FAIRBANKS, Alaska – They're in. They're going. They're bound for Ellensburg.
 
It came down to the final quarter in the final game of the regular season. But the Seattle Pacific Falcons, with a career-high 28 points from Hunter Beirne, clinched the last berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament on Saturday by pulling away from Alaska Fairbanks for a 72-64 victory in The Patty Center.
 
The win helped SPU (11-17, 8-10 GNAC) secure sixth place in the standings, with the top six earning a position in the postseason picture. And the Falcons did it on their own, not needing any help from a tiebreaker. Northwest Nazarene, the only team that could have kept them out of the tournament, dropped its finale at home to Saint Martin's, 88-72, and finished seventh at 7-11.
 
As the No. 6 seed, Seattle Pacific will take on No. 3 Alaska Anchorage this coming Thursday, March 7, in Nicholson Arena at Central Washington. Tip-off is at noon, followed by the match-up between No. 4 Central Washington and No. 5 Simon Fraser at 2:15 p.m.
 
"I'm really proud of this group. They came together and made some winning plays," head coach Mike Simonson said. "Hunter was incredible. She had a mentality that we were not going to lose this game. That started at the jump, and you could see it in her eyes. She was on a mission."

 

In addition to Beirne's 28 points, Olivia Mayer produced her 10th double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and grabbing a season-high 14 rebounds. Lolo Weatherspoon chipped in 15 points and Schuyler Berry added 11.
 
What's more, the Falcons did it after a challenging Friday. Their initial flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks was canceled, and they weren't able have a practice.
 
As was the case during Thursday's 51-39 loss at Alaska Anchorage, SPU played short-handed. Dealing with different injuries, the Falcons had seven players dressed (after just six at UAA), but then lost Hailey Marlow when she became ill at halftime. Reserve guard Haylie-Anne Ohta took over in the backcourt, with some spot relief from freshman guard Layne Kearns, who was still dealing with some ankle pain.
 
"It's pretty cool for our team to have a win like this on the road, a must-win game," Simonson said. "I'm just so proud of our team. We had so much adversity to deal with, even bigger than the injuries we battled."
 
UP FOR GRABS
SPU was in front 49-48 heading into the final quarter, taking the lead on a putback by Berry with one second left in the third.
 
The Falcons then put the first nine points onto the board to start the fourth, making it 58-48: a free throw by Beirne, a lay-in by Weatherspoon, then back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key by Mayer. Those daggers from distance didn't necessarily clinch the game with 8:03 still to play, but gave the Falcons clear command just when they needed it.
 
The Nanooks (4-23, 3-15 GNAC) never got closer than seven after that.
 
Beirne, Mayer, Berry, and Weatherspoon played all 20 minutes of the second half, and Beirne played the entire 40 for the game.

 

"It was a one-point game, it was anybody's game, and Fairbanks is tough to play up here," Simonson said. "We just took our game to the next level. We made some huge shots, some big 3s. It was all about we just wanted to win."
 
Up 35-29 at halftime, Seattle Pacific extended the margin to eight at 43-35 nearing the midpoint of the third quarter. Alaska Fairbanks then went on a 13-4 run to take a 48-47 lead. Berry ended that with her last-second putback, paving the way for SPU's big start to the final period, when it racked up 23 points.
 
"It's such a big thing to have going into the conference tournament, coming off a big road win when you fought adversity," Simonson said.
 
 

Beirne, whose previous career high of 20 came in a GNAC-opening 70-43 victory against Fairbanks on Nov. 30 in Seattle, set a new one on a second-chance 23-foot trey from the left of the lane with 6:40 left in the game, giving her 23 points. She added another 3-pointer and a pair of free throws during the final minutes.
 
The redshirt junior point guard scored the first seven points and nine of the first 10 for the Falcons to start the game. For the night, she hit 10 of 18 from the floor (3 of 5 behind the arc), grabbed five rebounds, and handed out four assists.

"All the credit goes to my teammates. They gave me some unbelievable passes," Beirne said. "When the saw I was getting close to my career high, they were passing me the ball and trying to get me looks. There's nothing more I could ask for. It definitely made my night being surrounded by so many selfless people and just really good friends. It was fun basketball."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons beat the Nanooks for the 13th straight time. Coach Mike Simonson is 12-0 vs. Alaska Fairbanks.
-- For the second time in the last three games, SPU took excellent care of the ball, committing just five turnovers. That tied its season low, set last Saturday against Western Washington.
-- Olivia Mayer's 14 rebounds topped the 13 the pulled down at Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 4. Her career high came two years ago during her freshman season with Whitworth when she grabbed 16 against Puget Sound.
-- Mayer tied her career high with five steals. She had that many for Whitworth in a game against Cal Lutheran. SPU had 12 steals altogether.
-- That accounted for two-thirds of UAF's 18 turnovers, which the Falcons converted in 25 points.
-- The Falcons were aggressive in driving to the basket and wound up with four and-ones. Of those, Lolo Weatherspoon had three (converting one of them), and Schuyler Berry had one (which she converted). SPU got double the number of free throw opportunities, hitting 13 of 20. Tha Nanooks were 9 of 10.
-- The 72 points was Seattle Pacific's high road score of the season and its fourth game in the 70s.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, March 2, 2024
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
Seattle Pacific 72, Alaska Fairbanks 64
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (11-17, 8-10 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 6-13 3-5 15, Mayer 6-24 0-0 15, Berry 3-5 5-7 11, Marlow 0-1 0-0 0, Beirne 10-18 5-8 28, Ohta 1-4 0-0 3, Kearns 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 26-66 13-20 72.
 
ALASKA FAIRBANKS (4-23, 3-15 GNAC)
Wass 6-14 0-0 14, Stewart 1-1 0-0 2, Johnson 4-7 0-0 8, Reimers 4-7 3-3 11, McKenney 4-11 3-3 13, Silva 4-8 2-2 10, Nevison 1-1 0-0 3, Van Dyke 1-1 1-2 3, Hopkins 0-1 0-0 0.  Totals 25-55 9-10 64.
 
Seattle Pacific                     18           17           14           23           -- 72
Alaska Fairbanks               19           10           19           16           -- 64
 
3-point goals – SPU 7-23 (Weatherspoon 0-3, Mayer 3-7, Beirne 3-8, Ohta 1-4, Kearns 0-1), UAF 5-13 (Wass 2-2, Reimers 0-3, McKenney 2-6, Nevison 1-1, Hopkins 0-1).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – SPU 32 (Mayer 14), UAF 43 (Wass 10).  Assists – SPU 10 (Beirne 4), UAF 11 (Reimers 4).  Turnovers (points allowed) – SPU 5 (6), UAF 18 (25).  Total fouls – SPU 14, UAF 16.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 310.


SPU SOCIAL 
Twitter - @SPUSports & @SpuWbb
Instagram - @SPUSports & @SPU_Basketball
Facebook - /SPUSports

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