LANGLEY, B.C. – Whenever the Seattle Pacific Falcons thought they had an opportunity to get back into the game, the Gannon Golden Knights would come up with an answer.
 
And that answer usually came from downtown.
 
The No. 11-ranked Knights drained a dozen daggers on Saturday afternoon, and that was enough to keep them comfortably in front most of the way in an 82-60 victory against the Falcons on the second day of the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic basketball tournament.
 
 

For the second straight day, sophomore guard Layne Kearns led the points production for SPU (0-2),finishing with 11. But as was the case in Friday's 65-49 defeat to No. 4 Tampa, she was the only Falcon in double figures. She also grabbed six rebounds and handed out two assists.
 
Madison Rubino, a newcomer by way of Cal Poly Humboldt, chipped in nine points, six boards, and four steals.
 
 

"I just really like playing teams that we probably would not get an opportunity to play," coach Karen Byers said Friday's and Saturday's contests against national top-25 opponents. "It's a good opportunity to play ranked teams, and even if it's just a learning experience for us, that's a huge things that will help us come February and March."
 
After struggling from the field in the Tampa game on Friday, the Falcons found their shooting groove during Saturday's first quarter, hitting 5 of 9 and taking a 13-11 lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
But then they went silent for a span of 7 minutes, 21 second bridging the first and second quarters as Gannon went on a 15-0 run to take a 26-13 lead. That included three consecutive makes from behind the arc: two by Bri Claxon and one by Maddy Wheatley.
 
SPU got back within 10 at 28-18. Kate Ratliff nailed a trey for the Knights. The Falcons cut it to 31-21. Another Gannon 3-pointer, this one by Carissa Dunham. Then yet another by Dunham, helping provide a 37-22 lead at halftime.
 
The Knights buried two more long ones to start the second half and never led by fewer than 19 the rest of the way.
 
"They're a tough team and they're a very disciplined team that knows their stuff and knows how to execute really well," Byers said. "We had trouble getting out to the 3, then when we went to man, we had trouble stopping their cuts. But we're hoping to learn and get better from this."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- For the day, Seattle Pacific shot 34 percent from the floor (17 of 50), a jump of nearly five percentage points from Friday's 29.7.
-- Both teams had identical 42.9 percentages from long range – a respectable mark in any game. The difference was in the totals: Gannon was 12 of 28, including 6 of 10 during it second-quarter scoring surge. SPU was 6 of 14.
-- Sophomore wing Grace Leasure came into the game needing just two points to reach 100 for her career. She needed just four seconds to get there as Layne Kearns grabbed the opening tip and found Leasure streaking to the hoop for an easy lay-in.
-- Senior center Schuyler Berry also reached a scoring milestone, tallying her 600th career point. She had eight for the day, putting her at 604.
 

-- Madison Rubino's four steals were double her previous career high of two, which she logged in six games with Humboldt last season. On Saturday, three of those steals came in backcourt, and she went coast-to-coast all three times, converting two of them for lay-ins.
-- Freshman forward Grace Mertes scored her first college points, and both came on makes from 3-point range.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons wrap up their Canada trip on Sunday against West Region counterpart Dominican. Tip-off is at 12:45 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic
Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024
Langley Events Centre / Langley, B.C.
 
(No. 11) Gannon 82, Seattle Pacific 60
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (0-2)
Weatherspoon 0-3 0-0 0, Beirne 2-5 3-4 8, Kearns 3-10 4-5 11, Berry 3-5 2-4 8, Leasure1-6 0-0 2, Ohta 2-4 0-0 5, Bishop 0-2 4-4 4, Mertes 2-2 0-0 6, Bergevin 0-1 0-0 0, Lavigne 1-1 0-0 2, Rubino 3-9 3-6 9, Turley 0-2 4-4 4.  Totals 17-50 20-27 60.
 
GANNON (2-0)
Claxon 5-13 6-6 19, Mayes 0-1 0-0 0, Ratliff 5-11 3-5 14, Maibach 5-8 3-4 14, Wheatley 3-5 0-0 8, Harris 0-3 0-0 0, Dunham 5-10 0-0 15, Pepple 0-0 2-2 2, Popyk 1-2 0-0 2, Ethridge 0-2 2-3 2, Slater 2-7 0-0 4, Kingsley 0-0 2-2 2.  Totals 26-62 18-22 82.
 
Seattle Pacific      13             9           13           15           -- 60
Gannon                 11            25           19           16           -- 82
 
3-point goals – SPU 6-14 (Beirne 1-2, Kearns 1-4, Ohta 2-3, Mertes 2-2, Rubino 0-1, Turley 0-1), Gannon 12-28 (Claxon 3-5, Mayes 0-1, Ratliff 1-4, Maibach 1-2, Wheatley 2-3, Dunham 5-10, Ethridge 0-1, Slater 0-2).  Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 37 (Kearns 6, Rubino 6), Gannon 37 (Wheatley 7). Assists – SPU 4 (Kearns 2), Gannon 5 (5 players with 1). Turnovers (points allowed) – SPU 18 (21), Gannon 10 (11). Total fouls – SPU 19, Gannon 17.  Technical fouls – None. Attendance – NA.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 0-2.
Gannon 2-0.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific vs. Dominican
Sunday, 12:45 p.m.
Langley Events Centre / Langley, B.C.


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