WEST REGION CROSSOVER CLASSIC SCHEDULE
All games at The Torodome / Carson, Calif.
 
Friday, Nov. 8                        Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m.
                                               Live Webcast (PPV)            Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 9                   Seattle Pacific at Cal State Dominguez Hills, 5:30 p.m.
                                               Live Webcast (PPV)            Live stats
 

SEATTLE – More than anything else this weekend, the Seattle Pacific Falcons just want to hit some shots.
 
Coming off a tough three-game trip to Canada, SPU is looking to find its way into the win column when it heads to California for the West Region Crossover Classic at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
The Falcons (0-3) take on Cal State Los Angeles on Friday, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, they'll face host Dominguez Hills, also with a 5:30 tip time.
 
Shooting was the main thing that did not go Seattle Pacific's way at last weekend's season-opening D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic in Langley, British Columbia. The Falcons did, however, play some solid defense, rebounded well, and took reasonably good care of the basketball while facing two nationally ranked teams (No. 4 Tampa and No. 5 Gannon of Pennsylvania)  and a strong West Region opponent (Dominican of California), playing three games in three days.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both games this weekend will have live Webcasts on a pay-per-view basis and free live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TOURNEY HONOR FOR KEARNS
Sophomore guard Layne Kearns was named to the All-Tournament second team at the Canadian Tip-Off Classic.
 
 

In  three games, the 5-foot-7 Kearns averaged 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds. She was in double-digit scoring in the first two games with 11 points against both Tampa and Gannon, then finished with eight against Dominican.
 
Her rebounding went up every day: five vs. Tampa, six vs. Gannon, and nine vs. Dominican. Kearns also handed out four assists for the weekend.
 
"She's a great player," head coach Karen Byers said. "She reads the floor well, has great instincts; she can score down low or hit a 3. She's just one of the bright spots on our team."
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Along with SPU, Dominguez Hills and Cal State L.A. the tourney also includes Western Washington. That's the he same foursome that played last year in Bellingham.
-- The Falcons split those two games, falling to Los Angeles, 79-54, but then bouncing back to beat Dominguez Hills, which was ranked No. 11 in the preseason poll, 58-53.
-- Both of this weekend's games will count toward the West Region rankings.
-- Of last weekend's three games, SPU had its best overall shooting output on Saturday against Gannon: 34 percent from the floor (17 of 50), 42.9 percent from 3-point range (6 of 14) , and 74.1 percent from the free throw line (20 0f 27) .
-- The Falcons already have 10 blocked shots, with three of those by sophomore wing Grace Leasure. Senior center Schuyler Berry and junior forward Madison Rubino have two each.
 

-- Rubino, who played previously at Idaho (2021-22) and Cal Poly Humboldt (2023-24) averaged 16 minutes per game as a reserve. Her best outing was against Gannon when she had nine points, six rebounds (five at the offensive end) and four steals in 23 minutes.
-- All 13 Falcons saw playing time in all three games in Canada, All of them scored at least three points and 12 pulled down at least two rebounds.
-- Junior center Emilia Bishop and redshirt freshman guard Grace Turley are perfect so far at the foul line: 6 of 6 for Bishop and 4 of 4 for Turley.
-- Through the first three games, the Falcons are averaging 41.3 rebounds. That's well above last season's average of 35.7
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE LOS ANGELES GOLDEN EAGLES: 17-13, 13-9 CCAA (4th CCAA)
All-time series: SPU leads, 8-2.  Current series streak: CSULA won 1.  Last time: CSULA 79, SPU 54 (Nov. 10, 2023 at Bellingham).  Last SPU series win: SPU  80, CSULA 67 (Dec. 16, 2019 at Seattle). Golden Eagles on the Web.
Golden Eagles in a nutshell: Cal State Los Angeles is an ever-so-slight favorite to win the CCAA title, receiving five of the 12 first-place votes and 131 points in the preseason poll – just enough to edge Cal Poly Pomona (four firsts,128 points). The Eagles are coming off a second straight trip to the NCAA West Regionals, finishing 17-13 overall. From that squad, three starters are returning. Senior 5-foot-9 guard Lily Buggs posted team-leading average of 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds, and was named All-CCAA for the third time. She also was tops in steals with 51. Senior 5-5 guard Gabriella Rones had a very productive first year after transferring from Nevada-Reno, averaging 8.5 points while starting 28 games. Amaya Fuentes, a junior 6-3 forward, had 29 starts in 30 games, averaging 5.3 points on .448 shooting from the field, plus four rebounds. Junior 6-1 forward Olivia Hodges was a big boost off the bench, averaging 6.0 points plus 6.0 rebounds.
 
SCOUTING THE CAL SRATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS TOROS: 14-14, 11-1 (tie 6th CCAA)
All-time series: SPU leads, 1-0.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 58, CSUDH 53 (Nov. 11, 2023 at Bellingham).  Last CSUDH series win: None.  Toros on the Web.
Toros in a nutshell: Dominguez Hills was picked for a third-place finish in the CCAA, but did received two of the 12 first-place votes as part of its 124 points – very close to favorite Cal State L.A. (131) and second-place Pomona (128). The Toros return their three top scorers from last season as they look to get back into the NCAA conversation after reaching the Elite Eight in 2023, but missing out in 2024. Leading the way is junior 5-foot-8 guard Nala Williams. She averaged 18.4 points on .433 shooting from the field, and that included 40 makes from downtown. Then there's senior 6-foot forward Asia Jordan, who averaged a double-double of 14.6 points and 11.3 rebounds. She shot at .490 accuracy, and in her 27 games (all starts),she logged 15 double-doubles. Senior 5-11 guard / forward Cristina Oliva after averaging 9.3 points and 3.3 rebounds.
 
COACH KAREN BYERS SAYS …
 

(On last week)
"We shot more than our opponents did, so that makes me feel like our offense is starting to click and we're getting the looks that we want. Now we just need to dial it in and finish the shots that we have. Our shot selection was good. We just have to tighten up"
 
(On this week's games)
"It's going to be another tough weekend. We're hoping to take what we learned last weekend and apply it going forward. I think these two teams (Cal State L.A. and Dominguez Hills) are going to be similar to Dominican. So we're getting ready for a lot of high pressure and strong ball pressure."
 
MAKING MULTIPLE MILESTONES
Although it was just the first weekend of the season, four SPU players reached career statistical milestones in British Columbia – and another coming close.
 
 

-- Haylie Ohta's eight points against Dominican on Sunday included the 100th of her career. She now has 103.
-- Schuyler Berry tallied her 600th career point, She has 606.
-- Grace Leasure notched her 100th. She comes into this week with 100.
-- Lolo Weatherspoon collected her 100th rebound She has 104..
-- Hunter Beirne, with her eight points vs. Dominican, is now just three away from her career 500th.
 


FALCONS REPLAY
Layne Kearns scored 11 points, and Julia Lavigne made her college debut with seven rebounds in just eight minutes, but the Falcons were too frosty from the field in a 65-49 loss to national No. 4-ranked Tampa in the season-opening game at the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic.
-- The No. 11-ranked Gannon Golden Knights drained a dozen daggers, and that was enough to keep them comfortably in front most of the way in an 82-60 victory against SPU on the second day of the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic. For the second straight day, sophomore guard Layne Kearns led the points production for the Falcons, finishing with 11.
-- Kearns scored eight points and pulled down nine rebounds, Hunter Beirne added eight points and six rebounds, but Seattle Pacific once again was frigid from the field in dropping a 59-42 decision to Dominican on the final day of the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Seattle Pacific was one of four GNAC teams to start the season last weekend. Montana State Billings went 2-1 in its own D2CCA Tip-Off Classic in Billings. Simon Fraser was 2-1 in the same Canadian Tip-Off Classic where the Falcons played. Alaska Anchorage swept a pair at home against Simpson, an NAIA school. On the docket this week in the tournament at Dominguez Hills will be GNAC co-favorite Western Washington against CCAA favorite Cal State Los Angeles on Saturday.
 
After two weeks of mostly exhibition play, the CCAA schedule gets going in earnest this week. Several of those match-ups will be against GNAC schools at various preseason tournaments. Cal State East Bay and Stanislaus State will join Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene in Ellensburg. Cal Poly Humboldt will face Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage at the Bill Holtz Warrior Classic in Rocklin, California.
 
Likewise, the Pacific West Conference tips off with a full slate of games. Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene are regarded as the two teams to beat, with the Cougars receiving nine of 14 first-place votes and 189 points, while the Sea Lions got four firsts and 185. New conference member Jessup will play both Alaska schools. An intriguing contest will pit Azusa against Cal Poly Pomona, which finished just three points behind Cal State L.A. for the top spot in the CCAA poll.

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 will tip off their home schedule next week when the host the SPU West Region Crossover in Brougham Pavilion on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 15 and 16. Seattle Pacific plays the 6:00 p.m. game both days, facing  Cal State San Marcos on Friday and Azusa Pacific on Saturday. Western Washington will play in the 4:00 p.m. game both days, Azusa on Friday and San Marcos on Saturday.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                  GNAC     Overall
Alaska Anchorage        0-0     2-0
Montana State Billings  0-0     2-1
Simon Fraser            0-0     2-1
Alaska Fairbanks        0-0     0-0
Central Washington      0-0     0-0
Northwest Nazarene      0-0     0-0
Saint Martin's          0-0     0-0
Western Oregon          0-0     0-0
Western Washington      0-0     0-0
Seattle Pacific         0-0     0-3


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