MONMOUTH, Ore. – Why stop at just one double-double? Layne Kearns certainly didn't.
 
The Seattle Pacific freshman guard went and made it a double career-high double-double …
 
… and in the process, helped the Falcons double their road win total.
 
Kearns poured in 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds on Saturday, Olivia Mayer matched her with 16, and SPU led almost from start to finish in taking a 59-47 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory at Western Oregon.
 
After dropping their first nine true road games (they had one win on a neutral court), the Falcons went 2-and-0 away from home this week, having defeated Saint Martin's on Thursday night in Lacey, 62-55.
 
As a result, Seattle Pacific (10-13, 7-6 GNAC) now is alone in fourth place in the conference standings, one game ahead of Central Washington and Simon Fraser, both 6-7, and two games up on Northwest Nazarene (6-8). At the start of the week, all of those teams were in a tie for fourth at 5-6.
  




"We wanted to get this road sweep, and now, we're above .500 in conference, which is a big deal for us," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We're in a good spot. We want to make the conference tournament, We still have some work to do, but when you get road wins like this, it makes it easier to make the conference tournament, making sure you take care of business like this."

Kearns' role on Saturday in WOU's New P.E. Building was to provide a spark off the bench, and she did precisely that. In almost 32 minutes of action, she hit 7 of 13 from the field, had an assist and even a blocked shot along with her points and boards.
 
Her double-double was SPU's ninth of the season. Mayer has seven and Schuyler Berry has one.

   

"She was grabbing rebounds, she was hitting shots, she was so confident,"
Simonson said. "When she's playing that confident, she's a really good player. I've been seeing these games out on the horizon for her, and I'm glad it happened tonight because we needed it."

Altogether, SPU had four players in double-digit scoring. In addition to the 16 each by Kearns and Mayer, Berry and Hunter Beirne added 10 points apiece.
  
The only time the Falcons were not in front were early ties at 2-2 and 4-4. They had a 20-11 advantage at the end of the end of the first quarter, thanks in part to a 9-0 scoring run. They were up 36-23 at halftime, extending their lead when Hailey Marlow drained a between-the-circles 3-pointer that was nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.
 
Western Oregon (10-13, 3-9 GNAC) made a threatening run during the third quarter, running off eight straight points as part of a 12-2 scoring surge to cut SPU's 40-27 lead all the way down to 42-39 with 4:18 left in that period.
 
But Seattle Pacific's defense kept the Wolves off the board for the next 7 minutes, 46 seconds bridging the third and fourth quarters. The Falcons put up 10 points of their own during that time to make it 52-39 by the time WOU finally got another point on a Cali McClave free throw with 6:28 left.
  
In fact, the Falcons kept Western Oregon without a field goal for 12 minutes, 7 seconds, as the Wolves missed 16 consecutive shots: their last five of the third quarter and first 11 of the fourth. By the time they finally connected, SPU was comfortably ahead by 18 points at 59-41 with just 2:11 to play.

"Obviously, the best part about today was our defense was consistent for 40 minutes," Simonson said. "The third quarter, (the Wolves) kind of got going, and the crowd got into it – it was a great road environment for us to play in. The defense is what ended up winning the game. We had good offense in the first half, then the defense held them to eight points in the fourth quarter, and that really sealed the deal."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- This was SPU's first series sweep of the season, having defeated Western Oregon by a 57-52 count in Seattle on Jan. 11.
-- The Falcons shot better than 40 percent for the fourth straight game, finishing at 43.4 (23 of 53). They limited Western Oregon to just 31.1 percent (19 of 61), including 0 for 12 from 3-point range.
-- Seattle Pacific collected 40 rebounds. Along with Layne Kearns' 12, Olivia Mayer had eight.
-- Along with her 10 points, Schuyler Berry had two blocked shots.
-- Saturday was the fourth time SPU has kept an opponent below 50 points, winning all four of those games. It was the 10th time keeping an opponent below 60, with an 8-2 record in those games.

UP NEXT
The Falcons have just one game next week, visiting Montana State Billings on Saturday, Feb. 17. Tip-off is at 3:15 p.m. Pacific time.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 59, Western Oregon 47
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-13, 7-6 GNAC)
Mayer 7-12 1-2 16, Berry 3-10 4-4 10, Ohta 0-1 0-0 0, Marlow 2-5 0-0 6, Beirne 4-10 2-2 10, Kearns 7-13 1-2 16, Leasure 0-2 1-2 1, Bishop 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 23-53 9-12 59.
 
WESTERN OREGON (10-13, 3-9 GNAC)
Noyes 0-3 0-0 0, Youngblood 7-12 4-4 18, C. McClave 6-24 2-4 14, Pedrojetti 2-9 0-0 4, Harman 0-5 2-2 2, Dawkins 4-8 1-1 9, Kanoho 0-0 0-0 0, Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0, Baker 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 19-61 9-11 47.
 
Seattle Pacific     20           16           12           11           -- 59
Western Oregon 11           12           16             8           -- 47
 
3-point goals – SPU 4-16 (Mayer 1-3, Ohta 0-1, Marlow 2-4, Beirne 0-3, Kearns 1-4, Leasure 0-1), WOU 0-12 (McClave 0-6, Petrojetti 0-2, Harman 0-4).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – SPU 40 (Kearns 12), WOU 34 (Youngblood 6).  Assists – SPU 10 (Ohta 3), WOU 9 (Hopkins 3).  Turnovers (points allowed) – SPU 15 (5), WOU 9 (8).  Total fouls – SPU 11, WOU 9.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 288.
 
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Saturday, Feb. 17     3:15 p.m. PST
Alterowitz Gymnsium / Billings, Mont.


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