SEATTLE – In a game of double-digit scoring runs, the Seattle Pacific Falcons had the one that mattered most:
 
The last one.
 
Having seen a 23-point lead whittled all the way down to eight, SPU went on an 11-6 surge in the fourth quarter, pushing its margin back to 13 on the way to securing a 66-56 women's basketball victory against Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion.
 
That closed out the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Falcons (5-7).
 
Senior forward Natalie Hoff and freshman center Schuyler Berry had 12 points apiece, with senior guard forward Ashley Alter adding 11 and senior guard Kaprice Boston chipping in 10.



 

Seattle Pacific rang up 17 straight points in the third quarter, extending a 36-30 edge all the way up to 53-30.
 
Then the Loggers (9-2), who came in ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division III and riding a nine-game winning streak, scored the last nine points of the third and the first six points of the fourth. Just like that, it was 53-45 with 8:11 still to play.
 
 

"When you play a team that presses as much as Puget Sound does, the game changes in an instant throughout the game," SPU head coach Mike Simonson said. "It's going to get rocky at times just because of the pace of the game. It might be a whistle or two, it might be an offensive rebound or two, it might be other things that just change the game."
 
It wasn't the first time the teams had traded scoring outbursts.
 
Puget Sound tallied the first seven points of the game as the Falcons missed their first eight shots. Berry, one of the five players who came onto the court in a wholesale substitution by Simonson less than three minutes into the game, finally got SPU onto to the board when she blocked a shot, grabbed the rebound, took the all the way downcourt and laid it in with 5 minute, 31 seconds having elapsed.
 
That started a 15-0 Seattle Pacific run in a span of six minutes bridging the first and second quarters. Puget Sound eventually got its offense going again, but the Falcons kept theirs going, as well. They hit 10 of 17 from the field in the second on the way to 27 points, their highest-scoring period of the season.
 
"Our communication and offensive execution were not at a high-enough level to compete with Puget Sound to start the game," Simonson said. "We made a bunch of subs, and kudos to that second group that came in – they kind of steadied the ship. Then the game in the second quarter turned into a huge offensive juggernaut."

Seattle Pacific got points from half a dozen different players to spark its 17-point burst in the third: four from Berry, three each from Alter, sophomore forward Beth Pettingill and freshman guard Maya Hoff, and two each from Boston and sophomore point guard Hailey Marlow.
 
Puget Sound's comeback was fueled by three daggers from downtown, and a long 2-pointer from the right corner by Grace Pytynia-Hillier that beat the third-quarter buzzer.
 
Back-to-back lay-ins by Natalie Hoff took some of the steam out of the Loggers' comeback, and while they did get back within eight on one other occasion at 59-51, that was as close as they came.
 
"I was really happy at the end of the game when players like Ashley Alter came back in off the bench and made some big shots, Natalie Hoff made some big shots, and Kaprice Boston got a lot of rebounds and made a lot of plays," Simonson said. "Those three starters for us really steadied it again."

BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific went 4-6 in non-conference games and is now 33-14 all-time against Puget Sound.
-- Schuyler Berry's 12 points was a career high. Her previous best was 11 at Stanislaus State on Dec. 9.
-- Senior point guard Abril Rexach Roure didn't score, but tied her season high with seven rebounds and dished a season-high six assists. She also had two steals and just one turnover in 22 minutes of action.
-- The Falcons had 20 assists on their 25 baskets.
-- Freshman point guard Maya Hoff tied her career high with six rebounds and set a career best with two blocked shots.
-- SPU wound up shooting 43.1 percent for the game (25 of 58). That included 58.8 percent (10 of 17) in the second quarter and 50 percent (6-of 12) in the third. Also factored into the final percentage was a 45 percent mark (9 of 20) from 3-point range.
-- The Falcons limited UPS to 33.9 percent from the field (21 of 62).
-- This was the third straight game and fifth of the season that SPU kept an opponent below 60 points.
-- Georgia Lavinder led the Loggers with 15 points.
-- UPS did not have the services of leading scorer Sophie Nilsson, whose 17.6 scoring average is the only one on the team in double digits. She did not suit up on Saturday.
  
UP NEXT
The Falcons are now off until after Christmas. When they do return to action, it will be arguably their toughest road trip of the season, as they visit the Alaska schools. SPU visits No. 7-ranked Anchorage on Dec. 30 at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time, then travels to Fairbanks on New Year's Day for a 4:00 p.m. PST contest.
 
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 5-7, 1-1 GNAC
Puget Sound 9-2, 2-0 Northwest Conference