SEATTLE – First, the electricity went out at the Saint Martin's campus in Lacey.
 
Then, the SPU Falcons pulled the plug on the Saints' offense in Seattle.
 
A most unusual women's basketball season had a most unusual day on Saturday. But at the end of that day, Seattle Pacific had another tally in the win column, as Ashley Alter poured in 20 points and Kayla Brundidge logged her third career double-double to help spark a 61-50 victory in Brougham Pavilion.
 
That gave the Falcons (2-1) a split of the weekend series. On Friday, they stayed close to the Saints all the way, but came up short, 72-66.
 
Saturday's rematch originally was scheduled for Marcus Pavilion at Saint Martin's. But a morning power outage in the area led to a last-minute decision to shift the game to Brougham.
 
  "They wanted to play, we wanted to play, and we're really happy they wanted to come up and play in Seattle" Falcons head coach Mike Simonson said. "When you have a change of plans, there's adversity, and how are you going to respond to that? One thing we talked about before the game is we talked about enthusiasm. We wanted to be the most enthusiastic to play, and I think we did a great job of being enthusiastic today."
 
 

The 20-point performance by junior guard Alter was her second in less than 24 hours. She had a career-high 25 in Friday's loss to the Saints.
 
Brundidge put 10 points and 10 rebounds into the book. She came up especially big in the fourth quarter with six points in a row that stretched a 50-40 lead to 56-40. She also collected two of her boards during that period.
 
"Ashley was a really good scorer tonight, but what I was more proud of was she had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, as well," Simonson said. (Alter had a team-high four assists and just three turnovers.) So not only did she score, she shared the ball. And I can't say enough about Kayla. Almost every bucket she hit was when we needed one in the second half. She really cemented us to the lead for our win."
 




TURNING THE TABLES
On Friday, Seattle Pacific forged a pair of early ties against Saint Martin's, but never actually led in the game.
 
On Saturday, the Falcons were in front most of the way except for a stretch of eight lead changes spanning the first and second quarters.
 
Tied 32-32 at halftime, SPU went ahead for good with four straight points to open the third quarter: a pair of free throws by senior guard Kaprice Boston, and a fast-break lay-in by Alter after senior point guard Abril Rexach Roure stole the ball and found Alter streaking down the court.
 
Up 45-38 late in the third, the Falcons finished the quarter with five straight points to take a 50-38 lead into the final 10 minutes of the game. Saint Martin's got the initial basket of the fourth on a runner by Lauryn Morris with 7:35 left. But Seattle Pacific responded with eight straight points: six in a row by Brundidge, and the final two on a step-around lay-in by senior forward Ashlynn Burgess to make it 58-40 at the 4:10 mark.
 
The Saints went to a full-court trapping defense and climbed back in with a 10-0 run. That made it 58-50 with 1:43 to go, but SPU kept them off the board the rest of the way.

 

"Number one, we needed to play defense for all 40 minutes – that's our identity, and we're buying into that," Simonson said. "We held them to 18 points in the second half. Our defensive mantra is work, anticipate, and truste, and I think we did all three of those tonight."
 
That the Falcons had just 20 hours between the end of Friday's game and the start of Saturday's – plus all of the uncertainty surrounding it earlier in the day as to whether they would play at all, and if so, where – wasn't lost on Simonson.
 
"Just to be able to improve on a day's notice without practice, that just shows we're able to take coaching and we're able to apply it on the court, and we want to get better," he said.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Prior to the Saints' 10-0 fourth-quarter run, SPU had allowed them just eight points through 16 minutes, 40 seconds of the second half.
-- After allowing the Saints 11 makes on 21 tries (52.4 percent) from 3-point range on Friday, the Falcons limited them to 8 of 22 on Saturday (36.4 percent). Overall, Saint Martin's shot just 32.2 percent (19 of 59). SPU hit 38.1 percent (24 of 63).
-- Junior guard Rachel Berg had the first double-digit game of her college career, scoring 10 points on Saturday. Her previous high was eight against Academy of Art on Dec. 19, 2019.
-- The Falcons dominated the boards, 47-30, including 15-8 at the offensive end. For the two games, they had an 80-56 advantage, 29-18 on offensive.
-- In the second quarter on Saturday, Seattle Pacific did not allow the Saints to grab a rebound until 4:37 remained. The Falcons already had seven in the quarter by that time.
-- Prior to Saturday, Saint Martin's had won the last four games in the series. SPU's last win had been 68-64 in Lacey on New Year's Day 2019.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific hosts Lewis-Clark State of Lewiston, Idaho in back-to-back home games next weekend, Jan. 22-23. Tip-off on Friday is at 6:00 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. start on Saturday.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 61, Saint Martin's 50
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (1-2)
Dingus 1-7 0-0 2, Morris 2-8 0-0 5, Nelson 4-6 2-4 10, DeDonatis 3-10 0-0 8, Sutterlict 2-13 0-0 5, Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Vivola 5-10 0-0 14, Clear 0-0 0-0 0, Legette 2-4 0-0 6, Budiman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 4-6 50.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-1)
Brundidge 5-9 0-0 10, Alter 9-23 2-2 20, Berg 3-8 2-2 10, Rexach Roure 2-6 0-2 4, Boston 2-5 4-5 8, Mastsora 0-0 0-0 0, Marlow 1-1 0-0 2, Pettingill 0-0 1-2 1, Hoff 1-7 2-4 4, Burgess 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 24-63 11-17 61.
 
Saint Martin's      21           11           6              12           -- 50
Seattle Pacific     17           15           18           11           -- 61
 
3-point goals – STM 8-22 (Morris 1-2, DeDonatis 2-7, Sutterlict 1-8, Vivola 4-5), SPU 2-15 (Alter 0-5, Berg 2-6, Rexach Roure 0-2, Boston 0-1, Burgess 0-1). Fouled out – SPU: Brundidge. Rebounds – STM 30 (Dingus 12), SPU 47 (Brundidge 10). Assists – STM 13 (DeDonatis 4, Sutterlict 4), SPU 12 (Alter 4). Turnovers – STM 14, SPU 12. Total fouls – STM 16, SPU 13. Technical fouls – None.
 
 
Next game
Lewis-Clark State at Seattle Pacific
Friday, Jan. 22     6:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.