THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 29               Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, 6:15 p.m. PST
                                             Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, March 2               Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 4:00 p.m. PST
                                             The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – Win and they're in. For the Seattle Pacific Falcons, that as straight-forward as it gets.
 
SPU wraps up the women's basketball regular season this week with a trip to Alaska. Up first is a visit to Anchorage on Thursday, tipping off at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time against the Seawolves. Then it's off the Fairbanks for Saturday's match-up against the Nanooks. That one starts at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
The Falcons (10-16, 7-9 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) come into the week sitting in sixth place in the conference standings. They'll be looking to hang onto that spot for a berth in next week's GNAC Tournament next week in Ellensburg. The top six in the final standings qualify, and the Falcons can clinch it by winning either game.
 
Both of this week's games will be doubleheader openers, with the Seattle Pacific men playing in the nightcap: 8:30 p.m. at Anchorage on Thursday' 6:15 at Fairbanks on Saturday.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC games will have free live Webcasts and live stats. The appropriate links for this week's games can be found at the top of this story.
 
IN CONTROL OF THER OWN DESTINY
Even though they are battling for the final spot in the six-team GNAC Tournament, the Falcons come into the week not necessarily needing anyone's help to get in.
 
It's down to SPU and Northwest Nazarene for that final berth. The Falcons can nail it down with one win in Alaska. No muss, no fuss – win a game and make the tournament.
 
If the Falcons don't get a win, they can still get to Ellensburg, but then would need Saint Martin's to win on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene. NNU (6-10) will pick up a forfeit win from Western Oregon on Thursday, since WOU shut down its season on Feb. 16, thus forfeiting its final four games. The Nighthawks get the berth if they beat Saint Martin's and SPU loses both in Alaska.
 
Tiebreakers will come into play if Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene both finish 8-10 (an SPU split in Alaska and an NNU win against Saint Martin's) or both finish at 7-11 (SPU loses both in Alaska and NNU loses to Saint Martin's). The Falcons and Nighthawks split their season series, and both went 0-2 vs. No. 1 Montana State Billings and No. 2 Western Washington. The likely tiebreaker then would be how they did vs. No. 3 Alaska Anchorage. The Falcons beat the Seawolves in December, so are guaranteed at least a 1-1 record there. NNU went 0-2.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- After dropping their first nine true road games of the season, the Falcons have won two of their last three: 62-55 at Saint Martin's on Feb. 8, and 59-47 at Western Oregon on Feb. 12.
-- As always, GNAC closing weekend opponents haven't seen each other since opening weekend. That would have been Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 – three months ago.
-- SPU swept the Alaskas in Seattle, 70-43 against Fairbanks and 62-59 against Anchorage.
-- The 43 points allowed to the Nanooks matched a season-low for the Falcons. The other game was a 57-43 non-conference victory against Westminster on Dec. 29.
-- That same game against UAF was one of three in which Seattle Pacific has tallied 70 or more. The other two were back-to-back on Brougham Pavilion: 76-65 against Central Washington, and 73-71 against Northwest Nazarene.
-- Redshirt junior point guard Hunter Beirne went for a career-high 20 points against Fairbanks – her first and only collegiate 20-pointer. That was part of a 33-point weekend for Beirne, as she put up 13 against Anchorage two days later.
-- Junior forward Olivia Mayer tallied 38 in those two games combined, with 23 coming against UAA.
-- Mayer comes into this week 63 points away from 1,000 for her career.
-- The Falcons have won 12 straight against Fairbanks.
-- They also have taken two in a row from Anchorage, the first of which was in the first round of last year's GNAC Tournament. Prior to that, the Seawolves had won the previous nine in a row.
-- Last Saturday against Western Washington, the Falcons had their best day of the season for taking care of the ball, committing a season-low five turnovers.
-- Coach Mike Simonson is 2-9 vs. UAA and 10-0 vs. UAF.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 16-8, 11-5 GNAC (3rd)
All-time series; SPU leads, 43-38.  Current series streak: SPU won 2.  Last time: SPU 62, UAA 59 (Dec. 2, 2023, at Seattle). Last UAA series win: UAA 64, SPU 54 (Feb. 23, 2023 at Seattle).  Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: After the loss in Seattle back in December left Alaska Anchorage at 2-5 and 0-2 in the conference, it went on a nine-game winning streak to jump into the upper echelon of the standings and has been there ever since. Part of that has been sparked by the return of senior 5-foot-9 guard Vishe' Raab from a knee injury suffered against the Falcons in the GNAC Tournament last March. Raab has started 12 of her 13 games, averaging 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds. Senior 6-3 forward / center Tori Hollingshead and junior 5-5 guard Senya Rabouin average 12.8 and 12.5 points, respectively. Hollingshead shoots .547 from the field, No. 5 in the GNAC, and she does it primarily in a reserve role. She has started just four of the 24 games, but averages 21.8 minutes per contest. Junior 5-6 guard Jazzpher Evans adds 9.6 points and has a team-leading 61 assists. UAA is well-known for its "mayhem" style of defense, which forces an average of 22.2 turnovers per game, of which an average 13.5 are steals
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 4-21, 3-13 GNAC (tie 9th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 69-16.  Current series streak: SPU won 12.  Last time: SPU 70, UAF 53 (Nov. 30, 2023, at Seattle).  Last UAF series win: UAF 63, SPU 61 (Feb, 16, 2017 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks has dropped six straight since a homecourt sweep of Saint Martin's and Western Oregon in late January. But the Nanooks gave Anchorage a run for it on Feb. 10 before falling 78-75; ditto against Northwest Nazarene on Feb. 17, coming from 15 down all the back within two until the Nighthawks prevailed, 74-69. Sophomore 5-foot-10 small forward Kayla Johnson and senior 5-6 guard Emma McKenny are almost dead even in scoring: 262 points / 10.5 average for Johnson; 261 / 10.4 average for McKenney. Senior 6-foot forward Emma Wass is the GNAC's leading rebounder at 9.1 per game, and she also scores at a 9.3 clip. Junior 5-9 guard Destiny Reimers averages 9.9 points, and junior 6-1 forward Ellen Silva is tied with SPU's Olivia Mayer for No. 5 in GNAC rebounding at 7.8 per game.
 
A FANTASTIC 400
With her 16 points against Western Washington last Saturday, junior forward Olivia Mayer now has passed 400 for this season. Heading into this week, she has 409.
 
 

The last Falcon to hit the 400 mark in a season was Jordan McPhee with 425 back in 2017-18.
 
Prior to that, Suzanna Ohlsen and Aubree Callen both topped 400 during the 2014-15 season: 495 for Ohlsen, 479 for Callen.
 
All of that said, it still takes 500-plus points to get into Seattle Pacific's single-season top 10. That list is currently rounded out by Cheryle Meppelink and Katie Benson (now Simonson) with 522 – Meppelink in 1984, Benson in 2014. Meppelink also owns the single-season record of 620, set in 1985.

 

SIMO SAYS …
(On the Alaska road trip)
"Luckily, we were able get both of them here back in December, although that feels like light years ago. But we're a completely different team now and they're both completely different teams, and we need to make sure we refresh on how to prepare for both them. Obviously, we want to go up there and play our best basketball.
 
(On a key element to both games)
"Hopefully, we'll take care of the ball just like we did against Western Washington. If we (do that), I think we'll be in good shape against Anchorage. Then Fairbanks has their Senior Day (on Saturday), and with the emotions, you never know what's going to happen on a Senior Day. So we have to be ready to roll for that road trip."
 

MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100th assist          Olivia Mayer (has 98)
                            Hailey Marlow (has 96)
100th point           Grace Leasure (has 98)
                            Haylie-Anne Ohta (has 81)
100th rebound       Lolo Weatherspoon (has 86)
1,000th point        Olivia Mayer (has 937)
 
Made last week
None

AROUND THE WEST
While Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene battle for the final postseason spot, the top five berths have been clinched, although the final order of the GNAC standings is still to be determined. Montana State Billings, Western Washington, Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington and Simon Fraser are all in, Billings (15-1, 24-4 overall) and Western (14-3, 21-5) own the first-round byes. MSUB, which edged the Vikings by a 48-46 count in Montana last week, can clinch the regular-season crown with one win in Alaska this week. Regardless, both of them are very likely on their way to the NCAA West Regionals.
 
Cal State San Marcos got back on track in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. After losing two straight, the Cougars (20-6, 17-4) won a pair last week and to clinch the regular-season crown. With only Thursday's finales on the schedule, San Marcos has a two-game lead on Chico State (19-8, 15-6). Also bound for the CCAA Tournament are Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State San Bernardino, and Sonoma State. Not making the postseason is defending West Region Cal State Dominguez Hills (13-14, 10-11 with one game left).
 
Azusa Pacific (25-3, 19-0) has been in control of the Pacific West Conference all year and takes a 21-game winning streak into its regular-season finale at second-place Fresno Pacific (19-7, 13-5) on Saturday. The Cougars and Sunbirds long since have clinched their spots in the Pac West Tournament and will be joined by Point Loma Nazarene and Dominican. The other two berths are still up for grabs between Biola (10-8), Concordia Irvine (10-9), and Hawaii Hilo (9-10).

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
If the Falcons qualify for the GNAC Tournament, they will play a first-round game at either noon or 2:15 p.m. next Thursday, March 7, inside Central Washington's Nicholson Arena in Ellensburg. The time slot will be determined once final seeds are known. The semifinals are on Friday, March 8, with the No. 4-5 first-round winner facing the No. 1 seed, and the No. 3-6 winner facing No. 2. Those games also are in the noon and 2:15 time slots, with the order of games to be determined. The championship, with the winner gaining the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, is March 9 at 5:00 p.m.
 
Men's tournament games will be at 5:15 and 7:30 p.m. for Thursday's first round and Friday's semifinals, and 7:30 p.m. for Saturday's championship.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                        GNAC          Overall
Montana State Billings    15-1      24-4
Western Washington        14-3      21-5
Alaska Anchorage          11-5      17-8
Central Washington         9-7      18-10
Simon Fraser               9-8      16-13
Seattle Pacific            7-9      10-16
Northwest Nazarene         6-10      9-14
Saint Martin's             4-12      6-17
Western Oregon             3-13     10-13
Alaska Fairbanks           3-13      4-21     

               
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