THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Dec. 14                Stanislaus State at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Tuesday, Dec. 17                 Pacific Lutheran at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – Call it a couple of early Christmas presents for the Seattle Pacific women's basketball team: extra time between games and an extended stay at home.
 
That's what SPU's players and coaches have in front of them as they prepare for the final portion of their non-conference schedule.
 
Up first is a visit from Stanislaus State on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.in Brougham Pavilion. That will be opening half of a doubleheader as the Falcon men take on Cal State East Bay at 5:00 p.m. Then next Tuesday, Dec. 17, SPU will tip off against Pacific Lutheran at 5:15 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific (2-9 overall) began its Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule last week falling short at Simon Fraser 87-73, and at Western Washington, 83-68.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of the upcoming home games will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for both games. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Both of SPU's wins have come in Brougham Pavilion: 72-48 against Cal State San Marcos on Nov 15, and 64-54 against Colorado Christian on Nov. 30.
-- The Falcons are 2-2 so far at home.
-- This is the fourth year in a row that the Falcons have clashed with Stanislaus State of Turlock, California – and the three previous games have been decided by a total of seven points: 57-55 in 2021 at Turlock, 63-62 on a buzzer-beater in Seattle in 2022, and 70-66 last December in Turlock.
-- In last year's contest, Schuyler Berry went for a double-career high double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.
-- Of those 22 points, 10 came at the free throw line on perfect 10-of-10 shooting. That perfecto was a single-game program record for accuracy at the line, which requires a minimum of 10 attempts to qualify. The previous record was 92.9 percent by Kerrie Hughes in 2002 and Jordan McPhee in 2018, both of whom hit 13 of 14.
-- Speaking of free throws, the Falcons have climbed above 70 percent for the first time all season, coming into the week at 70.2. That's thanks to a combined 84.4 percent in last week's two games combined: 11 of 13 (.846) at Simon Fraser, and 16 of 19 (.842).
--They've now been above 80 percent for three straight games.
--The 73 points scored by the Falcons at Simon Fraser was a season high.
-- There are just nine GNAC players shooting 40 percent or better from 3-point range, and sophomore guard Layne Kearns is one of them. She's draining daggers at a .405 clip (17 of 42), occupying the No. 9 spot on the conference ladder.
-- Fifth-year point guard Hunter Beirne had a dozen assists in last week's two GNAC games, including a career high-tying eight at Simon Fraser on Dec.5.
-- Redshirt freshman guard Grace Turley scored a career-high nine points at Western Washington last Saturday, topping her previous high of eight. That included 4 of 4 at the foul line where she is a perfect 11 of 11 so far.
-- Seattle Pacific will be the third GNAC team that Stanislaus has faced in non-conference competition this season. The Warriors opened the season in Ellensburg, falling to Central Washington, 90-67, and Northwest Nazarene, 88-53.
 
SCOUTING THE STANISLAUS STATE WARRIORS: 2-6, 1-2 CCAA (tie 7th)
All-time series: SSU leads, 3-1.  Current series streak: SSU won 3.   Last time: SSU 70, SPU 66 (Dec. 14, 2023 at Turlock, Calif.).  Last SPU series win: SPU 89, SSU 60 (Nov. 29, 2003 at Nampa, Idaho.  Warriors on the Web.
Warriors in a nutshell: Stanislaus had a bumpy start to CCAA play last week, beating Cal State Monterey Bay, but then falling by 17 at Cal State Los Angeles and by 20 at undefeated Cal State Dominguez Hills last week .The Warriors have a pair of productive go-to players. Sophomore 6-1 guard Talia Maxwell averages a CCAA-leading 17.6 points. She also pulls down 7.6 rebounds, with 24 of her 61 boards coming at the offensive end, Along with that, she has an eye-popping 21 blocked shots in just eight games, an average of 2.6 per game. (The rest of the Warriors have 14 blocks combined.) Senior 5-8 guard Da'Miyah Lewis scores at a 16.1 clip (No. 4 in the CCAA) and leads the team with 10 makes from 3-point range. She also averages 7.6 rebounds. Setting up the offense is junior 5-5 guard Jadyn Patterson with a team-high 32 assists (4.0 per game), and has a team-leading 19 steals.  
 
SCOUTING THE PACIFIC LUTHERAN LUTES: 2-5, 0-0 NW Conference
All-time series: SPU leads, 28-10.  Current series streak: SPU won 10.  Last time: SPU 56, PLU 51 (Jan. 11, 2021 at Seattle).  Last PLU series win: PLU 83, SPU 79; Nov. 29, 1988 at Tacoma.   Lutes on the Web.
Lutes in a nutshell: This is Pacific Lutheran's first game since a 67-47 loss at Colorado College on Nov. 30 – a span of 17 days. The Lutes don't allow a lot of points (just 57.71, and those 67 in that Colorado College game are the most anyone has scored against them. But they average just 50.43 themselves with a high of 64 against Nebraska Wesleyan on Nov. 29. Leading the way is junior 5-foot-7 guard Sydney Reisner at 11.6 points. The other Lute in double digit is senior 5-9 guard Kasidy Javernick at 10.1. Leading the way on the boards at 7.9 is senior 5-11 forward / center Stacie Spahr.
 
LOLO ON A HOOPS HIGH
Sure, there are nights when the basket seems to be a mile wide and everything goes in. Sometimes, there are even entire weeks like that.
 
 

Just ask Lolo Weatherspoon.
 
The senior wing poured in 37 points for the Falcons last week: 24 at Simon Fraser on Thursday, then 13 more at Western Washington on Saturday. That was by far and away the most productive week of her career. (Her previous two-game high was 28 this past Feb. 1 and 3, with a career-high 26 against Central Washington.)
 
Weatherspoon, who came off the bench at Simon then got the start at Western, shot a combined 16 of 26 from the floor (61.5 percent). She was 11 of 16 against Simon Fraser, the first Falcon with double-digit makes since Olivia Mayer hit 12 (on 17 attempts, part of a 31-point day) last Feb. 3 at home against Northwest Nazarene.
 
BLOCK THIS
The one statistical category in which Seattle Pacific ranks high within the GNAC is blocked shots. The Falcons are averaging 4.0 per game, which is No. 4 on the conference list.
 
They have two players among the top 10: sophomore wing Grace Leasure and senior center Schuyler Berry, each of whom has nine for an average of 0.8 per game, tied for No. 9.
 
In the last four games, SPU has come up with 22 of its season-total 44 blocks: five each against Metro State and Colorado Christian; six each at Simon Fraser and Western Washington.
 
Those blocks have been spread around, too. All 13 Falcons saw some playing time in at least one of those four games – and nine of them recorded at least one block. Berry and Emilia Bishop got their hands on four; Leasure and 5-foot-7 guard Layne Kearns had three each.
 
COACH KAREN BYERS SAYS …
(On last week's games)
"What I really took out of last week is that we need to work on our defense. We're putting up the numbers that I want to put up, but other teams are putting up those numbers, too. So we need to get down and really focus on our defense. Hopefully, working on that and not reaching in and keeping out of foul trouble will help us."
 
 

(On Stanislaus State)
"We're going to see a fast pace again, and we're going to see a lot of pressure and aggression. We've seen it before; we just have to prepare for it again. All of the California teams kind of play a similar way."
 
(On the quieter week)
"My team is high academics, and that's really important to them. There's a little added stress because it's finals week. So with only one game, we can have shorter practices or take some extra time for them to focus on their academics and then be able to get back in the gym and relieve some of the stress."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Lolo Weaterspoon came off the bench for 24 points, and SPU stayed within reach until the final few minutes last Thursday before Smon Fraser pulled away for an 87-73 victory in West Gym on the opening night of the GNAC schedule.
 -- For the second straight game, Weatherspoon led the team in scoring, this time with 13 points, but Western Washington hit 16 of their 17 foul shots during the first half, then had seven makes from downtown during the third quarter on Saturday to beat SPU in Carver Gymnasium, 83-68.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The GNAC opening-night showdown between co-favorites Montana State Billings and Western Washington in Bellingham was a close one, as the No. 3 Yellowjackets prevailed, 64-58. The score was tied five times, and the lead changed hands eight (with four of those changes in the last three minutes of the game). Billings (9-1, 2-0 GNAC) then edged Simon Fraser on Saturday, 69-66, to join Alaska Anchorage (10-1, 2-0) as the only team to win both games on opening weekend. Central Washington (7-0, 1-0) stayed undefeated by downing Northwest Nazarene, 74-60. In Fairbanks on Saturday, Saint Martin's cracked triple digits with a 105-71 rout of the Nanooks.
 
Led by undefeated Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-0, 3-0), the top four teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association are a combined 30-3 – and nobody else is above .500. Dominguez Hills, Cal Poly Pomona (7-1 overall) and Chico State (7-1) are all off to 3-0 starts in conference play. Cal State Los Angeles (6-1 overall) is one of three teams with 2-1 CCAA records, joined by Sonoma State (4-5) and Cal Poly Humboldt (3-5).
 
Azusa Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene, and Vanguard are all 2-0 to start the Pacific West Conference schedule. Azusa has the top overall mark of 7-1, while Point Loma is 7-3 and Vanguard is 3-4. Everyone will play at least one more conference games over the next two weeks prior to the holidays.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific wraps up the 2024 portion of its schedule with a trip to Salt Lake City on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 20-21. The Falcons face host Westminster on the 20th, then get a rematch against Metro State on the 21st. Both games tip off at noon inside Westminster's Behnken Field House.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                   GNAC    Overall
Alaska Anchorage         2-0    10-2
Montana State Billings   2-0     9-1
Central Washington       1-0     7-0
Saint Martin's           1-1     7-2
Simon Fraser             1-1     8-3
Western Washington       1-1     5-4
Western Oreton           1-1     3-5
Northwest Nazarene       0-1     5-4
Alaska Fairbanks         0-2     5-4
Seattle Pacfic           0-2     2-9


SPU SOCIAL 

• Twitter - @SPUSports & @SPUWBB
• Instagram - @SPUSports & @SPUWBB
• Facebook - /SPUSports

Seattle's only NCAA Division II Scholarship Program | #GoFalcons