THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 27                Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 29                Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 30                  Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
SEATTLE – Let's play three.
 
After a series of pandemic-related postponements following the return from the holiday break, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will start to get caught up on their women's basketball schedule this week with a series of three Great Northwest Athletic Conference home games in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Up first is a visit from Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Falcons and Nanooks did get to play their schedule game on New Year's Day in Alaska, with SPU prevailing, 67-45.
 
Alaska Anchorage then comes to down for a back-to-back pair. The regularly-scheduled game is set for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The make-up game, which originally was set for Dec. 30 at UAA, will tip off at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday.
 
The Thursday and Saturday contests will be part of doubleheaders, as the Falcon men also will square off against their Alaska counterparts: Fairbanks on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. and Anchorage on Saturday at 4:15.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Every game this weekend will have a live a Webcast and live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story. Greg Sexton will be on the play-by-play for every game.
 
TICKET TALK
Fans are welcome to attend games in person at Brougham Pavilion.
 
In compliance with King County guidelines, spectators 12 years of age and older attending SPU athletic events will need to provide proof of full vaccination or present a negative COVID-19 test. Before purchasing or picking up tickets at venue Will Call windows, attendees will be required to show evidence of vaccination. Acceptable forms of proof include a CDC-issued Vaccination Record Card, a photo of the card, the Washington state myIRmobile.com app or a document from a health care provider.
 
Those who cannot provide proof of vaccination may instead present documentation of a negative FDA-approved COVID-19 test administered by a professional and dated within 72 hours of the event.
 
For additional details, please click on the SPU ATHLETICS ENTRY POLICY webpage. Mask wearing is mandatory at all times and spectators are encouraged to social distance when possible. Save the wait in line and obtain your SPU soccer tickets in advance by purchasing them online the SPU TICKETS webpage.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are playing at home for the first time since a 66-64 overtime victory against Simon Fraser on Jan. 6. Their Jan. 8 home contest against Western Washington was postponed, and their most recent three games (two of which were postponed) were scheduled road contests.
-- Seattle Pacific has a 5-2 homecourt record and has won two of its three GNAC home games.
-- This week starts the second half of the conference calendar, although all 10 teams still have games to make up from the first half.
-- SPU's current seven-game win streak against Fairbanks it its longest against any GNAC opponent.
-- One of those wins came the last time the Nanooks played in Seattle. On Jan. 4, 2020, they built a 26-12 lead near the end of the first quarter, The Falcons got within six by halftime, 45-39, then scored the first 13 points coming out of the intermission and wound up winning, 83-70. At one point, SPU was up by as many as 22 late in the fourth.
-- With her six rebounds last Saturday at Billings, senior forward Natalie Hoff now has 100 for the season. She needs five more to break her previous single-season best of 104, which she set as a sophomore during 2019-20.
 

-- Senior guard Kaprice Boston has a chance to reach two milestones by the end of the weekend. She is just 21 points away from 400 for her career, and 16 rebounds away from 300.
-- Redshirt sophomore guard Hunter Beirne got her first college start last Saturday when she took the court for the opening tip-off at MSUB.
-- Although baskets were hard to come by in Montana (just 19), the Falcons had assists on 13 of them (68.4 percent). That pushed their season percentage for assisted baskets to 62.4 (214 on 343 makes). That's the third-highest percentage in the GNAC behind Alaska Anchorage (67.2) and Saint Martin's (63.0).
-- Seattle Pacific ranks 25th in NCAA Division II for field goal defense (opponents are hitting just 35.0 percent) and 26^th for defensive rebounds per game (29.4)
-- Head coach Mike Simonson is 5-0 against Alaska Fairbanks and 0-4 against Alaska Anchorage.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 1-10, 0-6 GNAC (10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 64-16.  Current series streak: SPU won 7.  Last time: SPU 67, UAF 45 (Jan. 1 at Fairbanks). Last UAF series win: UAF 63, SPU 61 (Feb. 16, 2017 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web. Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks won its season-opening game, 71-69 against Texas-Permian Basin, but has lost 10 straight since then. Freshman 5-foot-7 guard Pearle Green leads the Nanooks in scoring at 15.7 points per game which ranks No. 6 in the GNAC. She's a solid shooter from 3-point range, hitting 34.3 percent (37 of 108), the 12th-highest mark in the conference. Destiny Reimers, a 5-9 freshman guard, averages 11.8 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds, and 5-4 freshman guard Claudia Diez-Marti averages 10.5 points per contest. Reimers led the way with nine points and seven rebounds in the New Year's game against SPU. Green and Reimers are among the GNAC leaders in steals, with Green tied for third at 2.2 and Reimers fifth at 2.0.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 10-3, 3-2 GNAC (tie 5^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 41-33. Current series streak: UAA won 4. Last time: UAA 69, SPU 49 (Feb. 1, 2020 at Anchorage). Last SPU series win: SPU 74, UAA 65 (March 2, 2018 at Anchorage; GNAC semifinals). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage is coming off a bumpy week, with homecourt losses to Montana State Billings (72-48) and Western Washington (53-45). Shots just weren't going in for the Seawolves in either game, as they hit just 32.1 percent (17 of 53) against Billings and 25.4 percent (17 0f 67) against Western. Nicole Pinckney, a junior 5-foot-5 guard, sets the offensive pace for UAA, averaging 9.9 points per game. Close behind her at 9.6 is senior 6-foot forward Tennae Voliva. She ranks No. 2 in GNAC free throw shooting at 83.6 percent (51 of 61). Anchorage is known for its pressing defense that forces a lot of turnovers (an average of 23.8 per game), in part by averaging 12.8 steals per game. Voliva averages 2.2 steals, tied for No. 3 in the conference.
 
CATCHING UP ON THE CALENDAR
All 10 GNAC schools are in varying stages of getting caught up on their schedules. Over the course of the next month leading up to the conference tournament, many of them will have some three-game weeks.
 
After playing Alaska Anchorage on Sunday, Seattle Pacific has three make-up contests left.

The Jan. 13 road game at Saint Martin's will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. in Lacey. The Western Washington home game from Jan. 8 is now scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 4:00 p.m. in Brougham. The Western Oregon road game from Jan. 15 will be played on Monday, Feb. 21 at 5:15 p.m. in Monmouth.

BERG IS BACK
It was a welcome sight last Saturday inside Montana State Billings' Alterowitz Gymnasium when Falcons senior guard Rachel Berg subbed into the game with 6:40 left in the first quarter.
 
 

Berg had not played since last March 6 when SPU wound up its abbreviated season at home against Western Washington. She suffered a knee injury during the offseason and has been working her way back ever since.
 
On Saturday, Berg played 26 minutes, 36 seconds – more than anyone else on the team – and suppled nine points (all from 3-point range), two rebounds, and two assists. Her first basket came on her first shot of the game, a trey from the right corner just 37 seconds after stepping onto the court.
 
"I'm so proud of Rachel. To come back from a devastating injury six months ago and go shoot 3 for 5 from 3, and just one turnover, I'm proud of all the work she has put in," head coach Mike Simonson said. "And coming back and playing 26 minutes – wow."
 
AROUND THE WEST
With numerous postponements and make-up games still going on around the GNAC, Western Washington starts the week atop the standings at 4-1 (12-1 overall), including a 53-45 victory at Alaska Anchorage. Northwest Nazarene and Montana State Billings are tied for second at 5-2, and both are now in double digits for overall wins with 11 apiece. Central Washington (11-4, 4-2 GNAC) is riding the conference's longest win streak at six in a row heading into Tuesday's make-up road game at Simon Fraser and Saturday's home contest against NNU.
 
Cal State East Bay and Cal State San Marcos have opened ground on everyone else in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. East Bay (13-1, 8-0 CCAA) has won 12 straight games, and San Marcos (11-2, 9-1 CCAA) has racked up seven consecutive victories. Stanislaus State (11-3, 6-2 CCAA) is within reach of the top two.
 
Azusa Pacific, currently on a nine-game winning streak, is atop the Pacific West Conference. The Cougars (12-1, 8-0 conference) are two games up on second-place Academy of Art (9-6, 6-2 conference). The Pac West announced on Monday that it is expanding its conference tournament to eight teams, up from the usual six. Qualification will be based on winning percentage, and teams must complete 70 percent of their conference schedule (14 of 20 games) to be eligible.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at the latest news, notes, results, and statistics from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons take to the road next week, visiting Western Washington in Bellingham on Thursday, Feb. 3, and Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., on Saturday, Jan. 5. Both games tip off at 7:00 p.m. Fans are currently being allowed at WWU. Those who are thinking about traveling to Bellingham are advised to check that school's Website at www.wwuvikings.com closer to game day for any updates or changes in that regard. Fans also are being allowed at Simon Fraser. Click on this link for more information. Anyone wishing to travel to Canada must meet certain requirements. Click on this link for more information about that.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                   Conference          Overall
Western Washington         4-1        12-1
Northwest Nazarene         5-2        11-4
Montana State Billings     5-2        11-8
Central Washington         4-2        11-4
Alaska Anchorage           3-2        10-3
Seattle Pacific            3-2         7-8
Western Oregon             3-4         7-7
Simon Fraser               1-3         5-8
Saint Martin's             1-5         9-6
Alaska Fairbanks           0-6         1-10