COUGAR SHOOTOUT SCHEDULE
Friday, Nov. 17                     Seattle Pacific at Azusa Pacific, 6:00 p.m.
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 18                Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Marcos
                                                Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats

 
SEATTLE – Last week, it was one conference preseason favorite and one nationally ranked team for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
This week, it's another conference preseason favorite and two national ranked teams.
 
SPU's women wanted tough challenges during the non-conference portion of their basketball schedule, and that's precisely what they're getting.
 
Coming off a split of opening weekend in Bellingham, the Falcons fly south to California for the Cougar Shootout in Azusa. On Friday, they tip off at 6:00 p.m. against host Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 12 in the national preseason poll and the near-unanimous favorite to win the Pacific West Conference title.
 
On Saturday, Seattle Pacific tangles wit preseason No. 22 Cal State San Marcos. That one tips off at 4:00 p.m.
 
At last weekend's WWU Veterans Day Classic, the Falcons opened last Friday with a 79-54 loss to Cal State Los Angeles, the preseason favorite to win the California Collegiate Athletic Association title. On Saturday, after a slow start against preseason No. 11 Cal State Dominguez Hills, SPU took the lead in the second quarter and kept it the rest of the way in a 58-53 victory.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both games will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
 
MAYER TABBED AS ALL-TOURNEY PICK
 

Falcons forward Olivia Mayer, making her debut with SPU after two years at Spokane's Whitworth University, was named to the WWU Veterans Day Classic All-Tournament team.
 
Mayer started both games in Bellingham, averaging 14 points and 9.5 rebounds. In Saturdays victory against Cal State Dominguez Hills, Mayer logged her first Seattle Pacific double-double, logging 14 points and 12 rebounds – with half of those dozen boards coming at the offensive end.
 
At Whitworth, Mayer logged 25 double-doubles in her two years, with 20 of those coming last season.
 



SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- This is the third straight year of the tournament featuring SPU, Azusa, San Marcos, and Western Washington. The Vikings hosted last season, and CSSM was the venue in 2021.
-- Friday's game against Azusa Pacific will be the first true road game of the year for the Falcons. Last week's contests in Bellingham were both neutral court.
-- Seattle Pacific was 7-6 in true road games last year (3-1 in non-conference play), and was 9-8 overall away from Brougham Pavilion.
-- These same teams opened the 2022-23 season against each other last year at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham.
 

-- San Marcos came in ranked No. 12 and scored a 70-62 victory. Schuyler Berry of the Falcons went for 12 points on 6-of-12 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds.
-- Azusa was No. 21 in the poll, and the Falcons hung on to win that one, 70-64. Berry came up big in that one, as well, with 13 point on 5-of-6 shooting plus six rebounds. Hunter Beirne added 11 points.
--While SPU picked up the pace with its shooting on Saturday against Dominguez Hills (21 of 51 for 41.2 percent after going just 18 of 58 for 31 percent against Cal State Los Angeles), it is still looking for a breakout night from downtown. The Falcons hit just one 3-pointer in each of those games and are just 2 of 33 for the season (6.1 percent).
-- Sixth-year head coach Mike Simonson emphasizes sharing the ball, and SPU did that against Cal State Dominguez Hills last Saturday with assists on 13 of 21 baskets.
-- Of the team's 81 rebounds through the first two games, 25 came at the offensive end. Newcomer forward Olivia Mayer has eight of those.
-- Seattle Pacific and Azusa Pacific have become regular preseason opponents. This will be their 14th meeting.
-- Simonson is 1-3 against Azusa and 0-2 against San Marcos.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 3-1, 0-0 Pac West
All-time series: SPU leads, 9-4.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 70, APU 64 (Nov. 19, 2022 at Bellingham). Last APU series win: APU 67, SPU 61 OT (Nov. 20, 2021 at San Marcos.).  Cougars on the Web.
APU in a nutshell: After splitting its first two games in Texas, Azusa Pacific came back to win both at last weekend's Cal Poly Pomona Tournament, 81-76 against the hosts, and 58-44 against San Marcos. Junior 6-foot forward Kelly Heimburger, one of APU's four returning All-Pacific West Conference players from last year's 26-5 squad, is averaging 14.8 points per game, plus 5.8 rebounds. She poured in a game-high 21 points against SPU last November. Senior 5-7 point guard Paige Uyehara, the Pac West's Preseason Player of the Year, is right behind at 14.5 points. She also averages 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals. Also averaging in double digits for the Cougars are senior 6-2 forward Molly Whitmore at 12.5, and junior 5-8 guard Amiyah Kirkman at 11.3. The Cougars take good care of the ball, averaging just 14.8 turnovers per game, while forcing their opponents into almost 20 (19.8)
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGARS: 0-2, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: CSSM leads, 2-0.  Current series streak: CSSM won 2.  Last time: CSSM 70, SPU 62 (Nov. 18, 2022 at Bellingham). Cougars on the Web.
San Marcos in a nutshell: The Cougars have three All-CCAA selections back from a team that went 25-6 last season, knocked off heavy favorite Cal State Dominguez Hills in the conference tournament final, then went all the way to the West Region before falling to Dominguez Hills. San Marcos had a rough start last week, coming up short against Point Loma Nazarene and Azusa Pacific at the Cal Poly Pomona Tournament. Returning are three All-CCAA selections from last season. Redshirt 5-foot-8 forward Mina Tameilau is averaging 14.5 points through the first two games. Junior 5-r guard Charity Gallegos is at 13.0, and redshirt senior 6-foot forward Jordan Vasqez  is at 12.0 points and 9.0 rebounds. She had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds against Azusa.

SIMO SAYS …
 

(On beating Dominguez Hills)
"We buckled down and played great defense today against them. In these big in-region games, experience is important, and I went with a lineup today that was really focused on experience."
 
(On getting a split last weekend)
"If you had told any of the coaches in this tournament that they could go 1-1, you'd be pretty happy. We'll have tough games (against Azusa and San Marcos). But this was a great win against a tough West Region team."

THREE FOR MARLOW'S BOOKS
Most veteran players would be satisfied with one career high and thrilled with two. Hailey Marlow went one better last weekend.
 

The senior guard came up with three best-ever performances during the two-game trip to the WWU Veterans Day Classic.
 
On Friday against Cal State Los Angeles, the 5-foot-7 point guard pulled down nine rebounds, topping her previous bet of six on Feb. 5, 2022 at Simon Fraser.
 
The next night against Cal State Dominguez Hills, Marlow tallied 11 points, two more than she had on two previous occasions. She also dealt six assists, topping her previous high of four, which she reached three times.

HELLO AGAIN
The Cal State San Marcos roster includes former Falcons player Malia Mastora. Now a redshirt junior, the 5-foot-10 guard is averaging 11.5 points on a team-high .471 shooting (8 of 17) through the first two games. That includes 44.4 percent (4 of 9) from 3-point range. Her four blocked shots also are tied for the team lead.
 
A native of Alameda, California, Mastora played two seasons for SPU (2020-21 and 21-22), averaging 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 33 games.
 
The Falcons will get re-acquainted with another former player when they host Westminster in their final non-conference game on Dec. 29. Beth Pettingill (now Means), also was with Seattle Pacific in 2020-21 and 21-22. She averaged 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 26 games (10 starts) for the Griffins last season.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100th field goal    Hunter Beirne (has 98)
100th rebound     Hailey Marlow (has 92)
200th rebound      Schuyler Berry (has 183)
                              Hunter Beirne (has 168)
500th rebound      Olivia Mayer (has 457)
 
Made last week
100th point            Lolo Weatherspoon (has 104)
 
AROUND THE WEST
The season is just two weeks old, but Western Oregon and Western Washington are already the only two undefeated GNAC teams. The Wolves are 3-0, winning at home against Academy of Art and Pacific West newcomer Westmont in the GNAC / Pac West Challenge last weekend, then defeating nearby rival George Fox on Tuesday. WWU beat both Domingues Hills and Cal State L.A. last weekend, the latter in overtime on Saturday, 76-69. Preseason favorite Montana State Billings is 4-1 and has won four in a row.
 
It's a somewhat similar story in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, as the only team to go 2-0 through the first weekend was Cal State San Bernardino. Preseason favorite Cal State Los Angeles split in Bellingham, but then stopped in Ellensburg on Tuesday and beat Central Washington, 90-77. A total of five other teams went 1-1 in various preseason tournaments.
 
Ditto in the Pac West. Every team has at least one loss except for Chaminade, which has played just once, defeating Evergreen State, 78-65. Azusa Pacific is 3-1, Westmont is 2-1, and five others are at 1-1.through the first weekend.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
For the second straight year, the Falcons will be in Colorado at Thanksgiving time. They will visit Colorado Christian in Lakewood next Friday, Nov. 25, tipping off at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. On Saturday the 26th, they'll be in Denver to take on Metro State with a noon Pacific time start.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                    GNAC                 Overall
Western Oregon           0-0          3-0
Western Washington       0-0          2-0
Montana State Billings   0-0          4-1
Alaska Anchorage         0-0          2-1
Central Washington       0-0          3-3
Seattle Pacific          0-0          1-1
Simon Fraser             0-0          2-3
Northwest Nazarene       0-0          1-2
Saint Martin's           0-0          0-2
Alaska Fairbanks         0-0          0-6