SEATTLE – If ever the Seattle Pacific Falcons needed a convincing, confidence-building victory, this was the time.
 
And Wednesday was the day they got it.
 
Ashley Alter and Beth Pettingill scored 14 points apiece, and Kaprice Boston added 13 as SPU put the first four points of the game on the board, never trailed and was never tied on the way to a 78-48 rout of Alaska Fairbanks in the first round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
Playing on their home court in Brougham Pavilion, the 30-point margin was the largest of the year for the Falcons (12-17) against any opponent and was their third straight blowout of the Nanooks (3-20). SPU won by 22 in Fairbanks on New Year's Day (67-45) and by 20 on Jan. 27 at home.

"I really think this might have been our most complete game all year for scoring the ball, guarding defensively, taking care of (the ball) – and rebounding was huge," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We were firing on all cylinders, and this is the time to do it."
 
The No. 7-seeded Falcons, who returned to postseason competition for the first time since the 2018 GNAC Tournament, will have just a few hours to enjoy the win, however. They'll be back in Brougham on Thursday afternoon at 2:15 for a quarterfinal contest against No. 2 seed Alaska Anchorage. UAA advanced directly to the quarters by virtue of being one of the top six seeds.
 
It will be the third meeting of the season between SPU and UAA. The Seawolves won both ends of a back-to-back series in Seattle in late January, 61-59 in overtime, and then 69-61, the latter after erasing a 13-point deficit.
 
"We had two really hard-fought games, played back-to-back," Simonson said. "There are definitely some things we can adjust, and we'll talk about that tonight. But we're confident that we're playing well."
 




TAKING COMMAND, THEN KEEPING IT
Seattle Pacific has had its share of close games this winter. Of the 28 they played during the regular season, 17 were decided by single-digit margins – and eight were one-possession outcomes: six of them by two point and two of them by three points.
 
The Falcons made clear early on that this was not going to be one of those games. Up 5-4 in the opening minutes, they went on a 15-2 scoring run, capping it with nine straight, to take a 20-6 lead.
 
Alaska Fairbanks, which was missing leading scorer Pearle Green to an injury (14.8 points per game, No. 8 in the GNAC never got it below a double-digit margin the rest of the day. It was 21-10 at the end of the first quarter, 39-20 at halftime, and 62-30 through three.
 
"We have a little jersey downstairs that we write things on, and 'Pedal to the metal' is one of the things on there," Boston said. "Everyone was locked in, everyone was on the same page – it was really fun."
 
Along with dominating on the scoreboard, SPU dominated on the backboards, pulling down 54 rebounds while limiting the Nanooks to 22. A total of 15 Falcons played, and 14 of them grabbed at least one rebound, with Natalie Hoff and Schuyler Berry each pulling down six. The 54 total included an eye-popping 22 at the offensive end, leading to 20 second-chance points.
  
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The last time Seattle Pacific had at least 50 rebounds in a game was Dec. 19, 2019, when it collected 61 against Academy of Art.
-- It was just the second game this season the Falcons have been in the 70s. The other one was a 70-60 victory against Westminster College on Nov. 27.
-- Freshman guard Maya Hoff had five rebounds in her first appearance since Jan. 6. She missed the last 13 games while dealing with a physical ailment. Hoff also scored six points.
-- The Falcons shot 43.5 percent from the floor, hitting 30 of 69. That was a season high for makes, one more than the 29 they hit at home against Simon Fraser on Jan. 6.
-- Alaska Fairbanks wound up at 32.5 percent (17 of 52).
-- Speaking of season highs, SPU racked up 24 assists, with senior guard Rachel Berg handout five, tying her career high. The previous best was 20, that coming in three games.
-- Seattle Pacific is 6-7 all-time in GNAC Tournament game, including 2-0 on its home court.
-- Wednesday's game was the 15th in which the Falcons kept their opponent below 60 points, and their fifth below 50.
-- Claudia Diez Marti led the Nanooks with 14 points.
 
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BRACKET
On Wednesday afternoon in Lacey, host and No. 9 seed Saint Martin's defeated No. 8 seed Western Oregon, 71-62. The Saints meet top-seeded Western Washington in a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal. The other quarterfinal at that venue is No. 4 Montana State Billings against No. 5 Northwest Nazarene.
 
UP NEXT
Before SPU and Anchorage tip off their quarterfinal at 2:15 in Brougham, No. 3 seed Central Washington will take on No 6 Simon Fraser in in a noon quarterfinal. That winner faces the SPU-Anchorage winner in a Friday semifinal at Saint Martin's in Lacey.