SEATTLE – This time, the hole was just too big for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
One day after overcoming a late seven-point deficit to pull out a win, SPU fell behind by nine early in the game and never was able climb all the way back in, dropping a 61-47 women's basketball decision to Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion.
That halted a season-high three-game winning streak.
Junior forward
Natalie Hoff led the way with 15 points and was the only Falcon to shoot better than .500 from the field, hitting 6 of 11. Junior forward
Ashley Alter added 11 points.
The only lead for Seattle Pacific (7-5) was on the opening basket of the game by Hoff. Northwest Nazarene (4-5) ran off the next five points. The Falcons leveled it at 5-5, then saw the Nighthawks finish the quarter on an 11-4 run for a 16-9 advantage. By halftime, they had extended it to 34-19.
"Our confidence was high coming in, and we expected to start fairly well," head coach
Mike Simonson said. "When we had resistance, we didn't respond as well as we did the night before.
"The first half was one of those things where we needed to get to halftime quickly and stop the bleeding and get on the same page," Simonson added. "There were some adjustments we needed to make that weren't easy (to make) during a timeout. We needed to sit down and calm down."
BIG START TO SECOND HALF
Those adjustments yielded results coming out of halftime as the Falcons put together an 11-2 run. Hoff had back-to-back baskets, the first on a lay-in, the second on a 10-footer from the left of the lane, to get within 34-23. McKenna Emerson pushed it back to 15 for NNU on a lay-in.
Alter responded with a lay-in for Seattle Pacific, junior guard
Rachel Berg drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and Alter laid one in on a fast break. All three of those were assisted by senior guard
Abril Rexach Roure and helped cut the deficit to six at 36-30 just 2 minutes, 49 seconds into the third quarter.
"We executed well and got great shots," Simonson said. "I was pretty pleased with where we were going into the fourth quarter."
Where the Falcons were was within seven points, 42-35, thanks to a 3-point prayer by Rexach Roure that simultaneously beat the shot clock and the third quarter buzzer. But Northwest Nazarene scored the first seven points of the fourth, doubling the lead to 14 at 49-35. The margin stayed between 12 and 16 points the rest of the way.
Mike Simonson
"We didn't start the fourth well, and that kind of set us back into a more reserved playing style – and that's not who we are," Simonson said. "They definitely made some adjustments to make it more difficult on our ball handlers. (SPU had 22 turnovers on Saturday compared to just 15 on Friday.) I'm thoroughly impressed with their ability to play with that much intensity – 80 minutes over two days in a row."
Although the offense wasn't as productive, Seattle Pacific's defense limited Northwest Nazarene to 61 points for the second straight day. The Nighthawks shot 42 percent for the game (21 of 50), but just 27.3 percent (6 of 22) from 3-point range.
SPU wound up at just 33.9 percent accuracy from the floor (19 of 56), including 23.1 percent (6 of 26) from downtown.
"We guarded them well enough to win the game, in my opinion," Simonson said. "They had a few buckets from our miscommunication here and there, but we guarded the 3-point line in the second half (when the Nighthawks buried just 1 of 11). Our offense for three quarters was good enough to win the game, too. And for three quarters, we were pretty sound at taking care of the ball. We were good enough to give us a chance to be competitive."
BY THE NUMBERS
-- As has been their recent trend, the Falcons shared the ball exceptionally well on Saturday, with assists on 15 of their 19 baskets (78.9 percent).
Abril Rexach Roure had seven of those assists, giving her 36 in the past four games.
-- For the second straight game, Northwest Nazarene had the rebound advantage, 39-29.
Natalie Hoff and
Ashley Alter had six apiece for the Falcons.
-- Along with that and her 15 points, Hoff had three assists, three steals, and one blocked shot. "Natalie had a great game and made some big baskets,"
Mike Simonson said.
--Although Seattle Pacific had 22 turnovers, it forced NNU into 26, which it converted into 16 points. But the Nighthawks netted 23 points off the Falcon turnovers.
-- After getting just 15 points off their bench on Friday (all from freshman
Teagan Thurman), the Nighthawks got 35 on Saturday, including a game-high 17 from
Nicole Gall. SPU reserves tallied just three points.
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific plays a home-and-home series against
Central Washington next weekend. The Wildcats will host in Ellensburg on Friday, Feb. 26, at 2:00 p.m. The return game on Saturday, Feb. 27 in Brougham tips off at 7:00 p.m.
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 20,2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Northwest Nazarene 61, Seattle Pacific 47
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (4-5)
Thabach 1-5 0-1 4, Jenkins 4-7 0-0 10, Eubanks 0-1 2-2 2, Hanson 1-7 2-2 4, Emerson 3-7 0-0 6 Bohner 0-2 0-0 0, Thurman 3-6 2-2 9, Knishka 3-6 0-0 9, Gall 6-9 5-7 17, Salisbury 0-0 0-0 0, Sampson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 13-17 61.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-5)
Alter 5-14 0-0 11, Hoff 6-11 3-5 15, Berg 3-13 0-2 9, Rexach Roure 2-6 0-2 5, Boston 2-8 0-0 4, Marlow 0-0 0-2 0, Mastora 0-0 0-0 0, Pettingill 1-4 0-0 3, Burgess 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 3-11 47.
Northwest Nazarene 16 18 8 10 -- 61
Seattle Pacific 9 10 16 12 -- 47
3-point goals – NNU 6-22 (Thabach 0-1, Jenkins 2-4, Hanson 0-2, Emerson 0-4, Bohner 0-2, Thurman 1-2, Knishka 3-6, Gall 0-1), SPU 6-26 (Alter 1-4, Hoff 0-2, Berg 3-11, Rexach Roure 1-4, Boston 0-3, Pettingill 1-2).
Fouled out – NNU: Emerson.
Rebounds – NNU 39 (Hanson 10, Thurman 10), SPU 29 (Alter 6, Hoff 6).
Assists – NNU 9 (Eubanks 3), SPU 15 (Rexach Roure 7).
Turnovers – NNU 26, SPU 22.
Total fouls – NNU 18, SPU 17.
Technical fouls – SPU: Coach Simonson.
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
Friday, Feb. 26 2:00 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.