THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 25                Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 27                 Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – Halftime and crunch time are arriving at the same time for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
SPU reaches the midpoint of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball schedule this week, as it heads onto the road for visits to Western Washington and Simon Fraser.
 
The Falcons tangle with the No. 17-ranked Vikings on Thursday in Carver Gymnasium, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, they head across the U.S.-Canada border into British Columbia for a contest at Simon Fraser in Burnaby. That one in West Gym also starts at 7:00 p.m.
 
SPU (6-11, 3-4 GNAC) had just one game last week, falling to No. 12 Montana State Billings on Saturday in Brougham Pavilion, 63-38.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC games will have free live Webcasts and live stats. The appropriate links for this week's games can be found at the top of this story.
 
JOCKEYING FOR POSTSEASON POSITION
With 11 games spread over the final six weeks of the regular season, there are multiple opportunities to solidify a place in the GNAC Tournament.

But each opportunity becomes increasingly precious, especially for the Falcons.
 
Seattle Pacific starts this week in the sixth and final tournament qualifying spot with a 3-4 record. That's one game ahead of Simon Fraser, Western Oregon, and Saint Martin's, all of whom are 2-5. The Falcons are half a game behind fifth-place Northwest Nazarene.
 
Heading into the second round of the double round-robin, which starts next week, SPU has a win against Western Oregon losses to NNU and Saint Martin's, with the game against Simon Fraser still upcoming.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are still seeking their first true road win.
-- Their one out-of-town victory did come inside Western Washington's Carver Gymnasium, 58-53 against Cal State Dominguez Hills, on Nov. 11 in the season-opening WWU Veterans Day Classic.
-- Thursday's game against No. 17 Western will be Seattle Pacific's second straight against at top-25 opponent and its fifth of the season. The others were against Dominguez Hills (No. 11 at the time), Azusa Pacific (No. 12), Cal State San Marcos (No. 12), and Montana State Billings (No. 12).
 

-- SPU has kept three of its past four opponents in the 50s. The exception to that was in last Saturday's 63-38 loss to Montana State Billings – and the Yellowjackets didn't reach 60 until just 52 seconds remained in the game.
-- The Falcons come into the week allowing 59.9 points per game, ranking No. 4 in the GNAC.
-- In conference-only games, Seattle Pacific allows 56.1 points, which is No. 2 on the list.
-- That defense will be tested this week as the Falcons will try to slow down the top two shooters in the conference: No. 1 Brooke Walling of Western Washington (.636) and No. 2 Gemma Cutler of Simon Fraser (.600).
-- Those two will be just as tough at the other end of the court. Cutler is the GNAC's leading shot blocker with 50, and Walling is second with 40.
-- Olivia Mayer continues to rack up the minutes for Seattle Pacific. She played 35½ on Saturday, giving her 516 for the season. That averages out to 30.4 per game, No. 8 in the conference.
-- Mayer also ranks No. 10 in scoring (14.2), is tied for No. 6 in rebounding (7.7), is tied for No. 9 both in steals at 1.7 and blocked shots at 0.8.
-- Western Washington has the longest current winning streak against the Falcons, having taken the last 10 in a row. SPU's last win in the series was 61-59 in Seattle on Jan. 17, 2019.
-- The teams met three times last year, and two of them were close calls: 58-53 during the regular season in Seattle, and again by that same score in the GNAC Tournament semifinals at WWU.
-- Seattle Pacific's last victory against the Vikings in Bellingham was 75-63 on Jan. 11, 2018.
-- The Falcon swept Simon Fraser last season, 64-53 in Seattle and 59-48 in Burnaby.
-- This week's trip will conclude a string of three straight games against the longest-serving coaches in the GNAC. 20 years for Billings' Kevin Woodin, 33 years for WWU's Carmen Dolfo, and 23 years for Simon Fraser's Bruce Langford.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 14-3, 6-1 GNAC (2nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 68-32.  Current series streak: WWU won 10.  Last time: WWU 58, SPU 53 (March 3, 2023, GNAC semifinals at Bellingham).  Last SPU series win: SPU 61, WWU 59 (Jan. 17, 2019 at Seattle).  Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington has won five straight since its only conference loss, 61-54 at Anchorage on Jan. 4. Senior 6-foot-3 forward Brooke Walling is averaging 16.5 points (No. 4 in the GNAC) on phenomenal .636 shooting (No. 1) and 9.5 rebounds (No. 1). While that's not quite a double-double average, she has nine double-doubles for the season. The high-scoring Vikings have three other players averaging in double figures: sophomore 5-5 guard Mason Oberg (11.4), junior 6-3 forward Aspen Garrison (10.4 on .528 shooting) and junior 5-10 guard Riley Dykstra (10.0 on .511 shooting). Stephanie Peterson, a 5-10 senior, is as solid a guard as one will find anywhere, averaging 6.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists (No. 2 in the conference) and 2.3 steals (tie No. 2) in starting all 17 games.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER RED LEAFS: 10-10, 2-5 GNAC (tie 7th)
All-time series: Simon leads, 26-16.  Current series streak: SPU won 2.  Last time: SPU 59, Simon 48 (Feb. 16, 2023 at Burnaby).  Last Simon series win: Simon 64, SPU 57 (Feb. 5, 2022 at Burnaby).  Red Leafs on the Web. Red Leafs in a nutshell: Simon Fraser is coming off a split last week, winning 77-61 at Western Oregon, but falling 59-55 at Saint Martin's. As expected, the Wisotzki sisters are carrying a good portion of the offensive load. Senior 6-foot-2 guard / forward Jessica is averaging 17.6 points per game (No. 3 in the GNAC), along with 4.4 rebounds. Junior 5-10 guard Sophia is at 14.4 points (No. 9) and 4.0 rebounds. Junior 6-2 forward Gemma Cutler averages 12.0 points, 7.7 rebounds (tie No. 7 in the GNAC), shoots .600 from the field (No. 2) and has a whopping 50 blocked shots (2.8 per game, No. 1 by a long way). Grace Killin, a senior 5-10 guard, chips in 11.4 points per game.
 
QUICK 'N SLICK HANDS
The Falcons came up with their seventh game of double-digit steals on Saturday vs. Billings, finishing with 10. Schuyler Berry led the way with three, tying her career high.
 
The Falcons rank No. 2 in steals in the GNAC at 8.8 per game. The only team ahead of them is Alaska Anchorage at 14.4, which ranks No. 8 in all of Division II.
 
Forward Olivia Mayer leads SPU with 27 steals, an average of 1.6 per game that is tied for No. 9 in the conference. In the game against Saint Martin's on Jan. 13, Mayer came up with the 100th steal of her career and now has 101. Berry has 21, and Lolo Weatherspoon has 19.
 
PINK GAME SET FOR FEB. 1
When Central Washington visits Brougham Pavilion on Thursday, Feb. 1, it will be Seattle Pacific's Pink Game in recognition of the battle against breast cancer.
 
A table will be set up in the Brougham Pavilion lobby with information about the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, which works with and supports survivors, caregivers, and others who are battling to eradicate not only breast cancer, but all forms of cancer affecting women.
 
SIMO SAYS …
(On this week's games)
"I really respect both Western Washington and Simon Fraser. Both play the game the right way – take care of the ball, share it, really balanced scoring for both teams, and they can put the ball into the hoop in a variety of ways. … We dropped a couple on our home court, so we have to pick up a road win here and there.
 
 

(On Western Washington)
"They're strong, big, physical, and they value the defensive end, just like us. We're going up there ready for a hard-fought quality type of game that should be back and forth. Brooke Walling has improved every year she has been in the conference, and she looks much improved this year and is shooting an incredible percentage from the floor. When they're hot from 3, they're very hard to guard because they're going to go inside no matter what.
 
(On Simon Fraser)
Simon Fraser will be a very competitive road game. They can shoot the 3 very well and get hot, and we've got to make sure they're cold. Jessica Wisotzky has been one of the leading scorers in the conference for a long time, and we have to make sure she has a tough, hard night, and that will look like a team defensive effort."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Olivia Mayer scored 13 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures, and No. 12-ranked MSUB finished the third quarter on a 10-2 run to open up a commanding lead on the way to a 63-38 victory last Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.

MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100th assist           Olivia Mayer (88)
                               Hailey Marlow (has 86)
100th point            Grace Leasure (has 93)
200th point            Hailey Marlow (has 187)
 
Made last week
None
 
AROUND THE WEST
Montana State Billings is still alone atop the GNAC, but finishes the first half of the conference schedule with a rugged road trip. The Yellowjackets (16-3, 7-0 GNAC) visit Simon Fraser (10-10, 2-5) on Thursday, then are in Bellingham to take on second-place Western Washington (14-3, 6-1) on Saturday. Billings starts the week on a six-game winning streak; Western has won five in a row. But the hottest team is Alaska Anchorage (11-5, 5-2) with nine straight victories and plays at home against Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin's on Saturday.
 
Cal State San Marcos has built a sizable three-game lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.. The Cougars (13-3, 10-1 CCAA) have won seven in a row and have a chance to widen their advantage even more on Thursday with a trip to Chico State (11-6, 7-4) currently tied for second with Cal Poly Pomona (11-5, 7-4).
 
Azusa Pacific (15-3, 9-0) still has control of the Pacific West Conference and now has won 11 in a row, the latest of which was last week's 90-55 rout of Fresno Pacific (12-5, 6-3). Sandwiched between those two in second place is Dominican (15-3, 8-2).

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons begin the second half of conference play at home next Thursday against Northwest Nazarene, tipping off at 5:15 p.m. as the first half of a doubleheader. Central Washington comes to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in the second half of a twin bill. SPU will be seeking to even the score against both schools after losing on the road in January: 50-47 at NNU and 71-61 at Central.
 
SPU's men will play those same schools on the same nights, meeting Northwest Nazarene at 7:30 on Thursday and Central at 2:00 on Saturday.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                    GNAC      Overall
Montana State Billings   7-0     16-3
Western Washington       6-1     14-2
Alaska Anchorage         5-2     11-5
Central Washington       5-3     14-6
Northwest Nazarene       4-4    ` 7-8
Seattle Pacific          3-4      6-11
Western Oregon           2-5      9-9
Simon Fraser             2-5     10-10
Saint Martin's           2-5      4-10
Alaska Fairbanks         0-6      2-15
  
 
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