LAKEWOOD, Colo. – For a 10-minute stretch, almost nothing was going into the hoop for Seattle Pacific
 
A lot more was going in for Colorado Christian.
 
The host Cougars outscored SPU by a 25-2 margin during the second quarter and rang up 23 straight points spanning the second and third on Friday afternoon, going on to a 68-41 victory on the first day of the Metro State Thanksgiving Classic women's basketball tournament.
 
Redshirt freshman wing Grace Leasure led the Falcons (1-4) with nine points, and junior forward Olivia Mayer added seven points, four rebounds, one assist, and one blocked shot.
 
But after trailing 40-15 at halftime and 48-15 early in the third quarter, Seattle Pacific simply could not climb back into it.
 
 

"I thought the game really changed in the second quarter, and Colorado Christian adjusted quickly and we were slower to adjust," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We did some decent things in the second half. But we have to up our fundamentals and get back to the drawing board."
 
After being down by as many as eight points at 13-5 during the first quarter, the Falcons went on a 8-2 run to close that period, starting with a Hailey Marlow 3-pointer and finishing with a Grace Leasure trey, cutting the difference to 15-13.
 
But Colorado Christian (3-2) racked up the first 10 points of the second quarter, making it 25-13, as SPU missed its first six shots. Lolo Weatherspoon finally got the Falcons back on the board on a putback with 5:12 remaining. But the Cougars then tallied the last 15 points of that quarter. They hit 7 of 16 during the quarter, including 5 of 10 from downtown.
 
"We got some decent looks," Simonson said. "But Colorado Christian made a lot of shots and they did a very good job today, especially in that second quarter.
 
"I'm excited that we get another chance (on Saturday against Metro State) to rinse this bad taste out of our mouths. Ultimately, we have to rebound and be more fundamental. I was pleased with the second half; we only had four turnovers after having 11 in the first half, so I loved that adjustment. There were definitely some improvements.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU hit just 29.2 percent from the field (14 of 48). That included 21.8 percent (5 of 23) from behind the arc.
-- Olivia Mayer hit 3 of 5 from the field, and Grace Leasure was 3 of 7.
--Colorado Christian finished the day at 40.4 percent, draining 23 of 57. They were 9 of 23 (39.1 percent) from long range.
-- Redshirt junior point guard Hunter Beirne drained her 100th college field goal, and it was a 3-pointer, coming with 3:26 left in the third quarter.
-- Lolo Weatherspoon grabbed five of the Falcons' 21 rebounds.
-- Hailey Marlow's two rebounds leaves her needing just one more for her career 100^th.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons wrap up their Colorado trip on Saturday at Metro State in Denver. Tip-off is at noon Pacific time.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Metro State Thanksgiving Classic
Friday, Nov. 24, 2023
CCU Event Center / Lakewood, Colo.
 
Colorado Christian 68, Seattle Pacific 41
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-4)
Weatherspoon 2-9 2-4 5, Marlow 1-5 0-0 3, Beirne 1-3 0-0 3, Mayer 3-5 1-2 7, Berry 0-3 1-2 1, Ohta 2-5 0-0 6, Bishop 1-3 0-0 2, Kearns 0-2 2-2 2 Carlisle 1-6 0-0 2, Leasure 3-7 2-2 9.  Totals 14-48 8-12 41.
 
COLORADO CHRISTIAN (3-2)
Bowlin 4-6 3-4 11, Paul 1-6 2-2 4, Jones 1-7 0-0 2, Phipps 4-9 0-0 12, Loconte 2-7 2-2 7, Kelly 0-0 0-0 0, Kendall 1-3 0-0 3, Hutka 4-7 2-3 10, White 0-0 2-2 2, Guest 0-2 0-0 0, Perez 6-9 2-3 17, Huff 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 23-57 13-16 68.
 
Seattle Pacific                     13             2           13           13           -- 41
Colorado Christian              15           25           14           14          -- 68
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-23 (Weatherspoon 0-2, Marlow 1-3, Beirne 1-1, Mayer 0-1, Berry 0-1, Ohta 2-4, Kearns 0-2, Carlisle 0-4, Leasure 1-5), CCU 9-23 (Bowlin 0-1, Jones 0-2, :Phipps 4-7, Loconte 1-4, Kendall 1-3, Guest 0-2, Perez 3-4).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – SPU 21 (Weatherspoon 5), CCU 31 (Jones 10).  Assists – SPU 8 (Berry 2, Leasure 2), CCU 15 (Phipps 3).  Turnovers (points allowed) – SPU 15 (17), CCU 16 (10).  Total fouls – SPU 23, CCU 14.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 100.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Metro State
Saturday, Noon PST
Auraria Arena / Denver, Colo.