ELLENSBURG, Wash. – A productive scoring run at the outset of the fourth quarter put the Seattle Pacific Falcons in a good place.
 
That is, until Central Washington answered with an even more productive run.
 
The Wildcats went on a 14-2 spree to catch up, take the lead, and gradually pull away on Thursday night, beating SPU in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball showdown in Nicholson Pavilion, 81-72.
 
Ashley Alter and Schuyler Berry had 15 points apiece for the Falcons (11-7, 6-4 GNAC) with 15 points. Berry's total was a career high, topping her previous mark of 13. Natalie Hoff added 14 points to go along with six rebounds and some stellar defense against Central's Samantha Bowman, the conference's premier player.
 
But once the Wildcats got going in the fourth, they kept going. They picked up a pair of traditional three-point plays. The second of those came from Valerie Huerta with 5:02 remaining when she managed to scoop the ball into the hoop as she was falling to the floor, then made the ensuing free throw to put Central Washington in front for good at 68-66.

 

"It's a tough road game, tough environment here, a sellout crowd – but there were a lot of moments where we played well," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We executed offensively maybe the best we've executed all year. It's a bummer that on a good offensive night, our defense wasn't as solid as it usually is." (Both sides of the board - points scored and points allowed - were season-highs for Seattle Pacific.)
 
Huerta finished with 23 points, but freshman teammate Asher Cai had even more, as she tallied 24. Together, they accounted for seven of Central's 12 makes from 3-point range.
 
Bowman, who averages a double-double (20.6 points, 15.6 rebounds), was kept in check all night by Hoff and Schuyler Berry. She finished with eight points (with two made treys) and two rebounds.

Downtown made the difference on Thursday. Central Washington buried 12 of 24, while SPU was just 3 of 16 – all three of those coming during the third quarter.

"We did a really good job of guarding the interior on Central," Simonson said. "As well as we guarded Bowman, one thing we feared was their 3-point shooting, and to give up eight in the first half was really disappointing."

Central Washington (15-4,  7-3 GNAC) led for much of the way, but never by more than eight until the final moments of the game. It was tied six times and the lead changed hands seven times.
 
Deadlocked at 56-56 late in the third quarter, Berry gave SPU the lead on a putback, providing a 58-56 edge heading into the fourth. Anna Eddy made it 60-56 on a step-around lay-in; Huerta answered for Central with a scoop shot.
 
Then it was Maya Hoff's turn for a lay-in, and Natalie Hoff followed with a jumper from the foul line to make it 64-58 with 8:44 to play.
 
But Seattle Pacific came up with just two more points in the next 4:46. The game was never out of reach, and a pair of free throws by Alter with 2:46 remaining brought it back to a one-possession score at 73-70.
 
A 3-point dagger by Tori Maeda doubled the margin to 76-70 at the 1:21 mark. She then added a pair of free throws with 59.3 seconds remaining to make it 78-70 after Alter was whistled for her fifth foul.
 
Central Washington was in front for most of the first half after going on an early 8-0 run to turn a 6-3 deficit into an 11-6 lead. It was still a five-point advantage at 26-21 early in the second quarter when SPU strung together six points in a row – a lay-in by Hunter Beirne a short turnaround shot from straight in front by Natalie Hoff, and a turnarounder by Maya Hoff from the same spot – for a 27-26 lead.
 
The Falcons erased a five-point deficit late in the half – all of those point coming from Schuyler Berry – to tie it at 35-35 before Central scored the final five points for a 40-35 lead at halftime.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons crashed the boards, with a 37-31 advantage. That included 12-4 at the offensive end, leading to 17-6 margin in second-chance points.
-- That was one of several statistical categories in which Seattle Pacific had better numbers. The others were field goals (30-27), points in the paint (48-26), steals (12-5) and blocked shots (4-1). "That's a trend for us, and it shows that we're playing really good basketball," coach Mike Simonson said. "If we continue getting those types of stats, that's going to equal some wins."
-- The Falcons also had just 11 turnovers, tying their season low, while forcing 16. 
 

-- Hunter Beirne had a career-high nine rebounds. Maya Hoff collected four, pushing past 100 for her career. She now has 103.
-- SPU shot a respectable 44.1 percent (30 of 68). But Central Washington was even better, hitting 49.1 percent (27 of 56).
-- The teams wound up with a split of their season series. The Falcons won on Dec. 31 in Seattle, 70-63.

UP NEXT
The Falcons head to Idaho for Saturday's game in Nampa against Northwest Nazarene. Tip-off in the Johnson Sports Center is at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time. The Nighthawks fell at home to Montana State Billings on Thursday, 63-53.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.

Central Washington 81, Seattle Pacific 72

SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-7, 6-4 GNAC)
N. Hoff 7-12, 0-0 14, M. Hoff 5-7 0-0 11, Beirne 2-7 1-2 5, Eddy 2-11 0-0 5, Alter 6-14 2-2 15, Weatherspoon 1-6 3-6 5 Marlow 1-1 0-0 2, Berry 6-10 3-3 15.   Totals 30-68 9-13 72.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (14-4, 7-3 GNAC)
Schow 2-30-0 5, Bowman 2-3 2-2 8, Huerta 9-20 3-3 23, Maeda 2-4 9-10 14, Cai 9-15 1-1 24, Johnso 0-1 0-0 0, Heitschmidt 3-7 0-2 7, Smith 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 27-55 15-18 81.

Seattle Pacific                19    16    23    14    -- 72
Central Washington        22    18    16    25    -- 81

3-point goals -- SPU 3-16 (N. Hoff 0-1, M. Hoff 1-2, Beirne 0-1, Eddy 1-7, Alter 1-4, Weatherspoon 0-1), CWU 12-24 (Schow 1-1, Bowman 2-2, Huerta 2-5, Maed 1-1, Cai 5-10, Johnson 0-1, Heitschmidt1-3, Smith 0-1).  Fouled out -- SPU: Alter.  Rebounds -- SPU 37 (Beirne 9), CWU 31 (Huerta 6).  Assists -- SPU 11 (Beirne 5), CWU 14 (Huerta 6).  Turnovers -- SPU 11, CWU 16.   Total fouls -- SPU 20, CWU 14.  Technical fouls -- None.  Attendance -- 873.


Next game
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, 4:15 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho