SEATTLE – Things came down to crunch time for the Seattle Pacific Falcons last week.
And crunch time is just going to keep on coming.
After a big game-ending run to secure a victory at Western Oregon and a 13-point come-from-behind effort to pull one out at Saint Martin’s, SPU is back on the road this week, visiting Montana State Billings on Saturday for a crucial Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s basketball game.
The Falcons and Yellowjackets tip off at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
At WOU, the host Wolves roared all the way back from a 23-point first-quarter deficit to go up by one midway through the fourth before Seattle Pacific finished on a 14-4 run for a 70-61 decision. At Saint Martin’s, the Falcons were down 43-30 early in the fourth, then outscored the Saints by a 22-7 count the rest of the way to prevail, 52-50.
Saturday’s contest in Billings will match the top two defensive teams in the conference. SPU (10-4, 5-1 GNAC) allows just 56.6 points per game. MSUB (11-4, 4-2) is right behind at just 57.0 allowed.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
This week’s game and all remaining GNAC games will have free live Webcasts on YouTube, and also will have live stats available. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
HOW MUCH CLOSER CAN THEY BE?
Not only are Seattle Pacific (second place) and Montana State Billings (third) right next to each other in the standings, they also are close in some of the season statistical categories among GNAC schools.
Points allowed – 1, SPU 56.6; 2, MSUB 57.0.
Opponents with 50 or fewer points – SPU 5, MSUB 5.
Field goal percentage – 5, SPU .404; 6, MSUB .403.
3-point FG percentage – 5, MSUB .324; 6, SPU .319.
Rebounds allowed – 2, SPU 30.7; 3, MSUB 32.2.
Steals – 6, MSUB 8.4; 8, SPU 7.8.
Individual free throw shooting – 5, Natalie Hoff (SPU) .857; 6, Cariann Kunkel (MSUB) .851.
SO WHAT’S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
— SPU’s current four-game winning streak is its longest of the season.
— The last time the Falcons won five in a row was Feb. 17-March 2, 2018 – the last three games of the regular season and the first two rounds of the GNAC Tournament.
— Seattle Pacific is 7-3 overall out of town: 6-1 in true road games and 1-2 on neutral courts.
— During decisive fourth-quarter runs at Western Oregon and at Saint Martin’s last week, the Falcons had a combined 36-11 scoring advantage: 14-4 against the Wolves and 22-7 against the Saints.
— While SPU and Montana State Billings rank 1-2 among GNAC schools for fewest points allowed, they are way up on the national list, as well: 28th for the Falcons, 32nd for the Yellowjackets, among 294 NCAA Division II programs.
— The Falcons also rank high in blocked shots, at No. 38 with an average of 3.8 per game (53 total, led by Natalie Hoff’s 16).
— Chiara De Virgilio and Schuyler Berry both pushed past scoring milestones last Thursday at Western Oregon. De Virgilio logged her 900th point and comes into this week with 902. Berry put her 200th point into the book, and now has 213.
— While De Virgilio is closing in on 1,000 points, Ashley Alter has a very reasonable chance of getting there, too. She has 860, with 12 regular-season games (plus any potential postseason games) left to tally the remaining 140.
— In the battle of the boards, Seattle Pacific is now 12-1-1. The tie came last Saturday at Saint Martin’s, 38-38. The only team that managed to pull down more than SPU was Regis on Nov. 25 in Denver, 37-36.
— The SPU-Billings series usually goes back and forth, but the Yellowjackets took both contests last season: 81-55 in Montana, and 56-53 in Seattle.
— In Alterowitz Gymnasium, the Falcons were within five points at halftime, 34-29. But MSUB went on a 29-14 tear during the third quarter, part of a 47-26 second-half scoring advantage.
— Ashley Alter is No. 6 in the GNAC scoring race at 15.7 points per game. She also is No. 11 in rebounding at 6.6 and No. 6 in steals at 1.9.
— Hunter Beirne is No. 6 in assists at 3.4 per game.
— Coach Mike Simonson is 2-4 all time against MSUB, including 1-2 on the road.
SCOUTING THE MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 13-4, 4-2 GNAC (3rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 30-25. Current series streak: MSUB won 3. Last time: MSUB 56, SPU 53 (Feb. 19, 2022 at Seattle). Last SPU series win: SPU 69, MSUB 63 (Jan. 23, 2020 at Billings). Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: After a string of three straight losses – including a two-pointer and a one-pointer – Billings got back on track last week with road victories at Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon, the WOU victory coming thanks to a rally from seven points down inside the final five minutes; Cariann Kunkel, a senior 5-foot-10 forward, and Dyauni Boyce, a sophomore 5-11 forward, both average in double-digit scoring for the Yellowjackets, Kunkel at 11.4 points per game and Boyce at 11.0. Boyce also is the team’s leader on the boards at 6.8 per contest. Senior 6-3 forward Taryn Shelley, who led the team in scoring and rebounding last year at (15.4 points / 8.4 rebounds per game) and hit 50 percent from the field, returned to action coming out of the holiday break after missing the first two months of the season. In four games with limited minutes so far, she already has a pair of double-digit outings and is averaging 9.5 points on .486 shooting.
HALFTIME REPORT
Last Saturday’s game at Saint Martin’s brought the Falcons to just beyond the midpoint of their 26-game regular-season schedule..
Here’s how they compare statistically after 14 games this season vs. 14 games last season.
STAT 2021-22 2022-23
Record 7-7 10-4
Scoring offense 60.4 62.8
Scoring defense 58.9 56.6
Rebounds 39.0 40.3
Assists 14.4 13.6
Steals 7.2 7.8
Blocked shots 3.3 3.8
FG shooting .403 .404
3-point shooting .304 .319
FT shooting .674 .646
SIMO SAYS …
(On Montana State Billings)
“I think Billings’ signature is they are really sound fundamentally on offense and defense. Against a team like that, we have to match that on our end of the floor, because they will not beat themselves, and we have to make sure we don’t beat ourselves, either.”
(On the significance of the game)
“This is getting fun. Our conference is so competitive. We’ve had some hard-fought games already and Saturday is gong to be another one. We’re getting to the midpoint of the conference schedule and that’s when the cream rises to the top. This will be important for both of us, because we and Billings have the same schedule. This will be important going forward.”
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific has climbed a notch to No. 9 in the D2SIDA West Region top 10 that was announced on Tuesday. The Falcons made the rankings last week for the first time this season.
The poll is compiled by a group of sports information directors for the three West Region conferences: GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West.
Western Washington is a unanimous No. 1, with undefeated Cal State Dominguez Hills at No. 2. Other GNAC schools in the top 10 are No. 5 Montana State Billings and No. 6 Central Washington.
AROUND THE WEST
Western Washington had road games against two of the GNAC’s toughest teams last week and won both, 82-70 at Central Washington and 86-70 at Northwest Nazarene. The Vikings (11-1, 5-0 GNAC) are all alone at the top of the standings, half a game ahead of Seattle Pacific (10-4, 5-1 GNAC) as they get ready to host Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon this week. Western has won 11 in a row.
Cal State Dominguez Hills just keeps winning in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Toros, who are the only remaining undefeated team in the West Region, are 14-0, with an 8-0 conference record. That’s one game ahead of Cal State San Marcos (10-2, 7-1 CCAA), which was hit with its first CCAA loss last Saturday, 68-65 at third-place Cal Poly Pomona (9-3, 6-2 CCAA). That ended an eight-game Cougars win streak.
It’s still tight atop the Pacific West Conference. Concordia Irvine (11-4, 8-1 Pac West) has won six in a row and is half a game ahead of Azusa Pacific (12-3, 7-1 Pac West). Hawaii Pacific is just 7-6 overall, but is 5-1 in conference play, sitting in third place. Dominican (9-7, 7-2 Pac West) is on a six-game roll and visits HPU on Wednesday as part of a three-game Hawaii road trip.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at this week’s GNAC notebook. Click on this link to see how GNAC teams and players stack up nationally in NCAA Division II.
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific wraps up the first half of the GNAC schedule next week when it welcomes Western Washington and Simon Fraser to Brougham Pavilion. The Vikings, currently ranked No. 6 nationally, are in on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Red Leafs come to town on Saturday with a 4:15 p.m. tip-off.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Overall
Western Washington 5-0 11-1
Seattle Pacific 5-1 10-4
Montana State Billings 4-2 13-4
Simon Fraser 3-2 5-4
Central Washington 3-3 11-4
Northwest Nazarene 3-3 7-7
Alaska Anchorage 2-3 10-4
Western Oregon 1-4 7-6
Alaska Fairbanks 1-4 4-8
Saint Martin’s 0-5 4-9
