THE SCHEDULE
Wednesday, Feb. 10                           Northwest University at Seattle Pacific, 6:00 p.m.
                                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – It's not a week off. But it is a bit of a breather for the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team.
 
After playing back-to-back game for the past four weekends, the Falcons get to focus on just a single game this week, as they welcome Northwest University from nearby Kirkland.
 
SPU will tip off against the Eagles on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons are still looking for their first winning streak of the season, and will have a chance to do that this week. They are coming off a 70-64 victory at Saint Martin's last Friday in Lacey, giving them a split of the two-game series. The Saints won the first game of the set the previous night, 55-54.
 
This will be the only time this season when Seattle Pacific has just one game during the course of a week. The final three weekends will be Friday-Saturday back-to-back contests.
 
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. Andrew Harvey will call the action for Wednesday's game.
 
BALL COMIN' AT YA
Abril Rexach Roure certainly has had her nights of racking up some assists for SPU.
 
But none quite like last Friday.
 
 

The senior point guard dished out 11 assists to help the Falcons win at Saint Martin's, 70-64. That was her highest total ever in a Seattle Pacific uniform. It surpassed the eight she earned on Nov. 15, 2019 at Azusa Pacific, And, she came within two of her career high of 13, set in February 2019 during her sophomore season at Eastern Wyoming College.
 
One grateful recipient of Rexach Roure's passing was junior guard Rachel Berg. She hit seven shots from behind the 3-point arc as part of a career-high 28-point night, and five of those treys were assisted by the native of Spain who wears No. 11.
 
Altogether, Rexach Roure had a hand in 35 of SPU's 70 points: 28 from her assists, and seven points of her own.
 
Rexach Roure was the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference player this season with double-digit assists in a game, and was the first Falcon to do so since Jaylee Albert dished 10 at Central Washington on Jan. 12, 2019. Her total of 11 is tied for 11^th on the NCAA Division II list for most in a game this season.





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are 4-3 at home this season. A victory in Wednesday's game would tie last year's mark of five home wins.
-- Although SPU didn't win both games last week, it kept Saint Martin's below 40 percent shooting both nights: 33.3 on Thursday (17 of 51) and 35.3 on Friday (24 of 68).
-- In fact, just twice in nine games have the Falcons allowed a team to top 40 percent shooting. The Saints got there during their 72-66 win in Seattle on Jan. 15 (.423, 22 of 52), and Lewis-Clark State topped 40 (.439, 25 of 57) in a 68-67 win on Jan. 22, also in Seattle.
-- Rachel Berg's 28 points at Saint Martin's on Friday was her third career high of the season. She started the year never having reached double digits in a single game. Berg now has six such games in nine outings, including her first career high of 10 on Jan. 16 against Saint Martin's, her second one of 14 against Lewis-Clark State on Jan. 22, and now her 28-pointer.
--The last time a Falcon went for that many in a game was now-graduated Hailee Bennett. She tallied 29 against Cal State Los Angeles on Dec. 16, 2019.
-- The 10-point, 10-rebound double-double by senior guard Kaprice Boston in Friday's win at Saint Martin's was the first of her career and the third this season for Seattle Pacific. Junior forward Natalie Hoff and 11 points and 10 rebounds on Jan. 15, and sophomore post player Kayla Brundidge tallied 10 points and 10 boards on Jan. 16 – both games being at home against Saint Martin's.
-- After their horrendous 0-for-13 shooting night from 3-point range against College of Idaho on Jan. 29, the Falcons have enjoyed some decent success from downtown in the three games since. 46.2 percent (6 of 13) in the rematch against College of Idaho on Jan. 30, then 36.4 percent (8 of 22) at Saint Martin's last Thursday, and 45 percent (9 of 20) last Friday at Saint Martin's.
-- Seattle Pacific is No. 3 nationally this week in rebounding margin at plus-12.4 per game. The leader is Arkansas Tech at plus-12.7. The Falcons were on top last week at plus-13.5. At Saint Martin's, they had just a plus-3 on Thursday (35-32), but were back up to plus-14 on Friday (45-31).
-- Along with all of her assists, Abril Rexach Roure is approaching 1,000 career points. She comes into this week with 968 (the first 793 of those in her two years at Eastern Wyoming College). She is at 526 assists (399 at EWC).
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST EAGLES: 0-3, no conference record
All-time series: SPU leads, 24-0. Current series streak: SPU won 24. Last time: SPU 79, NWU 58 (Dec. 13, 2014). Eagles on the Web.
Eagles in a nutshell: The season has been incredibly bumpy for Northwest. After playing two exhibition games in mid-December, the schedule was paused due to Covid-19 reasons, as the Cascade Collegiate Conference said it would not start its season until March. The Eagles finally returned to the court last Saturday in an exhibition game at Seattle University, falling 82-59. That was a marked improvement from it game at SU on Dec. 10, when the Redhawks rolled to a 106-39 victory. Grace Meza, a 5-foot-5 junior guard, is averaging 13 points in the three games, going off for 23 on 8-of-15 shooting (5 of 10 from 3-point range) at Seattle U last week. Sam Van Loo can put into the basket and sweep it off the glass. The 6-2 junior post player is averaging 7.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She had seven boards in the game against the Redhawks on Feb. 6.
 
BENNETT BACK IN BROUGHAM
 

A familiar face will be on Northwest University's bench this week. Hailee Bennett, who completed her career with the Falcons last season, is now an assistant coach with the Eagles.
 
Bennett was an All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference honorable mention selection last season, when she started all 28 games (the only SPU player to do so), averaging 10.7 points, the second-highest mark on the team. Along the way, she put together a streak of 31 consecutive made free throws. Her final career mark of .868 at the line (125 of 144) ranks No. 2 on the program's all-time list.
 
In addition to her accomplishments on the court, Bennett was a two-time GNAC All-Academic honoree.

AROUND THE WEST
The NCAA has announced that the Division II basketball tournament will have a somewhat different look in 2021.

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 California Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Pacific West Conference.
 
But in the GNAC, only Seattle Pacific (5-4), Saint Martin's (3-4), and Northwest Nazarene (3-5) are playing anything close to a full schedule. The Pac West is attempting to play a full schedule within three geographic pods, and most of those schools have played between five and eight games. The CCAA is not playing at all.
 
With that in mind, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference will be part of the West this year. Most of that circuit's 15 schools have reached double digits in terms of games played.
 
UP NEXT
SPU will be home to take on Northwest Nazarene next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 19 and 20. The Friday game tips off at 6:00 p.m., and Saturday's will start at 2:00 p.m., both in Brougham Pavilion.