MONMOUTH, Ore. – Their 14 points of the game certainly were big ones.
 
But it was the last 14 that ultimately made the difference for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
Anna Eddy scored 18 of her team-high 19 from behind the arc, with one of those makes during a late-game rally, and SPU, after seeing a 23-point lead from the first quarter turn into a one-point deficit midway through the fourth, finally fended off Western Oregon for a 70-61 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory on Thursday night.

Chiara De Virgilio and Schuyler Berry each added 11 points off the bench for Seattle Pacific (9-4, 4-1 GNAC), which won its third straight, thanks to a game-ending 14-4 scoring burst. It was a De Virgilio 3-pointer inside the New P.E. Building that pushed the Falcons back ahead after Western Oregon (7-5, 1-3 GNAC) had taken its first – and only – lead of the night at 57-56 with 4:52 to go.
 
"Basketball is a momentum game. We had a ton of momentum, they had a ton of momentum," said head coach Mike Simonson, who called timeout immediately after the WOU go-ahead basket. "They made a big play and we needed to ice their momentum a little bit. We kind of got organized on offense, but realistically, we just talked about how it was winning time, and we've got to make winning plays."

 

Coming out of the timeout, a pass from Eddy found De Virgilio well behind the 3-point arc at the top of the key. She swished it for a 59-57 lead at the 4:25 mark.
 
Then it was Eddy's turn for a trey, her final one of the night, this one on a second chance from the left side to make it 62-57 at 3:42. A Berry lay-in at 2:54 pushed the lead to seven at 64-57, then De Virgilio recovered a bad WOU pass, went to the other end and laid it in, completing a 10-0 burst for a 66-57 advantage and just 2:23 left on the clock.

"Anna is a terrific shooter. She was someone we wanted to find jump shots, she got them, and she nailed them," Simonson said. . "In a road game that's tough and things aren't going your way, we need people to step up. Anna was one of them, and Schuyler Berry had a great game, along with Kiki (De Virgilio), who made a huge shot."
 
Western Oregon managed just one more basket and two free throws the rest of the way. From the time the Wolves took their 57-56 lead on a turnaround 13-footer from the right of the lane by Princy Paaluhi-Caulk, SPU forced them into five turnovers and 1-for-5 shooting down the stretch.
 
 

"It was just a good team win. A road win is a road win – it doesn't matter how you slice it up," said Simonson. (The Falcons are now 6-3 out of town; 5-1 in true road games.)
 
Seattle Pacific scored the first 14 points and had a 17-2 lead just 4 minutes, 38 seconds into the game, thanks largely to a string of five straight 3-pointers: the first two by Eddy, one by Ashley Alter, another by Eddy, and one more by Alter.
 
By the end of the first quarter, SPU was up by 23 points at 27-4, as it shot 10 of 13 from the field and 5 of 6 from downtown while Western Oregon hit just 2 of 12 during the opening 10 minutes and missed all four of its trey tries.
 
But the second quarter was almost the exact opposite. With the Falcons still up by 20 at 28-8, the Wolves went on a 13-2 run, cutting the margin to single digits at 30-21. From there, the teams traded points through the final 5:33 of the half, with SPU never getting back up by more than 11 and Western Oregon never coming closer than nine, including 38-29 at halftime.
 
The Wolves continued chipping away during the third quarter, hitting their first five shots to get within two at 43-41. Seattle Pacific was still up seven at 52-45 entering the fourth and eventually stretched it back to eight at 55-47 with 8:43 to go. That's when the Wolves put 10 of the next 11 points on the board.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons had four players in double-digit scoring, Along with Anna Eddy, Chiara De Virgilio and Schuyler Berry, Ashley Alter had 10 points, along with seven rebounds.
-- Hunter Beirne also had seven boards. The 5-foot-7 point guard is averaging 7.5 per game in her last four games.
-- Seattle Pacific again had the overall rebounding advantage 37-30.
-- Thanks in large part to Eddy's 6-for-7 accuracy, SPU shot a season-best 62.5 percent from 3-point range (10 of 16, the most makes of the season). Factoring into that were De Virgilio's 2 for 3 and Alter's 2 for 4.
-- The Wolves were just 2 of 14 from long range (14.2 percent).
-- Berry's 11 points pushed her past 200 for her career. She now has 203.
-- De Virgilio's 11 put her into the career 900-point club, now with 902.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons visit Saint Martin's on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. in Lacey. The Saints fell at home to Montana State Billings on Thursday, 66-58.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC 70, WESTERN OREGON 61
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (9-4, 4-1 GNAC)
N. Hoff 2-6 2-2 6, M. Hoff 0-3 2-2 2, Beirne 2-4 1-2 5, Eddy 6-11 1-3 19, Alter 3-8 2-2 10, Weatherspoon 1-3 2-8 4, De Virgilio 4-6 1-2 11, Berry 5-9 1-3 11, Marlow 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-51 12-22 70.
 
WESTERN OREGON (7-5, 1-3 GNAC)
Winkler 3-6 0-0 6, C. McClave 6-15 6-8 18, Glenn 2-11 2-2 6, A. McClave 0-3 0-0 0, Paahlui-Caulk 7-13 7-7 22, Dawkins 1-3 0-0 2, Arzner 2-6 0-0 5, Tuivai 0-0 0-0 0, Arnold 1-1 0-0 2, Harman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 15-17 61.
 
Seattle Pacific     27           11           14           18           -- 70
Western Oregon   4           25           16           16           -- 61
 
3-point goals – SPU 10-16 (Eddy 6-7, Alter 2-4, De Virgilio 2-3, Beirne 0-1, Weatherspoon 0-1), WOU 2-14 (C. McClave 0-3, Glenn 0-4, Paahlui-Caulk 1-1, Dawkins 0-2, Arzner 1-3, Harman 0-1).  Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 37 (Beirne 7, Alter 7), WOU 30 (C. McClave 7). Assists – SPU 13 (Eddy 4), WOU 6 (C. McClave 2, A. McClave 2).  Turnovers – SPU 21, WOU 16.  Total fouls – SPU 16, WOU 17  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 111.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Saturday, 5:15 p.m.
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.