THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 23                Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
                                             Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Jan. 25                Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                             Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                             Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – For the next two weeks, the Seattle Pacific Falcons don't have to travel any farther than their own gym.
 
Heading toward Saturday's midpoint of the 18-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball schedule, SPU begins a three-game homestand when the Alaska schools come to Brougham Pavilion this week.
 
Conference-leading Alaska Anchorage, which all of a sudden has a two-game lead atop the standings, is in town on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Fairbanks visits on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. start time.
 
Both games are part of doubleheaders. The SPU men tangle with Anchorage at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday and Fairbanks at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Falcons (6-14, 0-7 GNAC) are coming off a tough road trip, falling at Central Washington last Thursday, 88-65, and at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, 88-84.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week' games and all remaining GNAC contests will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for this week's home contests. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are looking to halt a five-game skid.
-- They are 4-4 in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Anchorage is by far the conference's best road team. The Seawolves are 8-2 overall away from their own gym, including 6-2 in true road games.
-- The 84 points at Northwest Nazarene was Seattle Pacific's second-highest score of the season, topped only by the 92 they had against Metro State on Dec. 21.
-- In the NNU game, the Falcons had a 35-point first quarter, thanks to 14-of-18 overall shooting, with 2 of 4 from downtown and 4 of 5 at the foul line.
-- Not only was that the highest-scoring quarter of the season, it was the first 30-point period since Jan. 23, 2018 when SPU put up 30 in the opening 10 minutes at Saint Martin's.
-- The Falcons handed out a season-high 22 assists at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, with 10 of those coming on their 14 first-quarter baskets. Fifth-year point guard Hunter Beirne and sophomore guard Layne Kearns had five each.
 

-- Beirne had 10 assists in last week's two games and is up to 69 for the season with 11 games still left to play. That's five more than she had in 26 games last season. Currently averaging 3.45 per game, she needs average 2.8 the rest of the way to reach 100 for the first time.
-- Along with helping her teammates score, Beirne has 84 points in the past three games, with 28 against Western Oregon, a career-high 30 at Central Washington, and 26 at Northwest Nazarene. That has boosted her scoring average from 10.6 to 13.3, and elevated her from not even in the GNAC top 20 all the way up to No. 11 on the season scoring list.
-- Redshirt freshman guard Grace Turley scored a career-high 14 points at NNU.
-- Keeping turnovers down is always paramount, but Anchorage makes that very difficult. The Seawolves force an average of 27.9 per game. Of those, 18.67 per game come on steals, the second-highest average in Division II.
-- Fairbanks also averages double-digit steals at 10.73 per game, accounting for a good chunk of the 19.2 turnovers that it forces.
-- SPU's 13-game win streak against Alaska Fairbanks is currently its longest against any opponent.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 16-2, 7-0 GNAC (1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 43-40.  Current series streak: UAA won 2.  Last time: UAA 79, SPU 57 (March  7, 2023 at Ellensburg, GNAC 1st round). Last SPU series win: SPU 62, UAA 59 (Dec. 2, 2023 at Seattle).  Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage has won six in a row and 11 of its last 12, the only loss coming at Hawaii Pacific just before the Christmas break. The Seawolves are known for their tenacious defense, and they allow just 46.4 points per game, the second-lowest average in D2. At the other end, they average 81.9 points, ranking No. 9 nationally. Only junior 5-foot-8 guard Elaina Mack is in the GNAC's top 10 for scoring, 13.7 points per game. But threTori Hollingsheade other Seawolves are in the top 20, all in double digits: senior 5-9 guard Emilia Long at 13.1, senior 6-3 forward / center at 12.8, and senior 5-6 guard aJazzpher Evanst 10.8. Anchorage averages a GNAC-leading 44.4 rebounds per game, including 18.5 off the offensive glass. Hollingshead and freshman 6-1 forward / center Ashlyn Rean lead the way at 6.4 boards. Long (4.6 steals) and junior 6-1 forward / center Hedda Koehne (1.6 blocks) top the conference in those stat categories.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 5-10, 0-7 GNAC (tie 9th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 70-16.  Current series streak: SPU won 13.  Last time: SPU 72, UAF 64 (March 2, 2024 at Fairbanks).  Last UAF series win: UAF 63, SPU 61 (Feb, 16, 2017 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks got off to a strong start, winning five of its first six games. But the last of those wins was at Chaminade on Nov. 22, and the Nanooks head into the week looking to snap a nine-game losing streak. They have been involved in a handful of high-scoring games, falling 105-71 to Saint Martin's, 115-90 at Northwest Nazarene, and 99-80 last Saturday to Simon Fraser. They also had a 92-67 win against Corban. Senior 5-foot-9 guard Destiny Reimers leads UAF both in scoring at 12.9 points per game and rebounding at 6.3. Kayla Johnson, a junior 5-10 forward, Senior 5-5 guard Taylor Pilot averages 8.0 points and leads the team in assists (45) and steals (43).
 
RUBINO'S BIG NIGHT – TIMES 3
This kind of a game was definitely coming for Madison Rubino … and it came on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene.
 

The junior 6-foot-1 forward logged 15 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots in 25 minutes of action. Her points, rebounds, and blocks were all SPU highs, and her blocks total was a career high.
 
Rubino joined the Falcons this season after playing at Idaho as a freshman in 2021-22 and at Cal Poly Humboldt as a redshirt sophomore last season. She did not play during 2022-23 while still at Idaho. She has started 12 of her 18 games, including the last four, and is averaging 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.
 
"She and talked (last week) and she really wanted to play down on the block. She feels comfortable there," coach Karen Byers said. "I wanted to put her where she felt comfortable, and she went to town. She's such a hard worker
 
BLOCKING THEIR WAY TO NO. 1
After hovering near there most of the season, the Falcons have climbed to No. 1 in the GNAC for blocked shots.
 
Coming into the week, SPU is averaging 4.30 per game after recording in last week's two games, with eight of those at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. That makes it 86 in 20 games – one more than the 85 of Montana State Billings (4.25 per game). The only team even close to those two is Alaska Anchorage with 77 in 18 games (4.28).
 
Sophomore wing Grace Leasure continues to average one block per game (18 in 18 games), tied for No. 5 in the conference. Madison Rubino is moving up the list, now with 14 in 18 games, making her one of eight players with an 0.8 average. Senior center Schuyler Berry, currently out with an injury, also averages 0.8 (14 in 17 games).

Click on this link for a look at all the GNAC team and individual stats.

COACH KAREN BYERS SAYS ...
(On last week's games)
"That first quarter (at Northwest Nazarene) was amazing, and there were some really great moments at Central as well. We just need to limit the times where we freeze and need to learn how to refocus a little bit.
 
 

(On Alaska Anchorage)
"I'm actually glad we played NNU before Anchorage – it's actually kind of a little warm-up for us . We're going to get ready for their relentless pressure and fast playing. It's just going to be about being really prepared – watch a lot of film, work on their offense. It's a little of a shock factor when you play them. I want to be prepared enough that we know what we're getting into."
 
(On Alaska Fairbanks)
"They're going to run the court and put up their own pressure. They're just as physical as Anchorage; they just play a little different. They're not to be overlooked."

FALCONS REPLAY
-- Hunter Beirne recorded her first-ever 30-point game, finishing with exactly that many, and the Falcons hung right with Central Washington through the midpoint of the fourth quarter before the Wildcats pulled away for an 88-65 victory last Thursday in Ellensburg.
-- After building a 17-point lead early in the second quarter, SPU saw Northwest Nazarene climb all the way back and pull out an 88-84 win on Saturday in Nampa.
 
AROUND THE WEST
What was shaping up as a showdown between Montana State Billings and Alaska Anchorage to conclude the first half of the GNAC schedule will still be a showdown on Saturday, but with somewhat different look. The Yellowjackets and Seawolves were tied with undefeated records heading into last week, but while UAA (16-2, 7-0) beat Simon Fraser and Western Washington at home, Billings (16-4, 5-2) lost road games at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. Anchorage now has a two-game lead on MSUB, Western, Central, and Northwest Nazarene, all of whom are 5-2.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills racked up 193 points to stretch its winning streak to 18 games last week and remain alone atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings. Playing on their home floor, the Toros (18-0, 18-0) routed Cal State East Bay, 100-53, and San Francisco State, 93-47. Cal Poly Pomona (14-2, 9-1 CCAA) is now alone in second place after Chico State (13-3, 8-2 CCAA) and had been tied with the Broncos, split two teams last week. Chico hosts Dominguez Hills on Thursday.
 
Azusa Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene, and Vanguard are still the top three teams in the Pacific West Conference – but none them are undefeated anymore. Vanguard (11-5, 9-1) scored an 86-79 road win against Azusa (16-2, 10-1). Point Loma (14-4, 9-1) dropped a 73-65 decision at Biola (5-13, 5-5). APU regained a half-game lead on Monday by beating Hawaii Pacific, 81-77. Among this week's games is PLNU visiting Vanguard on Thursday.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific starts the second half of GNAC play at home next Saturday against Montana State Billings. Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. Because those teams are travel partners, neither one plays on Thursday. Saturday's game will be the first half of a doubleheader, followed by the Falcon men against Saint Martin's at 4:15 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                       GNAC        Overall
Alaska Anchorage          7-0      16-2
Montana State Billings    5-2      14-4
Central Washington        5-2      12-4
Northwest Nazarene        5-2      11-5
Western Washington        5-2      10-7
Saint Martin's            3-4      10-5
Western Oregon            3-4       7-8
Simon Fraser              3-5       9-7
Alaska Fairbanks          0-7       5-10
Seattle Pacific           0-7       6-14
 
 
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