SEATTLE – Lo was on a scoring high.
 
Wow .. was she ever on a scoring high.
 
Hitting a perfect 5 of 5 from behind the arc, Lolo Weatherspoon erupted for a career-best 26 points on Thursday night, Olivia Mayer added a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Seattle Pacific started the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball schedule with a 76-65 victory against Central Washington.
 
Schuyler Berry joined the double-digit scoring parade with 18 points and also collected seven rebounds as the Falcons (7-13, 4-6 GNAC) picked up a crucial victory to stay very much in the race for a conference tournament spot.

 

"We had a great week of practice and we were really focused," said head coach Mike Simonson, whose team halted a four-game losing streak, "We did a great job of sharing the ball. At Central, they had more offensive rebounds than us, and we really challenged ourselves to rebound and hit the glass hard against them. We had 45 rebounds to their 31 and 15 offensive rebounds to their 10
 
"To me, that was just showing the mentality of the game we needed to have."
 
Weatherspoon, a junior 5-foot-10 wing, came off the bench on Thursday, registering not only a career high for herself, but an individual season high for SPU. The previous high was 25 by Mayer on Jan. 13 at home against Saint Martin's Weatherspoon's 5 of 5 from behind the arc was part of an overall 8-of-13 shooting performance. She also grabbed five rebounds, came up with three steals, and dished two assists.

 

"The biggest thing for me was just being confident in places where I know I can score and just not hesitating to shoot my shot," said Weatherspoon, whose previous high was 14 against Saint Martin's almost exactly one year ago on Feb. 2, 2023. "That's definitely something I'm working on every day and every game, just the energy and knowing my teammates have my back and knowing I can hit this shot, so I'm going to take it'
 
"I didn't have any change in play or in X's and O's. It was just all mindset and just wanting to get this game," Weatherspoon added.
 
Simonson knew Weatherspoon was capable of the kind of game she had on Thursday.

"I think it's always been in there," Simonson said of Weatherspoon's production. "She chose to just come out there and take it to Central. She was great from 3, but she had some amazing drives, too. We've seen her shoot like that in practice many times, and she has been shooting it better since the (holiday) break."

ALMOST WIRE TO WIRE
The Falcons led for all but the opening moments when Central Washington (14-8, 5-5 GNAC) scored the opening basket of the game. SPU then ran off nine straight points with baskets from Berry, Hunter Beirne, Layne Kearns and Weatherspoon (the first of her treys) chipping in for a 9-2 lead.
 
The margin reached double digits for the first time at 30-20 with 4:21 left in the half and was 39-28 at the break. Central Washington got as close as four at 47-43 with 1;57 remaining in the third quarter, but Seattle Pacific stretched it back out to eight at 54-46 going into the fourth.
 
The Wildcats scored on the opening possession to get within 54-48. SPU responded with 10 straight points – a lay-in by Berry, then eight in a row by Weatherspoon (with a pair of treys) for a seemingly comfortable 66-48 with just 5:33 to play.
 
Central Washington wasn't done, responding with its own 10-0 run to get right back within striking distance at 66-58. On three occasions, it got as close as seven, the last time at  72-65 with 29.1 seconds to go.
 
"It's really difficult to guard them, and I thought we did a tremendous job," Simonson said. "Even though they got 65 points, which is higher than we typically like to have, I thought we made some signature stops, especially in the first half and third quarter, which were really key to keeping our runs going."
 
For all of the damage that she did from downtown, three of Weatherspoon's biggest points came at free throw line. With 1:15 to go, she hit the first of two for a 68-60 lead, missed the second – but grabbed the offensive rebound for another possession. She was fouled again with 1;02 left, and this time drained both to make it a four-possession margin at 70-60.

 

PINK NIGHT IN BROUGHAM
Thursday's game was Pink Night in support of the ongoing battle against breast cancer. It had a particularly special meaning for the Falcons, with assistant coach Karen Byers in the midst of her own breast cancer journey, although all signs are looking good after she had surgery in December.
 
"We had an emotional game obviously, playing for Coach Karen," Mike Simonson said. "But we harnessed that emotion into focus, which was important.
 
Added Weatherspoon, ""With it being Pink Night and being able to play for Karen was huge for us. It brought a lot of energy to the court."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The win gave SPU a split of the season series. Central won on Jan. 6 in Ellensburg, 71-61.
-- This is the third straight year the Falcons have beaten CWU in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Seattle Pacific hit 41.9 percent from the floor (26 of 62). That was its first game above 40 percent since shooting .425 (23 of 54) in the game at Central Washington. Along with Lolo Weatherspoon's 8-of-13 night, Olivia Mayer hit 7 of 15 on the way to her seventh double-double of the season, and Schuyler Berry was 7 of 16.
-- The Falcons also were solid from behind the arc at 47.1 percent (8 of 17) and were at 88.9 percent (16 of 18) at the foul line.
-- Central Washington hit 36.1 percent from the floor (22 of 61).
-- Asher Cai poured in 26 points for CWU on 8-of-17 shooting, with 4 of 7 from long range. She is the GNAC's leading scorer, coming into the game averaging 20.1 points per game. Sunny Huerta, the No. 2 scorer in the conference at 18.6, finished with 15 as the Falcons limited her to 5-of-15 shooting.
-- Seattle Pacific's 15-10 advantage on the offensive glass led to a 20-6 margin in second-chance points.

UP NEXT
The Falcons return to action on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. in Brougham against Northwest Nazarene. They will be trying for a season split, as NNU won in Nampa, 50-47, on Jan. 4. It is the second game of a doubleheader, with the SPU men facing their Nighthawks counterparts at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 76, Central Washington 65
 
CENTRAL WASHINGTON (14-8, 5-5 GNAC)
Sims 3-9 2-5 10, Coronado 1-4 0-1 2, Huerta 5-15 3-3 15, Johnson 1-6 0-0 3, Cai 8-17 6-6 26, Blodgett 0-2 0-0 0, Smith 2-5 0-0 6, Marsh 1-2 1-2 3, Huntsinger 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 22-61 12-17 65.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-13, 4-6 GNAC)
Mayer 7-16 6-6 21, Berry 7-15 4-4 18, Ohta 1-5 0-0 3, Beirne 1-6 1-2 3, Kearns 1-2 0-0 2, Weatherspoon 8-13 5-6 26, Leasure 0-1 0-0 0, Marlow 1-4 0-0 3, Carlisle 0-0 0-0 0, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0  Totals 26-62 16-18 76.
 
Central Washington            10            18           18           19           -- 65
Seattle Pacific                     17           22           15           22           -- 76
 
3-point goals – CWU 9-23 (Sims 0-1, Coronado 0-1, Huerta 2-3, Johnson 1-5, Cai 4-7, Smith 2-5, Marsh 0-1), SPU 8-17 (Mayer 1-6, Ohta 1-2, Beirne 0-1, Weatherspoon 5-5, Marlow 1-3).  Fouled out – CWU: Cai  SPU: Marlow.  Rebounds – CWU 31 (Sims 7), SPU 45 (Mayer 10).  Assists – CWU 9 (Smith 3), SPU 11 (Beirne 4).  Turnovers (points allowed) – CWU 15 (12), SPU 15 (16).  Total fouls – CWU 17, SPU 17.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 157
 
 
Next game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 4:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.


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