THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Dec. 9                 George Fox at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                      Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – Academic finals are done. The first week of conference play is in the books.
 
Now, the Seattle Pacific Falcons can look forward to a quieter few weeks – still facing quality competition, but not as much crammed onto the women's basketball calendar.
 
This week is a prime example. The Falcons (3-5, 2-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) have just one game, that coming up on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion against George Fox of Newberg, Oregon. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m.
 
That is SPU's only game of the week. But it comes against a team that traditionally has been a strong NCAA Division III program as a member of the Northwest Conference.
 
The Falcon swept their Alaska opponents last week in Brougham Pavilion to open GNAC play. The routed Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday, 70-43, then hung on to pull out a close one against Alaska Anchorage on Saturday,62-59.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Saturday's game will have live Webcasts and live stats. Greg Sexton will call all the action. The appropriate link can be found at the top of this story.
 
A FINAL NON-CONFERENCE PUSH
Although Great Northwest Athletic Conference play is now officially underway, the rest of December will be filled with the final four non-conference games.
 
Along with George Fox this weekend, the Falcons have a two-game trip to Northern California next week and then host Westminster on Dec. 29.
 
The GNAC schedule typically has its opening two games during the first week of December, then resumes following the seven-day holiday break. This season, it actually picks up a week later than normal (Thursday and Saturday, Jan. 4 and 6) because of the way the calendar falls, thereby allowing teams some additional practice time after the break or a chance to schedule an additional non-conference game.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are on their first two-game winning streak of the season.
-- In last Thursday's victory against Alaska Fairbanks, the 70 points scored was a season high, and the 43 allowed was a season low.
-- SPU's 46.9 percent mark from the field in Saturday's 62-59 victory against Alaska Anchorage was its best of the year.
-- It also was the third straight game the Falcons have been in the 40s. Prior to that, they'd had one 40-plus shooting performance in their first five games and were coming off a season-low .292 in a 68-41 loss at Colorado Christian.
 

-- Sparking that better accuracy have been redshirt junior point guard Hunter Beirne and junior forward Olivia Mayer. In those three consecutive 40 percent-plus games, Beirne hit 55.6 percent (20 of 36), and Mayer shot 51.2 percent (21 of 41).
-- Mayer's effort has her sitting at No. 17 on the GNAC field goal list at 45.9 percent.
-- But even higher on that list is junior center Schuyler Berry, Thanks in part to a perfect 4-of-4 outing against Anchorage, for the season (26 of 50), No. 9 in the conference.she is now at an even 52 percent
-- At the other end of the court, SPU kept both Alaska teams below 40 percent: 25.0 for Fairbanks (14 of 56) and 38.5 for Anchorage (20 of 52).
-- Mayer is tied for No. 13 in GNAC scoring at 12.8 points per game, is No. 7 in rebounding at 7.6 per game, and is No. 5 in blocked shots at 1.3.
-- Beirne ranks No. 10 in 3-point accuracy at .385 (10 of 26).
-- Seattle Pacific's 29-point lead against Alaska Fairbanks in the final minute (70-41) was its largest against any team this season.
-- Coach Mike Simonson's very first game in charge of the Falcons was an exhibition against George Fox on Nov. 3, 2018 in Brougham Pavilion. The Bruins pulled out a 75-74 victory.
 
SCOUTING THE GEORGE FOX BRUINS: 1-3, 1-1 NWC (tie 4th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 6-3.  Current series streak: GFU won 1.  Last time: GFU 75, SPU 74 (Nov. 3, 2018 at Seattle).  Last SPU series win: SPU 71, GFU 56 (Nov. 4, 2017 at Seattle).  Bruins on the Web.
Bruins in a nutshell: George Fox has had a light schedule so far with just four games plus two exhibitions. One of the counters was a 50-33 loss to Western Oregon. The lone win for the Bruns was in its Northwest Conference opener against Lewis & Clark, 61-52. Senior 5-foot-9 guard Ella Roberts is the only GFU player averaging in double figures at 11.3 points per game. She led the way with 16 in the victory against L&C. Freshman 5-3 point guard Tara Oshiro chips in 9.0 points. Senior 5-10 wing Jenna Lacey leads the way on the boards at 6.3 per game, with junior 5-2 guard Marissa Bartels close behind at 6.0.
 
BISHOP SHINES ON THE GLASS
With their spots in the starting lineup, Olivia Mayer and Schuyler Berry are expected to corral rebounds – and they do. Mayer is among the GNAC's top 10 at 7.6 per game; Berry is averaging 4.1 per game.
 
 

But when coach Mike Simonson can bring in someone such as Emilia Bishop off the bench, that can provide an even bigger boost on the boards.
 
A 6-foot-3 sophomore post player, Bishop was at her best last Thursday against Alaska Fairbanks, yanking down a career-high 11 rebounds. That was more than double her previous career best of five, which she had last Dec. 8 at home against Lincoln of California. It also was more than the nine Bishop had all last season when she saw very limited playing time (just five games).
 
Bishop has been a regular in the rotation so far, usually seeing double-digit minutes in a reserve role. She's averaging 3.0 boards along with 2.3 points.
 
KILLIN' IT ON DEFENSE
A kill is more commonly associated with volleyball rather than basketball – and in that sport, it's the primary way of scoring on offense.
 
But as part of keeping defense at the forefront of everyone's mind, the Falcons have a way of picking up a kill on the basketball court. Coach Mike Simonson credits his team with a kill whenever they can manage to come up with three consecutive defensive stops.
 
That happened a lot last week. SPU came up with 14 kills against Alaska Fairbanks and seven against Anchorage. In the Nanooks game, the Falcons had three instances of three stops in a row. But at other times during the game, they got four, five, six, and 10 in a row. (The six would count for two kills; the 10 would count for three). They during the fourth quarter, they came up with 13 consecutive stops.
 
Against Anchorage, there was one instance of three, two of four, and two of seven straight.
 
SIMO SAYS …
(On last week's two wins)
"I'm just really proud of the resiliency of our team. Starting off, we were kind of searching for what our identity is going to be. We were challenged going into the weekend: Are we going to be a solid offensive team that shares the ball and a good defensive team like our vision that we had at the beginning of the year? … If you only came and watched those two games and didn't see our first six, you would think, 'Whoa – that's a pretty good basketball team. They share the ball and they play good defense.' I think that's who we are and who we're going to be going forward."
 
 

(On the one thing that really stood out)
"Our defensive effort. The intensity hadn't been there, and I really challenged our team to get back to who we are defensively. Our goal is to hold teams to 55 or below. We did that against Fairbanks and came close to doing that against Anchorage. There are obviously some X's and O's in defense. But mostly, it's about getting down and getting in a stance and working and wanting to get a stop – and we wanted to get stops this past weekend, which was great.."
 
(On George Fox)
"They're a solid opponent, and we can not take them lightly. They historically have been a good Division III team. We need to play sound basketball, take care of the ball, execute offensively, and then defensively, we have to play our game. We have to protect our court and make it hard for them to hit some shots."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Hunter Beirne went off for a career-high 20 points, draining 8 of 12 from the field, as the Falcons opened the Great Northwest Athletic Conference portion of their schedule with a 70-43 rout of Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday in their first home game of the season.
-- Olivia Mayer poured in 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting, Hunter Beirne added 13, Schuyler Berry chipped in 12, and SPU, after an early 17-point lead gradually melted away, pulled out a 62-59 victory against Alaska Anchorage 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 278)
400th point            Hunter Beirne (has 333)
700th point            Olivia Mayer (has 730)
 
Made last week
200th rebound       Hunter Beirne (has 203)
 
AROUND THE WEST
The Falcons were one of three teams to come through the opening weekend of GNAC play undefeated. Montana State Billings and Central Washington were the other two, as the Yellowjackets swept the Alaska schools in Billings, and the Wildcats scored road victories at Saint Martin's and at Western Oregon. Just four of the 10 schools are in action this week, all at home, against D2, D3, or NAIA opposition.

The California Collegiate Athletic Association also has three teams that went 2-0 through the first weekend of conference play: Cal State San Marcos, Humboldt, and Stanislaus State. San Marcos is 5-2 overall, Humboldt is 4-2, and Stanislaus is 6-4. Sonoma State also has a 5-2 overall record, but went 1-1 last weekend.
 
Only five of the 11 Pacific West teams started their conference schedules last week. Fresno Pacific won both games, and is 6-2 overall. Westmont, the newest member, is 2-1. Dominican has the Pac West's top overall record at 6-1, but won't open its conference schedule until Saturday at home against Azusa Pacific.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

UP NEXT
The Falcons take a two-game road trip to Northern California next week, visiting Stanislaus State in Turlock on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., and Fresno Pacific on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. SPU will be seeking to turn the tables against Stanislaus. Last December in Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons had an 11-point lead at 57-46 with 8:23 to play, but the Warriors came back to win on a buzzer-beater, 63-62.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC          Overall
Montana State Billings    2-0       8-2
Central Washington        2-0       8-3
Seattle Pacific           2-0       3-5
Western Washington        1-0       6-1
Northwest Nazarene        1-1       4-5
Western Oregon            1-1       4-5
Simon Fraser              0-1       7-5
Alaska Anchorage          0-2       2-5
Saint Martin's            0-2       2-6
Alaska Fairbanks          0-2       2-10