BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Ashley Alter made it to a milestone. The Seattle Pacific Falcons, however, weren't able to make it into the win column.
 
Alter scored the 1,000th point of her career and finished the game with 11, but No. 8-ranked Western Washington went on a 15-2 scoring run bridging the second and third quarters on Saturday night, staying in control from there on the way to a 69-52 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory.
 
The result in Carver Gymnasium gave SPU (13-11, 8-8 GNAC) a split on its final road trip of the season and still looking to clinch a spot in the GNAC Tournament. The Falcons can do that by winning at least one of their final two home games this coming week, on Thursday against Alaska Anchorage or Saturday against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
 

"Western went to the (national) championship game last year for a reason. They're a really good team, strong and physical," head coach Mike Simonson said. "The first quarter was our type of game, then the next three quarters it was Western's type of game. We needed to adapt and either get the game back to our style, or match their style.
 
"It was a really good learning curve, and that's what championship basketball is about," Simonson added. "Our seniors know that, but obviously, it was a really good experience for our younger players as well this week."
 
SPU had a 29-25 lead late in the second quarter, thanks in part to a 7-0 ending the first and starting the second quarter. Western Washington (21-3, 15-2) climbed into a 29-29 tie by halftime.
 
The Vikings the scored the first four points of the second half to make it 33-29. A turnaround five-footer by Alter brought the Falcons within 33-31. Western then put another seven in a row on the board to stretch it out to nine at 40-31.
 
Another seven straight to start the fourth quarter essentially put the game out of reach. Seattle Pacific did get back within 11 at 60-49 with 4:01 left, but managed just three more points the rest of the way.
 
"I think they exposed a lot of mismatches, but we had some defensive breakdowns that created those," Simonson said. "We've got to get back to the drawing board and get on the same page where we don't have those mismatches develop."
 
A GRAND ACCOMPLISHMENT
Alter came into the game needing just two points to become the 25th player in SPU history with 1,000. It couldn't have happened any more perfectly than it did between two Falcons who started their college careers together and will end them together within the next few weeks.
 
 

Alter, the fifth-year guard / forward, was under the hoop on the left side, and fellow fifth-year forward Natalie Hoff had the ball toward the left side of the free throw line. Hoff saw her, put the pass right in Alter's hands, and Alter went up for the reverse lay-in with 8:06 left in the first quarter.
 
Basket, Alter. Assist, Hoff.
 
Hoff knew it immediately, as she pointed toward Alter.

"I didn't think about that. That's even more special because we've been on the team for five years, and she knew right away, and she celebrated it," Alter said. "That play couldn't have gone any better."
 
Like most players who become prolific scorers in college, Alter didn't start her career thinking she would tally 1,000 points.
 
Matter of fact, she didn't even start this past week thinking about it.
 
"My dad reached out to me, and said, 'Do you know you're 28 points away from 1,000?,' I didn't even realize it," Alter said. (She got 26 of those 28 in Thursday's 59-48 victory at Simon Fraser.)
 
"It was a cool experience to have that in college. I'm just so thankful for my teammates how they celebrated and supported me. I felt the love in the locker room afterward, for sure. And I'm definitely thankful for this fifth year."
 
Simonson, whose first year as head coach was Alter's freshman season in 2018-19, said he had a hunch early that Alter would develop into the kind of scorer that she did.
 
"I told Ash today that I knew when she was a freshman that she was going to get 1,000 points," he said. "I thought that probably in her first month as a Falcon. It does not surprise me. She had an up-and-down game tonight, but she had moments where she showed why she is a 1,000-point scorer. It shows the legacy she's leaving on the program."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Alter's 1,000th point wasn't the only scoring milestone on Saturday. Natelie Hoff tallied her 900th, coming on a turnaround 3-footer from straight in front of the hoop with 4:34 left in the third quarter. She finished the game with 11 points, and now has 906.
-- Hoff also led the way on the boards with six. She is now 15 boards away from her 600th.
-- SPU hit just 31 percent from the field (18 of 58).
-- Western Washington finished at 59.5 percent (25 of 42) and was above 50 percent for all four quarters: 55.6 in the first, 60.0 in the second, 53.8 in the third, and 70.0 in the fourth.
-- The Vikings came up with nine blocked shots.
-- Hunter Beirne hit a buzzer-beater to give the Falcons a 17-15 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was the fourth time this season Beirne has beaten a quarter-ending buzzer..
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons start their final home week of the season on Thursday against Alaska Anchorage, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. in the second half of a doubleheader. The SPU men face Anchorage at 5:15 p.m.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 18, 2023
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
(No. 8) Western Washington 69, Seattle Pacific 52
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (13-11, 8-8 GNAC)
N. Hoff 3-10 5-6 11, M. Hoff 0-0 2-2 2, Beirne 3-13 1-2 8, Eddy 2-5 3-3 8, Alter 5-16 0-0 11, Weaetherspoon 3-6 1-2 7, Berry 1-2 1-1 3, Marlow 1-5 0-0 3, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 18-58 13-16 52.
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON (21-3, 15-2 GNAC)
Walling 3-6 2-2 9, Gimmaka 2-3 0-0 4, A. Dykstra 4-8 0-0 9, R. Dykstra 5-8 3-4 14, Peterson 2-4 0-0 4, Reilly  3-4 3-3 9, Fierke 1-2 3-4 5, Grandbois 2-2 0-0 4, Zaragoza 1-2 3-4 , Oberg 2-3 1-1 5.  Totals 25-42 15-19 69.
 
Seattle Pacific                     17           12           11           12           -- 52
Western Washington         15           14           18           22           -- 69
 
3-point goals – SPU 3-12 (Beirne 0-2, Eddy 1-3, Alter 1-=3, Weathersoon 0-1, Marlow 1-3), WWU 4-10 (Walling 1-3, A. Dykstra 1-2, R. Dykstra 1-1, Peterson 0-1, Fierke 0-1, OBert 1-2).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – SPU 25 (N. Hoff 6), WWu 30 (Reilly 8).  Assists – SPU 8 (Alter 3), WWU 14 (A. Dykstra 4).  Turnovers – SPU 15, WWU 16.  Total fouls – SPU 21, WWU 18.  Technical fouls – WWU: Grandbois.  Attendance – 923.
 
 
Next game
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Feb. 23     7:30 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.