SPU WEST REGION CROSSOVER SCHEDULE
All games at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle.
 
Friday, Nov. 15                       Western Washington vs. Azusa Pacific, 4:00 p.m.
                                        Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Marcos, 6:00 p.m.
                                        Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcasts (all games)         Live stats (all games)
 
Saturday, Nov 16                   Western Washington vs. Cal State San Marcos, 4:00 p.m.
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific, 6:00 p.m.
                                        Brougham Pavilion / Seattle,Wash.
                                                Live Webcasts (all games)         Live stats (all games)


SEATTLE – The competition won't be any easier. The importance of the games will be just as high. But one thing will be different for the Seattle Pacific Falcons this week:
 
They'll be at home.
 
After playing in Canda on the first weekend of the women's basketball season and in California on the second, the Falcons (0-5) will tip off their 2024-25 home schedule by hosting the SPU West Region Crossover with doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Seattle Pacific will play in the 6:00 p.m. game both days, facing 2024 Final Four qualifier Cal State San Marcos on Friday, followed by No. 18 Azusa Pacific on Saturday. The 4:00 p.m. game both days will feature Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Western Washington. The Vikings face Azusa on Friday and San Marcos on Saturday.
 
The Falcons are still seeking to crack the win column after a tough trip to Cali last week. Playing in the West Region Crossover Classic in Carson, SPU fell to Cal State Los Angeles, 76-56, and to host Cal State Dominguez Hills, 76-41.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All four tournament games will have free live Webcasts and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for all four. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
FAMILIAR GET-TOGETHER
This is the fourth year of a four-year rotation between SPU, Western Washington, Cal State San Marcos, and Azusa Pacific to put on this tournament. Schools in West Region often put together tournaments like this, with each school having an opportunity to host.
 
For this foursome, San Marcos hosted in 2021, Western in 2022, Azusa last year and now Seattle Pacific. Similarly, last weekend was the second year of an arrangement between SPU, WWU, Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State Dominguez Hills. Western hosted last year; Dominguez hosted this year. Plans for next season have not yet been announced.
 
This is the first of two tournaments that the Falcons will host in Brougham Pavilion. The SPU Thanksgiving Tournament is set for Friday-Saturday, Nov 29-30, and will include Saint Martin's, Colorado Christian and Metro State.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- In the previous three years of the tournament, the Falcons are 1-5. The win came in 2022 in Bellingham, 70-64 against then-No. 12 Azusa Pacific.
-- Azusa has been nationally ranked all three years – and is nationally ranked again. The Cougars were No. 5 in 2021 when they rallied in regulation time to force OT, then beat SPU at San Marcos, 67-61. Last year, they were No. 12 and downed the Falcons 69-57. Now, they are No. 18.
-- San Marcos was No. 12 in 2022 when it fended off the Falcons, 70-62.
-- Cal State San Marcos is not ranked, but did receive votes and is No. 28 overall.
-- While shooting the ball has been a challenge, the Falcons have done a respectable job of rebounding it and blocking it. They've had two games in the 40s for rebounding and are averaging 38.8, a jump from last season's final average of 35.7. SPU also is averaging 3.6 blocks per game, which ranks No. 3 in the GNAC.
-- Sophomore wing Grace Leasure is tied for No. 5 in the conference, averaging 1.0 blocks.
-- The Falcons had their best shooting night of the season last Saturday against Dominguez Hills, hitting 36.2 percent (17 of 47).
-- Seattle Pacific's biggest lead so far has been seven points (9-2 and 11-4 against Cal State Los Angeles last Friday).
-- Leasure set her career scoring high of 16 points last year against San Marcos (which she matched 12 days later against Alaska Fairbanks). The following day, she came back with 12 points against Azusa Pacific.
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGAR: 2-0, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: CSSM leads, 3-0.  Current series streak: CSSM won 3.  Last time: CSSM 74, SPU 44 (Nov. 17, 2023 at Azusa, Calif.).  Last SPU series win: None.  CSSM on the Web.
San Marcos in a nutshell: This year's Cougars will have will have a significantly different look from the team that went 27-7, won the West Region tournament and reached the Final Four, losing 70-68 to eventual champion Minnesota State. A total of nine players from last  year's team, including the top seven in terms of playing time who combined to average 67-plus points and 32-plus rebounds, are now gone. San Marcos dropped both games at last weekend's Pac West / CCAA Challenge in Azusa,92-74 to Point Loma Nazarene and 69-59 to Azusa Pacific. Grad student 5-foot-9 forward Camille Johnson, one of the three returners, led the way with 30 points in those two games combined, including a remarkable 17 of 17 at the free throw line. Senior 5-8 guard Rose Morse, another of the returners, had 26 points.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 2-0, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: SPU leads,9-5.  Current series streak: Azusa won 1.  Last time: Azusa 69, SPU 57 (Nov. 17, 2023 at Azusa, Calif.)  Last SPU series win: SPU 70, Azusa 64 (Nov. 19, 2022 at Bellingham).  APU on the Web.
Azusa in a nutshell: After winning both games at the Pac West / CCAA Challenge tournament that it hosted, APU was selected as the Pacific West Team of the Week. Last season's top two scorers, now grad students, are back for their final year. Kelly Heimburger, a 6-foot forward, averaged 15.1 points and 5.9 rebounds. Amayah Kirkman, a 5-8 guard, was at 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. They're already off to a solid start: Kirkman had 31 points (15.5) and 14 rebounds (7.0), and Heimburger logged 29 points (14.5) and 15 rebounds (7.5) in last weekend's first two games of the season. Junior 5-9 guard Lauren Jones also had 29 points. A good number of those points were set up by junior 5-5 guard Audrey Sayoc, who racked up 14 assists (7.0).

COACH KAREN BYERS SAYS ...
(On getting to play at home)
"We're super excited to be home. We've been on the road for three weekends. The energy here during practice has reached a whole new level, and we're working harder. I see more intensity in our practices. We can't wait to play at home."
 
 

(On getting the offense fired up)
"We want to move the ball more and have more quick and zippy passes, hit the post and get some kickout. We don't want the ball to stick at the top in our offense. We just want to move it more. That's been a focus."
 
(On the players elevating their effort)
"I've seen an improvement in how hard they play. Since we've played No. 4 in the country (Tampa) and No. 11 in the country (Gannon), we're really seen what it is going to take to play with those teams, and we're really rising to it."
 
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
At this time last November, Layne Kearns was a freshman and still adjusting to college basketball, The then-newbie from Hamilton, Montana (same hometown and high school (Hamilton High) as former SPU guard Jaylee Albert) was seeing some minutes off the bench, but her numbers hadn't started to add up yet. Through the first five games, she had scored 12 points (2.4), grabbed 12 rebounds (2.4) and was shooting just .154 from the field (2 of 13).
 
 

By season's end, she had started 13 of the 27 games, averaged 5.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and shot .351.
 
Now, the 5-foot-7 sophomore has become a fixture In the starting five, and can play either shooting guard or small forward effectively. She leads the Falcons in scoring at 10.6 per game (53 points) and rebounding at 5.4 (27 total) and is shooting .383 (including a perfect 3-for-3 against Cal State Dominguez Hills last Saturday).
 
She is the only Falcon to have reached double figures in any of the five games so far, with 11 against both Tampa and Gannon at the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic, and was named second team All-Tournament. Last Friday, against Cal State Los Angeles, Kearns went for 15 points, just one shy of her career high.
 
FALCON REPLAY
-- Layne Kearns had another double-digit scoring performance, finishing with 15 points for Seattle Pacific on Friday, but Cal State Los Angeles went on a 19-2 scoring run bridging the second and third quarter and beat the Falcons on the first night of the West Region Crossover Classic women's basketball tournament, 76-56.
--Tournament host Cal State Dominguez Hills started the second quarter with a 15-0 scoring run, extending an eight-point lead all the way to 23 and went on to a 76-41 victory against SPU on the final night of the West Region Crossover Classic on Saturday.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Central Washington, and Saint Martin's all went 2-0 in their season-opening tournaments last weekend. Anchorage has the best record among GNAC teams at 4-0, having swept a pair from NAIA member Simpson the previous weekend. Montana State Billings and Simon Fraser are both 4-1, both going 2-0 last week.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, and Chico State all swept their first tournaments of the season, and so already are the only undefeated teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State San Bernardino, and San Francisco State dropped their opening games, but bounced back to win on the second night to emerge with 1-1 records.
 
Likewise in the Pacific West Conference, just three teams are undefeated. Academy of Art (3-0) won both games at the Cal State Monterey Bay tournament, and won a non-conference game against Cal Maritime on Tuesday. Azusa Pacific (2-0) won both games at its own Pac West / CCAA Challenge, and Hawaii Pacific won a non-conference contest against Pac West stablemate Hawaii Hilo. (They'll play their two conference games later in the season.)
 
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 have 12 straight days away from competition. They will return to action on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30, in the SPU Thanksgiving Tournament. SPU has the 3:15 p.m. game both days, facing Metro State of Denver on Friday and Colorado Christian on Saturday. Saint Martin's will be the other GNAC team in the tourney and has the 1:00 p.m. game, going against Colorado Christian on Friday and Metro State on Saturday.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC      Overall
Alaska Anchorage          0-0     4-0
Alaska Fairbanks          0-0     2-0
Central Washington        0-0     2-0
Saint Martin's            0-0     2-0
Western Oregon            0-0     1-0
Montana State Billings    0-0     4-1
Simon Fraser              0-0     4-1
Northwest Nazarene        0-0     2-1
Western Washington        0-0     1-2
Seattle Pacific           0-0     0-5
 

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