THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 1                  Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
                                      Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Feb. 3                  Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 4:15 p.m.
                                      Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – From here on out, every game is essentially a playoff game for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
Heading into the second half of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule, SPU starts off at home against two opponents who were well within reach when they squared off during the first week of January right after everyone returned from the Christmas break.
 
Central Washington is in town on Thursday, coming to Brougham Pavilion for a 5:15 p.m. Pacific time tip-off. Then on Saturday, it's a visit from Northwest Nazarene with a 4:15 p.m. start.
 
Both games will be part of doubleheaders, with the Seattle Pacific men facing the same schools on the same nights: Central on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and NNU on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
The Falcons (6-13, 3-6 GNAC) are looking to halt a four-game slide after falling 73-61 at then-No. 17 Western Washington last Thursday and 83-57 at Simon Fraser on Saturday.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC games will have free live Webcasts and live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for this week's two home games. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.

THURSDAY IS PINK NIGHT
When Central Washington visits on Thursday, it will be Seattle Pacific's Pink Game in support of the battle against breast cancer.

A table will be set up in the Brougham 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.

During warm-ups, the Falcons will wear pink shirts, and they will have pink socks on during both warm-ups and the game. The SPU men also are taking part with their own pink warm-up shirts and pink socks for their 7:30 p.m. contest against Central.

Halftime will have a game featuring a 7th grade club team from Mercer Island.

Click on this link for a story about SPU assistant coach Karen Byers and her personal breast cancer journey.

  



SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons have a 5-2 record in Brougham Pavilion, but have dropped their last two at home: 55-52 to Saint Martin's on Jan. 13 and 63-38 to Montana State Billings on Jan. 20.
--Seattle Pacific made some alterations to its starting lineup in both of last week's games. At WWU, redshirt freshman Grace Leasure answered the opening whistle for just the fourth time this season and the first time since Dec. 2 against Alaska Anchorage. On Saturday at Simon Fraser, the Falcons went with a smaller first five and bringing junior 6-foot-3 center Schuyler Berry off the bench.
 

-- Berry provided a significant scoring boost, pouring in 21 points (just one shy of her career high) on 6 of 10 from the floor and 9 of 13 from the foul line – all in just 21 minutes. That was her first double-digit game since she had 12 at Central Washington on Jan. 6, and was more points than the 16 she scored in the previous four games combined.
-- That 21-point outing from Berry was the fifth this season of 20-plus for the Falcons. Berry's career-high 22 at Stanislaus State on Dec. 14 was another one. Olivia Mayer has two (25, 23) and Hunter Beirne has one (20).
-- SPU had season highs from the free throw line at Simon Fraser, with 21 makes on 31 attempts. The previous highs were 17 makes (against three different teams) and 28 attempts (against Cal State Los Angeles).
-- The game at Central Washington on Jan. 6 was the last one in which SPU shot 40 percent or better from the field. On that night, the the team hit at a 42.6 percent clip (23 of 54).
-- The Falcons have won the past two home games against Central: 69-65 in the 2021-22 GNAC opener, and 70-63 last season.
-- SPU also won its home contest against Northwest Nazarene last year, 58-45.
-- The Nighthawks are one of eight teams Seattle Pacific has kept below 60 points this season, with a 6-2 record in those games. But one of the two losses was at NNU, 50-47 on Jan. 4.
-- Junior forward Olivia Mayer continues to rank No. 10 in overall GNAC scoring at 13.9 points per game and No. 6 in rebounding at 7.5. She's also tied for No. 9 in steals at 1.5 and is tied for No. 8 in average minutes at 30.3 (575 total).
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 14-7, 5-4 GNAC (tie 4th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 51-38.  Current series streak: CWU won 2.  Last time: CWU 71, SPU 61 (Jan. 6 at Ellensburg).  Last SPU series win: SPU 70, CWU 63 (Dec. 31, 2022 at Seattle).  Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: As was the case four weeks ago, the Falcons will have to defend the top two scorers in the GNAC. Sophomore 5-foot-9 guard Asher Cai averages 20.1 points per game, and junior 5-4 guard Sunny Huerta averages 18.6. They combined for 40 in Ellensburg (21 for Cai, 19 for Huerta) on Jan. 4. The player who went off on the Falcons in a big way that night was freshman 6-foot forward Capri Sims, putting up a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds. Cai (9.0) and Sims (8.5) rank Nos. 3-4 in GNAC rebounding. Sims also averages 8.7 points and shoots .548 from the field, the No. 6 percentage in the conference. Huerta is one of the leading playmakers at 3.4 assists per game, tied for No. 5. The Wildcats had an eight-game winning streak from mid-November through the end of December, but are 3-4 since then.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS:  8-8, 5-4 GNAC (tie 4th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 33-19;  Current series streak: NNU won 2.  Last time: NNU 50, SPU 47 (Jan. 4 at Nampa, Idaho).  Last SPU series win: SPU 58, NNU 45 (Dec. 29, 2022 at Seattle).  Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene has been alternating wins and losses since returning from the holiday break. The Nighthawks picked up a big one last Saturday at home, downing Central Washington, 74-68. Freshman 5-foot-10 forward Kendall Clark went for 22 points, nearly double her 12.4 season average, on .523 field goal shooting. Leading the way for NNU is junior 6-foot guard / forward Madeline Gebers at 14.1 points per game on .500 shooting from the field (75 of 150). More often than shot, she's going to fire it up from downtown, from where she hits a GNAC-leading – and national leading – .537 (44 of 82). In fact, Gebers is the only player in all of Division II shooting better than 50 percent behind the arc. The Clark sisters – Kendall and senior 5-6 guard Emma – each average 5.0 rebounds per game, tops on the team.

GETTING TIGHT FOR A TOURNEY SPOT
With six spots available to the GNAC Tournament and nine games left to secure one, the Falcons start this week tied for sixth in the standings with Simon Fraser and Western Oregon. All three are 3-6 in conference play.
 
If a tiebreaker were to come into play at this moment in time, Simon would have the edge with a 2-0 record against SPU and WOU. The Falcons are 1-1 in that scenario, and the Wolves are 0-2.
 
Above those three schools by a two-game margin are Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, both at 5-4. With those two on the docket this week, Seattle Pacific has an opportunity to enhance its own postseason chances.
 
The tournament is set for Thursday-Saturday, March 7-9, at Nicholson Arena on the CWU campus in Ellensburg. Women's games have the afternoon time slots this year, with the first-rounders (March 7) and semifinals (March 8) tipping off at noon and 2:15 p.m. The championship game on March 9 goes at 5:00 p.m. As always, the top two finishers in the standings receive first-round byes, while No. 3 plays No. 6 (winner plays No. 2) and No. 4 plays No. 5 (winner faces No.1).
 
WELCOME TO DOUBLE DIGITS
A pair of SPU freshman guards each recorded their first collegiate double-digit scoring games last Thursday night at Western Washington.
 
 

Layne Kearns had 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field (3 of 5 from downtown). Haylie Ohta tallied 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2 of 5 behind the arc).
 
Ohta actually got there first, having her 10 on the board by the end of the third quarter. Kearns made it on a 3-pointer with 4:47 left in the game, giving her 12, then tacked on a jumper for her final total of 14.
 
Kearns had some close before, twice tallying nine points, most recently at Central Washington on Jan. 6. Ohta's previous high was eight, on Nov. 25 at Metro State in Denver.
 
THEY KNOW THEIR WAY AROUND BROUGHAM
Both of this week's opponents are led by former SPU assistant coaches.
 
Randi Richardson-Thornley is in her seventh season as head coach and ninth year overall at Central Washington. She was with the Falcons from 2013-15 on former head coach Julie Heisey's staff.
 
Steve Steele is in his eighth season with Northwest Nazarene. He was the lead assistant at Seattle Pacific from 2013-16.
 
Another former Falcon, Stacey (Lukasiewicz) VanDyken is Steele's lead assistant. She is in her third year with the Nighthawks. Lukasiewicz played for SPU from 2014-17, and saw action, sometimes as a starter, other times as a reserve, in 112 of the team's 113 games during her four years. Her only missed game was due to an illness.
 
SIMO SAYS …
(On getting Central and NNU at home)
"We played them right after Christmas, and it's always tricky right after break whether you're going to be rusty or not. We were right in both games, especially down the stretch, which is hard to do on the road. That Central-NNU road trip is probably the hardest in the conference, so I'm glad we got it over early. To get them back at home right at the (GNAC midpoint) is perfect timing.
 
 

(On limiting turnovers)
"We have to take care of the ball against both teams. They will make you pay if you turn the ball over because they are so efficient, either on offense, like Central, or NNU, which is really good at converting turnovers. It's going to be one of those things where fundamentals are very important."
 
(On the defense bouncing back from 83 points at Simon Fraser)
"Credit to Simon Fraser – they played a great game and they hit some shots. Once good shooters get going, it's kind of like opening the floodgates. I would hope our defense looks more like it did at Western Washington. Against a good team on the road, we held them below their average. We were very sound defensively, they only hit six 3s on us, and we were right there, for the most part."
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100th assist          Olivia Mayer (91)
                            Hailey Marlow (has 87)
100th point           Grace Leasure (has 97)
200th point           Hailey Marlow (has 187)
 
Made last week
None
 
AROUND THE WEST
Last Saturday's nationally ranked GNAC showdown in Bellingham went the way of hosts as No. 17 Western Washington downed No. 9 Montana State Billings, 76-68. The Vikings (16-3, 8-1) trailed just twice, both early in the first quarter. The outcome left them and the Yellowjackets (17-4, 8-1 GNAC) tied for first place to end the first half of the conference schedule. Alaska Anchorage (12-6, 6-3 GNAC) saw its nine-game win streak end with a 73-53 home loss to Western Oregon, but bounced back to rout Saint Martin's, 62-41. UAA visits Simon Fraser and Western Washington this week.
 
Cal State San Marcos saw its seven-game winning streak end with a 77-72 loss at Chico State in California Collegiate Athletic Association play. The Cougars (14-4, 11-2 CCAA) got back on track by beating Humboldt, 62-56. They still have a two-game cushion on Cal Poly Pomona (13-5, 9-4) and Chico (13-6, 9-4). The Broncos and Wildcats meet in Pomona on Saturday.
 
Azusa Pacific remains in control of the Pacific West Conference, extending its winning streak to 14 with a sweep of its three-game Hawaii road trip. The Cougars (18-3, 12-0 Pac West) have a 2½-game lead on Dominican (16-3, 9-2) and are 3½ ahead of Fresno Pacific (14-5, 8-3). Azusa has a chance to tighten its grip on the top spot even further when it plays host to Dominican on Saturday.
  
UP NEXT
The Falcons have a critical road trip next week, visiting Saint Martin's on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. and Western Oregon on Saturday the 10th at 2:00 p.m. The Saints won in Seattle, 55-52, on Jan. 13, so currently own the head-to-head tiebreaker. SPU beat Western Oregon two nights prior, 57-52, so for now has the tiebreaker against the Wolves.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                       GNAC         Overall
Western Washington         8-1      16-3
Montana State Billings     8-1      17-4
Alaska Anchorage           6-3      12-6
Central Washington         5-4      14-7
Northwest Nazarene         5-4       8-8
Simon Fraser               3-6      11-11
Western Oregon             3-6      10-10
Seattle Pacific            3-6       6-13
Saint Martin's             2-7       4-12
Alaska Fairbanks           2-7       4-15
 
 
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