THE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Feb. 8                   Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 5:30 p.m.
                                                Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Thursday, Feb. 10               Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 12                Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 4:15 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – Looking to get back into a winning groove, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will have more than the usual number of opportunities to do so this week.
 
SPU has three Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball games on its docket instead of the usual two.
 
The first of those is on Tuesday when the Falcons travel to Lacey to face Saint Martin's at 5:30 p.m. inside Marcus Pavilion. That game is the make-up of one originally scheduled for Jan. 13, but was postponed due to health and safety protocols. It will be the second of four games that needed to be rescheduled from last month.
 
Then come a pair of regularly-scheduled home games in Brougham Pavilion. The first of those is on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. against Western Oregon. Then will come a rematch against Saint Martin's on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. That contest will be preceded at 2;00 p.m. by the Seattle Pacific-Montana State Billings men's game.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All three games will have a free live Webcast on YouTube and live stats. Calling the action for the two home contests will be Greg Sexton. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Fans are welcome to attend games in person at Brougham Pavilion.
 
In compliance with King County guidelines, spectators 12 years of age and older attending SPU athletic events will need to provide proof of full vaccination or present a negative COVID-19 test. Before purchasing or picking up tickets at venue Will Call windows, attendees will be required to show evidence of vaccination. Acceptable forms of proof include a CDC-issued Vaccination Record Card, a photo of the card, the Washington state myIRmobile.com app or a document from a health care provider.
 
Those who cannot provide proof of vaccination may instead present documentation of a negative FDA-approved COVID-19 test administered by a professional and dated within 72 hours of the event.
 
For additional details, please click on the SPU ATHLETICS ENTRY POLICY webpage. Mask wearing is mandatory at all times and spectators are encouraged to social distance when possible. Save the wait in line and obtain your SPU soccer tickets in advance by purchasing them online the SPU TICKETS webpage.
 
CATCHING UP ON THE CALENDAR
Following Tuesday's game at Saint Martin's, Seattle Pacific will have two more make-up games remaining.
 
The first of those will be next Tuesday, Feb. 15, against Western Washington in Brougham Pavilion. Tip-oof is set for 4:00 p.m.
 
The last make-up is set for Monday, Feb. 21, at Western Oregon. It starts at 5:15 p.m.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
-- Tuesday's game will be the first meeting of the year with Saint Martin's, and Thursday's will be the first against Western Oregon.
-- SPU and the Saints played four times during last winter's abbreviated schedule, and split those games, each winning once and losing once on their respective home courts.
-- In both back-to-back series (first in Seattle, then in Lacey), Saint Martin's won the first game, then Seattle Pacific came back the next night to take the second
-- The first of the two games in Lacey saw the Saints rally from 16 points down in the third quarter to win, 55-54.
-- For the four games combined, the total point difference was a mere 10, as SPU had the edge, 251-241.
-- Across those same four games, there were four performances of 20-plus points. For SPU, Ashley Alter had 25 in the first one (a 72-66 loss in Seattle) and 20 in the second (a 61-50 win in Seattle). Rachel Berg poured in a career-high 28 for the Falcons, and Claire Dingus had 21 for the Saints in the second game in Lacey, which Seattle Pacific won, 70-64.
-- SPU and Western Oregon did not meet during last winter's abbreviated schedule.
-- The last time those teams played was Feb. 13, 2020. Seattle Pacific won, 55-53, when Abril Rexach Roure found Natalie Hoff for a buzzer-beating jumper from the foul line.
-- If the Falcons take at least two of the three games this week, they will reach double-digit wins for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when they went 23-8.
-- The 40 rebounds collected on Saturday at Simon Fraser marked the 10^th time in 20 games that the Falcon have pulled down at least 40 and the 14^th time they have out-rebounded an opponent.
-- SPU is 6-4 at home, 2-8 on the road.
-- Head coach Mike Simonson is 3-5 vs. Saint Martin's and 3-1 vs. Western Oregon.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 10-8, 2-7 GNAC (9^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 57-21. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 70, STM 64 (Feb. 5, 2021 at Lacey, Wash.). Last STM series win: STM 55, SPU 54 (Feb. 4, 2021 at Lacey). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's got off to one of its best starts ever, going 9-2 and climbing into the national top 25 for the first time in program history. However, it has been rough going ever since, as the Saints have dropped six of their last seven. Claire Dingus certainly has been doing everything she can to try getting her team back on track. The junior 6-foot forward has recorded four straight double-doubles and now has six such performances this season. The latest one was 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 49-47 loss at home to Western Oregon last Saturday. Her 17.3 scoring average ranks No. 3 in the GNAC, and her 8.7 average on the boards is No. 2. But she certainly is not the only scoring threat. Rian Clear, a freshman 5-10 forward, averages 13.7 points, which is No. 9 in the conference, and senior 5-6 guard Tierney DeDonatis averages 10.8 points and 4.7 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 8-9, 4-6 GNAC (tie 8th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 45-5. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 55, WOU 53 (Feb. 13, 2021 at Monmouth, Ore.). Last WOU series win: WOU 60, SPU 53 (Feb. 28, 2019 at Monmouth). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon ended a four-game skid by scoring six points in the final 61 seconds to beat Saint Martin's last Saturday, 49-47. That was the fewest points the Wolves have scored in a game this season, but it was enough to get the job done. Sophomore 5-foot-11 forward Meadow Aragon leads the way on offense with an average of 11.9 points per game. She shoots a blistering .538 from the field (64 of 119), which is No. 3 in the GNAC. In 13 games this season, she has shot .500 or better in 10 of them, including the first seven in a row. She also grabs a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, No. 4 in the GNAC. Tresai McCarver, a junior 5-5 guard, averages 10.9 points, and also fills up the stat sheet with 5.1 rebounds and team-high averages of 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
 
 

MILESTONE MANIA
The Falcons have had multiple career milestones during the past two weeks – four, to be precise.
 
Half of those belong to Kaprice Boston. On Jan. 30 at home against Alaska Anchorage, she scored her 400th point and now has 422. Then last Thursday at Western Washington, she grabbed her 300th rebound, and comes into this week with 307. She also has topped 100 boards for the season for the first time in her career (currently 101).
 
Bayley Brennan put her 200th career point into the book on Jan. 29 against Anchorage. She now has 207.
 
Sophomore forward Beth Pettingill collected her 100th rebound last Saturday at Simon Fraser. That pushed her total to 106.



ALMOST AUTO-NAT-IC AT THE LINE
In her 19 games played, senior forward Natalie Hoff has nine perfect performances at the free throw line. The latest of those was this past Saturday at Simon Fraser when she went 7 for 7 – the most attempts without a miss by an SPU player this season. The previous most was 6 for 6, which has happened three times – all by Hoff.
 
Her season free throw percentage of .831 (49 of 59) ranks No. 3 in the GNAC. The only players ahead of her are Central Washington's Kassidy Malcolm (.853 on 64 of 75) and Western Washington's Emma Duff (.840 on 42 of 50).
 
Hoff is within range of joining the program's single-season top-10 list. The current No. 10 percentage is .837 (77 of 92) set in 2007-08 by Jackie Hollands. A player must have attempted at least 50 free throws to qualify for a spot on that list, and Hoff already has exceeded that.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Western Washington still has played the fewest games in the GNAC (just seven), but its 6-1 record (14-1 overall) is still the best in the conference by far. Central Washington has the top mark among the three-loss teams (8-3, 15-5 overall), while Alaska Anchorage (7-3, 14-4) and Montana State Billings (7-3, 13-9) are close behind the Wildcats. Western has a tough road trip this week, visiting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central on Saturday. It was CWU which handed Western Washington its only conference loss, 76-68 in Bellingham on Jan. 13.

Someone's long winning streak had to end in the California Collegiate Athletic Association: Either the 14-gamer of Cal State East Bay, or the nine-gamer of Cal State San Marcos, as those two teams met last Thursday on East Bay's home court. That home court didn't matter as San Marcos rolled to a 76-64 victory. So now, it's the Cougars (13-1 CCAA, 15-2 overall) on top, having won 11 in a row, with East Bay (11-1, 16-2 overall) next in line, but still well ahead of third-place Chico State.
 
Azusa Pacific remains in clear command of the Pacific West Conference, still undefeated at 13-0 (17-1 overall) and riding a 14-game winning streak. It's closest pursuer is Concordia Irvine at 10-4 (13-7 overall), and Biola next at 9-4 (also 13-7 overall).
 

UP NEXT
The Falcons wrap up the home portion of their season schedule next week. Western Washington comes to Brougham Pavilion for a make-up game on Tuesday, Feb. 15, with a 4:00 p.m. tip-off time. Montana State Billings comes in on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2:00 p.m.
 
 

GNAC STANDINGS
                                               Conference        Overall
Western Washington       6-1       14-1
Central Washington       8-3       15-5
Alaska Anchorage         7-3       14-4
Montana State Billings   7-3       13-9
Northwest Nazarene       6-4       12-6
Simon Fraser             4-5        8-10
Western Oregon           4-6        8-9
Seattle Pacific          4-6        8-12
Saint Martin's           2-7       10-8
Alaska Fairbanks         1-11       2-15