PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have been picked by coaches for an eighth-place finish in the upcoming Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball season.
 
SPU, which went 7-7 during last winter's abbreviated schedule, received 43 points in voting by the 10 GNAC coaches.
 
Alaska Anchorage was picked as a slight favorite, receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes and 92 points. Right behind is Western Washington with two first-place votes and 89 points. Northwest Nazarene received the other first-place vote and 70 points for third.
 
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020-21 GNAC season was canceled, but teams were allowed to play independent schedules. With 14 games, the Falcons wound up playing more than anyone else except NNU, which also played 14 and went 7-7.
 
Seattle Pacific played two GNAC opponents, splitting four games with Saint Martin's, and splitting two with Northwest Nazarene.
 
 

Of the 15 players on last season's team, 14 are returning for head coach Mike Simonson, who is entering his fourth season. That includes 5-foot-11 senior Ashley Alter, who can play guard or forward, and averaged a team-high 13.3 points.
 
Other starters returning – all seniors – are point guard Abril Rexach Roure, guard Rachel Berg, and guard Kaprice Boston.  Berg averaged 11.1 points, Rexach Roure averaged 5.4 points and a team-leading 5.4 assists, and Boston averaged 5.4 points and 5.9 rebounds.
 
 

Another key returner for the Falcons is senior forward Natalie Hoff, The 6-2 forward played all 14 games with seven starts and led the team in rebounding at 6.4 per game while also averaging 10.0 points. Hoff shot 45 percent from the field.
 
Junior 6-foot post player Kayla Brundidge started seven of the 11 games in which she played, averaging 5.1 points and 4.8 rebounds, shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, the top mark among those who saw regular playing time.
 
Along with the 14 returners, Seattle Pacific has four freshman who will be vying for playing time. Among those is 6-3 center Schuyler Berry from Grant High School in Portland. She was the Portland Interscholastic League Player of the Year and an Oregon All-State selection in 2020.
 
Maya Hoff, a 6-2 guard and the younger sister of Natalie, was as three-time Portland All-Metro pick from Beaverton's Southridge High School. A pair of players from rival high schools in the southwest Washington city of Camas also are coming aboard. Jalena Carlisle is a 5-11 guard from Camas High, and Lolo Weatherspoon is a 5-10 wing from Union. Both made the All-Greater St. Helens team in 2019.
 
The Falcons open play with home exhibition against Multnomah College on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7:00 p.m. The season officially begins the following weekend when Corban College of Salem, Oregon, comes in on Friday, Nov. 12, followed by West Region rival Humboldt State on Saturday the 13^th. Both games tip off at 3:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

Conference play begins the first week of December when Seattle Pacific plays host to Central Washington on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m., and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday the 4th at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
2021-22 GNAC PRESEASON WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACHES POLL
 
Team (1^st-place votes)                    2020-21 record         2019-20 record                      Points
1.   Alaska Anchorage (7)     3-0        31-2, 19-1 (1^st)          92
2.   Western Washington (2)   6-0        22-9, 14-6 (3^rd)          89
3.   Northwest Nazarene (1)   7-7        22-7, 17-3 (2^nd)          70
4.   Simon Fraser             DNP        18-13, 13-7 (tie 4^th)     69
5.   Central Washington       0-2        19-11, 13-7 (tie 4^th)     60
6.   Saint Martin's           7-6        14-13, 9-11 (tie 6^th)     48
7.   Montana State Billings   5-3        14-16, 9-11 (tie 6^th)     47
8.   Seattle Pacific          7-7        8-20, 6-14 (8^th)          43
9.   Western Oregon           DNP        6-21, 3-17 (10^th)         20
10. Alaska Fairbanks          DNP        7-22, 2-18 (11^th)         12