BELLINGHAM, Wash. – An open teammate. An open path. An open hoop.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons struggled to find any of those through Western Washington's suffocating defense on Thursday night.
 
Natalie Hoff posted a double-double of 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, but SPU was limited to season lows for field goals made, shooting percentage – and points on the board in a 59-40 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball loss to No. 9-ranked Western Washington.
 
The Falcons (8-11, 4-5 GNAC) hit just 15 shots from the floor on 53 attempts (28.3 percent) inside Carver Gymnasium. They did their own part defensively, keeping the conference-leading Vikings (14-1, 6-1 GNAC) 11 points below their season scoring average of 70.6, and limiting them to 35.6 shooting from the field (24 of 67).
 
But their struggles against WWU's man-to-man defense ultimately swung the game in favor of the Vikings.
 
 

"They're a stifling defensive team, and they really take you off your game offensively," Seattle Pacific head coach Mike Simonson said. "They do defend well, just like Anchorage, but it's different. We struggled with the quick turnaround from Anchorage to today."
 
Both teams had trouble getting untracked. The first points of the game didn't come until the 7:39 mark of the opening quarter when Emma Duff got Western on the board on a driving lay-in. It took SPU until 6:06 remained to answer, which Kaprice Boston did with a regular 3-point play.
 
Western Washington put together a 15-2 run spanning the first and second quarters to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 17-7 lead. It was 20-9 for the Vikings when SPU came up with 11 straight points. Hoff had the last eight of those on two lay-ins, a pair of free throws, and a jumper from the left of the lane to tie it at 20-20.
 
The Falcons were still within two at 30-28 midway through the third quarter. They had the ball for nearly a full minute, thanks to two Western Washington fouls that refreshed the shooting clock. But the Vikings didn't even allow them to get off a shot during that time, then closed the quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 39-30 lead into the fourth.
 
SPU was still within reach at 39-33 at the outset of the final quarter on a free throw by Malia Mastora and a driving lay-in by Hunter Beirne. Western responded with an 11-2 burst to put it out of reach.
 
"I didn't think we played our best basketball, but we were solid defensively, and we were right there," Simonson said. "We needed a spark and we never truly got that spark. … They made their run, and this was one of those games where whoever was going to make a big run was going to pull away from it. Kudos to Western – they made one and we never got a good run."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- Natalie Hoff's double-double was her third of the season and fifth of her career. Her previous career-high for rebounds was 12, which she reached twice, most recently at home against Northwest Nazarene on Dec. 4. "Natalie really fought hard and showed a ton of grit and a ton of effort tonight," coach Mike Simonson said.
--SPU's previous low for points this season was in a 71-50 loss at Cal State San Marcos on Nov. 19.
-- However, the Falcons were the fourth team to keep Western Washington below 60 points. And, they kept the Vikings 12 points below their GNAC-high .472 field goal percentage.
-- In fact, perhaps it shouldn't be any surprise that neither team shot well, as they are the two toughest teams to shoot against in the entire GNAC. Western Washington came into the game ranked No. 1 in that statistical department at .330; Seattle Pacific was No. 2 at .348.
-- With her five rebounds on Thursday, senior guard Kaprice Boston moved past 300 for her career. She now has 304.
 
UP NEXT
SPU visits Simon Fraser on Saturday in Burnaby, B.C. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. When the teams met on Jan. 6 in Seattle, the Falcons won in overtime, 66-64. Simon did not get to play on Thursday as its game against Montana State Billings was postponed.
 
 
RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 8-11, 4-5 GNAC
Western Washington 14-1, 6-1 GNAC