SEATTLE – To say the Seattle Pacific Falcons rebounded nicely from last Saturday's loss at 11th-ranked Alaska Anchorage might be understating the case a little.
 
Led by sophomore Maya Hoff's career-high 12, SPU hauled down 53 rebounds – 29 at the offensive end – on Thursday night in a 65-44 romp past Lincoln of California in a non-conference women's basketball game in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons got 12 players into their official home opener, and 11 of them scored, Schuyler Berry came off the bench to set the pace with 13, along with five boards. Natalie Hoff added 10 points and five rebounds.
 
The 53 rebounds was easily SPU's highest haul of the year, nine more than the 44 against Azusa Pacific on Nov. 19 and Colorado Mines on Nov. 26. The last time the Falcons went for 50 in a game was Dec. 19, 2019 at home against Academy of Art when they grabbed 61.

 

"When you don't shoot the ball well, you get a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds, and that was an emphasis going into the game for us," head coach Mike Simonson said. "I'm really proud of our ball club. That first half was probably the best we've offensive rebounded since I've been here. We had 18 for the first half, and our goal for the game was to have 18. So to have 18 in the first half was really special.
 
"I'm really proud of our commitment to the glass," he added. "It takes a lot of work, and kudos to our team for accepting that challenge."
  
Seattle Pacific trailed just once, that being when Lincoln's Julianna Martinez buried a 3-pointer for the first basket of the game.
 
From there, the Falcons ran off 17 straight points to take command. Natalie Hoff had six of those and Berry chipped in four. Chiara De Virgilio capped the offensive outburst with a 3-pointer from the right corner, making it 17-3.
 




SPU took a 21-point lead into halftime, 38-17. But Lincoln (2-9) came out and put up the first 12 points of the third quarter, cutting the lead to single digits at 38-29.
 
At that juncture, Simonson called timeout and made a wholesale substitution with five new players. That group held their ground, and a combination of starters and reserves stretched it back to 17 points at 50-33 by the end of the third quarter.

"We started so flat in that third quarter, and it was exactly the opposite of what we talked about at halftime," Simonson said. "We talked about being the aggressors and being the ones to get stops. Unfortunately, that group wasn't getting the job done, so I had to sub five players. I hope our players treat it as a lesson and not a situation of extreme disappointment, because I think we did do some good things in the game, and that group did some good things. But the start of that third quarter wasn't up to SPU basketball par, and kudos to that second group – they gave us a lift."
  
SPU opened the fourth quarter with two straight baskets by redshirt freshman post player Emilia Bishop, who started the period for her first-ever minutes as a Falcon, extending the lead to 21 at 54-33. It never dipped below 18 points the rest of the way.
  
BY THE NUMBERS
--The reason there were so many rebounding opportunities was that neither team shot the ball very well. The Falcons hit a season-low 35.4 percent (28 of 79). The Oaklanders were at 31.0 percent (13 of 42).
-- Schuyler Berry was the only player in the game to shoot above 50 percent, hitting 6 of 10.
-- Of its 53 rebounds, SPU grabbed 22 of those (13 offensive) during the first quarter. There was one segment when the Falcons missed four shots, grabbed the offensive rebound each time, then finally converted when Hunter Beirne hit a 10-footer from the right side for a 6-3 lead.
-- Seattle Pacific more than doubled Lincoln's total of 26 rebounds. The Oaklanders had just four at the offensive end.
 

-- Emilia Bishop had five rebounds and two blocked shots to go along with her four quick fourth-quarter points.
-- In addition to Bishop, who played 11 minutes, 33 seconds, redshirt freshman wing players Makenna Jacklin and Kylie Yung saw their first official action. Jacklin played 9:06 with three points, one steal and one blocked shot; Yung played 3:29 and had one rebound.
 
UP NEXT
SPU takes to the road for a pair of games next week, visiting Dominican in San Rafael, California, next Monday at 5:30 p.m. On Wednesday, they're in Oakland to face Holy Names at 1:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 65, Lincoln (California) 44
 
LINCOLN (2-9)
Martinez 3-13 0-0 8, Claude 4-11 7-8 18, Lewis 2-4 0-0 6, Clark 0-2 0-0 0, Tustison 0-3 2-2 2, Burgess 1-3 0-0 2, Ekanem 3-6 0-0 8.  Totals 13-42 9-10 44.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (4-3)
N. Hoff 4-9 2-2 10, M. Hoff 2-6 0-0 4, Beirne 2-5 0-0 4, Eddy 2-12 0-0 6, Alter 3-12 0-0 6, De Virgilio 3-8 0-0 8, Marlow 1-2 0-0 2, Berry 6-10 1-2 13, Weatherspoon 2-5 0-0 5, Jacklin 1-5 0-0 3, Bishop 2-5 0-0 4, Yung 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-79 3-4 65.
 
Lincoln                    6           11           16           11           -- 44
Seattle Pacific     20           18           12           15           -- 65
 
3-point goals – Lincoln 9-22 (Martinez 2-8, Claude 3-4, Lewis 2-4, Clark 0-2, Tustison 0-3, Burgess 1-3, Ekanem 3-6), SPU 6-26 (M. Hoff 0-1, Beirne 0-2, Eddy 2-8, Alter 0-4, De Virgilio 2-6, Marlow 0-1, Weatherspoon 1-1, Jacklin 1-3). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – Lincoln 26 (Martinez 6), SPU 53 (M. Hoff 12). Assists – Lincoln 5 (Claude 4), SPU 11 (M. Hoff 2, Beirne 2, Alter 2, De Virgilio 2). Turnovers – Lincoln 24, SPU 15. Total fouls – Lincoln 10, SPU 11. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – 104.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Dominican
Monday, Dec. 12     5:30 p.m.
Conlan Center / San Rafael, Calif.