DENVER – They crashed the boards. Had some stretches of decent defense. Even cleaned up their ball handling during the second half.
 
What the Seattle Pacific Falcons weren't able to do was find the basket on a consistent basis.
 
Ashley Alter followed up Friday's career-high 29-point performance with another 16 on Saturday, but she was the only SPU player in double figures as No. 21-ranked Colorado School of Mines stayed just far enough ahead throughout the second half in a 65-54 victory on the final day of the Regis Thanksgiving Classic.
 
That gave the Falcons (2-2) a tournament split for the second weekend in a row to start the season. Last week in Bellingham, the dropped a 70-62 decision to No. 12 Cal State San Marcos, then bounced back to beat then-No. 21 Azusa Pacific, 70-64.
 
"We played some really good teams here, and this type of weekend is a perfect set-up for next week," head coach Mike Simonson said in looking ahead to the upcoming start of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with a trip to Alaska. "We played a team on Friday (Regis) that stylistically is probably similar to Fairbanks in some ways. Then we played a team today (Colorado Mines) that is stylistically similar to Anchorage. It was a perfect dry run going into conference play."
 
Sophomore center Schuyler Berry came within one point of her first collegiate double-double. She had nine, plus a career-high 10 rebounds before fouling out with 3:41 left in the game. Fifth-year forward Natalie Hoff and sophomore guard Maya Hoff chipped in eight points apiece.
 
The Falcons wound up with a 44-28 advantage on the boards. And, after turning over the ball 10 times during the first half under tight defensive pressure from the Orediggers, they had just six more the rest of the day.
 
 

"We did rebound very well. (On Friday), Mines had 24 offensive rebounds against Central Washington, and we said, 'There's no way that's going to be us,'" Simonson said. (The Orediggers had just seven offensive boards on Saturday.) 
 
"Schuyler did a great job of boxing out and getting rebounds. But when a guard can get a ton of rebounds (Anna Eddy had a career-high 10 on Friday; Hunter Beirne grabbed a career-high six on Saturday), that just shows you the entire team is committed to rebounding," Simonson added.
 
Seattle Pacific hit just 37.3 percent from the field, draining 19 of 51. That included an icy 13 percent from behind the 3-point arc (3 of 23). Colorado Mines (4-1) was just slightly better at 40.7 percent (22 of 54), but was deadly from downtown, draining 50 percent  of its shots (10 of 20).
 
The game inside Regis Field House was tied five time and the lead changes hands five times during the first half. The last of those lead changes came on a 3-pointer by Ashley Steffeck for a 25-23 Mines lead just 1 minute, 14 seconds before halftime.
 
SPU tied it once more on a pair of Berry free throws with 52 seconds left in the half. The Orediggers scored five of the final six points during those 52 seconds, the last of which came on a 3-point dagger from the top of the key by Shelby Nichols with eight seconds to go, sending them into the locker room with a 30-26 advantage.
 
The Falcons needed nearly three minutes to get back onto the board to start the second half, which finally happened on a coast-to-coast lay-in by Hunter Beirne at the 7:07 mark, cutting the deficit back down to five at 33-28. SPU got as close as four at 43-39 on a 3-pointer by Alter from the right of the lane.
 
But from there, Colorado Mines went on a 11-3 run bridging the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters, stretching the lead to 12 at 54-42. Seattle Pacific got back within eight at 54-46 on a pair of Natalie Hoff free throws and a steal and lay-in by Hailey Marlow. They were not able to get any closer than that.
 
"They trap a lot and they play similar to some teams in our conference, similar to Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene," Simonson said. "So going against a team like that with pressure is really good for us. We got a ton of open shots and uncontested shots, and those open looks are ones I know we're going to bury. It was a great learning experience and we have a great week of practice (coming up) going into Alaska."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Schuyler Berry's previous career high for rebounds was nine, collecting that many last Friday against Cal State San Marcos.
-- Hunter Beirne's previous high on the boards was five, on Jan. 15, 2021 against Saint Martin's.
-- Natalie Hoff's eight points on Saturday pushed her past 700 for her career. She now has 701.
-- That made it two days in a row that a Falcon reached the 700-point mark. Ashley Alter did it on Friday against Regis.
-- SPU's plus-16 for rebounds on Saturday matched the plus-16 it had for both games combined in Bellingham last week.
-- The Falcons now have played three national top-25 teams in the first four games.
 
UP NEXT
They'll play another ranked next Saturday when they visit current No. 15 Alaska Anchorage. But first, it's a stop in Fairbanks on Thursday, Dec. 1, against Alaska Fairbanks. Tip-off for both contests is 6:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Regis Thanksgiving Classic
Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022
Regis Field House / Denver, Colo.
 
(No. 21) Colorado Mines 65, Seattle Pacific 54
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (2-2)
N. Hoff 2-8 4-4 8, M. Hoff 3-5 2-2 8, Beirne 3-7 0-0 7, Eddy 1-8 0-0 2, Alter 6-15 2-4 16, Berry 2-4 5-10 9, Marlow 2-4 0-0 4, De Vergilio 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 13-20 54.
 
COLORADO MINES (4-1)
Van Sickle 5-9 1-2 15, Van de Graaf 4-9 0-3 8, Sheffeck 6-10 6-8 22, Rios 0-3 2-2 2, Howery 4-8 2-4 11, Nichols 1-1 0-0 3, Stock 2-9 0-2 4, Siebert 0-3 0-0 0, Baum 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 11-21 65.
 
Seattle Pacific       9           17           16           12           -- 54
Colorado Mines     9           21           20           15           -- 65
 
3-point goals – SPU 3-23 (N. Hoff 0-2, M. Hoff 0-1, Beirne 1-3, Eddy 0-7, Alter 2-8, Marlow 0-2), CSM 10-20 (Van Sickle 4-6, Steffeck 4-7, Rios 0-1, Howery 1-3, Nichols 1-1, Siebert 0-1, Baum 0-1). Fouled out – SPU: Berry. CSM: Van de Graaf. Rebounds – SPU 44 (Berry 10), CSM 28 (Van Sickle 5). Assists – SPU 9 (Marlow 4), CSM 12 (Van Sickle 5). Turnovers – SPU 16, CSM 9. Total fouls – SPU 23, CSM 20. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 109.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 2-2
Colorado School of Mines 4-1.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Thursday, Dec. 1     6:15 p.m. PST
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska