SEATTLE – They brought the defense on Day 1.
 
Anna Eddy and Beth Pettingill scored 12 points apiece, and the Seattle Pacific Falcons limited Corban to sub-30 percent shooting from the field an sub-40 points on the scoreboard, pulling away in the second half for a 63-38 victory to tip off the women's basketball season on Friday in Brougham Pavilion.

 

For Eddy, a sophomore guard from Portland, it was her first official college game, as she redshirted last season. She got her 12 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. She also handed out four assists and committed no turnovers.
 
 

Sophomore forward Pettingill, from Folsom, California, also got her 12 in a reserve role, hitting 5 of 8 from the floor with 2 of 5 from downtown., and grabbed four rebounds.
 
Senior guard / forward Kaprice Boston chipped in 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, hit both of her 3-pointers, and also had three boards and three assists.
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SPU (1-0) forced Corban (1-4) into just 28.8 percent shooting (15 of 52) from the field overall and just 1 of 10 from long range. The Warriors, an NAIA program from Salem, Oregon and a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, were led by the 22 points of Halle Wright. She made it a double-double with 10 rebounds. Wright a sophomore transfer from Division I Montana State, hit 7 of 14 from the field, and Holly Golenor added 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
 
But everyone else in Corban blue shot a combined 2 of 27.
 
 

"I definitely thought we had some first-game jitters, especially on the offensive end," head coach Mike Simonson said. (SPU shot 40.3 percent for the game, draining 25 of 62.). "We got a lot of good shots early, but it seemed like we weren't hitting them, missed a couple of (lay-ups), and that kind of broke us out of our rhythm.
 
"But what I'm really proud about is our defense held true for 40 minutes. We talk about that all the time: Our defense can not change if our offense isn't hitting. Our defense has to stay consistent, and we did that for the most part."
 
The last time SPU kept a team below 40 points was Nov. 12, 2016 in a 67-36 victory against Humboldt State in Brougham – 128 games ago.
 
Seattle Pacific was up just 15-14 at the end of the first quarter after Wright drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from between the circles. The Falcons stretched it out to 33-21 by halftime.
 
Corban twice got as close as six early in the third quarter. But SPU stretched it out to 17 by the end of the third, 47-30, and stayed comfortably in command after that.
 
Junior post player Kayla Brundidge came off the bench and led the Falcons with eight rebounds. Natalie Hoff had seven to go along with nine points as Seattle Pacific had a 45-33 advantage on the boards.
 
SPU is now 36-11 all-time in season-opening games. This was the first-ever contest against Corban.
 
UPCOMING ACTION
The Falcons take on Humboldt State on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Seattle Pacific has a 31-3 lead in the all-time series, but the Lumberjacks have won the last two. Humboldt fell to Western Washington in Friday's first game, 68-56. Western plays Corban at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
 
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 1-0
Corban 1-4
 
NEXT GAME
Humboldt State at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Nov. 13     3:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.