SEATTLE – On a night when the Seattle Pacific Falcons needed some help from everyone to win the game….
 
… that's exactly what they got.
 
Anna Eddy scored 14 points, one of three players in double figures, and SPU got points and rebounds from 10 of the 11 players who saw action on the way to a 67-54 victory against Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (10-12, 6-6 GNAC) now have won two straight and have solidified their hold on sixth place in the standings. That is significant, because with the GNAC Tournament being expanded to all 10 teams this season, the top six finishers will advance automatically to the quarterfinals. The Nos. 7-10 finishers must play a first-round game on the opening day of the four-day tourney, which is set for March 2-5.
 
Natalie Hoff and Malia Mastora each added 11 points, Mastora getting hers in 21½ minutes of action off the bench. Beth Pettingill, also coming in as a reserve, matched her career high with nine rebounds.
 




"Some of our bench players really gave us a good lift, we let them ride, and I'm really proud of our bench tonight," head coach Mike Simonson said. "They alleviated some pressure off the starters' legs, but at the same time, they kept Western Oregon in check, and we needed that."
 
A back-and-forth first half saw eight ties and three lead changes. Western Oregon (8-11, 4-8 GNAC) used a 7-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to turn a 20-14 deficit into a 21-20 advantage.
 
Tied at 24-24, the Falcons closed the half on a 9-4 run to take a 33-28 lead into halftime.
 
SPU stepped up its defense during the third quarter, forcing the Wolves into 2-of-17 shooting from the field (11.8 percent), and allowing just six points for the period. Still, the lead was just five at 39-34 late in the quarter before the Falcons got the final five points: a 3-pointer by Hoff from the left of the lane off an assist from Hunter Beirne, and a scoop lay-in by Mastora with seven seconds left, making it 44-34 entering the final 10 minutes.
 
 

"in the first half, I thought we started poorly defensively. But as the game went on, that second quarter was kind of an SPU defensive quarter, and we felt good about that," Simonson said. "We made a couple adjustments at halftime, and we got back to our stellar defense. We did a really good job defensively in the third."
 
Eddy converted a traditional three-point play on the opening possession of the fourth quarter, hitting an open lay-in off a feed from Abril Rexach Roure, then adding the free throw. That expanded the lead to 13 at 47-34, and it stayed in double digits the rest of the way
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Along with Beth Pettingill's nine rebounds, Natalie Hoff pulled down six.
-- Pettingill's stats line also included eight points, three steals, one assist, and one blocked shot.
-- Hoff hit 5 of 10 from the field, the 12th time in 21 games that she has shot 50 percent or better.
-- Seattle Pacific shot 40.7 percent for the game (24 of 58). The Falcons' defense limited Western Oregon to just 32.8 percent (21 of 64), and just 25 percent (9 of 36) in the second half.
-- That is the 19th time in 22 games that SPU has kept an opponent below 40 percent shooting.
-- With their 10th win, the Falcons have reached double-digit victories for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when they went 23-8.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will tangle with Saint Martin's for the second time this week when the Saints visit Brougham Pavilion on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. The teams played a make-up game on Tuesday in Lacey, with the Falcons going on a 17-0 fourth-quarter scoring run to secure a 63-43 victory. "It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game, just like it always is against Saint Martin's," coach Mike Simonson said. "They're a good basketball team, and they're scrappy."
 
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 10-12, 6-6 GNAC
Western Oregon 8-11, 4-8 GNAC