THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 26              Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 5:15 p.m.
                                             Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 28               Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 4:15 p.m. PST
                                             Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – OK … here we go again.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons begin their second loop through the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball schedule this week, heading onto the road for stops at Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.
 
SPU visits the Wildcats in just-reopened Nicholson Pavilion on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. Then on Saturday, it's off to Idaho and a stop at the Johnson Sports Center to take on the Nighthawks at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Both games will be the openers of doubleheaders that also include the Falcon men. Seattle Pacific and Central Washington tangle at 7:30 p.m. in Ellensburg. Saturday's game in Nampa starts at 6:30 p.m. Pacific time.
 
The Falcon women (11-6, 6-3 GNAC) are coming off a home split last week. They went down to the wire against No. 6-ranked Western Washington before coming up short, 58-53. But they bounced back on Saturday, using a 14-1 run in the third quarter to take charge on the way to a 64-53 win against Simon Fraser.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's games will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. The appropriate links are available at the top of this story.

 

DEFENSE KEEPS GETTING IT DONE
All season long, teams have had a hard time scoring points against Seattle Pacific. In seven of the 17 games so far, opponents have not even hit the 60-point mark.
 
That happened twice last week, as the Falcons limited Western Washington to 58 (the No. 6-ranked Vikings came in averaging almost 78), and stopped Simon Fraser at 53 (the Red Leafs were averaging 72).
 
Western's total tied its season low, and Simon Fraser's was a season low.

Other teams who have scored a season-low vs. SPU were Dominican (35 on Dec. 12; after which the Penguins went on an nine-game winning streak and averaged 76.8 points per game), and Northwest Nazarene (45 on Dec. 29; currently averaging 69.6).
 
Seattle Pacific ranks No. 1 in the GNAC at 57.1 points per game allowed, one of three conference teams in the 50s (Montana State Billings allows 57.3, Western Washington is at 58.6). The Falcons are No. 28 nationally among the 294 NCAA Division II programs.

A DOUBLE DOSE OF THE FALCONS
This week will mark the fifth and sixth times this season that SPU will be involved in a "true" doubleheader with the women's and men's teams playing the same opponent on the same night at the same venue.
 
The previous true twin bills were Dec. 1 at Alaska Fairbanks, Dec. 3 at Anchorage, Dec. 29 at home against Northwest Nazarene and Dec. 31 at home against Central Washington.
 
After this weekend, the Falcons will host true doubleheaders on Feb. 23 against Anchorage and Feb. 25 against Fairbanks. The Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 home dates are doubleheaders, but with different opponent for each team.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--  At 6-3 in GNAC play, the Falcons are two games ahead of where they were (4-5) last season at the halfway point.
--Their 11-6 overall record puts them within one win their 12 for all of 2021-22.
-- Of those 11 wins, seven have come in other venues, including a 6-2 record in true road games.
-- A win in either game this week would give SPU the tiebreaker for conference tournament seeding purposes. If the teams split their regular-season series, other tiebreakers come into play.
-- Thursday's game will be just the second in Central's renovated Nicbolson Pavilion.
-- Seattle Pacific beat both teams at home in December: 58-45 vs. NNU and 70-63 vs. Central.
-- That was a huge weekend for fifth-year guard / forward Ashley Alter. She went for a double-double of 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds against the Nighthawks, then came back with a career-high 31 points against the Wildcats, plus another nine rebounds.
-- Those performances not only earned Alter the GNAC Player of the Week award, she was named the National Player of the Week by the D2 Conference Information Directors Association (D2CIDA).
-- The Falcons also were named the GNAC's Team of the Week.
-- Speaking of double-doubles, fifth-year forward Natalie Hoff also logged one against NNU, with a career-high 20 points, plus 12 rebounds.
-- Hoff has five career double-doubles, and Alter has four, her latest coming in Saturday's Simon Fraser game with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
-- Hoff is up to 85.2 percent at the free throw line (46 of 54), ranking No. 5 in the conference.
-- Alter, who ranks No. 7 in GNAC scoring at 15.0 points per game, needs just three more points to reach 900.
-- Redshirt sophomore point guard Hunter Beirne collected her 100th career rebound last Saturday in the Simon Fraser game. She comes into the week with 102.
-- Sophomore guard Maya Hoff is one rebound away from her career 100th.
-- Beirne is No. 5 in GNAC assists at 3.5 per game.
-- In Saturday's game against Simon Fraser, the Falcons put their 1,000th point of the season onto the board. They start this week with 1,045.
-- They have yet to give up 1,000, however, one of just three teams in the GNAC able to make that claim. SPU has allowed 970 points. The others still below, 1,000 allowed are Western Washington (938) and Simon Fraser (869).
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 14-4, 6-3 GNAC (tie 3rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 51-36.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 70, CWU 63 (Dec. 31, 2022 at Seattle).  Last CWU series win: CWU 63, SPU 55 (Feb. 26, 2022 at Ellensburg).  Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central has won three in a row, starting with a road sweep in Alaska (a 24-point victory at Anchorage and a 17-pointer at Fairbanks), and continuing with last Saturday's 79-77 overtime win at home against Northwest Nazarene. Redshirt senior 6-foot-3 center Samanta Bowman went for 32 points, 22 rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots, and one steal in playing all 45 minutes of the NNU game. She has double-doubled in 17 of Central's 18 games this season, and now averages 20.6 points and 15.8 rebounds. Sophomore 5-4 point guard Valerie Huerta averages 18.7 points per game. When they played at SPU on New Year's Eve afternoon, Bowman had 20 points and 16 boards; Huerta's numbers were 16 points and five assists. Asher Cai, a freshman 5-9 shooting guard, contributes 13.4 points per game. She had 14 the last time the two teams met.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS:  8-9, 4-5 GNAC (tie 5th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 33-17.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 58, NNU 45 (Dec. 29, 2022 at Seattle).  Last NNU series win: NNU 57, SPU 54 (Feb. 24, 2022 at Nampa).  Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene got off to a solid start, winning six of its first eight, but now has dropped seven of the past nine, including last Saturday's 79-77 overtime defeat at Central Washington. The Nighthawks have gone OT four times this season, with a 2-2 record in extra minutes. Senior 5-foot-5 guard Jordan Pinson sets the scoring pace at 12.5 points per game. When she's not scoring, she's dishing, with a team-high 63, a 3.7 average that ranks No. 3 in the GNAC. Close behind at 10.8 is junior 6-1 forward Clare Eubanks. She had 10 last time against SPU, and has recorded Northwest Nazarene' high-point game of the season with 27 against Cal Poly Humboldt in December. She also is the team's leading shot blocker with 18, along with 5.2 rebounds per game. Freshman 6-1 forward Danika Starr leads on the boards at 5.3 per game, and averages 9.9 points.
 
GAINING GROUND ON A GRAND
Ashley Alter is approaching a milestone that only a select few SPU players have reached.
 
 

The fifth-year guard / forward comes into this week's schedule with 897 career points. That means she's 103 away from 1,000, with nine regular-season games remaining and quite possibly some postseason tournament contests, as well.
 
To get it done before playoffs, Alter would need to average 11.5 points per game. She has scored 12 or more in 10 of the 15 games she has played so far (she missed the early-December trip to Alaska with a minor injury) and currently is averaging 15.0 per game.
 
If she can pull it off, Alter would become the 25th Falcon in the 48-year history of the program to reach four digits. The last time that happened was on Feb. 8, 2018 when Jordan McPhee and Courtney Hollander achieved it on the same night. McPhee finished her career with 1,120 points, putting her No. 18 all-time for SPU, and Hollander is right behind in 19th with 1,108.
 
The all-time leader is Linda Johnson with 1,842 from 1986-89. The 24th name on the list is Kristin Poe with 1,011 from 2000-04.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Some highlights for the Falcons in the NCAA Division II national rankings heading into this week (among the 294 total D2 women's basketball programs):
 
-- 14th in rebound margin, +8.9 (Western Washington +12.7)
-- 28th in scoring defense, 57.7 (Nebraska-Kearney 50.0)
-- 45th in fewest fouls committed, 14.8 (Academy of Art 10.8)
-- 57th in blocks per game, 3.6 (Kutztown State 6.6).
 
Individually, fifth-year forward Natalie Hoff is No. 51 in free throw accuracy at 85.2 percent.

Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up nationally in NCAA Division II.  Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players rank 

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific is tied for No. 10 in this week's D2SIDA West Region rankings. The Falcons are tied with Cal State Los Angeles for the final spot on the list.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills, the last remaining undefeated team in the West, leapfrogged Western Washington into the No. 1 spot. Montana State Billings, which beat the Vikings last Saturday, moved up one place to No. 4, and Central Washington is No. 7.
 
The poll is compiled by a group of sports information directors for the three West Region conferences: GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The first half of GNAC play certainly had an eye-catching finish last Saturday. Western Washington (14-2, 8-1) was hit with its first conference loss after an 8-0 start, falling 73-61 at Montana State Billings as the Yellowjackets (16-4, 7-2) never trailed and were never tied. Saint Martin's (3-6, 7-10) stunned Alaska Anchorage, 66-65, as the Seawolves finished the first half at 4-5 (12-6 overall). Central Washington (14-4, 6-3), eked out a 79-77 overtime victory against Northwest Nazarene (8-9, 4-5). WWU and SImon Fraser visit the Alaskas this week.
 
The showdown in the California Collegiate Athletic Association between first-place Cal State Dominguez Hills and second-place Cal State San Marcos went in favor of visiting Dominguez Hills last Saturday, 74-73. That leaves the Toros at 18-0, 12-0 CCAA, while San Marcos is 13-3, 10-2 CCAA. Things don't get any easier for the Cougars as they host third-place Cal Poly Pomona (12-4, 9-3) on Thursday.
 
It's all even in the Pacific West Conference with Azusa Pacific and Concordia Irvine both at 11-1. Irvine (14-4 overall) halted Dominican's nine-game winning streak last Saturday, 64-59, but does not play again until Feb. 1. Azusa (16-3 overall) has just one game this week, playing host to Biola (10-9, 8-3 Pac West) on Wednesday.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for this week's GNAC notebook. Click on this link for other GNAC news, notes, stats, and polls..
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific is back home in Brougham Pavilion next week. Up first is Saint Martin's on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 5:15 p.m., followed by the SPU men's showdown against arch-rival Western Washington at 7:30 p.m. On Saturday the 4th, SPU faces Western Oregon at 4:15 p.m. The men tip off against Simon Fraser at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC            Overall
Western Washington        8-1       14-2
Montana State Billings    7-2       16-4
Central Washington        6-3       14-4
Seattle Pacific           6-3       11-6
Alaska Anchorage          4-5       12-6
Northwest Nazarene        4-5        8-9
Simon Fraser              4-5        6-7
Saint Martin's            3-6        7-10
Western Oregon            2-7        8-9
Alaska Fairbanks          1-8        4-12