THE SCHEDULE
Friday, Feb. 19                                 Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 6:00 p.m.
                                                          Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                          Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 20                             Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                          Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                          Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – The homestretch of the women's basketball season is here for Seattle Pacific.
 
A schedule that began just five weeks ago is down to its final three weeks. That stretch starts this week in Brougham Pavilion as the Falcons play host to Northwest Nazarene on Friday and Saturday.
 
Friday's game against one of their regular Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents tips off at 6:00 p.m. Saturday's contest will begin at 2:00 p.m.
 
SPU will be somewhat refreshed heading into the back-to-back set. The team has had just one game in the past two weeks, that being last Wednesday's 87-56 homecourt victory against Northwest University.
 
At 6-4, the Falcons have the most games among any of the four GNAC teams that have played so far. Northwest Nazarene (3-5) is close behind with eight games in the book.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, fans will not be allowed to attend any of this year's games, home or away. However, they can keep up with all the action online with free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Although the 3-point shot isn't the first option for the Falcons on offense, it nevertheless has been – with a few frosty exceptions – a very effective option.
 
In fact, SPU comes into this week tied for No. 16 in NCAA Division II for shooting accuracy from behind the arc at 37 percent (60 of 162).  A night like last Wednesday against Northwest University certainly helps. The Falcon were 11 of 19, a mark of 57.9 percent. That's the second time this season they've been above 50 percent, having connected on 10 of 19 (52.6 percent) on Jan. 22 at home vs. Lewis-Clark State.
 
 

Individually, junior guard Rachel Berg has emerged as the sharpest of the downtown sharpshooters. She is connecting at a 50 percent clip (21 of 42), tops in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and tied for No. 12 nationally.
 
Also on the stat sheet, SPU is up to No. 2 nationally in rebounding margin at plus-12.2 per game, grabbing 405 boards to 283 for its opponents. Daemen College of Amherst, New York, is No. 1 at plus-13.0.
 
The Falcons continue to be one of the country's top defensive teams, allowing just 57.7 points per game. That's No. 21 of the 214 schools currently playing.
 
"That just shows the growth of our team. The things we emphasize every day in practice are becoming our identity in games," head coach Mike Simonson said. "I think good teams need to have an identity, and we are starting to see what ours is. We're taking a lot of pride in those areas, and it's fun."
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU comes into the week on its first two-game winning streak of the season.
-- The 87 points put up by the Falcons against Northwest University last Wednesday was their highest total since a 94-76 victory at Saint Martin's on Jan. 23, 2018.
-- Their last score in the 80s was Jan. 4, 2020, when they beat Alaska Fairbanks in Seattle, 83-70.
 

-- Senior point guard Abril Rexach Roure's 19 points vs. Northwest tied her high in an SPU uniform. She previously had that many on Nov. 22, 2019 against Colorado Mines in Brougham Pavilion. Rexach Roure is now just 13 points away from 1,000 for her career.
-- At 4.7 assists per game, Rexach Roure leads the GNAC and is tied for No. 32 among NCAA Division II players. She has 18 assists in her last two games (11 at Saint Martin's on Feb. 5, and 7 against Northwest on Feb. 10).
-- SPU's last victory against Northwest Nazarene was by a 71-60 margin in the first round of the 2017 GNAC Tournament.
-- The Nighthawks, under the direction of former SPU assistant coach Steve Steele, have swept the six games since then, including by margins of 30 points (77-47 in Nampa) and 22 points (77-55 in Seattle) last season.
-- Junior forward Natalie Hoff recorded her second season and career double-double last Wednesday against Northwest University, this one with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Her first one was 11 points and 10 rebounds vs. Saint Martin's on Jan. 15.
-- For the season, the Falcons have four double-doubles. Along with Hoff's two, senior guard Kaprice Boston has one (10 points-10 rebounds at Saint Martin's on Feb. 5), and sophomore post player Kayla Brundidge has one (10 points-10 rebounds vs. Saint Martin's on Jan. 16).
-- The Falcons have five homecourt victories this season, matching last year's total.
-- The 11 turnovers against Northwest University were a season low for the Falcons.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 3-5, no GNAC record
All-time series: SPU leads, 31-14. Current series streak: NNU won 6. Last time: NNU 77, SPU 55 (Feb. 27, 2020 at Seattle). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: NNU is coming off a 14-day break, which it had not planned on having. After dropping a 90-51 decision at Idaho State on Feb. 5, the three games that the Nighthawks were supposed to play last week – one at home against College of Idaho, then two at Saint Martin's – were postponed. A contest set for this Tuesday against Eastern Oregon was pushed back to next week. Last year's top two scorers and top two rebounders – guards Avery Albrecht (15.2 points, 5.9 rebounds) and Marina Valles (14.2 points, 4.3 rebounds) – both graduated. Setting the pace this winter is junior 6-foot forward Erin Jenkins (10.6 points) and sophomore 6-1 forward Clare Eubanks (10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds). Nyalam Thabach, a sophomore 6-2 forward, contributes 9.6 points and 6.3 boards per game, and freshman 6-1 forward Teagan Thurman also averages 6.3 rebounds. The Nighthawks play a pressing, trapping defense that forces a lot of turnovers (an average of 23.9 per game). Thurman and Thabach have two double-doubles apiece; Eubanks has one.
 
SIMONSON SAYS …
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"We really respect them. We will not take them lightly at all, and we need to focus on the little things – taking care of the ball, making sure we're working to get open, and really passing and dribbling the ball cleanly. That has been our focus in practice."
 
 

(On confidence gained from the Northwest U game)
"What I loved is we stayed the course throughout the game. We took care of the ball very well. They tried to deny a little bit and tried to do some things defensively to make us cough up the ball. But we held onto it. And we shot great, which should give us some confidence."
 
(On overall improved shooting)
"We've been shooting great in practice, and we hope that will continue to snowball and keep growing. A player hits a shot, and it's contagious. We want those positives to keep growing."
 
(On the steady play of the freshmen)
"I feel really confident when a freshman or a younger inexperienced player comes in that they're going to do a good job, because they do it very well in practice every day. So seeing someone like Beth (Pettingill) come in and have the game she did (last Wednesday against Northwest), I fully anticipated that was going to happen. I love our depth and how we can tag-team in, and that's the sign of a good team.'
 
FALCONS REPLAY
--Abril Rexach Roure poured in 19 points, Natalie Hoff had 14 points and 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season, and Seattle Pacific shot a sizzling 59 percent from the field, pulling away in the second half for an 87-56 victory against Northwest University on Feb. 10 Brougham Pavilion. 
 
ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Ashley Alter was named the GNAC Player of the Week on Jan. 18 after putting 57 points on the board – including a career-high 25 against Saint Martin's – in SPU's first three games of the season.
-- Rachel Berg won the GNAC Player of the Week award on Jan. 25. She totaled 27 points in two games combined against Lewis-Clark State, and shot 10 of 17 from the field, with 6-of-8 accuracy from 3-point range.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Of the GNAC schools that have been playing since mid-January, Seattle Pacific has the top record at 6-4, with Saint Martin's at 3-4 and Northwest Nazarene at 3-5. Montana State Billings, which started in late January, is 3-2.
 
Hawaii Pacific remains the leader among Pacific West Conference schools. The Sharks are 7-0 in conference play (all within the three-school Hawaii Pod) and 8-0 overall. Fresno Pacific, playing in the three-school Northern California Pod, also has a perfect conference record at 4-0 (4-3 overall). Point Loma Nazarene leads the four-team Southern California Pod at 6-2 (7-2 overall).

In the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which is joining the West Region for this season only, Colorado School of Mines is on top at 12-2 (13-2 overall), with Western Colorado next at 10-2 (11-2 overall). Also with 12 victories are Black Hills State and Colorado Mesa, both 12-5 in conference and overall.
 
Because not every school has opted to play this winter, some adjustments have been made to the regions for this year only. The West usually includes the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Pacific West and the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
 
But in the GNAC, only SPU, Saint Martin's, and Northwest Nazarene are playing anything close to a full schedule. The Pac West is attempting to play a full schedule within three geographic pods. The CCAA is not playing at all.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific will play a home-and-home series against Central Washington next weekend. The Wildcats will be the hosts in Ellensburg on Friday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 p.m. The scene switches to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday the 27^th, with an evening tip-off set for 7:00.