SEATTLE – For 25 minutes on Saturday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were making plenty of noise against nationally ranked Azusa Pacific.
 
Then it all went quiet.
 
After putting the No. 18 Cougars back on their heels for much of the second quarter and taking a five-point lead into halftime, SPU saw Azusa go on a 19-0 scoring run during a 7¼-minute span bridging the third and fourth quarters.
 
That was more than enough to carry the visitors from California to a 90-70 victory on the final night of the SPU West Region Crossover women's basketball tournament in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 

Junior post player Emilia Bishop scored a career-high 14 points to lead SPU (1-6), but was the only Falcon in double figures. She hit 7 of 14 from the field and also pulled down five rebounds.
 
Madison Rubino, Hunter Beirne, and Grace Leasure added nine points apiece.
 
Coming off their first win of the season on Friday night, 72-48 against Cal State San Marcos, thanks to 52.9 percent shooting from the field, Seattle Pacific came out with some hot hands again. The Falcons shot 62.5 percent in the first quarter (10 of 16) and 58.8 in the second (10 of 17) – and did it against the stifling defensive press that the Cougars employ.
 
"It was a great first half. Their press is tricky. it's hard, and we came with a good game plan," coach Karen Byers said. "We got lay-up after lay-up, and we thought, 'Hey, we're doing fantastic,' and they pulled (the press) off. That's always a win when you force a team to pull off the press. I'm really proud of how we executed that."
 
Down 26-24 at the end of one, SPU rang up the first nine points of the second quarter to take a 33-26 lead. Rubino accounted for five of those and Bishop had four.
 
On three occasions, the Falcons extended their margin to eight, the last time at 45-37 with 1:37 left in the period, and took a 45-40 lead into the break.
 
Azusa Pacific (4-0) finally tied it at 51-51 and went back in front 54-52 on one of its 10 makes from 3-point range. A putback by Bishop – her 14rh point, breaking her previous career high of 12 – produced the final tie of the night at 54-54. The Cougars ran off four straight before SPU redshirt freshman Grace Turley bombed in a trey, cutting it to 58-57 with 2:53 left in the third.
 
But that was it for the Falcons until 5:24 remained in the game when Turley drained a jumper from the foul line. By then, APU was up by 20 at 77-57. During that run, the Cougars forced six Seattle Pacific turnovers and converted them into seven points.
 
"They did make some adjustments, and they started to double on our posts," Byers said. "They just rose to the occasion. We couldn't get stops, they hit their 3s, and we couldn't fight over screens very well.
 
"We had two really great quarters," she added, "and we're going to build off of that."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons still wound up with a respectable 45.9 percent shooting mark (28 of 61). But after their 60.6 first-half mark (20 of 33), they hit just 28.6 percent (8 of 28) through the final 20 minutes.
-- Azusa Pacific finished at an even 50 percent (36 of 72). That included 60 percent accuracy in the first quarter (9 of 15) and 68.8 percent in the fourth (11 of 16).
-- The Cougars converted 19 SPU turnovers into 21 points. The Falcons with their own defensive pressure, forced 16 Azusa turnovers, but got just 12 points from them.
- -For the second straight game, Seattle Pacific earned 20 assists. Sophomore guard Haylie Ohta led with five.
-- Madison Rubino pulled down seven of the Falcons' 31 rebounds. The Cougars collected 40 boards, 15 at the offensive end that led to a 16-5 advantage in second-chance points.
-- Thanks to Emilia Bishop's14 points, SPU got a 33-point night from its reserves.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are off from competition for the next 12 days. They return action on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30, when they host the SPU Thanksgiving Tournament. SPU will play the 3:15 p.m. game both days facing Metro State of Denver on the 29th and Colorado Christian on the 30th. Saint Martin's will play the 1:00 p.m. game against CCU on the first day and Metro on the second.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
SPU West Region Crossover
Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 18) Azusa Pacific 90, Seattle Pacific 70
 
AZUSA PACIFIC (4-0)
Heimburger 6-15 0-0 15, Falcocchia 2-40-0 4, Sayoc 6-8 0-0 13, Kirkman 9-17 0-0 23, Jones 2-2 0-0 5, Hani 5-11 6-8 16, Mitchell 3-5 0-0 7, Belquist 3-8 2-2 9, Roderick 0-1 0-0 0, Pierce 0-1 0-0 0, Garcia 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 36-72 8-1090.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-6)
Rubino 3-7 3-4 9, Berry 2-4 0-0 4, Ohta 3-60-0 7, Beirne 4-9 0-2 9, Kearns 2-7 3-4 8, Leasure 3-6 3-4 9, Bishop 7-14 0-0 14, Weatherspoon 1-4 0-0 2, Turley 3-4 1-1 8.  Totals 28-61 10-15 70.
 
Azusa Pacific      26           14           25           25           -- 90
Seattle Pacific     24           21           12           13           -- 70
 
3-point goals – APU 10-28 (Heimburger 1-7, Sayoc 1-3, Kirkman 5-9, Jones 1-1, Mitchell 1-3, Belquist 1-4, Pierce 0-3), SPU 4-15 (Rubino 0-1, Ohta 1-3, Beirne 1-3, Kearns 1-2, Leasure 0-3, Bishop 0-1, Turley 1-2).  Fouled out – SPU: Leasure.  Rebounds – APU 40 (3 players with 5), SPU 31 (Rubino 7).  Assists – APU 18 (Sayoc 6), SPU 20 (Ohta 5).  Turnovers (points allowed) – APU 16 (12), SPU 19 (21).  Total fouls – APU 18, SPU 17.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 140.
 
 
Next game
Metro State at Seattle Pacific
Friday, Nov. 29     3:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 

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