THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Dec. 29               Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                      Brougham Pavilion  / Seattle, Wash.
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Dec. 31                Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                      Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – Non-conference play is complete. So is the seven-day Christmas break.
 
Now, it's down to the business of nine consecutive weeks of Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball competition for Seattle Pacific.
 
The Falcons, who split their first two conference contests on an early-December road trip to Alaska, get fully into their GNAC schedule this week when Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington come to Brougham Pavilion. The Nighthawks fly in from Idaho for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off on Thursday. The Wildcats arrive via bus from Ellensburg on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. start time.
 
SPU (6-4) had a busy three-game week prior to heading home for the holidays. It won on the road at Dominican (63-35) and won at Holy Names (68-48) before dropping a home heartbreaker on Dec. 17 to Stanislaus State, 63-62.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's games and all remaining GNAC will have free live Webcasts on YouTube, and also will have live stats available. Greg Sexton will call the action when the Falcons are at home, as they are this week. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
The NNU and Central games will be part of doubleheaders in Brougham. The Seattle Pacific men play Northwest Nazarene at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday and tangle with Central Washington at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The women and men both have nine home games. Of those, seven will be doubleheaders, although not always against the same school. The stand-alone contests for the women are Thursday, Jan. 19 against Western Washington, and Saturday, Feb. 11, against Montana State Billings. The men's stand-alones are Thursday, Jan. 12 vs. Western Oregon and Saturday, Jan. 14 vs. Saint Martin's.
 
TICKET TALK
For those seven twin bills, one ticket is good for admission to both games. Whether a single game or a doubleheader, prices are $13 for a reserved seat, $10 for general admission, and $7 for senior citizens and non-SPU students. Seattle Pacific students, faculty, and staff are admitted free by showing their school identification.
 
Tickets can be purchased online and printed at home, or can be picked up at the ticket window outside the main doors of Brougham Pavilion beginning 60 minutes prior to game time. Tickets also are available for purchase at the window. Cash and credit cards are accepted; personal checks are not accepted.

 

SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons opened GNAC play on Dec. 1 with a 65-60 victory at Alaska Fairbanks. They fell short at then-No. 11 Alaska Anchorage two nights later, 62-54.
-- SPU has played just two games at home so far, with a 1-1 record. The team has a 5-3 road mark.
-- Northwest Nazarene has played just three road games, winning two of those.
-- And then there's Central Washington, which has played in other gyms all season. The Wildcats' regular home at Nicholson Pavilion is in the final stages of a major renovation, but is not yet complete. So along with one preseason tournament at NNU in Nampa, one at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, and one at Regis University in Denver, Central has played three "home" games at Ellensburg High School, three at Yakima Valley Community College, and will play three at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake before finally getting back into Nicholson on Jan. 21 against Northwest Nazarene.
-- The Falcons then will be Central's second opponent in its remodeled digs on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 5:15 p.m.
-- After committing 28 turnovers at Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 3 --  and the Seawolves do force a lot (22 per game), SPU has done a more consistent job taking care of the basketball, with 15, 17, 15, and 15 in the four games since then.
-- But Northwest Nazarene will be another stern test for that ability to hang onto the ball. The Nighthawks, with their pressing defensive style, force an average of 24 turnovers per game. In 10 games, the only team with fewer than 20 vs. NNU was Saint Martin's with 16. Other opponents' totals have ranged from 21 to 35.
-- Seattle Pacific is one of just three GNAC teams yielding fewer than 60 points per game. The Falcons rank No. 3 in the conference at 57.4.
-- That's due in part to three consecutive sub-50 defensive efforts: 44 points allowed to Lincoln-California, 35 to Dominican, and 48 to Holy Names.
-- Fifth-year guard / forward Ashley Alter is back among the GNAC's top 10 scorers, ranking No 10 at 14.5 points per game.
 

-- When SPU and Central tip off on Saturday, four of the best playmakers in the conference will be on the court at the same time. Hunter Beirne of the Falcons is tied for No. 3 at 3.6 per game (36 in 10 games). Tori Maeda of Central leads the GNAC at 4.6 per game (51 in 11 games), Valerie Huerta of the Wildcats is tied for No. 7 at 3.3 per game (36 in 11 games), and teammate Samantha Bowman is tied for No. 11 at 3.1 (34 in 11).
-- Although the team has had its struggles at the free throw line, fifth-year Falcons forward Natalie Hoff ranks No. 8 on the GNAC list for accuracy at .813 (26 of 32).
-- Hoff also is among the top 10 for blocked shots, tied for No. 7 at 1.0 per game (10 in 10 games).
-- Seattle Pacific is now averaging 10 more rebounds per game than its opponents. The Falcons pull down an average of 40.0 per game and allow just 29.8, the latter of which is fewest in the GNAC.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 6-4, 2-0 GNAC (tie 1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 32-17.  Current series streak: NNU won 3.  Last time: NNU 57, SPU 54 (Feb. 24, 2022 At Nampa).  Last SPU series win: SPU 66, NNU 61 (Feb. 19, 2021 at Seattle). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: After winning its first two GNAC games in early December, Northwest Nazarene is looking to halt a three-game losing streak, all in non-conference play. The last of those was 57-47 at San Francisco State on Dec. 19. The Nighthawks have three players averaging in double-digit scoring, led by the 14.1 average of senior 5-foot-5 guard Jordan Pinson. She had an off night at San Francisco with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting, but has poured in as many as 25. Pinson dishes assists at a 3.6 average. Junior 6-1 forward Clare Eubanks averages 11.7 points per game and went for 27 at Humboldt on Dec. 17, and is shooting .512 from the field, No. 9 in the GNAC. She also leads NNU on the boards at 5.5 per contest. McKenna Castledine, a 5-10 redshirt sophomore guard, scores at 10.7 clip.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 10-1, 2-0 GNAC (tie 1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 50-36.  Current series streak: CWU won 1.  Last time: CWU 63, SP 55 (Feb. 26, 2022 at Ellensburg).  Last SPU series win: SPU 69, CWU 65 (Dec. 2, 2021 at Seattle).  Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central headed into the holiday break with a trio of GNAC record-setting performances. In a 79-52 victory against Whitman on Dec. 17, redshirt senior 6-3 center Samantha Bowman grabbed 31 rebounds (19 defensive, 12 offensive). That erased the old mark of 29. Then on Dec. 19, sophomore 5-4 point guard Valerie Huerta smashed two conference standards in a 92-44 rout of Walla Walla University. She scored 46 points, one more than the 45 by Western Oregon's Leada Berkey on Feb. 21, 2008. Along the way, Huerta hit 18 of 29 from the field. The 18 makes beat the old mark of 16 shared by Berkey and Simon Fraser's Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe. Huerta is averaging 21.5 points for the season on .494 shooting from the field. Bowman, voted the GNAC's Preseason Player of the Year, once again is averaging a massive double-double of 19.5 points on .570 shooting, and 15.2 rebounds. She has double-doubled in 10 of Central's 11 games. Freshman 5-9 shooting guard Asher Cai averages 15.5 points and 4.7 rebounds.
 
CONNECTIONS, CONNECTIONS
It's not unusual to find a personal tie or two between opposing schools, especially within the same conference. But there are more than usual between SPU and this week's two opponents
 
-- Northwest Nazarene head coach Steve Steele is in his seventh year of leading the Nighthawks. He was the lead assistant at Seattle Pacific from 2013-16.
-- Stacey Lukzsiewicz is in her second year as an assistant on Steele's staff. She played for the Falcons from 2013-17, and was on the floor in 111 of the team's 112 games during her career.
-- At Central Washington, Randi Richardson-Thornley is in her sixth year at the helm. She was an SPU assistant for two seasons (2013-15).
-- Wildcats freshman shooting guard Asher Cai is the younger sister of former Falcons track and field star Scout Cai. Scout was a four-time All-American, starring primarily in the in the pentathlon, heptathlon, and pole vault.
 
FINALLY, A DOUBLE-DOUBLE
The Falcons put their first double-double of the season into the books on Dec. 17 when sophomore guard Anna Eddy scored 12 points and tied her career high with 10 rebounds in a home game against Stanislaus State. Eddy also had 10 boards on Nov. 25 at Regis, but finished that day with just eight points.
 
 

"Anna has become a really good rebounder for us," head coach Mike Simonson said of the 5-foot-9 Eddy. "Anna getting offensive rebounds is a great trend that I want to see us continue in conference play."
 
SPU has had a few near-misses at double-doubles prior to Eddy's performance. In the season-opener against Cal State San Marcos on Nov. 18, Schuyler Berry had 12 points and nine rebounds. Berry had 10 boards and nine points vs. Colorado Mines on Nov. 26.
 
Maya Hoff came up with 12 rebounds in the Dec. 8 home game against Lincoln-California, but finished with just four points. Ashley Alter had 12 points and nine rebounds at Dominican on Dec. 12.
 
SIMO SAYS …
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"They can really pressure you. They want you to turn the ball over. The good news is we're getting a lot better in that area, so that will be a huge task, taking care of the ball."
 
 

(On Central Washington)
"We didn't guard the 3-point line great (against Stanislaus State), and they got going, and I think we let them get going. Kudos to them – they made some great snots. I think we had some cracks in our armor a little bit, and against Central, you can not do that. Central is a really good 3-point shooting team. We saw them play in Denver, so we have to be ready for them."
 
(On Natalie Hoff getting her 500th career rebound)
"For her to get her 500th, she's a rebounder, one of our best ones. She really rose to the occasion (in the Stanislaus State game). It was physical, and the game changed within the game as it went. … She always rose to the challenge."
 
(On Hunter Beirne's overall stat lines)
"We've been improving in that area (of keeping turnovers down), and one of the big reasons is Hunter has done a great job of reading the floor and getting to spots on the court where good things can happen. (Against Stanislaus State), she had four assists and just two turnovers; last game (at Holy Names), it was six assists to two turnovers. She's really coming into her own as a point guard, and I'm really proud of the way she's playing."
 
AROUND THE WEST
Central Washington (10-1 overall), Montana State Billings (11-2) and Northwest Nazarene (6-4) are all 2-0 with GNAC play resuming on Dec. 29. At least one of those teams is going to come out of that first night back with a loss, as Central is at MSUB while NNU is at Seattle Pacific. The Wildcats and Nighthawks swap sites on Saturday. The other key clash on Thursday in in Bellingham as Western Washington (7-1, 1-0 GNAC) hosts Alaska Anchorage (9-2, 1-1).
 
Cal State San Marcos and Cal State Dominguez Hills will come back from the break as the two teams to beat in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. San Marcos (8-1, 5-0) is currently half a game in front by virtue of having played one more conference contest. Dominguez Hills (10-0, 4-0) is the only undefeated team in the West Region. There's a lot of basketball to be played between now and their scheduled meeting at San Marcos on Jan. 21.
 
Azusa Pacific has the best overall record among Pacific West Conference teams at 10-3 overall. The Cougars are 5-1 in conference play, currently putting them second behind Hawaii Pacific (3-0, but just 4-5 overall) Of the 11 Pac West teams, only Azusa and Concordia Irvine (8-4) are above .500 overall. Concordia, like APU, is 5-1 in conference competition, its only loss being on Dec. 7 at Azusa Pacific, 79-53
 
UP NEXT
SPU has a stretch of three straight on the road beginning Thursday, Jan. 5, with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at Western Oregon in Monmouth. The Falcons wrap up next week in Lacey at Saint Martin's on Saturday, Jan. 7, with a 5:15 p.m. tip-off time.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC           Overall
Central Washington        2-0       10-1
Montana State Billings    2-0       11-2
Northwest Nazarene        2-0        6-4
Western Washington        1-0        7-1
Alaska Anchorage          1-1        8-2
Seattle Pacific           1-1        6-4
Simon Fraser              0-1        2-3
Western Oregon            0-2        6-4
Saint Martin's            0-2        4-6
Alaska Fairbanks          0-2        3-6