DENVER – Ashley Alter was in a zone ...
 
… and that was even before she walked into the gym.
 
The fifth-year Seattle Pacific standout scored the final four points of the game, with the last two coming on a pair of foul shots with 4.3 second left, and finished with a career-high 29 to help the Falcons seal a 66-63 victory against host Regis on the first day of the Regis Thanksgiving Classic women's basketball tournament.
 
 

Alter drained 11 of 18 from the field, with 2 of 3 from behind the 3-point arc, and hit all five of her free throws. She topped her previous career high of 25 points, set on Jan. 15, 2021 against Saint Martin's.
 
"Even on the van (coming over to Regis), she was studying her scout, she was focused on the game – you could see this game coming from a mile away," SPU head coach Mike Simonson said. "Ashley just had a will to win."
 
Natalie Hoff added 11 points and Schuyler Berry had 10. Anna Eddy grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
SPU (2-1) now has won two straight since last Friday's season-opening loss to then-No. 12 Cal State San Marcos. The Falcons split a pair last weekend in Bellingham, beating then-No. 21 Azusa Pacific on Saturday. Both were neutral-court games.
 
Friday's contest was their first true road game of the season, tangling with the Rangers inside the Regis Field House.
 
"That was an emphasis that Coach told us before the game, and I think we really rallied around that," said Alter, who needed just one point on Friday to reach 700 for her career and now has 728. "That was our main focus, and we did a really good mob of staying together and staying composed on the court, even when they did go on some runs. We were staying true to what we do and to what our strengths were."
 
HAD TO COME FROM BEHIND
Although the Falcons led for most of the second half, they had to score the final four points of the game to win it after the Rangers (3-2) took their only lead of the half at 63-62 with 2:04 left.
 
Alter put Seattle Pacific back in front on a five-foot banker from the right of the hoop at the 1:46 mark. Regis had two shots on its next possession, but missed both. Then at the other end, the Falcons weren't able to expand their lead as Hunter Beirne's shot from outside the key bounced away.
 
Again the Rangers had a chance to tie. Again they missed, but grabbed the offensive rebound, only throw it away on a bad pass.
 
That left 38.5 seconds on the clock and SPU in possession. Anna Eddy's mid-range jumper missed, but Alter hustled to secure the offensive rebound with 10 seconds remaining. Regis was forced to foul – but had to do it five times, as it hadn't been called for any earlier in the quarter.
 
That ultimately ran the clock all the way down to 4.3 seconds. The fifth one came with Alter in possession of the ball, and she barely rippled the net on her two ensuing free throws to make it 66-63.
 
"Over the years, I've started to love those big plays. I really wanted that win," Alter said.

The Rangers called timeout to advance the ball into front court. They finally got it in and worked it over toward the right side for a deep 3-pointer by Josey Ryan that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
 
 

"One of our biggest goals is to have a winning record in close games because we had so many close games last season, and that's two in a row where we've had tough, hard-fought games where we've had to pull it out," Simonson said. (The first of those was last Saturday's 70-64 victory against Azusa.)
 
"it was not pretty and we made a lot of mistakes But we showed that we did not panic and we were able to grind out a huge road win, our first of the season," he added.
 
Regis led for most of the first half, pushing it to as many as six points at 23-17.

But SPU then clamped down defensively and went on a 10-0 run while keeping the Rangers off the scoreboard for 5 minutes, 51 seconds. Alter capped it with a traditional three-point play, rebounding her own missed putback, then putting it back a second time for the basket and one. That put the Falcons on top, 27-23.
 
It was 60-52 for SPU with exactly five minutes left. Regis put together a 13-2 run for its 63-62 lead before it ran out of points and ultimately ran out of time.

BY THE NUMBERS

-- Anna Eddy's 10 rebounds was double her previous career high of five. She had that many twice, most recently last Feb. 8 against Saint Martin's.
-- The Falcons now have kept their last two opponents without a field goal through the final 7 minutes, 37 seconds: 5:33 vs. Azusa Pacific and 2:04 vs. Regis.
-- The Falcons wound up with just one less rebound than Regis, 37-36. They did so even though they didn't grab their first one until 3 minutes 7 seconds into the game, by which time the Rangers already had six.
-- Now that Ashley Alter has 700-plus career points, Natalie Hoff isn't far behind her. Hoff's 11 on Friday put her at 693 for her career.
 
UP NEXT
SPU will take on No. 21-ranked Colorado School of Mines on Saturday at noon Pacific time to wrap up 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Regis Thanksgiving Tournament
Friday, Nov. 25, 2022
Regis Field House / Denver, Colo.
 
Seattle Pacific 66, Regis 63
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-1)
N. Hoff 5-10 1-2 11, Beirne 3-8 1-2 8, Eddy 3-7 0-0 8, Alter 11-18 5-5 29, Berry 3-6 4-4 10, M. Hoff 0-1 0-2 0, Weatherspoon 0-0 0-0 0., De Vergilio 0-2 0-0 0.Totals 25-56 11-15 66
 
REGIS (3-2)
Stroberg 2-4 5-7 9, Fry 6-16 1-3 14, Diercks 0-3 0-0 0, Ryan 6-15 0-0 14, Deem 6-10 0-0 13, Speights 0-4 0-0 0, Saragoza 3-9 0-0 9, Smith 1-3 0-0 2, Frenchers 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 25-66 6-12 63.
 
Seattle Pacific      13           17           18           18           -- 66
Regis                      13           13           19           18           -- 63
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-12 (Beirne 1-3, Eddy 2-5, Alter 2-3, Marlow 0-1), Regis 7-23 (Stroberg 0-1, Fry 1-3, Diercks 0-2, Ryan 2-7, Deem 1-2, Sasragoza 3-7, Smith 0-1). Fouled out – None. Total fouls – SPU 11, Regis 14. Rebounds – SPU 36 (Eddy 10), Regis 37 (Stroberg 13). Assists – SPU 11 (N. Hoff 4), Regis 9 (Fry 4). Turnovers – SPU 15, Regis 11. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 118.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 2-1
Regis 3-2
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific vs. Colorado School of Mines
Saturday, Noon PST
Regis Field House / Denver, Colo.