SAN MARCOS, Calif. – After a tough afternoon against Cal State San Marcos on Friday, Mike Simonson felt his Seattle Pacific women's basketball team could give No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific a real run for it on Saturday.
 
The Falcons did exactly that.
 
Falcons senior guard / forward Ashley Alter scored with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime – the last deadlock in a game that featured five ties and 13 lead changes – before Azusa scored the first eight points of the extra session and went on to a 67-61 victory on the final day of the Cal State San Marcos Hoops Classic.

Alter finished with a season-high 16 points – including the 500^th of her career – to go along with five rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
 
SPU (2-3) was coming off a 71-50 blowout loss to host San Marcos on Friday, but wiped that out of their minds in time to contend with the Cougars from start to finish in The Sports Center on the CSSM campus, and had a 53-46 lead with 4:13 left in regulation.
 
 

"I felt like that was a really great game against a strong regional opponent," Simonson said. "We're beginning to see that we do have the ability to be a strong team in the (West) region. However, we need to improve with the little things – taking care of the basketball, rebounding, taking shot that I know we can hit – and do it for 40 minutes. Once we do that, we'll be a tough team in the GNAC and a tough team in the region."
 
Azusa Pacific (4-1) used that remaining time in regulation to put together 11-4 scoring run, which Molly Whitmore capped with a short jumper straight in front of the hoop for a 57-55 lead with exactly three seconds remaining.
 
Seattle Pacific called two timeouts, the second one with 2.6 seconds left and in possession of the ball right under its own basket.

 

Alter was positioned on the right side of the lane as Kaprice Boston took the ball out. Alter backed up toward the free throw line, then broke back toward the hoop, took the inbounds bounce pass from Boston and laid it in from the right side with 1.1 to go.
 
The Cougars get off a long try at the buzzer, but it fell short, bringing on the additional five minutes.
 
Neither team scored through the first 1½ minutes of overtime until Whitmore got a lay-in with 3:26 to go for a 59-57 APU lead. Then Kayla Shaw and Kelly Heimburger buried back-to-back 3-pointers for a 65-57 advantage with 2:41 to go.
 
The Falcons, after missing their first four shots in OT, finally got on the board on a 12-foot jumper from the left of the lane by Beth Pettingill, cutting it to 65-59. But by then, just 44 seconds remained.
 
"We were up with four minutes to go, and I felt like we were in control," Simonson said. "Then, I think a couple of things – a little bit of experience, coupled with a short turnaround time preparing for that press they they do – we kind of struggled down the stretch taking care of the basketball, and that ultimately is what burned us in the end."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- With her 16 points on Saturday, Ashley Alter now has 512 for her career.
-- Senior forward Natalie Hoff added 14 points and four rebounds for Seattle Pacific. She was named to the all-tournament team.
 

-- Her sister, freshman guard Maya Hoff, had a breakout day with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
-- The teams had nearly identical shooting marks The Falcons hit 38.7 percent (24 of 62); the Cougars hit 38.5 (25 of 65).
-- That makes four times in five games that SPU has kept its opponent below 40 percent shooting. "One of our mottos is to make them miss. We need to do a good job of contesting shots to make them miss, and I felt today that almost every shot they took was contested. That's our goal every time out," coach Mike Simonson said.
-- Seattle Pacific had a 41-35 rebounding advantage, led by Kaprice Boston's seven.
-- Kelly Heimburger led Azusa with 17 points, and Kayla Shaw finished with 13.
 
UP NEXT
SPU heads to Ellensburg next weekend for the Central Washington Tournament. The Falcons will take on two teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, facing Metro State of Denver on Friday, Nov. 26, and Westminster College of Salt Lake City on Saturday the 27th. Both games in Nicholson Pavilion tip off at 2:00 p.m.

 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 2-3
Azusa Pacific 4-1
 
NEXT GAME
Seattle Pacific vs. Metro State (at Central Washington Tournament)
Friday, Nov. 26     2:00 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.