SEATTLE – Hunter Beirne and Lolo Weatherspoon had had their fill of losing non-conference women's basketball games to Stanislaus State.
 
On Saturday afternoon, the two Seattle Pacific seniors went out and did something about it.
 
Beirne poured in 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds, Weatherspoon added 13 points and four boards, and the Falcons came up big in the fourth quarter, pulling away to an 81-65 victory in Brougham Pavilion.

 

Sophomore guard Layne Kearns tossed in 17 points for SPU (3-9), along with four rebounds and three assists. Sophomore wing Grace Leasure had an impressive stat line of seven points, six rebounds, and career highs of five assists and five blocked shots.
 
This was the fourth year in a row that Seattle Pacific and Stanislaus State of Turlock, California, had met in non-conference play. The Warriors had won the previous three by a combined total of seven points: 57-55 at home in 2021, 63-62 on a buzzer-beater in Brougham in 2022, and 70-66 in Turlock in 2023.

"It has been such close games. It always feels good, number one, to get a home win, and number two, to get a win against a team that we've fought so hard against and lost close games to," Weatherspoon said.
 
Added head coach Karen Byers, "Four years in the making. The key was our defense and rebounding. Before, we were losing the rebounding, and we still got one less than they did (44-43). But we just decided we were going to be more aggressive and come out and get stops."
 




Locked in a back-and-forth battle most of the way, the Falcons were clinging to a 57-56 lead with 9:05 left in the game. That's when they put the next seven points on the board: a turnaround putback by Beirne, and a 3-pointer from the right corner by Beirne after she stole the ball in backcourt, got it ahead to Leasure, then broke wide open into the corner for the return pass from Leasure and the dagger.
 
Stanislaus (2-7) answered with s traditional three-point play by Kalyn Harris to make it 64-59. Beirne responded with back-to-back baskets for 68-59. Then Leasure blocked a shot, secured the rebound and whipped it ahead to Weatherspoon for a driving lay-in and a 70-59 advantage – Seattle Pacific's largest lead since it was 12-0 and then 15-3 in the first quarter.
 
The Falcons outscored Stanislaus by a 27-14 margin through the fourth quarter, hitting 9 of 20 from the field and grabbing 12 of their 43 rebounds.
 
 

"We do better when we move the ball and when we play together and give up good shots for great shots," Byers said. "That was part of what we talked about at the beginning of the game. Then as the game unfolded, we just did that better and better."
 
The Falcons had their first 80-point game since Jan. 4, 2020, in an 83-70 home victory against Alaska Fairbanks. Their high this season was at Simon Fraser on Dec. 5 in an 87-73 loss. (They also had an 87-56 win against Northwest University during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season when teams put together independent schedules.)
 
"Once we came together on the press and started putting pressure on and really working as a unit on defense, that made the difference for us," Beirne said.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Hunter Beirne's 22-pointer was her second game of the season in the 20s. She had 23 against Cal State San Marcos on Nov 15. On Saturday, she hit 8 of 17 from the field. Her only game with more shots was last March 2 at Alaska Fairbanks when she was 10 of 18 on the way to a career-high 28 points.
--Collectively, the Falcons shot 42.9 percent (27 of 63). That included a season-high 10 makes from 3-point range (10 of 27 for 37 percent). Beirne had four of those; sophomore Haylie Ohta and freshman Grace Mertes each nailed two.
-- Overall, four SPU players shot 50 percent or better from the floor: 5 of 10 for Lolo Weatherspoon (50 percent), 5 of 9 for Layne Kearns (55.6 percent), 2 of 3 for Ohta (66.7 percent) and 3 of 5 for Mertes (60 percent).
--Mertes finished with a career-high eight points, topping her previous high of six. She hit 3 of 5 overall, 2 of 4 behind the arc.
--Grace Leasure's five blocked shots beat her previous high of three, set Nov. 2 against Dominican at the D2CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic. She is the first SPU player with five since current senior Schuyler Berry notched six at Dominican on Dec. 12, 2022.
-- Leasure's five assists beat her previous best of three, which she reached twice.
-- The nine total blocks by the Falcons was a season high. They had six in three earlier games.
-- SPU topped 80 percent shooting at the free throw line for the fourth game in a row. They were at 81 percent (17 of 21).
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons play their final pre-Christmas home game on Tuesday when they host Pacific Lutheran at 5:15 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKEBALL
Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 81, Stanislaus State 65
 
STANISLAUS STATE (2-7)
Scott-Mitchell 4-16 3-6 13, Garrett 2-8 0-0 5, Harris 3-12 1-1 7, Andersen 0-3 3-4 3, Lewis 8-17 1-2 19, Premo 2-4 1-1 6, Barefield 4-11 1-2 12. Totals 23-71 10-16 65.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (3-9)
Leasure 2-8 3-4 7, Weatherspoon 5-10 2-4 13, Berry 0-4 1=-2 1, Beirne 8-17 2-2 22, Kearns 5-9 7-7 17, Turley 1-5 0-0 3, Ohta 2-3 0-0 6, Bishop 1-2 2-2 4, Lavigne0-0 0-0 0, Mertes 3-5 0-0 8, Bergevin 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 27-63 17-21 81.
 
Stanislaus State    21           18           12           14           -- 65
Seattle Pacific       29           13           12           27           -- 81
 
3-point goals – Stan 9-23 (Scott-Mitchell 2-3, Garrett 1-6, Lewis 2-3, Premo 1-2, Barefield 3-9), SPU 10-27 (Leasure 0-4, Weatherspoon 1-3, Beirne 4-7, Kearns 0-1, Turley 1-5, Ohta 2-3, Mertes 2-4). Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – Stan 44 (Scott-Mitchell 13), SPU 43 (Beirne 7).  Assists – Stan 12 (Barefield 5) SPU 14 (Leasure 5).  Turnovers (points allowed) – Stan 22 (25) SPU 19 (15);  Total fouls – Stan 18, SPU 16.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 108.
 
 
Next game
Pacific Lutheran at Seattle Pacific
Tuesday, Dec. 17     5:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.


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