ANCHORAGE, Alaska – It's tough enough bouncing back from one big scoring run by Alaska Anchorage.
 
But on Saturday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons saw the nationally ranked Seawolves go on three such runs.
 
The Seawolves rang up 10 straight points in the first quarter, 12 more to start the second, another 12 late in third, and that was too much for SPU to overcome as No. 19 UAA rolled to a 99-51 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory inside the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
Fifth-year point guard Hunter Beirne led the Falcons (8-21, 2-14 GNAC) with 16 points, and junior center Emilia Biship supplied nine points and eight rebounds, But Alaska Anchorage (24-3, 15-1 GNAC), which clinched at least a share of the conference crown, had five players in double figures, led by Tori Hollingshead's double-double of 26 points and 15 rebounds.
 
An early exchange of baskets left the game tied at 10-10 midway through the first quarter. That's when the Seawolves put 10 straight on the board for a 20-10 lead, which they extended it to 25-14 by the end of the period.
 
 

"At the start, I felt pretty good about it," coach Karen Byers said. "I knew there would be some runs. They're so physical. We've got to learn to take punches and become as physical as they are and fight for those rebounds harder."
 
Then came the 12 in a row during the second quarter for a 37-15 bulge as Seattle Pacific didn't tally its first point until just 4:23 remained on a free throw by Julia Lavigne. Anchorage was up 49-21 at halftime and continued to stretch it out during the second half.
 
Despite the wide final margin, Byers liked some of what she saw.
 
"We came out and played strong. It says 'Mayhem' on the back of their (warm-up) shirts, but we didn't let their mayhem get to us," she said. "We just wanted to make sure we continued to find our own game and weather that storm. I think as things went along, they eased up on their press a bit, and we were able to figure out that if we drove hard and found our open people and passed out to find that open person, that was going to help us."

TRIAL BY FIRE
With Anchorage playing the "mayhem' style that it does, the only way to get a feel for it is to get out there and play against it. A trio of first-year Falcons got ample opportunities on Saturday, with redshirt freshman Grace Turley starting and playing 21 minutes, fellow redshirt freshman Julia Lavigne getting in 17 minutes off the bench, and true freshman Grace Mertes playing 20 minutes, also off the bench.

"It was a really good time to have our freshmen get a feel of what a really good team feels like in the GNAC," coach Karen Byers said.

When the teams played in Brougham Pavilion on Jan. 23, Turley played 16 minutes, Lavigne 10 and Mertes four.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons shot 28.8 percent from the field, hitting 15 of 52. Anchorage finished at 43.9 percent (36 of 82).
-- Both teams spent a lot of time at the free throw line, as 44 fouls were called. SPU was 18 of 26, and UAA was 24 of 31.
-- Emilia Bishop was 7 of 10 at the line for SPU. That made her 16 of 20 in the two Anchorage games this winter.
--The Seawolves forced 29 turnovers, converting those into 26 points.
-- Hunter Beirne's 16 points put her at 413 for the season and 889 for her career. That makes it two straight years for the Falcons to have a 400-point scorer. Olivia Mayer tallied 454 last season.

UP NEXT
The Falcons are home for their final two games of the season. Western Washington comes to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Simon Fraser visits for Senior Day on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(No. 19) Alaska Anchorage 99, Seattle Pacific 51
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-21, 2-14 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 2-6 2-4 6, Beirne 5-13 5-6 16, Bishop 1-4 7-10 9, Kearns 3-7 0-0 6, Turley 2-3 0-0 5, Ohta 0-4 3-4 3,
Mertes 1-3 0-0 3, Lavigne 1-5 1-2 3, Rubino 0-5 0-0 0, Leasure 0-2 0-0 0.  Totals 15-52 18-26 51.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (24-3, 15-1 GNAC)
Long 8-16 7-7 23, Gamble 0-7 1-2 1, Rean 8-11 1-4 17, Mack 4-11 1-1 10, Hollingshead 10-19 6-7 26, Evans 6-10 1-2 15, Alexander 0-7 3-4 3, Koehna 0-1 4-4 4.  Totals 36-82 24-31 99.
 
Seattle Pacific                     14             7           13           17           -- 51
Alaska Anchorage              25           24           23           27           -- 99
 
3-point goals – SPU 3-13 (Weatherspoon 0-1, Beirne 1-2, Kearns 0-1, Turley 1-2, Ohta 0-3, Mertes 1-3, Leasure 0-1), UAA 3-13 (Long 0-2, Gamble 0-2, Mack 1-4, Evans 2-4, Alexander 0-1.  Fouled out – SPU: Beirne, Kearns. UAA: Koehne.  Rebounds – SPU 32 (Bishop 8), UAA 55 (Hollingshead 15).  Assists – SPU 11 (Weatherspoon 3), UAA 23 (Long 5, Rean 5).  Turnovers (points allowed) – SPU 29 (26), UAA 12 (7).  Total fouls – SPU 23, UAA 21.  Technical fouls – UAA: Alexander.  Attendance – NA.
 
 
Next game
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Feb. 21     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
 
 

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