SEATTLE – Anna Eddy was Anna Efficiency on Thursday night for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
Eddy turned 11 minutes of first-half playing time into a career-high 13 points, and SPU got a big jump on Alaska Fairbanks, keeping it going all the way to a 68-48 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Eddy hit all six of her shots, including a 3-pointer, during the opening 20 minutes for the Falcons (8-8, 4-2 GNAC). She played just four more minutes and took just one more in the second  half as head coach Mike Simonson gave all of his reserves extended playing time, with two games in 24 hours against No. 19-ranked Alaska Anchorage coming up on Saturday and Sunday.
 
 "Anna is kind of our spark off the bench," Simonson said. "If there was a "sixth woman" award, she would be my number one vote. She's scrappy, and she fills the stat sheet – she had an offensive rebound, two assists, two steals, and a blocked shot. Not only can she score, she can affect the game in multiple areas."
 




Bayley Brennan came off the bench and drained 10 points. Along with Eddy's 13, SPU reserves accounted for 36 of the team's 68 points.
 
"That was great experience for some really good players in our program," Simonson said. "I think we have the deepest team in the league. For them to get minutes, not only did that alleviate pressure off our starters' legs, it gives them experience and confidence to propel their careers here, because they all will be good players."
 
SPU trailed just once, that after the Nanooks (1-11, 0-7 GNAC), who have lost 11 straight, scored the first basket of the game. The Falcons then put seven straight points on the board, part of an 11-2 run.
 
Then, up 11-7, Seattle Pacific rang up another seven straight. It was 26-13 by the end of the first quarter..
 
Eddy scored SPU's first seven points of the second quarter on a trey, a lay-in, and a coast-to-coaster off a steal, making it 35-17. The margin never dipped below 14 the rest of the way.

 

"Fairbanks is a scrappy, tough team, so going into the game, we knew we would have to play well just to ensure a competitive game," Simonson said. "I thought we came out of the gates perfectly. We took control of the game, and that's really important when playing a team that's scrappy and tough."
 
The Falcons had a 45-27 lead at halftime. Any possibility that UAF could somehow cut into that was doused at the outset of the third quarter. Seattle Pacific's defense forced the Nanooks into missing their first seven shots of the period and kept them off the scoreboard until the 4:25 mark when Caitlin Pusich buried a 3-pointer.
 
That basket accounted for Fairbanks' only points of the quarter, as the Falcons outscored them, 14-3, and were up 59-30 heading into the fourth.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Anna Eddy's previous career high was 12 in the season-opener against Corban on Nov. 12.
--The Falcons got points from all five of their starters on the way to a 9-4 lead in the first quarter: two each from Abril Rexach Roure, Hailey Marlow, Kaprice Boston, and Natalie Hoff, and one from Rachel Berg.
-- SPU shot 40.7 percent for the game (24 of 59), and limited Alaska Fairbanks to 28.3 percent (17 of 60).
-- Part of that defense was focused on Nanooks freshman guard Pearle Green, who came in ranked No. 6 in GNAC scoring at 15.7 points per game. She tallied just six on Thursday, all in the first half, and was 2 of 13 from the field – with every shot coming from downtown. "Kudos to our defense – it was a team effort on her tonight," coach Mike Simonson said.
-- Bayley Brennan's 10 points put her at 199 for her career.
 

-- Senior forward Natalie Hoff's eight rebounds put her at 108 for the year, a new single-season high. Her previous high was 104 as a sophomore in 2019-20.
-- Senior guard Rachel Berg, who came off the bench at Montana State Billings last week in her first action of the season after returning from an injury, got the start on Thursday. She played nearly 19 minutes with eight points, one assist, and one steal.
-- SPU tied its season high with 13 steals, as six players came up with two apiece.
-- The Falcons swept the season series, having beaten Fairbanks in Alaska on New Year's Day, 67-45.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons play the first of two back-to-back games in Brougham against Alaska Anchorage on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The second game – a make-up from one that was postponed in Anchorage on Dec. 30 – will be played on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. UAA lost at Montana State Billings on Thursday night, 74-67.
 
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 8-8, 4-2 GNAC
Alaska Fairbanks 1-11, 0-7 GNAC