positive)
"What we talked about after the (Concordia) game is the power of hope, the power of confidence. When you hit one or two shots and that positivity is flowing through your program, what you can accomplish is honestly endless. So that's a lesson I want our team to know. Believing and having hope can conquer a lot of things.
 
HOT-HANDED HINGSTON
It's always a big night when a senior comes through with a career-high scoring performance. For Falcons senior Madi Hingston, it was particularly special when it happened last Thursday night.

Playing at Western Oregon in Monmouth, just a few miles from where she grew up and attended McNary High School, Hingston pumped in 18 points, including 10 in a row for SPU during the decisive fourth quarter. She hit 70 percent overall from the field (7 of 10), with 60 percent (3 of 5) from behind the 3-point-arc.
 
"This is always a big game for her to come down here and get to play in front of her family and friends. She hit some really big shots in the second half, huge ones – she had that bank shot runner she hits all the time in practice. To pull off that shot that looked very difficult and do it with ease and confidence showed she had ice in her veins."
 
Hingston had the shooting eye again on Saturday at Concordia. In that game, she hit 50 percent for the game (6 of 12), with 44.4 percent (4 of 9) from downtown.
 
That gave her a two-game total of 59.1 percent (13 of 22), putting her at .414 for the season.
 
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END
From the time she hit the second half of a two-shot foul against Academy of Art on Dec. 19, senior guard Hailee Bennett has been the picture of perfection at the free throw line. She drained 31 in a row, including a 9-for-9 performance against Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 4 and 7 for 7 against Simon Fraser just five nights later.
 
But eventually, one was not going to go in, and that happened last Saturday at Concordia-Portland. Bennett's first attempt of the night rimmed in and out. She hit the second one. She hit another one in the third quarter to complete a traditional three-point play before misfiring on a pair in the fourth quarter.
 
All of that left Bennett at 87.9 percent for the season (58 of 66). That still sits atop the GNAC by 20 percentage points ahead of Western Washington's Anna Schwecke (73 of 85 for .859). She is now tied for 22^nd in NCAA Division II with sophomore Joey Batt of Minnesota State (also 58 of 66).
 
The Falcons, who have led the conference in team free throw percentage most of the season, come into this week at No. 2 behind Central Washington. The Wildcats are at .760 after going 26 of 33 (.788) in their last two games combined. Seattle Pacific is at .753 after going just 10 of 17 (.588) in Oregon.
 
 

SENIOR NIGHT IS COMING
With the end of the regular season now in range, SPU will honor seniors Hailee Bennett and Madi Hingston prior to the 2:00 p.m. tip-off against Central Washington on Saturday, Feb. 29.
 
Both came to the Falcons in the fall of 2016.
 
Bennett redshirted as a true freshman, but has seen regular playing time ever since. In 2017-18, she got into all 29 games as a reserve, then started 17 of the 24 games she played last season. This year, she has started all 24 games – the only Falcon to do so.
 
HIngston, after seeing limited action as a freshman and missing most of her sophomore season with an injury, began regular steady on-court action in 2018-19, playing in 26 of the 27 games with 11 starts. Now a senior, she has played in all 24 games this season with 19 starts.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
IN THE MAKING
100^th assist: Madi Hingston (has 82)
100^th rebound:  Kayla Brundidge (has 97)
200^th rebound: Hailee Bennett (has 192)
500^th assist: Abril Rexach Roure (has 481)
600^th rebound:  Ashlynn Burgess (has 594)
1,000^th point: Abril Rexach Roure (has 914)
 
MADE LAST WEEK
100^th point:  Grace Sterk (has 106)
300^th rebound:  Abril Rexach Roure (has 305)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 304 NCAA Division II programs, Seattle Pacific ranks:
-- 58^th in defensive rebounds per game at 28.0 (Anderson (S.C.) 1^st at 33.6).
-- 36^th in free throw shooting at .760 (Southeastern Oklahoma 1^st at .820).
 
Individually:
-- Hailee Bennett tie 22^nd in free throw shooting at .876 / 58 of 66 (Morgan Brunner (West Liberty) 1^st at .958 / 68 of 71).
 
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage has a chance to clinch at least a tie for the GNAC regular-season title this week. The Seawolves (25-2, 15-1) have a two-game lead on second-place Northwest Nazarene (18-6, 13-3) and will play at home against Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday. It was the Vikings who dealt UAA its only conference loss, 71-64 in Bellingham on Jan. 23.
 
UC San Diego maintained a one-game lead on Cal State San Marcos in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Both teams joined the 20-win club as both are 20-4 overall. The Tritons have a 16-3 conference record; the Cougars are 15-4. Third-place Cal State East Bay (16-8, 12-6) is keeping itself in the West Regional conversation and hosts the two leaders this week: San Diego on Thursday and San Marcos on Saturday.
 
Hawaii Pacific has clinched the Pacific West Conference regular-season title with four games still to play. The Sharks (23-1, 18-0) have extended their winning streak to 19 in a row. Azusa Pacific (20-4, 14-4) is second and well positioned to make the NCAA West Regionals, with Concordia Irvine (14-8, 12-5) also in the hunt. Of HPUs' last four games before the Pac West tourney, only one (Point Loma Nazarene at 14-9, 10-7) has a winning record.
 
UP NEXT
The regular season concludes in Brougham Pavilion next week for the Falcons. Northwest Nazarene, guided by former SPU assistant coach Steve Steele, is in town on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 5:15 p.m.  Then it's Central Washington, with former Falcons assistant Randi Richardson-Thornley at the helm, on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 2:00 p.m.
 
Both games are the openers of doubleheaders. The Seattle Pacific men face NNU on the 27^th at 7:30 p.m., and Central on the 29^th at 4:15 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                       GNAC           Overall
Alaska Anchorage          15-1      25-2
Northwest Nazarene        13-3      18-6
Western Washington        11-5      17-7
Simon Fraser              11-5      16-10
Central Washington        9-7       14-10
Montana State Billings    8-8       13-12
Saint Martin's            7-9       12-11
Seattle Pacific           6-10       8-16
Concordia-Portland        4-12       5-19
Alaska Fairbanks          2-14       7-18
Western Oregon            2-14       5-18