SEATTLE – Some nights, it takes a little of everything from everybody to get the job done.
 
On Thursday, that's exactly what the Seattle Pacific Falcons got
 
Ashley Alter scored nine of her team-leading 13 points during the fourth quarter on Thursday night, and SPU withstood a late rally by Central Washington, hanging on for a 69-65 victory in Brougham Pavilion to open the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball schedule.
 
Senior guard / forward Alter hit 6 of 9 from the field and grabbed five rebounds. Senior guard Kaprice Boston and redshirt freshman guard Anna Eddy added 11 points apiece for SPU (4-4,1-0 GNAC).
 
A total of 11 Falcons saw playing time. Of those, 10 scored, eight grabbed at least one rebound, and nine had at least one assist and / or one steal.
 
All of that helped Seattle Pacific (4-4, 1-0 GNAC) snap a five-game losing streak to Central (4-3, 0-1 GNAC). The last time the Falcons beat the Wildcats was by a 62-43 count on Jan. 6, 2018 in Brougham.



 

 "Central has had our number for the last few years. To start conference 1-0 is huge, regardless of the opponent," head coach Mike Simonson said. "To get a 'W' against Central is really amazing, and I'm really happy we were able to get it."
 
SPU MAKES A RUN, CWU KEEPS BOUNCING BACK
The Falcons used a 14-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take a 25-12 lead. It grew to as many as 17 points at 33-16 with 3:05 left before halftime, and was all the way up to a 21-point bulge at 48-27 with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
 
Then Central, which played without leading scorer and rebounder Samantha Bowman (she averages a double-double of 16.8 points and 14.7 rebounds) started climbing back in, using a 17-4 outburst to get within eight by the end of the third at 52-44.
 
Seattle Pacific went back on top by 14 twice during the fourth quarter, the last time at 62-48 with 6:41 to play. But the Wildcats did not fold. Down by nine at 66-57 with 2:10 left, they put six straight points on the board, closing to 66-63 with 20.1 seconds showing.
 
Central was forced to foul, and junior point guard Bayley Brennan wound up on the free throw line for the Falcons with 15.5 seconds left. She hit one of her two tries for a 67-63 lead. Kassidy Malcolm missed a 3-pointer from the left elbow for the Wildcats, but they retained possession when the battle for the rebound resulted in a held ball at 4.0 seconds. Malcolm converted a lay-in on the second-chance opportunity for the last of her game-high 23 points to make it 67-65 at 2.4 seconds.
 
Sophomore Hailey Marlow was fouled with 1.4 remaining and calmly sank both free throws to secure it for SPU.

 

"It's obviously a tale of two halves," Simonson said after Central Washington outscored the Falcons by a 42-34 margin during the second 20 minutes. "We did some really good things to execute and to win the game. But the truth is, we're seeing who we are and who we can be. That's what we need to hold onto."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- Senior forward Natalie Hoff grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. It was her second double-digit performance of the season on the boards, just one short of the 11 she collected against Humboldt State on Nov. 13.
-- Led by Hoff's 6-of-6, the Falcons had another strong performance at the free throw line, hitting 13 of 16 (81.3 percent). That comes on the heels of a 13-of-14 effort in last Saturday's 70-60 victory against Westminster College. Thanks to those two games SPU has raised its season mark from .686 to .740 – a jump of 54 percentage points.
-- SPU had 17 assists on 24 baskets (70.8 percent). It also was the third straight game the team has had a positive assist / turnover ratio (17 / 14).
-- Abril Rexach Roure, Anna Eddy, and Hailey Marlow each had four assists.
-- Seattle Pacific shot 44.4 percent for the game (24 of 54) – and hit the same 44.4 percent mark from 3-point range (8 of 18).
-- The Falcons are now 17-3 all-time in GNAC openers, including 9-0 at home.
 
UP NEXT
SPU wraps up the first weekend of conference play on Saturday at home against Northwest Nazarene. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. On Thursday, the Nighthawks took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter at Montana State Billings, only to see the Yellowjackets ring up a 31-16 scoring advantage through the final 10 minutes for a 71-67 victory.