Making waves to making saves. ... Claiming a national championship to capturing a big game against a nationally ranked opponent. ... Reaching the record book to reaching a 'grand' scoring milestone. ... Bouncing back from near defeat to pull out a volleyball victory to speeding back from a scary incident to win a track race. Seattle Pacific athletes and teams did all of those things and more during the just-completed 2022-23 academic year. Through the next two weeks, we'll relive some of those special moments through a series of "Falcon Flashback" stories.

     PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
     Monday, June 19: Women's rowing 3rd at NCAAs
     Tuesday, June 20: Wittrell wins in his return to the track
    Wednesday, June 21: Aniteye races to NCAA 800-meter title
    Thursday, June 22: Falcon women knock off Anchorage in GNAC Tourney
    Friday, June 24: Record-setting day for men's indoor 4x400 relay

SEATTLE – It happened in two different months. For that matter, it even happened in two different calendar years.
 
But for Shaw Anderson and Ashley Alter, the end result was the same.
 
The two Seattle Pacific basketball stars each logged their 1,000^th career point this past winter.
 
For Anderson, it came on the final day of 2022, as the Falcon men beat Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's game, on New Year's Eve afternoon inside Brougham Pavilion, 93-84.
 
Alter achieved her "grand" accomplishment on Feb. 18 of this year, hers coming at Western Washington's Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, and she helped the Falcons stay close until the No. 8-ranked Vikings pulled away in the final few minutes for a 69-52 victory.
 
 

ANDERSON GETS THERE IN EFFICIENT STYLE
When Anderson put his 1,000h into the book, he became the 39th player in program history to pile up that many points.
 
Anderson has been a bucket throughout the 2022-23 season. He is the GNAC scoring leader and is a key part of a team that leads the conference in shooting percentage and 3-point shooting percentage.
 
In the game against Central Washington, Anderson topped all scorers with 22 points on an efficient 9-for-12 shooting. He pulled down six rebounds, had three assists, and blocked two shots in what proved to be a memorable day.
 
"We've always known that Shaw is capable of scoring and does it so well within the confines of the team's systems and what we're trying to build," head coach Grant Leep said. "There are times when guys wish he would shoot it a little bit more because he's so unselfish.
 
"Tonight's milestone is a great honor," Leep added. "We told the guys that it's an individual honor that speaks to the team's ability to get him the ball, set screens for him, help him get better, and put him in a position to score. We're proud of him and are happy he's earned this honor."

 

ALTER MAKES THE MOST OF MORE TIME
Alter came into game at Western Washington needing just two points to become the 25th player in SPU women's basketball 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."