THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Jan. 9 Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, 5:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats
Saturday, Jan. 11 Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific, 4:15 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
Live Webcast Live stats
SEATTLE – They have four non-conference victories at home. Now, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will use that same familiar floor to try getting into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball win column.
The Falcons will host GNAC competition for the first time this season, as
Saint Martin's comes to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday and
Western Oregon visits on Saturday.
Thursday's game tips off at 5:15 p.m. and is the first half of a doubleheader, followed by the
SPU men against Western Washington. Saturday's tip-off is at 4:15 p.m., preceded by the
men against Simon Fraser at 2:00 p.m.
At 6-10 overall and 0-3 in conference play, Seattle Pacific is looking to bounce back from last Saturday's 97-57 loss at No. 6-ranked Montana State Billings. The team is hoping to have the sophomore wing
Grace Leasure, senior wing
Lolo Weatherspoon, and junior center
Emilia Bishop back. Leasure and Bishop were out last week with injuries; Weatherspoon was sidelined by the flu.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week' games will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--SPU is
4-2 at home, with three straight victories: 64-54 on Nov 30 against Colorado Christian, 81-65 on Dec. 14 against Stanialaus State, and 73-45 on Dec. 17 against Pacific Lutheran.
--The
Falcons have won their last three GNAC home openers,
eight of their last nine and 20 of 22 all-time.
-- Of those 22 openers,
four have been against Saint Martin's (2007-08, 08-09, 09-10, and 17-18), and
all four have been wins.
-- The
Saints already have played two games in Brougham Pavilion this season. They were here for the SPU Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 29-30, beating Colorado Christian, 72-53, and Metro State of Denver, 68-53. In fact,
they've won their last three games in Brougham, starting with a
55-52 win over the Falcons last season.
-- Seattle Pacific's
two redshirt freshman have come up big in the past two games. On Dec. 21 just before the Christmas break,
Grace Turley scored a career-high 11 points against Metro State. Last Saturday,
Julia Lavigne went for 16 points at Montana State Billings. It was the
first double-digit game for both players.
-- Junior forward
Madison Rubino was back in the starting lineup at Billings after missing games on Dec. 14 and 17 with an injury, then coming off the bench for limited minutes on Dec. 20 and 21.
-- Sophomore guard
Layne Kearns has hit 19 straight free throws. Her
last miss was on Nov. 16 against Azusa Pacific. For the season, she has hit 34 of 38 (.895), which ranks No. 2 in the GNAC, trailing only the .918 (45 of 49) of Northwest Nazarene's
Chloe Deharo.
-- In
last February's 59-47 win at Western Oregon, Kearns logged her first college double-double, going for career-highs of
16 points and 12 rebounds. Since then, she has pushed her scoring high up to 18.
-- The Falcons
averaging just 13 turnovers in the last four games, thus
lowering their season average to 17.1. In the
12 games prior to that, they
averaged 18.4.
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 8-4, 1-3 GNAC (7th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 60-23.
Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 62, STM 55 (Feb. 8, 2024 at Lacey).
Last STM series win: STM 55, SPU 52 (Jan. 13, 2024 at Seattle).
Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's won four straight to start the season and already has matched last year's win total. During the opening weekend of conference play, the Saints reached triple-digits at Alaska Fairbanks in a 105-71 victory. Junior 5-foot-9 point guard
Kiana Rios leads the way in scoring at 14.1 points per game. She had 20 against UAF, but also has gone for 30 against Colorado Christian (that game in Brougham Pavilion on Nov. 29) and 21 last Thursday against Simon Fraser. Freshman 5-5 guard
Jada Travis averages 13.0 points and also sets the pace on the boards (7.2), assists (3.8) and steals (2.6). She has three double-doubles, including a 12-point, 12-rebound performance on Nov. 8 against Biola in her college debut.
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 6-6, 2-2 GNAC (tie 5th)
All-time series: SPU leads 49-6.
Current series streak: SPU won 2.
Last time: SPU 59, WOU 47 (Feb 10, 2024 at Monmouth).
Last WOU series win: WOU 57, SPU 52 (Feb. 4, 2023 at Seattle).
Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: After halting its season last February because of dealing with internal issues, Western Oregon has turned things around and is off to a respectable start. The Wolves have won three of their last four, including a 67-64 victory against Simon Fraser last Saturday in Monmouth. Senior 5-foot-10 guard
Bella Pedrojetti ranks No. 4 in GNAC scoring at 16.7 points per game. Of her 68 field goals exactly half (34) have come from downtown.
Natalie Brown, a junior 6-foot forwards, averages nearly a double-double at 10.3 points and a conference-leading 9.5 rebounds. She grabbed 17 boards against Multnomah in the season opener and has three double-doubles. Freshman 5-7 guard
Ciona Wells tops the GNAC playmaking list at 4.8 assists per game, and junior 5-6 guard
Enid Vaifanua averages 4.1.
COACH KAREN BYERS SAYS …
(On getting ready for the week)
"We're still battling sickness and the injury bug. But the girls who were healthy and playing, we had a good hard-working practice (on Monday)."
(On Saint Martin's)
"We're going to have to handle their ball pressure and their press. It's going to be a hard-fought game, and I knew that coming down the line. I'm excited to see whose press and whose pressure will win. And we're going to have to really watch out for their shooters and not let them have it their way."
(On Western Oregon)
"That's always been a secret rivalry for us because we have so many girls from Oregon on our team and they know the girls down there or have played against them during the club season or when they were younger. It's always a fun game to prepare for."
TRENDING THE RIGHT WAY
With last Saturday's game at Montana State Billings, the Falcons reached the midpoint of their 31-game schedule, now with 16 complete and 15 to go.
A quick glance at the major statistical categories shows improvement – in some cases, significant improvement – from where they were after 16 games last season.
Stat 2024-25 2023-24
Points 64.4 56.1
Rebounds 36.6 36.1
Assists 12.1 10.6
Blocked shots 4.1 2.8
Turnovers 17.1 17.9
FG shooting .398 .373
3FG shooting .258 .241
FT shooting .706 .663
FALCONS REPLAY
--
Julia Lavigne scored a career-high 16 points and was one of three Falcons in double figures. But SPU hit just 34 percent from the field while No. 6-ranked Montana State Billings shot a remarkable 60 percent on the way to a
97-57 victory last Saturday.
Hunter Beirne added 15 points and
Layne Kearns chipped in 10 for Seattle Pacific.
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage and
Montana State Billings remain unbeaten in
GNAC play after conference action resumed last week. The Seawolves are 4-0, 13-2 overall, and the Yellowjackets are 3-0, 14-2 overall.
Western Washington (3-1, 8-5 overall) is very much in the mix. The
Vikings,
Central Washington (2-1, 9-3) and
Simon Fraser (2-2, 9-4) all could reach double-digit wins by the end of this week as they battle each other. Central visits the Red Leafs on Thursday and Western on Saturday.
Cal State Dominguez Hills keeps winning, but got all it could handle from
California Collegiate Athletic Association counterpart
Cal Poly Pomona last Thursday. hanging on for a 65-61 victory in a game with 16 ties and 10 lead changes. The Toros (14-0, 6-0 CCAA) remain tied for first place with
Chico State (11-1, 6-0), with Pomona (10-2, 5-1) right behind them. Pomona visits Chico on Thursday.
The
Pacific West Conference has a similar look, with
Azusa Pacific (12-1 overall) and
Point Loma Nazarene (11-3) tied for first place a 6-0, with
Vanguard (7-5 overall) on their heels at 5-1. Both teams make a two-game Hawaii trip this week, including a game for each of them at fourth-place
Hawaii Pacific (7-3, 3-1).
Biola (3-11, 3-3), with former SPU coach
Mike Simonson at the helm, is on a two-game winning streak, rolling past Academy of Art, 66-46, and edging Jessup in overtime, 63-60.
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to the road next week, visiting
Central Washington in Ellensburg on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 5:15 p.m., and
Northwest Nazarene in Nampa on the 15th at 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Overall
Alaska Anchorage 4-0 13-2
Montana State Billings 3-0` 14-2
Western Washington 3-1 8-5
Central Washington 2-1 9-3
Simon Fraser 2-2 8-4
Western Oregon 2-2 6-6
Northwest Nazarene 1-2 7-5
Saint Martin's 1-3 8-4
Seattle Pacific 0-3 6-10
Alaska Fairbanks 0-4` 5-7
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