THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Dec. 14               Seattle Pacific at Stanislaus State, 5:30 p.m.
                                                Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena / Turlock, Calif.
                                                Live Webcast (PPV)     Live stats
 
Saturday, Dec. 16                Seattle Pacific at Fresno Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Special Events Center / Fresno, Calif.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – From one conference leader to another … let's play.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons, tied for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball standings after the opening weekend of games, head onto the road for match-ups against the current No. 1 teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the Pacific West Conference: Stanislaus State and Fresno Pacific.
 
Up first is Stanislaus on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Turlock. Then on Saturday, SPU heads to Fresno for a 2:00 p.m. contest.
 
The Falcons (4-5, 2-0 GNAC) are riding an overall three-game winning streak after last Saturday's 64-44 non-conference victory against George Fox in Brougham Pavilion.
 
These will be Seattle Pacific's last games until after Christmas.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both games will have live Webcasts and live stats. Thursday's game at Stanislaus State is on a pay-per-view basis. The Webcast from Saturdays' game at Fresno Pacific is free, Live stats are free both days.
  
BIGGER MINUTES, BIGGER OUTPUT
With minor injuries sidelining a number of players last Saturday when George Fox visited, the door opened for other Falcons to step up and fill those roles – and they filled them very productively.
 
 

One of those players was redshirt sophomore guard / forward Jalena Carlisle. Having battled injuries for most of her first two years, she had nearly as many minutes against the Bruins (30) and she had in those first two seasons combined (35). Carlisle made the most of those minutes with career highs of six rebounds and three steals.
 
 

Freshman guard Haylie-Anne Ohta got her second start and was on the court for 34 minutes, easily her most ever, contributing five points, one rebound, one assist, and one blocked shot.
 
 

Freshman guard Layne Kearns came off the bench for 25 minutes, scoring nine points (including the first 3-pointer of her college career) and grabbing three rebounds. All of those numbers – minutes, points, and boards – were career highs.
 
 

Emilia Bishop played 24 minutes as a reserve, tallied eight points and collected 11 rebounds. The minutes and points were career highs; the rebound total was just one short of her best and was her second double-digit performance of the season.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- While the current three in a row is the longest winning streak this season, last winter's longest was four straight..
-- SPU is still looking for its first true road win, having gone 0-3 so far It has one neutral-court victory.
-- The Falcons have had four straight games in the 40-percent shooting range. They hit exactly 40 percent (26 of 65) against George Fox last week.
-- In those four games, redshirt junior point guard Hunter Beirne is shooting a combined 55.1 percent (27 of 49).
 

-- The 44 points allowed was Seattle Pacific's second sub-50 defensive effort. Its season-low allowed came in a  70-43 win at home against Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 30.
-- Thanks in large part to those two games, the Falcons have gone from allowing 67.8 points per game two weeks ago to 61.4, ranking No. 4 in the GNAC.
-- Junior forward Olivia Mayer is tied for 10th in GNAC scoring at 12.9 points per game. She's also tied for No. 6 in rebounding at 8.0 and is No. 5 in blocked shots at 1.2.
-- Junior center Schuyler Berry remains No. 9 in GNAC field goal shooting at .525. That includes 55.6 percent (5 of 9) last Saturday against George Fox.
-- Layne Kearns and Berry are No. 11-12 among conference free throws shooters. Kearns is No. 11 at .789 (15 of 19); Berry is right behind her at .778 (21 of 27).
-- Coach Mike Simonson is seeking his first win against Stanislaus State (0-2) and Fresno Pacific (0-2). The two losses against Stanislaus are by a combined total of three points (57-55 in 2021, then 63-32 last December).
 
SCOUTING THE STANISLAUS STATE WARRIORS: 8-4, 4-0 CCAA (1st)
All-time series: SSU leads, 2-1.  Current series streak: SSU won 2.  Last time: SSU 63, SPU 62 (Dec 17, 2022 at Seattle).  Last SPU series win: SPU 89, SSU 60 (Nov. 29, 2003 at Nampa, Idaho)  Warriors on the Web.
Warriors in a nutshell: Stanislaus started slow, losing three of its first five games. But the Warriors now have won five straight, the first of which was a 65-57 victory against Fresno Pacific (SPU's opponent on Saturday). Setting the offensive pace is junior 5-foot-4 guard Mya Blake, who averages 13.2 points on sharp shooting from the field: .447 overall, .419 from deep. Senior 5-9 guard Lilliana Marques is close behind her at 12.4 points per game and also is a respectable shooter: .404 overall, and .367 from downtown. Junior 5-11 forward Joia Armstrong collects a team high 6.1 rebounds per game, along with 8.3 points. Sophomore 5-5 guard Jadyn Patterson, who has started five of the 12 games and averages 20.1 minutes, is accurate from most anywhere, shooting .491 overall and .515 behind the arc. Of her 27 field goals made, 17 are from downtown.

SCOUTING THE FRESNO PACIFIC SUNBIRDS: 7-2, 3-0 Pac West (1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 7 -3.  Current series streak: Fresno won 2.  Last time: Fresno 91, SPU 77 (Nov, 9, 2019 at Arcata, Calif.).  Last SPU series win: SPU 78, Fresno 70 (Nov. 11, 2017 at Fresno, Calif.). Sunbirds on the Web.
Sunbirds in a nutshell: Fresno Pacific pulled off a three-game road sweep of the Hawaii schools – Chaminade, Hawaii Pacific, and Hawaii Hilo – in a span of five days to start Pac West play. All of the wins were by double-digit margins, and the Sunbirds have won six of their last seven overall. They're getting it done despite having just one player averaging double-digit points, that being grad student 5-7 guard Felica Dourva, who hails from Sweden. She averages 11.6 points. Closest to her on the stat sheet is senior 5-10 forward Maesyn Rix at 8.0 points. But she also pulls down an average of 9.4 rebounds per game, with nearly a full third of her total (28 of her 85). The Sunbirds as a whole average 40.3 rebounds per game.

SIMO SAYS …
(On this week's games)
"It's a really big trip for us. We need to get some momentum going. Both teams are very solid in our region, and we're going on the road, which is difficult. If we can squeak out a win or two on this trip, we'll feel really good about where we are going into Christmas."
 
 

(On preparing for the trip)
"We need to practice accordingly because these are big region games for us. Getting the rust off early in the season is done. We have to come out and really perform this week. We're not going to put pressure on ourselves, but we'll intentionally practice in a way to go out and get these two games this weekend because they're really good-quality ball clubs."
 
(On better rebounding last week)
"When you look at the rebounding and go all the way down (the scoresheet), you see Olivia had a double-double with four offensive rebounds. Emi (Bishop) had five offensive rebounds – she's just monster on the boards when she wants to be. She did a great job coming in. Layne (Kearns) had six rebounds, Jalena (Carlisle) had six rebounds, Schuyler had seven – that's a lot of rebounding."
 
(On limiting George Fox to just one offensive board)
"You have to be very intentional to box out and make sure that's the case, and we did a good job of that.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
Olivia Mayer had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds, Hunter Beirne added 14 points and five assists, and Emilia Bishop logged her second double-digit game on the boards, pulling down 10, as SPU rolled to a 64-44 non-conference victory against George Fox last Saturday.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100th assist           Hailey Marlow (has 83)
                             Olivia Mayer (Has 79)
200th point            Hailey Marlow (has 164)
300th point            Schuyler Berry (has 289)
400th point            Hunter Beirne (has 347)
 
Made last week
None
 
AROUND THE WEST
Of the top six teams in the GNAC standings, five are on multi-game winning streaks heading into the quieter portion of the schedule before the full-on resumption of conference play after Christmas and New Year's. Montana State Billings, with the best overall record of 10-2 (2-0 GNAC) has won four straight as it heads to the Daytona Beach Shootout in Florida this weekend. Central Washington (8-3, 2-0 GNAC) has won five in a row, as has Western Washington (7-1, 1-0 GNAC). Seattle Pacific (4-5, 2-0 GNAC) and Western Oregon (6-5, 1-1) have won three straight.
 
While Stanislaus State (8-4, 4-0) is alone atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association, Sonoma State (7-2, 3-1) and Cal State San Marcos (6-3, 3-1) are right behind. Then, it's is a pile-up of six teams with 2-2 conference records. Cal Poly Pomona has the best overall record in that group at 5-3.
 
The Pacific West has three teams with perfect conference records, although all three have played a different number of games. Fresno Pacific is 3-0 (7-2 overall), Azusa Pacific is 2-0 (8-3), and Point Loma Nazarene is 1-0 (5-4). Dominican also has a 7-2 overall record (1-1 Pac West). There are a smattering of conference games between now and the start of the holiday break, including Point Loma at Azusa next Tuesday, Dec. 19.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will conclude the non-conference portion of their schedule on Friday, Dec. 29 when Westminster comes to town. Tip-off is at 1:00 p.m. The Griffins of Salt Lake City are a member of the Pac West. Their roster includes senior forward Beth Pettingill (now Means), who played for SPU during the 2020-21 and 21-22 seasons.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC          Overall
Montana State Billings    2-0      10-2
Central Washington        2-0       8-3
Seattle Pacific           2-0       4-5
Western Washington        1-0       7-1
Western Oregon            1-1       6-5
Northwest Nazarene        1-1       4-5
Simon Fraser              0-1       7-5
Alaska Anchorage          0-2       4-5
Saint Martin's            0-2       2-6
Alaska Fairbanks          0-2       2-10