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Sunday, Feb. 7

Track and Field: Pixler Wins Athlete of Year Award

Pixler

Jessica Pixler, who won four of her nine career NCAA Division II championships during calendar year 2009, was named the Female Track Athlete of the Year in the Open Division by the Pacific Northwest Association of USA Track & Field at its annual awards banquet on Saturday.

Pixler (Sammamish, WA - Eastlake) started the year by winning the mile and the 5,000 meters at the NCAA indoor championships last March in Houston. The mile title was her third straight, and the 5K crown was her first.

Then in May at NCAA outdoors in San Angelo, Texas, Pixler won the 1,500 meters for the second time in her career. She wrapped up the year in November by capturing her third consecutive NCAA D-2 cross country title, racing to the victory in Evansville, Ind.

The other two finalists for Saturday's award were University of Washington distance stars Katie Follett and Mel Lawrence.

Pixler has nine NCAA championships altogether: three in cross country, four in indoor track and two in outdoor track.

GNAC Athletes Post 10 Victories In Portland Meet

GNAC athletes won 10 events Sunday night in the University of Portland Pilot Indoor Track and Field meet as Western Oregon's Crystal McDowell and Jason Slowey each won two.

McDowell swept the women's 200 (27.25) and 400 (1:01.25). Slowey won the men's shot put in a GNAC season-best mark of 49-5 3/4 and the weight throw with a toss of 49-11.

Terra Schumacher of Seattle Pacific took over the GNAC lead in the women's pole vault with a first-place and provisional national qualifying mark of 11-6.

Portland Pilot Indoor (Feb. 7 at Portland): Men (GNAC winners): 200 – Dustin Boyd, WOU, 23.45. 800 – Nathan Seeley, SPU, 1:59.63. Shot Put – Jason Slowey, WOU, 49-5 ¾. Weight Throw – Jason Slowey, WOU, 49-11. Women (GNAC winners): 200 – Crystal McDowell, WOU, 27.25. 400 – Crystal McDowell, WOU, 1:01.25. 800 – Kelsey Brown, SPU, 2:26.97. High Jump – 1. Brittany Aanstad, SPU, 5-3 ¾. Pole Vault – Terra Schumacher, SPU, 11-6. 2400 Sprint Medley –Western Oregon 7:11.35.

Baseball: Wolves Swept by UC San Diego

UC San Diego rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Western Oregon 5-4, then completed the sweep with a 6-1 win in the nightcap in a NCAA West Region baseball doubleheader against the Wolves Sunday at Triton Ballpark.

UCSD has won the first three games of the series that concludes Monday with a single game.

Reliever Cam Nobles gave up a single and hit batter to start the ninth. Brad Carter then replaced Nobles on the mound. An error on a bunt by Carter loaded the bases, then Danny Susdorf's sacrifice fly tied the game.

After an intentional walk reloaded the bases, Carter hit Robert Sedin with a pitch to force in the winning run.

After trailing 3-1, Western Oregon had taken the lead with a single run in the seventh on a single by shortstop Cesar Lopez and two in the eighth on an error and wild pitch.

In the second game, UCSD jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-run home run by catcher Michael Benton and an error. WOU scored its lone run in the third on a RBI ground out by Daniel Dillard.

The Wolves had just 10 hits in the twinbill, three by Lopez and two by Dillard.

Saint Martin's Shutout 7-0 by Pacific Lutheran

Scott Wall allowed just four hits in seven innings and struck out nine in pitching Pacific Lutheran to a 7-0 shutout of Saint Martin's as the Lutes completed a sweep of a three-game weekend series.

Bret Handy pitched the final two innings allowing one hit. Pacific Lutheran, meanwhile, banged out 16 safeties off three Saint hurlers.

Shortstop Sammy Davis led the Lutes with three hits. Dan Johansen and Josh Takayoshi each had two RBI as PLU scored twice in the third, fourth and sixth before adding a single run in the eighth.

Saturday, Feb. 6

Women's Basketball: SPU Hands NNU One-Point Loss

Hoisington	Cabe

Megan Hoisington tied her career high with 17 points and also grabbed 15 rebounds and Maddie Maloney pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds as Seattle Pacific overcame an early 11-point deficit and hung on for a 63-62 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory against Northwest Nazarene Saturday afternoon at Brougham Pavilion.

The Falcons (17-3, 8-1), however, remained 1 1/2 games back of GNAC-leader Western Washington (19-2, 10-0) which got 26 points from Willow Cabe in remaining unbeaten in the conference in a 77-64 home win against Saint Martin's.

In other games, Western Oregon completed a season series sweep of Central Washington beating the Wildcats 69-58 at the New PE Building in Monmouth and Montana State Billings overcame a six-point deficit in the final minute to edge Alaska Fairbanks 61-60 on a rebound basket by Kayla Ryan at the buzzer.

Western Washington 77, Saint Martin's 64

Cabe's 26 points came on 10 of 16 shooting as the Vikings, who began the weekend tied with Seattle Pacific for 19th place in the WBCA national poll, extended their win streak to 10 with a 13-point victory. WWU is now 11-0 at home this season.

Forward Dara Zack had 19 points for Saint Martin's (8-12, 2-7) which has lost nine of its last 11 games.

Western took the lead for good less than eight minutes into the contest, but was ahead by just seven (60-53) with seven minutes remaining before breaking the contest open. 

The Vikings scored seven points in 51 seconds to start a 13-3 run that gave them a 73-56 advantage with 3:40 to play.  The margin was never less than 11 points after that.

Forward Jessica Summers had 15 points for the Vikings, who shot 51.6 percent (32-61) from the field, including 57.7 percent (15-26) in the second half.  Western entered the game ranked No.6 nationally in NCAA II in field goal percentage at 48.1 percent.

Krissy Bassett had 11 points for Saint Martin's, which was six of 10 (60.0 percent) on three-pointers and 20 of 23 (87.0 percent) on free throws.

The 10 consecutive Western victories are the 20th double-figure winning streak in school history, and all 10 of the triumphs have been by double digits.  Both of the Viking losses have been to nationally ranked teams.

Seattle Pacific 63, Northwest Nazarene 62

Seattle Pacific (17-3, 8-1) yielded the first 11 points of the game in its win, then turned that all the way around to lead Northwest Nazarene by 11 at 57-46 in the second half.

It was the second time this year SPU and NNU (14-6, 4-5) went down to the wire. The Falcons won 63-61 on a buzzer-beater by Daesha Henderson on Jan. 16 in Nampa, Idaho.

Five of NNU's defeats this season have been by six or fewer points and four have been by margins of three or less.

Its only double-digit defeat came Thursday at Bellingham to Western Washington (76-63) and the Crusaders had a 13-point first-half lead in that contest.

Hoisington came within one rebound of her career high of 16, while Maloney easily eclipsed her previous career high of six rebounds, which she set twice. Guard Nyesha Sims joined the two in double figures scoring 11 points.

The Crusaders were led by the 22 points of Brittney Roggenkamp. Roggenkamp made nine of 16 shots, including two of three treys.

Kristin Hein produced a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She also had two steals and two blocks.

NNU, which led 36-29 at halftime, held Seattle Pacific to just 18 field goals in 59 attempts (30.5 percent), but was outrebounded 50-40.

The Crusaders shot 35.8 percent (24-67) but had 15 fewer points from the foul line where they made only seven of 13. NNU began the week ranked third nationally shooting at a 79 percent clip.

Western Oregon 69, Central Washington 58

Katie Torland scored 16 of her game-high 29 points in the second half leading Western Oregon to a 69-58 home victory over Central Washington.

Torland made eight of 13 shots, including four of seven three-pointers as the Wolves (9-14) improved to 4-5 in the GNAC.

WOU, which led by a 45-38 count before Torland hit two three-pointers and one of two foul shots to stretch its seven-point margin to 12 at 52-40 with 7:14 remaining, led by a double-digit margin the rest of the way except for a few seconds.

In addition to Torland, Sara Zahler was also in double figures contributing 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds, four at the offensive end. Lorrie Clifford chipped in with seven points.

Sophie Russell led Central Washington (6-13, 3-6) with 17 points, 11 in the opening 20 minutes. The Wildcats also got 16 points on seven of 10 shooting from Shaina Afoa. Afoa was held scoreless Thursday by Seattle Pacific.

Central finished the game with a narrow 36.8 (21-57) to 36.4 (20-55) shooting advantage over Western Oregon, but the Wolves made seven of 24 three-pointers, while CWU was just one of eight.

The series sweep for the Wolves is their second over the Wildcats in the past three seasons.

Montana State Billings 61, Alaska Fairbanks 60

Only a 8-0 run in the final 44 seconds by the Yellowjackets kept Alaska Fairbanks from winning its first conference game since Mar. 8, 2008.

Trailing 59-53 after Jessica Harrison made two foul shots with 52 seconds left, MSUB cut that deficit in half with 44 seconds remaining on a three-point shot by Kalli Stanhope.

Alexandra Melonson then made one of two free throws, however Mandy Jacobs nailed a three with 35 seconds on the clock to cut the Nanook lead to one.

MSUB got the ball back with 13 seconds left after a miss by Ronisha Edwards. The 'Jackets missed two short shots before Ryan got the final offensive rebound and put the ball in the hoop for the game-winner.

Alaska Fairbanks (1-19, 0-9) has now lost 19 consecutive games this season and has a 25-game conference losing streak.

Ryan was one of two MSUB players to have double-doubles, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Callie Kautzmann led the 'Jackets with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Also in double figures were Stanhope with 13 points and Sarah McNamee with 10. Edwards paced UAF with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Lakeshia Levi had a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and Melonson had 13 points.

Alaska Fairbanks (1-19, 0-9) bounced back from a 28-17 first-half deficit putting itself in position to win its first conference game since defeating Seattle University nearly two years ago.

The Nanooks scored the last seven points of the first half to climb within 32-29 at the break and then outscored MSUB 15-3 to start the second half in opening up their biggest lead at 44-35.

Men's Basketball: Banchero, Diederichs Lead SPU

Diederichs	Wheadon

Chris Banchero scored 24 points, and Rob Diederichs handed out a career-high 12 assists as Seattle Pacific rolled to an 87-68 victory against Northwest Nazarene in a GNAC men's basketball game Saturday at Brougham Pavilion.

Elsewhere Blair Wheadon scored eight points in the final 87 seconds as Western Oregon rallied from four points back in the final minute to upset Central Washington 77-74 at Monmouth.

Alaska Anchorage, meanwhile, earned a 56-42 road victory at Alaska Fairbanks holding the Nanooks to a UAA record low defensive scoring total for the series.

Rory Blanche connected on nine of 20 shots and scored 20 points as Western Washington (8-2 in the GNAC) defeated Saint Martin's 88-68 in the only night game to stay just one-half game back of Seattle Pacific in the conference race.

Seattle Pacific 87, Northwest Nazarene 68

Banchero was one of five SPU players in double figures as the first-place Falcons (17-3, 8-1) bounced back from their first conference loss of the season Thursday at Ellensburg.

Ryan Sweet added 17 points, Jeff Downs chipped in 16 and Jake Anderson and Brandon Larrieu had 10 each.

Sweet made it a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds. That was his team-leading third double-double of the season.

Diederichs surpassed his previous career high of 11 assists, which he set on Nov. 25, 2008 against Division I Southern Utah.

Anthony Golden was the only player in double figures for the Crusaders (12-8, 4-5) finishing with 16 points. NNU also got nine points from Lateef Williams and eight each from Kendall Gielow and Louie Beech.

The Crusaders, however, were outshot 56.9 percent to 41.7 by Seattle Pacific, which made 29 of 51 and also cashed in on 22 of 24 free throws. NNU was nine of 13 from the foul line. SPU was nine of 20 on three-point shots compared to seven of 18 by the Crusaders.

Western Oregon 77, Central Washington 74

Western Oregon trailed 74-70 inside the final minute following a three-pointer by Wheadon at 1:27 and a layup by CWU's Toussaint Tyler with 1:04 remaining.

But the Wolves (11-9, 4-5) went ahead 75-74 as Wheadon got two free throws and a three-pointer and then employed some strategy to hand CWU (12-7, 6-3) its first loss on an opponent's home court this season.

After Wheadon hit two free throws with 42 seconds left, Rico Myles blocked a layup attempt by Tyler, who scored nine of CWU's final 12 points.

Wheadon then nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to give WOU a 75-74 lead with 21 seconds left.

CWU's Shane Miller got a good look on a three-pointer from the top of the key with seven seconds left but he missed and Tarance Glynn was quickly fouled after grabbing the rebound.

Glynn missed the front end of a one-and-one and the long rebound came out to Miller breaking down the left side. WOU's Kyle Long, however, grabbed him to prevent a shot.

It was only WOU's fifth team foul of the half and CWU had to take the ball out of bounds with less than two seconds remaining. The Wolves then intentionally took their sixth foul with 0.7 seconds left.

On the next inbounds which was a catch-and-shoot situation, Central's only real option was a lob to Chris Sprinker, who already had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

But the ball went out-of-bounds and after a quick foul, WOU's Matt Schmidt hit two free throws to establish the final three-point margin.

Wheadon finished with 18 points to lead six different Western Oregon players in double figures. The Wolves also got 13 points and 11 rebounds from Myles, 12 points from Glynn, 11 from Long and 10 each from Schmidt and Nelson.

In addition to Sprinker's 21, the Wildcats who are 4-4 on neutral courts in addition to their 3-1 away record, also got 21 points from Tyler and 12 from Jon Clift.

Sprinker also blocked six shots as the Wildcats rejected 11 Western Oregon attempts in the closely contested game that was played without either team managing a double-digit lead.

In the first half, WOU led by as many as eight after trailing early by six. The Wolves were ahead most of the second half by as many as nine before CWU used a 10-0 run to go ahead 72-67 on a three-pointer by Clift with1:51 remaining.

For the game, CWU outshot Western Oregon 44.3 to 36.5 percent, but were outrebounded 51-42 though the 'Cats did control the backboards 19-17 in the second half (9-3 off the offensive glass). Myles finished the contest with a game-high six offensive boards.

Western Oregon, which held CWU leading scorer JC Cook to four points, snapped a eight-game losing streak to the Wildcats with the victory. Cook was just two of 12 from the floor.

Alaska Anchorage 56, Alaska Fairbanks 42

Brandon Walker scored 20 points and Alaska Anchorage used its best defensive effort ever against rival Alaska Fairbanks to post a 56-42 victory at the Patty Center.

The Seawolves (13-6, 4-4) also got 11 points from guard Donnie Lao as they snapped a three-game losing streak and evened their GNAC record at the midway point of the schedule.

UAA – ranked No. 8 in the NCAA Div. II West Region – plays five of its final eight remaining regular-season contests at home.

Alaska Fairbanks (6-12, 1-8) was led by forward Nashorn Maynard with 13 points, but the Nanooks shot just 32 percent from the field and 12 percent on three-pointers. UAF's previous low point total in 86 all-time games UAA against came in a 96-45 loss on Feb. 24, 2001.

Despite entering the game with seven straight wins over UAF, the Seawolves fell behind 14-2 early before regaining their composure. Lao drained a three-pointer to even the game at 18-18, and Walker then led a UAA run that produced a 29-20 lead with 19 minutes remaining.

The Seawolves used a 40-31 rebounding advantage to keep the Nanooks at bay in the second half, keeping the game a double-digit affair for the final 14:26.

Walker was easily the offensive star of the game, sinking five of nine shots from the field and nine of 10 at the free throw line. He also tied with teammate Nick Pacitti and UAF's Joe Powell for game-high rebounding honors with eight.

Lao shot three of seven from long range and sank both of his free throws to improve his season average to .943 at the charity stripe. Pacitti added eight points and a block off the bench.

Western Washington 88, Saint Martin's 68

Forward Rory Blanche came off the bench and hit his first nine shots from the field in scoring a team-high 20 points as Western Washington defeated Saint Martin's at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The win was the 21st in 24 starts for the Vikings, while the Saints (11-9, 1-8) lost for the eighth straight time since beating WWU 94-86 in triple overtime at Lacey on Jan. 7.

Blanche entered the game midway through the first half and poured in 16 points by halftime, helping the Vikings pull away from an 18-18 tie with 9:33 left in the period to open up a 43-36 lead at halftime. 

Blanche was seven of seven from the field in the half and also converted both his free throw attempts.

Saint Martin's opened the second half with a 9-2 run to pull within a point (45-44) with 16:12 to play, but the Vikings ran off the next seven points, as guard Morris Anderson drove for a layup, fed Andrew Ready for another and then hit a three-pointer, giving WWU a 52-44 advantage with 14:25 left.

The Saints never got closer than six points after that, and the margin was never less than 16 points in the final four minutes.

Forward Derrick Webb had 19 points for the Vikings, who won for the fifth straight time in improving to 11-1 at home.

Anderson had 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds, and Ready added 11 points.  The Vikings shot 62.7 percent (37-59) from the field, their second-best mark of the season.

Forward Blake Poole led the Saints with 22 points and 13 rebounds, recording his league-best 13th double-double of the season.

Jared Howard scored 15 points, center Jeremy Green had 12 and guard Galen Squires added 10.

Baseball: Crusaders Even Series With Vulcans

Northwest Nazarene broke open a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth inning, scoring five runs on the way to a 7-3 NCAA West Region victory at Hawaii Hilo Saturday.

Elsewhere Saint Martin's dropped a pair of home games to Pacific Lutheran, losing 12-5 and 8-3 to the Lutes.

Western Oregon's doubleheader with UC San Diego was rained out. The teams will resume the four-game series with a twinbill Sunday.

The Crusaders (2-2) evened the six-game season-opening series with UHH, which will resume Monday, at 2-2.

NNU produced 10 hits on the day, led by Niko Hawes, Greg Christensen, and Conner Rankin, who each had two. Rankin led NNU with three RBI.

The five-run eighth featured a two-run double by Rankin and a two-run home run by Joel Oliver. The first run of the inning scored on an error.

Zach Morse (1-0) earned the win, allowing just one run and four hits over the final three innings. Starter Charles Pollock posted seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Keoni Manago led the Vulcans with two hits. Cody Barrett had two RBI. UHH starter Dan Hennigs (0-1) took the loss, surrendering four earned runs through seven innings.

At Lacey, Pacific Lutheran outhit Saint Martin's 29-21 in sweeping the Saints.

In the opener, center fielder Ryan Aratani had three hits and four other players had two to lead the Lutes. Andrew Elke, Travis Jones and Josh Grenier each had two for the Saints.

Grenier had a two-run single in the fifth to give SMU a 3-1 lead, but PLU scored six runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and two in the eighth.

In the second game, Pacific Lutheran jumped to an early 6-0 lead scoring twice in the first, three times in the second and once in the third.

SMU cut the deficit in half getting a RBI single by Michael McIver in the fourth and a two-run single by Andy Cole in the fifth, but PLU added two insurance runs in the sixth.

Softball: Saturday Games Rained Out

Central Washington's games in the Mizuno Best of the West tournament in Turlock, Calif. against Humboldt State and Sonoma State Saturday have been rained out.

The Wildcats will now play three games on Sunday to complete the tournament. CWU will face San Francisco State at 9:30 a.m., host Cal State Stanislaus at 11:45 a.m. and Sonoma at 4:30.

CWU lost its first two tournament games on Friday losing 2-0 to UC San Diego and 3-0 to Cal State Dominguez Hills.

Track and Field: Four Top 10 Marks For Wildcats

Anthony Wright won the men's 60 meters and Scott Morrison finished second in the men's 400 to highlight Central Washington's performances Saturday in the Runner's Soul Open Indoor track-and-field meet in Moscow.

Wright won the 60 in a time of 6.96. On Friday, he finished second in the Vandal Indoor in a time of 6.90, the second fastest 60 time in GNAC history.

CWU athletes posted four GNAC All-Time Top 10 marks in Saturday's meet led by Morrison's 400 time of 49.62. That mark ranks second in the conference this season and fourth on the all-time chart.

Also earning GNAC All-Time Top 10s were Brennan Boyes in the men's high jump, Mychal Osler in the weight throw and Kincaid Nichols in the 200.

Boyes placed fifth in the high jump with a GNAC season-best 6-6 to take over fifth on the all-time list.

Ostler's fifth-place weight throw of 54-8 moved him into ninth on the Top 10 list. CWU's Tyler Fischer, who finished third with a throw of 56-11 1/2, is the conference leader this winter with a throw of 58-4 1/2 and ranks third on the all-time list.

Matt Elder placed eighth in the event with a Western Washington school record of 50-2. That puts him into fourth on the GNAC 2010 season chart.

CWU's Kincaid sneaked into 10th place on the GNAC 200 All-Time Top 10, placing fourth in a time of 22.45. Morrison was seventh in 22.92.

Raisa Yates and Torrie Self had fifth-place finishes for CWU's women in the meet. Yates' 40-10 1/2 shot put ranks second this winter in the conference. Torrie Self placed fifth in the weight throw with a throw of 48-4.

UI Runner's Soul Open (Feb. 6 at Moscow): Men (Top 12): 60 – 1. Anthony Wright, CWU, 6.96; 3. Bryan Mack, CWU, 7.08. 200 – 4. Kincaid Nichols, CWU, 22.45; 7. Scott Morrison, CWU, 22.92. 400 – 2. Scott Morrison, CWU, 49.62. 60 Hurdles – 4. Anthony Hogan, CWU, 8.56; 7. Andrew Grey, WWU, 8.69. 4x400 – 2. Central Washington, 3:28.20. High Jump – 5. Brennan Boyes, CWU, 6-6; 9. Jonathan Hamilton, CWU, 6-4. Pole Vault – Brandon Roddewig, CWU, 15-1. Long Jump – 10. Rendel Jones, CWU, 20-5. Weight Throw – 3. Tyler Fischer, CWU, 56-11 1/2; 5. Mychal Ostler, CWU, 54-8; Ben Elder, WWU, 50-2. Women (Top 12): Mile – 11. Kelsey Kreft, CWU, 5:48.31. 3,000 – 12. Alex Borunda, CWU, 11:37.00. 4x400 – 7. Central Washington, 4:26.18. Shot Put – 5. Raisa Yates, CWU, 40-10 1/2; 12. Torrie Self, CWU, 36-5 3/4.. Weight Throw – 5. Torrie Self, CWU, 48-4; 7. Jordan Stueckle, CWU, 47--0 1/4.

Webb, Warrington Among GNAC Leaders

Northwest Nazarene's Justin Webb and Joy Warrington had performances that rank among the best this winter in the GNAC in the Heritage Invitational at Nampa.

Webb placed seventh in the men's 800 in a time of 1:57.84, moving into third place on this season's performance chart. Webb cut 1 1/2 seconds off his previous best.

Warrington added four feet to her season best in placing third in the women's weight throw with a throw of 47-3 1/2. That mark ranks second in the conference.

NNU posted two victories in the meet. Tim Steiglitz won the men's 60 hurdles in a time of 9.03 and the Crusaders won the women's distance medley relay in a time of 12:18.50.

Second-place finishes went to Derek Sepe in the men's 60 (7.25), Maurus Hope in the 200 (22.83), Dan Hill in the 400 (51.42), Jordan Fenters in the shot put (46-0), Jordan Powell in the women's 3,000 (10:26.90) and Ashley Rendahl in the 5,000 (19:42.48).

Fenters took over fourth on the season shot put chart. He also placed fourth in the weight throw (49-11 3/4) moving into fifth on the season chart.

NNU took over the fourth, fifth and sixth spots on the GNAC season performance chart in the women's 800 as Michelle Phillips finished third in 2:16.89, Jaclyn Puga was fourth in 2:16.94 and Christine Harwood was fifth in 2:19.30.

Powell's second-place 3000 time moved her into fourth place on the GNAC season chart. She also ranks fifth in the mile after placing sixth in 5:21.01.

Heritage Invite (Feb. 5-6 at Nampa): Men (Top 3): 60 – 2. Derek Sepe, NNU, 7.25. 200 – 2. Maurus Hope, NNU, 22.83; 3. Dan Hill, NNU, 23.27. 400 – 2. Dan Hill, NNU, 51.42. Mile – 3. Barak Watson, NNU, 4:25.84. 60 Hurdles – 1. Tim Steiglitz, NNU, 9.03. High Jump – 2. Stuart Montgomery, NNU, 5-0 1/2. Shot Put – 2. Jordan Fenters, NNU, 46-0. Women (Top 3): 800 – 3. Michelle Phillips, NNU, 2:16.89. 3,000 – 2. Jordan Powell, NNU, 10:26.90 5,000 – 2. Ashley Rendahl, NNU, 19:42.48. Distance Medley Relay – 1.Northwest Nazarene, 12:18.50. Weight Throw – 3. Joy Warrington, NNU, 47-3 1/2.

Pearce hits GNAC Provisional mark in 400

Brandon Pearce of Montana State Billings finished second in the 400 meters in a GNAC provisional qualifying and school-record time of 51.48 at the Mountain State Games at Pocatello.

Pearce now has qualifying marks in three events, including the 60 and 200, for the GNAC championships at Nampa in two weeks. He ran a school-record time of 22.65 in the 200 prelims, finishing 12th overall.

On the women's side, Erika Halle broke her own school record in the 400 placing seventh in a time of 1:00.79. Mary Owens broke school records in the 3,000 meters (11:12.43) and 5,000 meters (20:01.23). She finished eighth in the shorter event.

Also establishing MSUB school-record marks were the Yellowjacket two distance medley relay teams. The men were clocked in 11:15.09 and the women ran a time of 13:25.47.

Mountain State Games (Feb. 5-6 at Pocatello): Men (Top 8): 400 – 2. Brandon Pearce, MSUB, 51.48; 4. Nathan Diede, MSUB, 52.03; 8. Deshawn Lewis, MSUB, 55.50. 800 – 4. Tyson Vanderby, MSUB, 1:59.69. Mile – 8. Ryan Blomback, MSUB, 4:48.77. 5000 – 8. Taylor Canfield, MSUB, 16:43.74. 4x400 – 6. Montana State Billings, 3:35.84. Distance Medley Relay – 6. Montana State Billings, 11:15.09. Triple Jump – 6. Deshawn Lewis, MSUB, 39-09.75. Women (Top 8): 400 – 7. Erika Halle, MSUB, 1:00.79. Mile – 7. Whitney Michelson, MSUB, 5:29.93. 3000 – 8. Mary Owens, MSUB, 11:12.43. 4x400 – 4. Montana State Billings, 4:17.01. Distance Medley Rleay – 6. Montana State Billings, 13:25.47. Long Jump – 8. Erika Halle, MSUB, 15-11 3/4.

Friday, Feb. 5

Baseball: WOU's Keitzman Suffers First Loss

Blake Keitzman, who went 9-0 last season, was touched up for 11 hits and eight runs in three innings as Western Oregon suffered a 12-6 loss to third-ranked UC San Diego Friday at Triton Ballpark.

In Hawaii, Hawaii Hilo scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth to pull out a 12-8 win over Northwest Nazarene. The Vulcans now lead the six-game series 2-1.

The Tritons led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs by Vance Albitz and Robert Sedin and went on to score six runs in the inning. Albitz had four hits as UCSD pounded out 15 safeties.

Newcomers Daniel Dillard, from Pierce Community College, and Andrew Irvine, a transfer from Loyola Marymount homered for the Wolves. Dillard had three hit and two RBI. Irvine and Kyle Boe also drove in two runs each.

A one-out outfield error opened up the floodgates for Hawaii Hilo in its win. After the error, NNU got the second out of the inning, but UHH then got an infield RBI single from Trias Ronel, a two-run double by Keoni Monago, an RBI single by Shane Kessel and a two-run double by T.J. Pilla.

Kessel and Pilla each drove in four runs to key the win. Jon Keller led the Crusaders with three hits, including a solo home run to lead off the seventh.

Softball: Wildcats Blanked In Season Openers

Central Washington got solid pitching but was unable to score a run in losing twice Friday in the Mizuno Best of the West Invitational softball tournament at Pedretti Park in Turlock, Calif.

The Wildcats were three-hit by Camille Gaito in losing 2-0 to UC San Diego. Central got eight hits against Cal State Dominguez Hills but stranded eight in a 3-0 loss.

Three CWU pitchers combined to allow just four earned runs. Starters Lauren Hadenfeld and Lindy Baxter were tagged with the losses despite fine outings.

Hadenfeld allowed only four hits and one earned run in five innings, fanning seven against UCSD. Baxter gave up just one run and three hits in five innings in her outing.

Danielle Monson, Meghan Kopczynski, Ashley Fix and Molly Coppinger each had two hits on the day for the Wildcats, but none of them produced runs.

Track and Field: CWU's Lotze Qualifies in Triple Jump

Katharine Lotze of Central Washington posted a provisional national qualifying mark in the women's triple jump Friday at the Vandal Indoor in Moscow.

Lotze had the sixth-best mark in GNAC history in posting a PNQ of 37-4 1/2. She finished third in the meet.

CWU's Rendel Jones won the men's triple jump with a leap of 46-1 1/4. CWU's Anthony Wright finished second in the 60 with a GNAC season-best time of 6.90.

Wright's time ranks second in GNAC history trailing only a 6.78 by Western Oregon's Mike Hinshaw in 2002.

Vandal Indoor (Feb. 5 at Moscow): Men (Top 8): 60 - 2. Anthony Wright, CWU, 6.90; 3. Bryan Mack, CWU, 7.02; 4. Kincaid Nichols, CWU, 7.02. High Jump - 6, Brennan Boyles, CWU, 6-4 3/4. Triple Jump - 1. Rendel Jones, CWU, 46-1 1/4; 2. Bryan Mack, CWU, 45-10; 4. James Cho, CWU, 45-1. Discus - 8. Jesse Potes, CWU, 134-8. Weight Throw - 4. Tyler Fischer, CWU, 55-11 3/4. Women (Top 8): Triple Jump - 3. Katharine Lotze, CWU, 37-4 1/2. Discus - 6. Kaylee Baumstark, CWU, 123-10.

Football: WOU's Charleston to Play in Super Bowl

For the second team in three seasons, a former Western Oregon football player will be competing in the Super Bowl.

Jeff Charleston, who played three seasons at Western Oregon (2001-03) before finishing up his career at Idaho State is a part of the defensive line rotation for the New Orleans Saints.

Charleston, who played for Indianapolis in 2007, signed with New Orleans midway through the 2008 season after being cut by the Colts at the end of the 2007 campaign.

Charleston had 69 tackles, including 10 1/2 for losses and 4 1/2 for sacks in his final season at WOU in 2003. After redshirting at Idaho State in 2004, he led the Bengals and the Big Sky Conference in sacks (12) and tackles for losses (21) in 2005.

Charleston joins NY Giant tight end Kevin Boss as participants of the Super Bowl. Boss played in the NFL championship game two years ago.

CoSIDA: Four Selected To Academic All-Region Team

Seattle Pacific's Daesha Henderson and Caitlyn Rohrbach have been named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic Women's Basketball All-District VIII team.

Henderson was a first team selection, while Rohrbach, who was a third team pick a year ago, and Grace Milliken of Alaska Fairbanks earned second team District VIII honors. Milliken has a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Kayla Ryan of Montana State Billings was a District VII first team pick and will join Henderson on the national ballot for All-America honors.

First Team - Kayla Ryan, MSUB (Education, Jr., 3.93, Big Timber, MT); Daesha Henderson, SPU (Biology, Sr., 3.49, Snohomish, WA). Second Team - Grace Milliken, UAF (Biological Sciences, Jr., 4.00, Healy, AK); Caitlyn Rohrbach, SPU (Psychology, Jr., 3.94, Edmonds, WA).

Thursday, Feb. 4

Men's Basketball: CWU Ends SPU Streak at Seven

The Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball race got considerably tighter Thursday night.

JC Cook scored 24 points as Central Washington ended Seattle Pacific's seven-game win streak with a 85-72 victory at Nicholson Pavilion, defeating the Falcons for the eighth consecutive time in regular-season play.

Western Washington got 21 points and 10 rebounds from Zach Bruce and broke out of a 45-45 tie early in the second half on the way to a 81-61 home conquest of Northwest Nazarene.

Meanwhile, Rico Myles scored the final five points of the game and finished with 29 as Western Oregon overcame a six-point halftime deficit in a 80-77 overtime win at Lacey against Saint Martin's improving to 3-2 in conference road games.

Nationally 18th ranked Western Washington (20-3, 7-2) climbed to within one-half game of the ninth-ranked Falcons (16-3, 7-1) with its victory. Central Washington (12-6, 6-2) is just one game back.

All three teams were regionally ranked this week - the Falcons at No. 1, Seattle Pacific at No. 2 and Central Washington at No. 9.

Central Washington 85, Seattle Pacific 72

Cook hit nine of 13 shots including four of five three-pointers in producing his 24 points and leading Central Washington, which turned back a second-half rally by Seattle Pacific to claim the 13-point victory.

The short-handed Falcons lost for the first time in eight conference games as CWU improved to 8-2 in their last 10 contests with SPU, including 8-0 in regular-season contests.

In addition to Cook, Ellensburg's Riley Sivak contributed 14 points and the Wildcats also got 10 points each from both Chris Sprinker and Humberto Perez.

Brandon Larrieu paced the Falcons with 28 points, making five of seven treys. Chris Banchero added 19 points.

The Falcons were already without 6-foot-9 center Rafael Moreira, who has missed the last four games with a knee injury. At Central they also missed guard Jeff Downs due to an illness.

Downs was the hero in Saturday's 88-68 home win over Alaska Fairbanks with six 3-pointers and 20 points.

The SPU roster was further depleted Thursday when Adam Wardell was ejected with 12:36 left along with the Wildcats' Toussaint Tyler.

Those two got into a scuffle under the SPU basket in response to a hard-foul on Banchero by Central's Coby Gibler.

At the time, the Wildcats held their biggest lead of 22 points (63-41) - the largest deficit faced this season by the Falcons.

After the ejections, SPU quicky got back into the game going on an 18-2 run to narrow the margin to 65-59 with 8:40 to play.

Perez, however, stopped the surge with a three-pointer, sending Central on a 9-2 run. The Wildcats scored seven of their final nine points from the free throw line during the final 5:06 to secure the win.

Early on, Larrieu made a jump shot to bring SPU into a 2-2 tie. The Wildcats followed with seven straight points to take the lead for good. Cook capped the run with a three-pointer and a put-back shot to give Central a 9-2 lead.

The Falcons drew within 19-18 on a three-pointer by Larrieu with 9:50 left until halftime. CWU, however, responded with an 11-3 run and closed the half with seven unanswered points to forge a 47-30 halftime advantage.

Larrieu scored half (15) of SPU's first-half points, including three of four shooting from three-point range.

SPU came into the game ranked fourth nationally in field goal percentage shooting 51.9 percent, but the Wildcats held the Falcons to a 41.4 percentage (24-58), while shooting 50 percent (29-58).

Western Washington 81, Northwest Nazarene 61

Forward Zach Bruce had game-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds as Western Washington broke open a tight game midway through the second half in defeating Northwest Nazarene 81-61 at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The contest was tied at 45-45 with 11:30 to go before the Vikings broke the game open going on an 18-2 run to take a 63-47 lead with seven minutes left. 

Guard Morris Anderson, who finished with 13 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, had six points and four assists in the charge. NNU never got closer than 14 points after that.

The Vikings shot 67.7 percent (21-31) from the field in the second half, and 54.8 percent (34-62) for the game.  Guard Andrew Ready had 12 points, hitting four of five shots from the field. 

Forwards Rory Blanche and Derrick Webb each had 10 points. Blanche also grabbed seven rebounds as Western posted a 36-27 advantage on the boards.

Drew Eisinger led the Crusaders (12-7, 4-4) with 17 points, but no one else was in double figures. Anthony Golden had nine points.

The Vikings had a 24-12 lead with 7:36 left in the first half, but NNU used a 12-2 run to narrow the margin to two (26-24) with 1:19 left in the period. Western held a 30-26 lead at halftime.

The win gave Viking head coach Brad Jackson his 11th 20-win season during his 25 years at Western, and the school's 13th overall.

Western Oregon 80, Saint Martin's 77

Tarance Glynn scored the final five points in overtime and Rico Myles had a career-high 29 points to lead Western Oregon to a 80-77 win at Saint Martin's.

WOU (10-9, 3-5) handed the Saints (11-8, 1-7) their seventh straight loss since beating Western Washington in triple time in their GNAC opener.

The Wolves trailed 77-75 with 32 seconds remaining in overtime before Glynn hit a layup and made a free throw to complete a three-point play.

Then after grabbing a rebound at the other end, he was fouled and sank to two more foul shots to give WOU the three-point win.

"Tarance played very well down the stretch," WOU head coach Craig Stanger said. "He is good at attacking the basket, and on (his three-point) play he was able to go the rim when their defense wasn't set."

Myles recorded his third double-double of the season also grabbing 12 rebounds. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half when he made seven of eight shots.He finished 12 of 16.

"Rico was consistent for us all game," Stanger added. "He really kept us in it in the first half."

WOU got into the overtime by holding Saint Martin's scoreless over the final 3:53. The Wolves got just three points in that time span, a layup by Myles off an assist by Matt Schmidt with 1:24 left and one of two free throws by Schmidt. But it was enough to get their into the extra five-minute period.

In the extra session, Glynn and Myles scored all 11 points for Western Oregon as it held Saint Martin's without a free throw or a three-point field goal. "Our guys willed their way to this win," Stanger said.

For the game, Western Oregon shot 50 percent for the field (32-64) and outrebounded Saint Martin's by four (43-39). On the other side of the ball, WOU's defense held SMU to seven of 31 from three-point range (23 percent) and only allowed them to reach the free throw line 11 times.

In addition to Myles and Glynn, Western Oregon also received double-digit scoring performances from Schmidt with 13 points and Kyle Long with 10.

Jeremy Green led Saint Martin's with 20 points, while Blake Poole had 19 points and 18 rebounds. Jared Howard chipped in with 13 points and Galen Squires had 10.

Central/Western Rivalry Game on Fox

One of most intense NCAA Division II men's basketball rivalries in the country will be televised regionally as Western Washington University has contracted with FSN Northwest for a live telecast of its home game in late February with arch-rival Central Washington .

The contest has been moved one day from its original schedule date to Sunday, Feb. 28, to accommodate the telecast.  Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.

The game is traditionally a sellout on both campuses each season. “This is one of the all-time great basketball rivalries in the northwest and to have it televised live regionally on FSN Northwest is a tremendous opportunity to showcase our athletics program, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and our universities,” said Western director of athletics Lynda Goodrich .

In the first confrontation this season between the two schools, the Vikings prevailed 84-70 on Jan. 23 at Ellensburg.

In last year's meeting at Bellingham, Western clinched the GNAC championship outright with an 85-68 victory.  That same season at Ellensburg, the Vikings won 95-75, just the third time in school history that they had won by 20 or more points on the road at CWU.

Western, ranked No.18 nationally in the latest NABC NCAA II Top 25 Poll, is off to a 19-3 start under coach Brad Jackson , who is in his 25th season directing the Vikings with 464 wins.

Western is 14-7 in the last 21 series meetings with Central, but trails in the series overall 151-88.

Brad Adam will handle the play-by-play for FSN Northwest, with Francis Williams providing color commentary and Jen Mueller being the sideline reporter. FSN Northwest will also telecast its post-game show from Carver Gym. 

Women's Basketball: Vikings, SPU Post GNAC Victories

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific, which came in tied for 19th place in the latest WBCA national poll, both posted victories Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

The Vikings, who improved to 9-0 in the GNAC, overcame a 13-point first half deficit getting 26 points from Amanda Dunbar to defeat Northwest Nazarene 76-63.

Meanwhile the Falcons beat Central Washington at Ellensburg 60-43 coming back from a three-point deficit late in the first half. Daesha Henderson led the Falcons with 17 points and matched her career-high with seven rebounds.

Saint Martin's beat Western Oregon 80-67 as Dara Zack had 26 points and seven rebounds in the final game of the night in the conference.

Western Washington 76, Northwest Nazarene 63

Dunbar had 16 of her game-high 26 points in the first half as Western Washington overcame an early 13-point deficit and defeated Northwest Nazarene 76-63 on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings (18-2, 9-0) remained unbeaten in the GNAC with their ninth consecutive victory. The Crusaders (14-5 overall) saw their conference record dip to 4-4

Forward Kristin Hein and guard Heather Adams each had 13 points to lead NNU, which shot 50.0 percent (23-46) from the field, the first team to achieve that mark against Western this season.

Western trailed as late as 90 seconds into the second half and led by just two (60-58) with less than nine minutes to play before putting the defensive clamps on the Crusaders, holding them to just five points the rest of the game. 

The Vikings used a run of nine consecutive points in a 1:32 span to take a 69-58 lead with seven minutes left and never led by less than nine points after that.

NNU shot 68.2 percent (15-22) from the field in the first half,    including five of six on three-pointers, and were 22 of 37 overall (59.5 percent) with eight minutes left in the game, but made just one of its final nine attempts.

Guard Ashley Fenimore had 13 points for Western, hitting all three of her three-point attempts, and forward Willow Cabe added 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.

NNU hit seven of its first eight shots from the field in jumping to an 18-5 lead less than five minutes into the contest. 

Western gradually chipped away at that margin, taking its first lead of the game at 34-33 on a Dunbar layin with 1:51 left in the half, but the Crusaders took a 38-37 lead at halftime as Lindsay Brady hit a jumper from the right corner at the buzzer.

The Vikings have won every game in their nine-game run by double figures, and are 10-0 at Carver Gym.   The 63 points are the most Western has allowed in a GNAC game this season.

Seattle Pacific 60, Central Washington 43

Henderson scored 17 points, including five during a 13-0 second-half run that broke open the game, leading Seattle Pacific to a 60-43 victory against Central Washington in Nicholson Pavilion.

The Falcons (16-3, 7-1 ) won their third straight game and have kept their opponent below 50 in all three.

Ranked 19th in all of NCAA Division II for fewest average points allowed (55.3), Seattle Pacific has yielded just 42 to Alaska Anchorage, 44 to Alaska Fairbanks and now 43 to Central Washington (6-12, 3-5) in its last three outings. Jenn Jacobs with 12 was the only Wildcat to reach double figures.

Henderson also matched her career high with seven rebounds. She came up with five steals and handed out two assists. Forward Megan Hoisington added 13 points and seven boards, and forward Sydney Benson came off the bench for 10 points.

The Falcons were down 13-10 in the first half, but then scored the next 10 points -- the first seven of those by Henderson -- to go ahead for good.

It was still a seven-point margin at 28-21 with 15:55 left in the game when Seattle Pacific went on its game-breaking 13-0 run. Henderson got it started with a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Saint Martin's 80, Western Oregon 67

Zack scored 26 points and Jamey Gelhar had a perfect shooting night on the way to joining the 1,000 Point Scoring Club to lead Saint Martin's to a 80-67 win over Western Oregon at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.

Zack, who also had seven rebounds, made 10 of 15 shots including her only two three-point attempts as the Saints (8-11) earned their second conference win in eight starts.

Gelhar had 18 points, making two three-pointers, two two-pointers and eight free throws without a miss. She now has 1,013 career points and is the 39th player in GNAC history to reach that plateau.

Also in double figures were Krissy Bassett with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Sara Zahler led Western Oregon (8-14, 3-5) with 23 points, canning seven of 12 shots, four of eight from the three-point line. Lorrie Clifford added 11 points and Katie Torland had 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Saint Martin's scored the first seven points of the game and never trailed. SMU was up by 11 at halftime (36-25) and led by as many as 20 in the second half. WOU never got the margin in single digits in the final 20 minutes.

Baseball: Crusaders Divide Twinbill With Hawaii Hilo

Ryan VanBeek's two-run single in the top of the ninth snapped a 4-4 tie and Northwest Nazarene went on to score four runs in the inning as the Crusaders beat Hawaii Hilo 8-4 in the nightcap of a baseball doubleheader in Hilo Thursday.

The Vulcans won the first game 2-1 as the two NCAA Division II West Region schools opened their respective seasons by dividing the doubleheader. The games are the first two of a six-game series.

NNU led 4-1 after an inning and a half, but UHH got single runs in the third, sixth and seventh to tie the game. But in the ninth, Greg Christensen and Spenser Lind started the inning with singles. After a sacrifice bunt by Joel Oliver, VanBeek put NNU ahead 6-4 with his base hit.

A walk, two wild pitches and a RBI ground out by Tyler Nicholson resulted in a pair of insurance runs for Sean McDonald, who pitched the final two innings allowing two hits and no runs to get the win.

NNU had 10 hits in the game including two each by Ty Windall, Christensen and starting pitcher Jon Keller. Keller and VanBeek each had two RBI.

In the first game, Ronnie Loeffler outdueled Zeb Sneed. NNU's Sneed gave up just four hits and two runs in six innings, walking three and fanning seven, while Loeffler allowed just five hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings.

Sheldon Otsuka got the final out in the seventh with the tying run on third base to get a save.

John Hoffman scored the game's winning run in the fifth on a wild pitch by Sneed. NNU's lone run came in the fourth on a single by VanBeek.

Wednesday, Feb. 3

Men's Basketball: Taylor Rallies MSUB Past UAF

Junior guard Brett Taylor came off the bench to rally Montana State Billings from an early 13-2 deficit leading the Yellowjackets to a 75-58 home win over Alaska Fairbanks Thursday at Alterowitz Gym.

Taylor scored 14 first-half points and finished with 17, connecting on six of eight shots, including five of seven three-pointers as MSUB (10-7) snapped a brief two-game losing streak leveling its conference record at 4-4.

“The first six or seven minutes when they went into a zone we played out of sorts and we didn't settle down,” MSUB head coach George Pfeifer said.  “When Brett came into the game and provided us with a shooting punch, we stretched their zone out." 

Taylor's first two treys narrowed nine-point deficits to six at 13-7 and 18-12. Later the 5-8 Billings West High School product had a layup to pull his team within two points at 20-18.

Guard Lasha Parghalava then hit back-to-back threes to account for his only points of the game and give the 'Jackets leads of 21-20 and 24-22. Taylor then knocked down consecutive threes giving MSUB an eight-point advantage at 30-22.

MSUB, which took a five-point lead into halftime, scored the first eight points to start the second half and later opened up a pair of 22-point advantages, first at 61-39 and then at 63-41.

Joining Taylor, who also had a game-high three steals, in double figures were Derrick Wright with 13 points, Brad Hodge with 12 and DeAndre Chambers with 10.

Wright also had seven rebounds, while Hodge had a double-double, pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. He also had a game-high two blocks. "Brad had a great game," Pfeifer said.

Emmanuel Jenkins led UAF (6-11, 1-7) with 15 points (scoring seven of the Nanooks' first 13 points) and seven assists. Nashorn Maynard had eight points and nine rebounds, while Mason King had eight points.

Led by Taylor, MSUB hit on 12 of 27 treys on the way to a 48.1 percent shooting night (26-54). DaVell Jackson had five of his team's 21 assists. The Yellowjackets also had a 40-27 rebounding advantage.

SPU, WWU Still 1-2 in Region; UAA Falls To No. 8

Seattle Pacific and Western Washington maintained their No. 1 and No. 2 positions in this week's NCAA Division II Men's West Region basketball rankings, but Alaska Anchorage tumbled to No. 8.

Ryan Looney's Seattle Pacific team has won its first seven conference games, matching its best conference start in school history. The Falcons will risk their seven-game win streak Thursday night at Ellensburg against Central Washington, which has won the last seven regular-season games between the two schools.

Alaska Anchorage was ranked third last week, but lost road games at Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene. NNU's victory over the Seawolves and its win over Alaska Fairbanks helped the Crusaders break into the Top 10 in this week's poll, debuting at No. 10.

CWU remained at No. 9 despite winning two road games last week, including one against previously seventh-ranked MSU Billings. The loss dropped the Yellowjackets out of the Top 10, but Cal Poly Pomona leapfrogged the Wildcats keeping Central at No. 9.

The regional rankings will eventually determine which five teams will join the GNAC and PacWest regular-season champions and the CCAA post-season tournament champion in the eight-team West Regional playoffs in March.

In this week's NABC Division II national poll, Seattle Pacific climbed two spots from 11th to ninth moving back into the Top 10 first the first time since December when it was ranked sixth before losing to Colorado Christian and Grand Canyon.

Western Washington is the only other West Region team ranked in the Top 25. The Vikings are 18th.

West Region - 1. Seattle Pacific (15-2), 2. Western Washington (16-3), 3. CSU San Bernardino (11-2), 4. Humboldt State (14-4); 5. Dixie State (12-4), 6. Cal Poly Pomona (9-4); 7. BYU-Hawaii (8-4), 8. Alaska Anchorage (7-4); 9. Central Washington (9-5), 10. Northwest Nazarene (8-5). Note: Records are against Division II opponents.

Poole Ranked Fourth In National Statistics

Blake Poole is ranked fourth in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report in rebounds averaging 11.9 per game. He also is ranked 26th in field goal percentage.

Poole is the only GNAC player ranked in the Top 10. Morris Anderson is 11th in steals (2.6).

In team categories, Northwest Nazarene is ranked second in free throw percentage (77.2), Seattle Pacific ranks fourth in field goal percentage (51.9) and Western Washington is ninth in scoring margin (17.7).

Women's Basketball: Miller, Aden Key UAA Victory

Nicci Miller and Nikki Aden led a balanced scoring effort Wednesday as Alaska Anchorage earned an 81-48 road victory over Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center .

The Seawolves (16-3, 6-2 ), ranked No. 18 nationally and No. 4 in the NCAA Division II West Region, also got a nice effort from Hanna Johansson with 12 points and six rebounds, while guard Kaitlin McBride tallied a career-high nine points.

The Nanooks (1-18, 0-8) were led by forward Lakeshia Levi with 20 points and nine rebounds, but UAF was outshot .493 to .333 and was forced into 25 turnovers. UAF has now lost five in a row to its rivals, including the last three games in Fairbanks by a combined 87 points.

Johansson – who shot five of six from the field and sank both of her free throws – started the game with a personal 6-2 run, and the Seawolves slowly stretched their advantage.

Leading 23-12 with 4:34 on the clock, Aden then powered a 20-3 spurt to end the half, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the blitz, including a put-back layup just before the buzzer.

The Seawolves substituted liberally in the second half as they maintained their advantage, putting 13 of 14 players in the scoring column.

Miller shot seven of 11 from the field and grabbed three steals, while McBride was perfect on four shots, along three steals, three assists and no turnovers.

Meanwhile, senior guard and Fairbanks native Leah Stepovich tied her best rebounding total as a Seawolf with six boards, getting her first career starting assignment.

In addition to Levi, UAF, which has lost 18 straight since opening the season with a win over Hawaii Hilo, got nine points from Ronisha Edwards and seven points and five rebounds from Jessica Harrison.

Four GNAC Teams In Top Five In West Regional Poll

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific maintained their No. 2 and No. 3 positions in this week's NCAA Division II Women's West Region basketball rankings. UC San Diego, whose lone loss this season has been to regionally seventh-ranked Humboldt State, is ranked No. 1.

Carmen Dolfo's Vikings are off to an 8-0 start in conference play. Their two losses have been to UC San Diego and Washburn, who are ranked eighth and 13th, respectively, in this week's USA Today ESPN WBCA Top 25.

Alaska Anchorage jumped over Northwest Nazarene and Cal Poly Pomona moving into fourth place ahead of the fifth-ranked Crusaders and sixth-ranked Broncos.

The regional rankings will eventually determine which five teams will join the GNAC and PacWest regular-season champions and the CCAA post-season tournament champion in the eight-team West Regional playoffs in March.

In this week's national poll, Alaska Anchorage is ranked 18th and Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are tied for 19th. Also receiving votes in this week's poll is Northwest Nazarene. The Crusaders are among "others receiving votes" and are 33rd overall.

West Region - 1. UC San Diego (16-1); 2. Western Washington (16-2); 3. Seattle Pacific (12-3); 4. Alaska Anchorage (13-3); 5. Northwest Nazarene (12-4); 6. Cal Poly Pomona (13-4); 7. Humboldt State (14-4); 8. Grand Canyon (12-6); 9. Chico State (11-7); 10. Cal State Monterey Bay (11-5). Note : Records are against Division II opponents.

Dunbar Fifth In Three-Point Percentage

Amanda Dunbar of Western Washington is ranked fifth in three-point percentage in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report. Dunbar, who is making half of her three-point shots, is the lone GNAC player ranked in the Top 10.

In team categories, six different GNAC teams are ranked in the Top 10 in at least one category, led by Alaska Anchorage which is ranked in five different categories.

The Seawolves are fourth in rebounding margin (10.7), sixth in scoring defense (53.1), seventh in steals (14.6) and ninth in scoring margin (20.7) and turnover margin (7.33).

Western Washington is ranked second in three-point percentage (41.2), sixth in field goal percentage (48.4) and eighth in scoring margin (20.9).

Seattle Pacific is ranked 10th in field goal percentage defense (33.9). Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's and Western Oregon are ranked third (79.0), sixth (78.3) and ninth (77.6), respectively in free throw percentage. The Saints are also sixth in three-point percentage (40.0).

Football: Central, WOU Announce List of Recruits

A total of 26 high school seniors, including ten players listed on the Seattle Times' White Chip prospect list, have signed National Letters of Intent to continue their football careers at Central Washington University beginning this fall.

Meanwhile, Western Oregon signed 19 players on the first day schools are allowed to ink football players for their 2010 recruiting class.

The Wildcats' 2010 signing class, which is the second-largest in the program's history, features a balance of offensive and defensive players. All but one of the 26 signees hails from the state of Washington, as the lone out-of-state signee is wide receiver Blaine John (B.J.) Bennett, the son of CWU head coach Blaine Bennett .

B.J. Bennett (5-9, 175) prepped at William Henry Harrison High School in West Lafayette, Ind., for the past three seasons and will join the rest of his family in Ellensburg later this year. His father previously coached at Purdue.

“We feel that this is the best recruiting class (talent-wise) that we have had in our three years here as a staff,” Blaine Bennett said. “We think that every player we signed has a chance to be a starter and an impact player here.”

The position that Bennett is most enthused about is the quarterback position, where the Wildcats signed three in-state standouts. Among those three quarterbacks are Austin Dodge (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS), local product Ethan Sterkel (Ellensburg, Wash.), and J.R. Grosshans (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula HS).

Western Oregon received commitments from a multitude of wide receivers and defensive backs during the first hours of the signing period, along with two quarterbacks, four linemen and a linebacker. They have also signed native Oregonians to 15 of the 19 National Letters of Intent.

"Our goal is to recruit the best athletes in Oregon, especially in the valley," said Ferguson. "We want to bring in the best Division II student-athletes who will compete and fit into our system."

After focusing on linemen during last season's recruiting process, coach Ferguson and his staff turned their attention towards signing more players at the outside 'skill' positions this year. (more)

Saturday, Jan. 30

Women's Basketball: UAA Rallies To Beat Crusaders

Hanna Johansson scored 14 points, including a pair of free throws with 4.3 seconds remaining lifting Alaska Anchorage to a 66-65 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa Saturday night.

Elsewhere 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific, Central Washington and No. 22 Western Washington all posted victories. The Falcons cruised to a 86-44 rout of Alaska Fairbanks in their annual Homecoming game at Brougham Pavilion.

Central Washington earned its first-ever win at Alterowitz Gym defeating Montana State Billings 83-64 in Billings and Western Washington completed the first-half of its conference season unbeaten with a 70-40 home victory against Western Oregon.

Alaska Anchorage (15-3, 5-2) was led by guard Tamar Gruwell with 21 points.

Northwest Nazarene (14-4, 4-3), meanwhile, got a 21-point effort from guard Lindsay Brady and 18 points from reserve guard Kat Schulte to Buhne, who combined to shoot 14 of 23 from the field, including eight of 13 from three-point range.

But it was UAA's hot shooting and pressure defense that helped the nationally 13th ranked Seawolves set a program record for their largest-ever halftime comeback on the road, rallying from down 33-22.

The Crusaders took a 39-27 with 18:37 remaining when UAA found its stride.

Guard Kaitlin McBride started the blitz with a three-point play, and Nikki Aden drained two three-pointers in the next two minutes to pull within 40-38. Gruwell – who made eight of 13 shots and five of 10 on treys – then sank a long bomb to give the Seawolves the lead.

NNU regained the lead at 58-53, but the Seawolves fought back and the game remained a one-possession affair for the final six minutes.

After NNU missed a pair of free throws with a 65-62 lead, Aden found Johansson in the lane for layup with 1:01 on the clock. Brady was then called for traveling with 28 seconds remaining, setting up UAA's final possession.

With the clock winding down, Gruwell launched a three-pointer from the corner that clanged off and fell into the arms of Johansson. The 6-2 Swede went up strong and drew a foul on Schulte to Buhne, setting up the winning free throws.

Johansson – who entered with a .615 free throw percentage and had missed her first two charities of the night – swished both tries, and Nicci Miller poked the ball away from Brady at midcourt, preventing a final Crusader attempt.

Aden finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block, while Johansson shot five of eight from the floor and grabbed five rebounds. Miller had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and five steals.

Brittney Roggenkamp had 10 points for NNU to join Brady and Schulte to Buhne in double figures. Janee Olds was credited with nine assists.

Seattle Pacific 86, Alaska Fairbanks 44

Sydney Benson scored a career-high 22 points and Jordan Harazin handed out a career-best six assists leading Seattle Pacific to an 86-44 rout of Alaska Fairbanks on Homecoming Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.

Benson easily surpassed her previous high of 16 points, which she set on Jan. 14 against Saint Martin's. She hit 10 of 11 shots from the floor -- most of those from underneath after hitting a career-high three shots from three-point range in Thursday's 57-42 victory against Alaska Anchorage.

Harazin topped her best assist total by one. She had dished out five assists on three previous occasions, most recently against Montana State Billings on Jan. 21 in Brougham.

Altogether, the Falcons (15-3, 6-1) had assists on 28 of their 34 baskets. They came into Saturday's contest leading the GNAC at 17.8 assists per game, and ranked No. 15 among Division II schools nationally in that department.

Guard Daesha Henderson added 10 points for the Falcons, who had 13 different players produce points handing Alaska Fairbanks (1-17, 0-7) its 17th straight loss.

Ronisha Edwards accounted for nearly half of the Nanooks' points, scoring 20. She also had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Central Washington 83, Montana State Billings 64

Guard Brittany Duerr scored 24 points and forward Sophie Russell added 19 as Central Washington defeated Montana State Billings 83-64 earning its first-ever win as Alterowitz Gym.

The Wildcats (6-11, 3-4) had lost their six previous contests in Billings to the Yellowjackets (9-9, 2-5).

Duerr scored 14 second-half points, twice getting the first basket during a pair of 6-0 runs as CWU, which never trailed, stretched a six-point lead to 12 and later increased a nine-point lead to 15.

The Wildcats had another brief run late in the contest scoring seven consecutive points to go up by 19 with 1:29 left.

Duerr made nine of 13 shots, including two of four treys. Russell connected on seven of 12. Both players were four of four from the foul line.

Also in double figures were Sara Bergner with 11 points and Stacy Albrecht with 10. Bergner also had six assists. Shaina Afoa had seven points and 12 rebounds as the Wildcats controlled the backboards 43-30.

Callie Kautzmann paced MSUB with 20 points and seven rebounds. The Yellowjackets also got 18 points on six of 10 shooting from Mandy Jacobs and 11 points from Sarah McNamee.

Central outshot MSUB 49.2 percent to 37.9 cashing in on 29 of 59 field goals, while holding MSUB to 22 of 58.

Western Washington 70, Western Oregon 40

Forward Willow Cabe had a game-high 20 points and guard Amanda Dunbar added 16 as Western Washington (17-2, 8-0) rolled past Western Oregon at Sam Carver Gymnasium remaining unbeaten in nine home contests this season.

Forward Katie Torland led the Wolves (8-13, 3-4) with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Torland scored the first four points of the game, but WOU then went scoreless for more than eight minutes as the Vikings opened up a 12-4 lead midway through the first half.

Despite shooting just 31.0 percent (9-29) in the first half, WWU still led 23-14 at halftime.  The Vikings then were red-hot in the second half, shooting 68.0 percent (17-25) from the floor and holding WOU without a field goal in the first 5:38 of the period opening up a 42-16 lead.

Forward Jessica Summers had 11 points and seven rebounds for the Vikings, and center Lauren Hefflin grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.  

WWU made eight of 13 three-pointers as Cabe made four of four and Dunbar, who entered the game No.5 nationally in three-point percentage at 49.2 percent, converted on three of four.

Men's Basketball: Downs Helps SPU Stay Perfect

Downs

Jeff Downs poured in 20 points and tied his career high with six three-pointers and Ryan Sweet had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, powering 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific to an 88-68 victory against Alaska Fairbanks on Homecoming Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.

The Falcons (16-2, 7-0), who have never started a conference season 8-0, go for a sweep of their first-half conference schedule Thursday when they travel to Ellensburg to face Central Washington.

Central Washington (11-6) will bring a 5-2 conference record - and a seven-game regular-season winning streak against SPU dating back to the 2005-06 season - into the game after improving to 3-0 in away contests with a 83-68 win at Saint Martin's Saturday.

The Wildcats are in third place half a game back of Western Washington (19-3, 6-2) which outscored Montana State Billings 100-75 behind a 33-point effort from Derrick Webb.

Meanwhile, Northwest Nazarene (12-6, 4-3) moved into fourth place defeating Alaska Anchorage 79-74, dropping the Seawolves (12-6, 3-4) into a fifth-place tie with Montana State Billings (9-7, 3-4).

Downs hit six of 10 shots from the arc, tying his career high set against Cal State San Bernardino on Nov. 22, 2008 at home. The double-double for Sweet was his second of the season.

Downs sparked a game-clinching scoring run for the Falcons, who were up by just eight at 70-62 with 6:38 left. He hit a three-pointer from the left of the lane to make it 73-62, starting an 8-0 surge.

Sweet added a pair of free throws and guard Brandon Larrieu buried a three-pointer from 24 feet away on the right side, pushing the lead to 78-62.

After Joe Powell of the Nanooks put in a short shot from right in front of the hoop, Downs drained a trey from the left of the lane, then hit a pair of free throws, effectively putting the game out of reach at 83-64 with just 2:23 remaining.

Larrieu and Rob Diederichs joined Downs and Sweet in double figures with 13 and 12 points each. Diederichs and Chris Banchero, who had eight points, each had six assists.

Nashorn Maynard paced Alaska Fairbanks (6-10, 1-6) with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Emmanuel Jenkins had 10 points. SPU doubled UAF's point total from the three-point line, making 12 of 30 compared to six of 13 for the Nanooks.

Central Washington 83, Saint Martin's 68

Chris Sprinker scored all 15 of his points in the second half and JC Cook scored 13 of his 15 in the first half leading Central Washington to a 83-68 win over Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

Sprinker made six of seven second-half shots, including four in the opening five minutes of the second period when the Wildcats went eight for eight, stretching a three-point halftime lead (42-39) to 16 (62-46) at the 15:12 mark.

Saint Martin's (11-7, 1-6), which has lost six straight, did manage to scratch back within six at 73-67 on a three-pointer by Brady Bomber with 3:34 left, but the Wildcats then ended a stretch in which it made only three of 16 shots, cashing in on its last three attempts and outscoring SMU 10-1 in the final 3 1/2 minutes.

Joining Sprinker and Cook in double figures were Humberto Perez with 12 points. Four other players - Jon Clift, Roby Clyde, Coby Gibler and Toussaint Tyler - each had eight.

Clyde also had nine rebounds as CWU controlled the backboards 49-29, despite a 14-rebound effort by the Saints' Blake Poole. Sprinker and Gibler had nine and eight, respectively.

Poole led the Saints with 19 points along with his 14 rebounds. Jared Howard had 15 points, while Bomber and Jeremy Green each had 10. Bomber had a game-high seven assists while Clift had six for CWU.

The Wildcats led by 11 points in the first half before SMU went on a 12-0 run to go ahead 39-38 run late in the period. Central, however, then got a jumper by Tyler and a layup by Cook in the final 1:54 to take a 42-39 lead into the locker room.

Western Washington 100, Montana State Billings 75

Forward Derrick Webb scored 33 points and also had a team-high seven rebounds as 21st ranked Western Washington handed Montana State Billings its second straight home loss.

Webb hit on 12 of 16 shots including four of seven three-pointers. The Vikings also got 25 points and six assists from Morris Anderson and 10 points each from Zach Bruce and Harold McAllister.

Derrick Wright led the Yellowjackets with 21 points, and DeAndre Chambers added 19. DaVell Jackson was also in double figures with 14 points. Jackson also led MSUB with eight rebounds and six assists.

Webb, who had 40 points in a victory over Western Oregon on Thursday, scored 21 of his points Saturday in the first half, including nine in the final 2:40 of the period. 

Western trailed only twice, both early in the contest, and took the lead for good on a three-pointer by guard Andrew Ready 6:11 into the game. 

The Vikings held a 51-38 lead at halftime, and never led by less than 18 points after scoring the first seven points of the second half.

Western shot 59.0 percent (36-61) from the field for the game, including 63.2 percent (12-19) from three-point range.

The Vikings, who outrebounded MSUB 39-28, reached the 100-point mark for the second straight game.

Northwest Nazarene 79, Alaska Anchorage 74

Drew Eisinger scored 14 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as Northwest Nazarene defeated regionally third-ranked Alaska Anchorage 79-74 at the Johnson Sports Center handing the Seawolves their third consecutive loss.

Eisinger hit a three-pointer with 6:14 left to give NNU the lead for good at 60-58 after a spinning layup by Brandon Walker had capped off a 12-5 run rallying UAA from a six-point deficit with 12:50 left.

Two free throws by Robert Lippman and a jumper by Brian Barkdoll made it 64-58 and NNU maintained at least a four-point lead the rest of the way until the Seawolves cut it to a one-possession game (77-74) on Casey Robinson's three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left.

However, Jamie Eisinger, who finished with eight points and six assists, sealed the victory by making two foul shots.

In addition to Drew Eisinger, the Crusaders also got 16 points from Louie Beech, 13 from Anthony Golden and 11 from Brian Barkdoll in the win. Beech, who made six of eight shots (four of six three-pointers) scored 10 of his points in the opening half.

Guard Donnie Lao scored a career-high 21 points connecting on nine of 15 including three of seven treys to lead Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves also got 12 points from Walker and 11 from Robinson.

For the game, NNU shot at a 55.3 percent clip, making 26 of 47 shots. The Crusaders were 11 of 20 from the three-point line and 16 of 17 from the charity stripe. UAA made 28 of 60 (46.7) but were just eight of 25 from the arc.

Track and Field: Three GNAC Records Broken at UW

Pixler

Three Great Northwest Athletic Conference records fell and 19 national qualifying marks were established Friday and Saturday at the UW Invitational indoor track and field meet.

On Saturday Jessica Pixler shattered her own Seattle Pacific and GNAC mark in the mile by more than four seconds cruising around the Dempsey Indoor oval in 4 minutes, 33.46 seconds on the way to an 11-second victory.

Also establishing a GNAC record Saturday was Western Oregon in the men's 4x400 relay with a time of 3:17.41. On Friday, Ryan Brown of Western Washington set a GNAC record in the men's pole vault with a vault of 17-1 1/2.

The GNAC records except for WOU's relay time, which met the provisional national standard, are automatic qualifying marks for the NCAA Division II national meet in March.

In all GNAC athletes established five automatic marks in the meet. Also qualifying were Western Oregon's Annan Applebee in the women's 800 with a time of 2:11.43, SPU's Jane Larson in the mile in a time of 4:48.89 and Western Washington's women's distance medley relay team in a time of 11:46.27. Applebee's time ranks fourth all-time in the GNAC.

Pixler's time beat the 4:37.83 she ran last Feb.14 in the Husky Classic. The winning time that day was 4:37.07, as the top four runners were bunched within one second of each other.

This time, nobody was close, as second-place Julia Howard of the Valley Royals came across in 4:44.68.

After battling an illness for the past two weeks, Pixler wasn't even sure she was going to run until she got up on Saturday morning.

Not only did she run and set the school and GNAC records, the three-time defending D-2 indoor mile champion easily beat the NCAA Division II automatic qualifying standard of 4:54.00.

GNAC athletes also posted 14 provisional national qualifying marks in the meet. Qualifiers included WWU's Ellie Siler in the women's 400, SPU's Lisa Anderberg and WOU's Janelle Everetts in the 800; WWU's Sarah Porter in the mile and Lauren Breihof of Western Washington in the 5,000.

Also qualifying were Brittany Aanstad of Seattle Pacific in the pentathlon and high jump and Amanda Alvarez of Seattle Pacific and Ashley Potter of Western Oregon in the triple jump.

Men's qualifiers included Jeff Long of Western Oregon in the mile, Tyler Fischer of Central Washington in the weight throw and Tim Clendaniel of Western Washington in the heptathlon.

Several of the national qualifiers in addition to the record-setters also cracked the GNAC All-Time Top 10 lists including Alvarez (2nd in the triple jump), Clendaniel (2nd in the pentathlon), Potter (third in the triple jump), Long (third in the mile), Fischer (third in the weight throw), Breihof (7th in the 5,000) and Aanstad (7th in the high jump and penthlon).

UW Invitational (Jan. 29-30 at Seattle): Men (Top 8): 4x400 – 6. Western Oregon (Matt Kaino, Ashtin Mott, Josh Moore, Anthony Yakovich) 3:17.45. Triple Jump – 8. Matson Hardie, WOU, 45-09.00. Pole Vault - 1. Ryan Brown, WWU, 17-1 1/2. Weight Throw – 6. Tyler Fischer, CWU, 58-4 1/2. Women (Top 8): 400 – 6. Ellie Siler, WWU, 56.82. Mile – 1. Jessica Pixler, SPU, 4:33.46; 5. Jane Larson, SPU, 4:48.87. 4x400 – 3. Western Washington (Siler, Howe, Brownell, O'Connell). Distance Medley - 6. Western Washington (Olsen, O'Connell, Johnson, Porter) 11:46.27. Pentathlon - 8. Brittany Aanstad, SPU, 3307.

UW Meet National Qualifers: Women: 400 – Ellie Siler, WWU, 56.82. 800 – *Annan Applebee, WOU, 2:11.43; Lisa Anderberg, SPU, 2:15.67; Janelle Everetts, WOU, 2:15.90. Mile – *Jessica Pixler, SPU, 4:33.46; *Jane Larson, SPU, 4:48.87; Sarah Porter, WWU, 4:57.29. 5000 – Lauren Breihof, WWU, 17:38.90. 4x400 – Western Washington 3:54.23. Distance Medley – *Western Washington 11:46.27. High Jump – Brittany Aanstad, SPU, 5-5 ¾. Triple Jump – Amanda Alvarez, SPU, 38-4; Ashley Potter, WOU, 37-11 ½. Pentathlon – Brittany Aanstad, SPU, 3307. Men : Mile – Jeff Long, WOU, 4:11.49. 4X400 – Western Oregon 3:17.45. Pole Vault - *Ryan Brown, WWU, 17-1 ½. Weight Throw - Tyler Fischer, CWU, 58-4 1/2.. Heptathlon – Tim Clendaniel, WWU, 4711. *Automatic

Warrington Posts Qualifying Mark at Bronco Invitational

Joy Warrington of Northwest Nazarene finished fourth in the women's shot put with a provisional national qualifying mark of 44-8 3/4 in the Bronco Invitational Saturday at Nampa.

Warrington's throw ranks first in the GNAC this winter and third all-time in conference history.

She was one of seven NNU athletes to post Top Eight finishes in the meet, including Jaclyn Puga, who placed seventh in the 800 in a time of 2:17.48. That mark ranks fourth on this winter's GNAC performance list.

On the men's side the top finisher was NNU's Barak Watson who won the 3,000 in a time of 8:36.99 and also placed second in the mile in 4:20.15. Watson's 3,000 time ranks eighth on the GNAC all-time list.

Josh DeVaughn of Saint Martin's placed 10th in the 200 meters, moving into 10th place on the GNAC all-time list with a time of 22.57.

Bronco Invitational (Jan. 30 at Nampa) Men: (Top 12): 60 – 9. Derek Sepe, NNU, 7.29; 10. Tyler Windall, NNU, 7.32; 12. Colby Cameron, NNU, 7.38. 200 – 10. Josh DeVaughn, SMU, 22.57; 11. Maurus Hope, NNU, 22.68. 400 – 12. Dan Hill, NNU, 51.68. 800 – 8. Matt Stark, NNU, 1:56.65. Mile – 2. Barak Watson, NNU, 4:20.15; 5. Kyle Van Santen, SMU, 4:24.05; 10. Joseph Patti, SMU, 4:29.83. 3000 – 1. Barak Watson, NNU, 8:36.99; 7. Spencer Hunt, SMU, 8:59.93. 60 Hurdles – 11. Tim Steiglitz, NNU, 9.45. 4x400 – 5. Northwest Nazarene 3:26.00. Long Jump – 10. Mark Hanson, NNU, 19-4;; 12. Derek Sepe, NNU, 17-10 3/4. Weight Throw – 12. Jordan Fenters, NNU, 46-10 1/4. Women (Top 12): 800 – 7. Jaclyn Puga, NNU, 2:17.48; 10. Michelle Phillips, NNU, 2:19.35. Mile – 11. Jordan Powell, NNU, 10:37.08. High Jump – 11. Jill Bennett, NNU, 5-0 1/4. Pole Vault – 12. MJ Usabel, NNU, 10-2. Shot Put – 4. Joy Warrington, NNU, 46-10 1/4.

Friday, Jan. 29

Track and Field: Brown Clears 17 Feet In Pole Vault

Brown

Ryan Brown of Western Washington set school and conference records clearing 17-1 ½ in the men's pole vault at the University of Washington Indoor Track and Field Invitational Friday night in the Dempsey Indoor.

Brown's mark, which came on his second attempt at that height, was nearly seven inches better the NCAA Division II national automatic qualifying standard, and broke his own WWU and GNAC record of 16-6 (5.03) set last year.

He is the first GNAC athlete to clear 17 feet either indoor or outdoor. The outdoor record is 16-8 ¾ by Justin Miller of Humboldt State. Miller set that record in 2002.

The Vikings had another automatic qualifying effort in the women's distance medley relay where Courtney Olsen, Megan O'Connell, Rachael Johnson and Sarah Porter placed sixth in a school-record time of 11:46.27.

The quartet's time was over 11 seconds better than the old WWU record of 11:57.17 established last year. Earlier this winter Seattle Pacific set the GNAC record in the event with a time of 11:33.13.

WWU also got a provisional qualifying time in the women's 5,000 from Lauren Breihof, who finished 11th in a time of 17:38.90.

SPU's Brittany Aanstad, back in action this season for the first time since the spring of 2008 after having a ligament in her elbow replaced, racked up an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying total in the pentathlon.

Aanstad finished with a career-high 3,307 points, good for eighth place among the 23 competitors. That topped her previous career-best of 3,154.

Aanstad's performance in the five events included a provisional national qualifying mark of 5 feet, 3¾ inches (1.67 meters) in the high jump, meeting that standard right on the money.

In the other four events, Aanstad was 10th in the 800 meters (2:33.41 for 634 points), 12th in the shot put (32 feet, 8½ inches, worth 527 points), 14th in the long jump (16-10¾, good for 601 points), and 21st in the 60-meter hurdles (10.01 seconds, 710 points).

Two Fifth Places for MSUB at Bozeman

Mary Owen placed fifth in the women's 3,000 in a time of 11:21.72 and Brook Berg was fifth in the shot with a put of 38-2 for Montana State Billings' best finishes in an open indoor meet at Bozeman Friday.

Brandon Pearce placed sixth in the 200 meters in a time of 22.91 for the best finish for MSUB's men. Pearce also placed eighth in the 55 in a time of 6.61, earning him an automatic mark for the GNAC meet in a converted 60 time of 7.11. He currently ranks fifth on the GNAC chart.

Several other MSUB athletes posted times that rank among the GNAC leaders through Friday.

Whitney Mickelson's sixth-place mile time of 5:27.75 ranks second in the GNAC (converted to 5:21.26). Erika Halle moved into fifth place in the women's 400 with a time of 1:01.31.

On the men's side, Brandon Martinez moved into third place with a 14-0 pole vault. Nick Wilson's shot of 44-10 1/4 currently ranks fifth, while Tyson Vanderby ran a 2:00.38 in the 800 meters giving him a converted time of 1:59.76, which ranks sixth.

Tanner Rottrup had a shot of 44-11, nine inches short of his season-best mark which currents ranks third in the conference.

Montana State Open #2 (Jan. 29 at Bozeman): Men (Top 8): 55 Hurdles - 8. Dylan Solberg, MSUB, 8.58. 55 - 8. Brandon Pearce, MSUB, 6.61. 200 - 6. Brandon Pearce, MSUB, 22.91. Women (Top 8): Mile - 6. Whitney Mickelson, MSUB, 5:27.75; 8. Katie Thiel, MSUB, 5:32.49. 3000 - 5. Mary Owen, MSUB, 11:21.72. Shot Put - 5. Brook Berg, MSUB, 38-2; 6. Hilary Gourneau, MSUB, 37-8; 7. Kacie Vanderloos, MSUB, 36-5.

Thursday, Jan. 28

Men's Basketball: Huge Nights for Webb, Banchero

Webb	Banchero

Derrick Webb and Chris Banchero had huge nights leading Western Washington and Seattle Pacific to Great Northwest Athletic Conference home victories Thursday night.

It wasn't a bad night either for Central Washington center Chris Sprinker who scored 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Wildcats handed Montana State Billings its first home loss defeating the Yellowjackets 73-57 at Alterowitz Gymnasium.

Webb scored 40 points, making a GNAC-record tying 10 three-pointers in just 12 attempts, to power Western Washington (18-3, 5-2) to a 112-78 win over Western Oregon (9-9, 2-5) at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, regionally top-ranked Seattle Pacific (15-2, 6-0) knocked off No. 3 Alaska Anchorage 80-71 at Brougham Pavilion as Banchero hit on 13 of 17 shots on the way to a 33-point night.

Northwest Nazarene (11-6, 3-3) also earned a home victory, outscoring Alaska Fairbanks 86-70 at Nampa as Kendall Gielow and Brian Barkdoll each scored 16 points.

Webb, whose point total is the most ever by a Viking at Carver Gym, set school records for most three-pointers made and for most consecutive three-pointers made. He hit six in a row during an eight-minute span in the first half.

He also equaled the GNAC record for treys set by Issac Gildea of Humboldt State against Saint Martin's during the 2002 season.

Webb's 40 points also equaled the fourth highest total in school history and the 10th best figure in GNAC history. Webb was 13 of 16 overall from the field and also added seven rebounds and four assists.

In addition to Webb's total, Western Washington, which is ranked second in the West Region and 21st nationally, also got 16 points on eight of 11 shooting from Rory Blanche, 15 points, 14 assists and six steals from Morris Anderson, 13 points from Andrew Ready and 12 from Chris Mitchell.

Anderson's assist total equaled the seventh best total in GNAC history. Four of the top six assist totals belong to former UAA point guard Luke Cooper.

Freshman center Kolton Nelson, making his first career start, connected on 11 of 12 shots and finished with 25 points to lead Western Oregon. Matt Schmidt had 15 points and Rico Myles had 14 points and seven rebounds. Zach Bruce grabbed eight rebounds for WWU to lead all players.

The Vikings shot 66.7 percent (42-63) from the field, including 65.4 percent (17-26) on three-pointers, tying the school record for most three-pointers made. Anderson and Mitchell were both three of four from the arc.

For all of the Vikings' hot shooting, the game, however, was still in doubt early in the second half.  Western Oregon , which trailed by as much as 18 in the first half, closed to within seven (59-52) 2:30 into the second period, and was down by just eight (65-57) with 15:30 to play.

But WWU then went on a 17-2 run in a six-minute span, to take an 82-59 lead with 9:06 to play, and was never threatened after that by the Wolves, who made only two of 13 treys and shot 46 percent (29-63) overall.

Seattle Pacific 80, Alaska Anchorage 71

Chris Banchero pumped in a career-high 33 points -- setting a career scoring high for the second game in a row -- as the nationally 11th ranked Falcons stayed unbeaten in conference play.

Banchero, coming off a 27-point performance in last Saturday's 79-69 win against Montana State Billings, scored the most points for the Falcons since Dustin Bremerman tallied 33 against Saint Martin's on Feb. 17, 2006.

Up just 33-25 at halftime, the Falcons opened the second half on a 13-2 run, with Banchero getting nine of those points. Then, he drained a three-pointer to make it 49-29 with 15:52 remaining.

But Anchorage (12-5, 3-3) stormed back, going on a 25-10 run during the next 8½ minutes, closing to 59-54 with 7:28 still on the clock. It was still a five-point game at 65-60 with 4:09 to play, but Seattle Pacific never let the Seawolves get any closer.

The Falcons, who are the fifth-best shooting team in all of NCAA Division II, took just 43 shots from the floor, but hit 25 of them for a 58.1 percentage. Banchero was 13 of 17, including three of five from three-point range.

SPU also got 13 points from Jeff Downs and 11 from Brandon Larrieu. Leading Alaska Anchorage were Brandon Walker with 22 points and Casey Robinson with 19.

Walker was nine of 13 from the floor and also had four assists. Robinson made seven of 10 shots, three of four from the arc.

While UAA couldn't match SPU's 58.1 percent shooting which is 17.3 percentage points above UAA's season opponent field goal percentage, they did post a respectable percentage of their own making 50.0 percent (29-58).

The Seawolves also turned the ball over only nine times compared to 12 for SPU. That left little opportunity for steals. Banchero with three and UAA's Nick Pacitti with two were the only players to have more than one.

Central Washington 73, Montana State Billings 57

Sprinker

Chris Sprinker scored a season-high 20 points and Central Washington (10-6, 4-2) made 15 of 27 second-half shots in earning a double-digit victory at Montana State Billings, handing the Yellowjackets (9-6, 3-3) their first home loss after six victories.

MSUB came into the contest ranked seventh in the NCAA West Region, while the Wildcats were ninth.

The win improved CWU's record against regionally ranked opponents to 3-4, including victories over Fort Lewis and Colorado Christian, who are ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, in the Central Region.

Sprinker made nine of 11 field goals and added a game-high nine rebounds. Guards Jon Clift, Humberto Perez and JC Cook also scored in double figures with 13, 11 and 11 points, respectively.

Central, which shot at a 50 percent clip (28-56) held MSUB to its lowest-scoring effort of the year, and held the Yellowjackets to a 29.4 shooting percentage with just 15 made field goals.

It was the best defensive effort by a CWU squad against a Division II opponent since holding Shaw (N.C.) to 55 points in a Dec. 13, 2008 win at Nicholson Pavilion.

DeAndre Chambers led the Yellowjackets with 15 points and seven rebounds, while guard Davell Jackson had 11 points and matched Sprinker's nine rebounds for game-high honors. Chambers made four of nine three-point shots.

Central. which outrebounded MSUB 42-33, led for all but 2 minutes, 21 seconds in the contest, but didn't take control of the contest until the second half.

CWU led 34-30 at halftime, then scored the first seven points of the second half and began to break away from the Yellowjackets with a 23-12 run in the first eight minutes of the period.

The margin remained in double digits the rest of the game, peaking at a 17-point margin (70-53) on a Clift three-pointer with 2:49 left before the final 16-point differential.

Northwest Nazarene 86, Alaska Fairbanks 70

Brian Barkdoll and Kendall Gielow each scored 16 points from the paint to lead Northwest Nazarene to a 16-point win over Alaska Fairbanks.

It was NNU's first home conference victory as it leveled its GNAC record at 3-3. The visiting team had won all five previous conference games involving the Crusaders.

The post duo of Barkdoll and Gielow led five Crusaders into double-figures as Drew Eisinger added 13 points and both Jamie Eisinger and David Reeher scored 10. 

Drew and Jamie Eisinger both finished with a game-high six assists as NNU handed out 21 assists against 16 turnovers. 

Gielow posted his first double-double of the season, adding a game-high 10 rebounds to his 16-point effort.

Emmanuel Jenkins led Alaska Fairbanks (6-9, 1-5) with 17 points, while both Nashorn Maynard and Jon Moe scored 15.

The game was tight in the early minutes with  UAF leading 24-23 with 8:25 left to play in the first half when Barkdoll hit two free throws, starting an 8-0 Crusader run that included a bucket by Lateef Williams, a jumper from Gielow and a nice finish in the paint by Barkdoll.

NNU built on that run going ahead 46-33 at the half.  The Nanooks closed the lead to nine twice in the second half, the last time on a Jenkins jumper with 14:15 remaining (56-47).

However the Crusaders answered with six straight points as Barkdoll hit a jump-hook in the key and Drew Eisinger converted back-to-back jumpers from the outside to push it to a 15-point lead at 62-47 with 13:11 remaining.

NNU finished the contest with a 56.7 shooting percentage (34-60), while UAF was 26 of 69 (37.7 percent).

Women's Basketball: WWU Stays On Top In GNAC

Dunbar

Amanda Dunbar scored 20 points, including 18 from the three-point line, to lead Western Washington a a 66-49 road victory at Montana State Billings Thursday night.

The Vikings (16-2) stayed unbeaten in the GNAC posting their seventh straight conference victory to remain 1 1/2 games ahead of Seattle Pacific (14-3, 5-1).

SPU took over sole possession of second place with a 57-42 home win against Alaska Anchorage (14-3, 4-2).

Elsewhere in the conference Lindsay Brady scored 12 of her team-high 20 points in the first half as Northwest Nazarene (14-3, 4-2) ripped off 29 points in a row on the way to a 91-56 home win over Alaska Fairbanks (1-16, 0-6).

Meanwhile, Central Washington (5-11, 2-4) earned a 78-69 road victory against Saint Martin's (7-11, 1-6) at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.

Dunbar made six of 10 three-pointers to lead WWU, which led by just two points at halftime (32-30) before holding MSUB to six second-half field goals in 23 tries.

In addition to Dunbar, WWU, which is ranked 22nd in the latest national poll, was led by Jessica Summers with 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds and Ashley Fenimore with 12 points. Fenimore also had a game-high five assists.

Callie Kautzmann paced MSUB (9-8, 2-4) with 12 points, while Mandy Jacobs and Kayla Ryan had 11 each. Ryan also had eight rebounds.

The Vikings used a 26-8 run in the second half to go ahead by 20 (58-38) with 8:23 remaining. Dunbar, who had 14 second-half points, hit three three-pointers during that stretch. 

WWU's biggest lead was 22 (62-40) with 4:38 to go and MSUB never got closer than 17 the rest of the way.

Western's Krystal Robinson came off the bench to score eight points on four of seven floor accuracy and blocked three shots.  Dunbar also had four steals.  

WWU shot 43.9 percent for the game (25-57), while holding MSUB to 34 percent on 18 of 53 shooting. The Vikings also turned the ball over only 12 times to 18 by MSUB.

Seattle Pacific 57, Alaska Anchorage 45

Sydney Benson scored 13 points and drained a career-high three shots from behind the three-point arc and Jordan Harazin added 11 points leading 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific to a 57-42 win over No. 13 Alaska Anchorage.

The victory in Brougham Pavilion helped the Falcons snap a second-place tie with the Seawolves. Those two schools shared last year's conference crown with identical 14-2 records and have squared off in the past two NCAA West Regional championship games.

Benson, playing her first and only season for the Falcons, had hit just one three-pointer all year, but drained three of four from long range. Harazin, last year's GNAC Freshman of the Year, added five rebounds and two assists to her scoring output.

Seattle Pacific trailed just once, that at 3-0 when Nicci Miller drained Anchorage's first shot of the game. But the Seawolves, who were led by Kelsie Gourdin with 13 points, missed their next 11 shots.

The Falcons scored the next five points, saw Alaska Anchorage climb into one more tie at 5-5, then scored five more to take a 10-5 lead and never trailed again.

Up just 19-15 after a low-scoring first half, SPU went on a 17-3 run to take a 39-22 lead with 7:48 left. It was 41-24 for the Falcons when Anchorage went on a 13-2 surge to get within 43-37.

But Seattle Pacific scored the next eight points -- back-to-back shots by forward Megan Hoisington and a 22-foot trey from Harazin to make it 51-37 with just 1:48 left.

Gourdin was the only UAA player in double figure and only Miller, who had nine points, had more the six as the Seawolves shot a frigid 24.6 percent (14 of 57), including 20.7 percent (6 of 29) in the opening half. UAA was just three of 17 from the arc.

SPU made only 34.7 percent of its shots (17-49), but did cash in on eight of 22 treys.

Northwest Nazarene 91, Alaska Fairbanks 56

Leading by a 10-6 count, Northwest Nazarene built its lead to 39-6 before Alaska Fairbanks got on the board again. UAF did manage to crawl back to within 22 points (45-23) at halftime, but the Crusaders rebuilt their lead to 38 in the second half.

In addition to Brady's 20, NNU also got 18 points on perfect nine of nine shooting by Beth Johnson, 14 from Brittney Roggenkamp and 10 each from Kristin Hein and Kat Schulte to Buhne.

Jennifer Williams had a team-high eight rebounds and Hein had a game-high five steals to also lead NNU, which outboarded UAF 50-31.

Ronisha Edwards scored more than half of Fairbanks' points, tallying 29 on 11 of 30 shooting, including six of 11 from the three-point arc. Edwards also tied Williams for game rebounding honors with eight. Her 30 shot attempts were four off the GNAC single-game record of 34.

In addition to its plus 19 rebounding advantage. NNU also had 11 fewer turnovers (30-19) and earned 19 steals.

Central Washington 78, Saint Martin's 69

Sara Bergner scored 12 of her 18 points in the second half, including a key three-pointer with 4:13 left, to power Central Washington to a 78-69 win at Marcus Pavilion.

The game was tight throughout - CWU led by one (32-31) at halftime - before a jumper by Shaina Afoa with 5:04 left gave the Wildcats the lead for good at 60-59.

Nineteen seconds later, Brittany Duerr knocked down a three - her only points of the game - to extend CWU's lead to 63-59. Then Bergner gave the 'Cats even more breathing room with 4:13 remaining with another trey to make it 66-61.

Later, baskets by Sophie Russell and Mandy Jacobs and two foul shots by Jacobs doubled CWU's advantage to 12 at 74-62 with 1:09 remaining.

Jacobs finished with a team-best 19 points, converting on six of 11 shots and all six on her foul shots. Colleen Betteridge was also in double figures with 10 points.

Dara Zack had a big second half for the Saints scoring 20 of her 24 points after the break. Krissy Bassett had 10 of her 16 in the final period. Jamey Gelhar had 12 points for the Saints.

CWU had outstanding percentages, making 55.1 percent from the floor (27-49), nine of 18 on threes (including three of five by Betteridge) and 15 of 18 foul shots (83.3). Saint Martin's, meanwhile, shot at a 40.6 clip (26-64).

The Saints did outrebound the Wildcats 35-27 as Zack had nine and Bassett and Gelhar had seven, but couldn't overcome CWU's hot shooting.

Softball: MSUB, WOU Co-Favorites In Coaches Poll

Sutherland

Defending champion Montana State Billings and Western Oregon, which won the 2008 league title and reached the West Regional championship game, are co-favorites to win the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference softball title.

Both teams received 31 points in the GNAC Coaches pre-season poll, though the Yellowjackets did receive three first-place votes compared to two by the Wolves.

Central Washington, which finished second in the GNAC a year ago just one game back of MSUB with a 29-11 conference record, received the lone remaining first-place vote.

Back to lead MSUB and WOU this spring are pitcher Kasie Conder and shortstop Tyler Sutherland, respectively.

MSUB's Conder led the GNAC in earned run average last season carving out a 1.52 mark and posting a 16-4 record while winning GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors.

Sutherland won the conference batting title with a .420 average and was selected the GNAC Player-of-the-Year.

Sutherland and Conder are among nine first-team 2009 GNAC all-stars back for another season.

WOU has a league-best three 2009 first-team selections, including outfielder Jessica Hallmark and second baseman Amanda Fleer.

Other first team all-star selections from a year ago are MSUB catcher Kelly Parsons, Central Washington designated player Taylor Trautmann, CWU outfielder Danielle Monson, Western Washington outfielder Michelle Wrigley and Saint Martin's infielder Morgan Klemm.

Wednesday, Jan. 27

SAAC: Blood Drives Hosted By GNAC Members

The student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) at each Great Northwest Athletic Conference member institution is hosting blood drives for their local blood banks on campus this winter and spring.

Western Washington University's blood drive began Tuesday. The remainder of the drives are scheduled for February except at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Its blood drive is slated for April.

The SAAC is a committee represented by each sport on campus that is devoted to the “voice” of the student-athletes. Throughout the academic year, campus SAAC committees do countless hours of volunteer work, community service, fundraising for local charities and the NCAA DII Make-A-Wish Foundation, as well as connecting with their fellow peers with student-athlete orientations, competitions, support at sporting events and more.

The GNAC SAAC Committee elected to have every member institution participate in a blood drive in order to help their local blood banks. The campus SAACs are working with their local blood banks, as well as with other campus organizations for some institutions.

For more information, contact your local university or local blood bank. Here is the conference schedule of blood drives:

University of Alaska Anchorage: Apr. 1, Wells Fargo Sports Complex. University of Alaska Fairbanks: Feb. 2. Central Washington University: Feb. 5. Montana State University Billings: Feb. 3, 9 a.m. -1 p.m, Student Union Ballroom. Northwest Nazarene University: Feb. 2. Saint Martin's University: Feb. 3, in conjunction with campus ministry. Seattle Pacific University: To be announced. Western Oregon University: Feb. 9-10, in conjunction with the health center. Western Washington University: Jan. 26-28, 10 a.m.-4 p.m,. Viking Union 565 and Mini Mobile in Red Square, in conjunction with campus Prevention and Wellness Services.

Men's Basketball: GNAC Dominates First Regional Poll

Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams claimed the top three places and five of the top nine in the inaugural NCAA Division II West Regional men's basketball poll released Wednesday.

The weekly poll will eventually determine which five teams will join the GNAC and PacWest regular-season champions and the CCAA post-season champion in the NCAA West Regional playoffs in March.

Seattle Pacific, Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage are ranked 1-2-3, respectively, followed by Cal State San Bernardino at No. 4.

Montana State Billings and Central Washington are ranked seventh and ninth. The Yellowjackets and Wildcats meet Thursday in Billings. MSUB then hosts Western Washington on Saturday.

In this week's NABC NCAA Division II men's national poll, Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are ranked 11th and 21st, respectively. The Falcons and Vikings are the only West Region teams to receive votes in the national poll.

West Region - 1. Seattle Pacific (13-2), 2. Western Washington (14-3), 3. Alaska Anchorage (7-2), 4. CSU San Bernardino (9-2), 5. Dixie State (11-3), 6. Humboldt State (12-4), 7. Montana State Billings (7-5), 8. BYU-Hawaii (7-4), 9. Central Washington (7-5), 10. Cal Poly Pomona (7-4). Note: Records are against Division II opponents.

Women's Basketball: Four GNAC Teams In Top Six

UC San Diego is the top-ranked team, but GNAC squads hold down four of the next five spots in the first weekly NCAA Division II West Region women's basketball poll.

The weekly poll will eventually determine which five teams will join the GNAC and PacWest regular-season champions and the CCAA post-season champion in the NCAA West Regional playoffs in March.

Western Washington, Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively. Cal Poly Pomona is fifth and two-time defending West Region champion Alaska Anchorage is ranked sixth.

Though it is sixth in the regional poll, UAA is ranked 13th in this week's USA Today ESPN WBCA Division II national basketball poll. The Seawolves (14-2) are one of four West Region teams ranked.

UC San Diego is the top-ranked West Region team at No. 10. Seattle Pacific (13-3) and Western Washington (15-2) are ranked 21st and 22nd, respectively. Northwest Nazarene (13-3) is among "others receiving votes" and is 32nd overall.

West Region - 1. UC San Diego (14-1); 2. Western Washington (14-2); 3. Seattle Pacific (10-3); 4. Northwest Nazarene (11-3); 5. Cal Poly Pomona (12-3); 6. Alaska Anchorage (12-2); 7. Humboldt State (12-4); 8. CSU Monterey Bay (10-4); 9. Grand Canyon (11-6); 10. Chico State (9-7).

Monday, Jan. 25

Men's Basketball: Seattle Pacific Fifth in Shooting

Seattle Pacific is off to a 14-2 start, largely in part to its ability to put the ball in the basket. In this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report the Falcons rank fifth in field goal percentage, shooting at 51.8 percent clip.

That's way ahead of any one else in the conference. Northwest Nazarene currently ranks second in the GNAC with a 48.0 percentage. Rafael Moreira leads SPU and ranks third in the conference with a 60.2 percentage though he doesn't quite have enough field goals made to qualify for the national rankings.

Two other GNAC teams are ranked in the Top 10 in this week's national report. Northwest Nazarene is seventh in free throw percentage at 76.5 and Alaska Anchorage is seventh in rebounding advantage at plus 9.5.

Individually, Blake Poole of Saint Martin's is the GNAC's top-ranked player nationally. He is seventh in rebounding with a 11.8 average. Davell Jackson of Montana State Billings ranks 11th in assists at 6.4.

Women's Basketball: Dunbar Fifth in Three Pointers

Amanda Dunbar of Western Washington and Kayla Ryan of Montana State Billings are ranked fifth and eighth in three-point percentage and free throw percentage in this week's national statistical report.

Dunbar, who has led WWU to a GNAC-best 15-2 record, is shooting 48.2 percent from the three-point line while Ryan is shooting 88.9 from the charity stripe.

In team categories, Alaska Anchorage pops up in the Top 10 in five different categories. The Seawolves are second in rebounding margin (12.1), fourth in scoring defense (52.1) and scoring margin (24.1) and sixth in both steals (15.3) and turnover margin (7.94). Their steal average is at a GNAC-record pace.

Western Washington ranks seventh in field goal percentage (48.7) and three-point percentage (39.9) and 10th in scoring margin (20.6). Northwest Nazarene ranks third in free throw percentage (79.9) and Saint Martin's is fourth in three-point percentage (40.4) and ninth in free throw percentage (78.0).

Saturday, Jan. 23

Men's Basketball: Wolves Complete Rare Alaska Sweep

Six-nine forward Rico Myles scored 16 points and Western Oregon shot at a 58.1 percent clip in upsetting Alaska Anchorage 76-65 Saturday at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex in Anchorage.

The Wolves (9-8, 2-4), who also won at Fairbanks Thursday, became just the seventh team in the GNAC's nine-year history to post back-to-back victories on the same road trip to Alaska.

WOU's win also enabled Seattle Pacific (14-2, 5-0) to open up a two-game lead in the loss column in the GNAC race over four other teams, including Western Washington (17-3, 4-2), Alaska Anchorage (12-4, 3-2), Central Washington (9-6, 3-2) and Montana State Billings (9-5, 3-2).

SPU stayed unbeaten with a 79-69 win over MSU Billings. Meanwhile, WWU moved into second place with a 84-70 road victory against CWU.

In an afternoon game, Alaska Fairbanks (6-8, 1-4) earned its first conference victory of the season defeating Saint Martin's 77-76.

In addition to his team-high 16 points, Myles also tied for game-rebounding honors with eight as the Wolves handed UAA its first home loss on its primary court since last February when the Seawolves lost to Western Washington.

WOU missed just 18 shots all night cashing in on 25 of 43, including five of 11 from the arc. In addition to Myles' six of nine effort, center Mike McLaughlin and reserve Kolton Nelson each made four of five and forward Matt Schmidt was two of three.

Schmidt (14 points) also made nine of 11 free throws to join Myles and reserve Kolton Nelson (10 points) in double figures. Both Myles and McLaughlin had game highs of eight rebounds.

Guard Kevin White led Alaska Anchorage with 19 points. Also in double figures were Donnie Lao with 13 points and Brandon Walker with 12. UAA was outshot by 17 points by the Wolves as it made 24 of 58 (41.4 percent). The Seawolves were eight of 27 from the arc.

WOU took control from the outset and never trailed, forging a 37-28 lead at halftime. UAA pulled to within 43-40 on a driving layup by Lao with 13:07 remaining but the Wolves answered with six straight points.

Nelson's layup with 6:18 remaining made it 60-46 and the Seawolves could not scrape closer than six points despite three consecutive treys by White, who finished the game making four of nine.

Seattle Pacific 79, Montana State Billings 69

Ryan Sweet registered his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds leading short-handed Seattle Pacific to its fifth straight GNAC victory.

SPU was playing without 6-foot-9 starting post player Rafael Moreira, who missed his first game due to an injury. Moreira, who is averaging 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds, is expected back for the next game.

Sweet, a 6-foot-7 junior from Port Orchard's South Kitsap High School, filled the void. He grabbed 11 of 25 boards for the Falcons, who were outrebounded by 13. Sweet hit four of seven shots from the field and contributed three assists.

SPU rallied from an 11-point, first-half deficit on the strength of sensational second-half shooting. The Falcons shot 75 percent (18 of 24) after halftime, including nine of 13 accuracy from three-point range.

Chris Banchero broke a 35-35 tie with a three-pointer, giving SPU the lead for good with 14:19 left in the game. That ignited a 22-8 run that was completely comprised of four three-pointers and five layups.

The run concluded with four unanswered layups for the Falcons, who claimed a 57-43 lead with 8:14 remaining. The Yellowjackets never got closer than seven points after that.

SPU senior Rob Diederichs distributed eight of his season-high 10 assists during the second half.

Banchero shot nine of 14 from the field, including four of six treys, en route to a career-high 27 points. Brandon Larrieu added 16 points for the Falcons and also made four of six three-pointers.

DaVell Jackson fell three points short of posting a triple-double for MSUB, amassing seven points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Derrick Wright and DeAndre Chambers each scored 19 points to lead Billings, which also got 11 from Brad Hodge and 10 from Mike McCrary.

Western Washington 84, Central Washington 70

Guard Andrew Ready scored a game and career-high 23 points as Western Washington overcame an early deficit to defeat arch-rival Central Washington 84-70 at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wildcats jumped to an early lead, using a run of 14 straight points to go ahead 16-5 less than seven minutes into the game. 

But Western chipped away, eventually taking a 35-34 lead with 1:15 left in the first half on two free throws by guard Morris Anderson and the Vikings held a 38-34 lead at halftime.

Western led the entire second half, although the Wildcats narrowed the margin to one on four occasions. 

The last of those was at 56-55 with 10:57 left, but Western went on an 11-2 run, capped by a Ready three-pointer, to take a 67-57 lead with 7:47 to go. 

Central never got closer than six points after that, and was never within eight points in the final four minutes.

Anderson had 18 points for Western, and forward Derrick Webb had 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.  The Vikings were 32 of 44 (72.7 percent) on free throws, including 22 of 28 in the second half (78.6 percent).

CWU was led by guard Humberto Perez with 16 points. Toussaint Tyler had 12 points including 11 in the first half.  Chris Sprinker added 11 points and Roby Clyde had a game-high 15 rebounds, helping the Wildcats hold a 51-38 advantage on the boards.

Ready was eight of 11 from the floor, including four of five from three-point range.  He also grabbed five rebounds.

The win was the 14th victory for the Vikings, who turned the ball over only six times, in the last 21 meetings between the long-time rivals.

Alaska Fairbanks 77, Saint Martin's 76

Alaska Fairbanks gave up a 21-point lead, but came back to score the game's final five points to nip Saint Martin's Saturday afternoon at The Patty Center and earn their first conference victory of the season.

Trailing 76-72 in the final minute, the Nanooks (6-8, 1-4) got a three-pointer from Emmanuel Jenkins and then following two missed free throws by Galen Squiers, Cole Daniel, who played just four minutes, made two foul shots to give UAF the one-point victory. It was Daniel's only points of the game.

The free throw misses for Squiers were his first of the game after three successful tosses. Squiers finished with 20 points, including 18 in the second half.

SMU had rallied from a 37-16 first-half deficit overcoming a two-for-19 shooting start during which it fell behind 24-4. By halftime the Saints had rallied to within 14 points at 39-25.

Saint Martin's (11-6, 1-5) caught Fairbanks for the first time at 55-55 with 9:50 left on a pair of free throws by Blake Poole and later took a five-point lead with 2:18 left on a four-point play by Squiers.

But, they were unable to hold the lead, losing for the fifth time in a row since opening their conference season with a triple overtime win over Western Washington.

Jenkins finished as the game's leading scorer, netting 27 points, 18 of them in the first half. UAF's Jon Moe was perfect in 14 free throw attempts and finished with 25 points, 15 in the second period while teammate Joe Powell had 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The Saints were led by Poole with 26 points, 16 in the second period. Poole also had 11 rebounds.

After shooting 24.2 percent (8-33) in the opening period, SMU made 15 of 32 in the final 20 minutes, seven of 14 from the arc where it missed all nine of its attempts in the first half.

UAF shot at a 44.4 percent pace (24-54), making 12 of 26 and 12 of 28 in the two halves.

Women's Basketball: WWU Hands SPU First Loss

Western Washington used stifling defense and an offensive burst in the second half to defeat nationally 18th-ranked Seattle Pacific 54-40 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest Saturday evening at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The win left the Vikings (15-2, 6-0), who have won six straight, as the only remaining unbeaten team in the GNAC. Seattle Pacific (13-3, 4-1) is now tied for second place with two-time defending West Region champion Alaska Anchorage (14-2, 4-1). Both teams trail WWU by 1 1/2 games.

UAA earned its share of second place by defeating Western Oregon 68-54 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Meanwhile, Northwest Nazarene (13-3, 3-2) and Saint Martin's (7-10, 1-5) also earned league victories. Lindsay Brady and Kristin Hein each scored 16 points to lead NNU to a 78-60 home win against Montana State Billings (9-7, 2-3).

Dara Zack had 18 points and seven rebounds to lead Saint Martin's to a 82-48 win at Alaska Fairbanks (1-15, 0-5). The win was SMU's first conference victory of the season, snapping a seven-game losing streak.

Western Washington held Seattle Pacific to 15 points less than its previous season low and guard Megan Pinske had a team-high 16 points on six of nine field goal shooting as the Vikings remained perfect in eight home contests this season.

Guard Daesha Henderson led Seattle Pacific, which shot just 31.3 percent (15-48) from the field, with a game-high 17 points. The loss snapped the Falcons' six-game winning streak.

The Vikings led by just four points (23-19) with 17 minutes to play, but went on a 12-2 run in a 2:52 span, capping the charge with back-to-back three-pointers by Pinske and guard Amanda Dunbar to take a 35-21 lead with 14:04 to play. 

Forward Willow Cabe finished with 13 points and Dunbar added 11 as the Vikings maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the way.

Both teams were very cold in the opening half. Western shot 32 percent (8-25) and Seattle Pacific made just six of 22 shots (27.3 percent). The Vikings held a 21-15 lead at halftime.

Western, which entered the game ranked in the Top 10 nationally in all three shooting percentage categories, was well below each of its season marks for the game, hitting 39.6 percent (21-53) from the field, including 25.0 percent (4-16) on three-pointers, and 61.5 percent (8-13) on free throws.

The Vikings were outrebounded 40-27, but had just 12 turnovers to SPU's 23.

Alaska Anchorage 68, Western Oregon 54

Nikki Aden led a balanced scoring effort with 13 points as Alaska Anchorage earned a 14-point victory over Western Oregon at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves, who are ranked 13th nationally, completed a sweep of their three-game home stand, getting 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals from center Hanna Johansson along with 11 points from forward Nicci Miller.

The Wolves (8-12, 3-3) were led by 13 points from reserve guard Jamie Richardson and 11 points from forward Katie Torland.

WOU came out with a strong defensive effort and took a 12-11 lead with 8:41 left in the first half when Richardson drained a three-pointer. But UAA turned up its own defensive pressure and ended the half on a 19-5 run.

The Seawolves stretched their lead to 38-19 on Miller's only three-pointer of the night at the 15:29 mark, and UAA held on for the win despite seeing its margin trimmed to as low as nine points.

Guard Tamar Gruwell scored 10 points on eight of eight free throw shooting, while adding three assists, three steals and no turnovers.

UAA forced the visitors into 31 turnovers – 19 in the first half – and racked up 20 steals, led by Aden 's career-high-tying four swipes.

Northwest Nazarene 78, Montana State Billings 60

Lindsay Brady scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half and became the 38th player in GNAC history and the 20th in NNU history to reach the 1,000 point career milestone as the Crusaders improved to 13-3 overall and 3-2 in the GNAC.

Hein, who made eight of 14 shots, had 10 rebounds in earning her third double-double of the season. Joining Brady and Hein in double figures was Jennifer Williams with 10 points.

Kayla Ryan paced Montana State Billings with 12 points, while Sarah McNamee had 10 points.

NNU trailed early by a 12-7 count before the Crusaders took control scoring 11 straight points. Up by nine at the break at 38-29, Hein got the first basket of the second half and NNU led the rest of the way by double digits, opening up a 23-point lead at one point.

Northwest Nazarene outshot MSUB 41.1 percent to 31.4 and outrebounded them 53-32 in the win, getting 10 rebounds by Janee Olds in addition to Hein, who had six offensive caroms.

Defensively, the Crusaders had 13 steals, including four by Julianne Bazzi and three by Brady. Ryan had five blocks for MSUB.

Saint Martin's 82, Alaska Fairbanks 48

Joining Dara Zack in double figures in Saint Martin's victory were Krissy Bassett with 16 points, Jamey Gelhar with 12 and Megan Teade with 10.

Jessica Harrison led the Nanooks with 18 points. Lakeshia Levi earned a double-double, her league-best ninth of the season, with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Caitlin Hamsley netted 13 points.

The Saints used an 8-0 run, capped off by a Zack three-pointer, midway through the first half to open up a 31-19 lead on the way to a 41-27 halftime advantage. SMU then led by as many as 39 in the second half.

Zack hit on eight of 14 shots, including two of three treys, as the Saints outshot the Nanooks 49.3 percent (33-67) to 29.8 percent (17-57).

SMU also outrebounded UAF 47-31 and had five fewer turnovers (15-10). The loss was the 15th straight for the Nanooks.

Friday, Jan. 22

Track and Field: Top Mark for MSUB's Halle

Montana State Billings' Erika Halle had a GNAC season-best mark Friday in an indoor track-and-field meet at Montana State University in Bozeman.

Halle placed second in the women's 200 with a mark of 26.22. Whitney Mickelson won the women's mile for MSUB in a time of 5:31.56. Mary Owen finished second in the 3000 in 11:37.08.

The top MSUB finish in the men's portion of the meet was a third place by Dylan Solberg in the 55 hurdles.

Montana State Open (Jan. 22 at Bozeman): Men (Top 4): 55 - 4. Adam Prevost, MSUB, 6.90. 55 Hurdles - 3. Dylan Solberg, MSUB, 8.60. 200 - 4. Nathan Diede, MSUB, 23.30. 4x400 - 4. MSU Billings 3:37.64. Weight Throw - 4. Josh Morley, MSUB, 10.30 - 33-9 1/2. Women (Top 4): 200 - 2. Erika Halle, MSUB, 26.22. Mile - 1. Whitney Mickelson, MSUB, 5:31.56; 4. Katie Thiel, MSUB, 5:40.10. 3000 - 2. Mary Owen, MSUB, 11:37.08. Long Jump - 4. Erika Halle, MSUB, 4.81 - 15-9 1/2. Shot Put - 4. Brook Berg, MSUB, 11.70 - 38-4 3/4.

Thursday, Jan. 21

Women's Basketball: UAA Ties School Three-Point Record

Nikki Aden, Kiki Taylor and Hanna Johansson posted impressive all-around stats in leading Alaska Anchorage to a 78-62 victory over Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex in Anchorage Thursday.

Seattle Pacific, Western Washington and Western Oregon also posted victories. The Falcons defeated Montana State Billings 68-52, Western Washington cruised to a 80-46 road win over arch-rival Central Washington and Western Oregon earned a 91-40 win at Alaska Fairbanks.

Aden led Alaska Anchorage (13-2, 3-1) with 18 points as five players were in double figures including guard Tamar Gruwell, who netted five of UAA's school-record-tying 14 three-pointers and scored 17.

UAA, which is ranked 13th nationally, nailed a season-best 52 percent of its treys as it built a 44-25 halftime lead and never looked back.

The Saints (6-10, 0-5) were led by a game-high 19 points on seven of 12 shooting from forward Krissy Bassett, while forward Dara Zack had 12 rebounds and nine assists in her team's seventh straight defeat.

UAA took control of a tight game midway through the first half when guard Sarah Herrin came off the bench to spark a 12-2 run as the Seawolves built a 23-12 lead.

Herrin nailed all six of her shots in the first 20 minutes – including three three-pointers – and finished with 15 points.

Johansson, meanwhile, had all seven of her career-high assists in the first half and also had 13 points and seven rebounds. Taylor was also near triple-double territory as the point guard had 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. The GNAC steals leader had two swipes as well, extending her streak of multiple-steal games to 10.

Aden came two points shy of her career high on four of six three-point shooting. She also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and had four of UAA's 22 assists. Gruwell and Herrin also had three steals each.

The Seawolves' 14 three-pointers tied the school single-game record for the third time – all under fourth-year head coach Tim Moser. UAA canned the same number last year against Kuyper College and in 2006-07 against SMU.

Western Washington 80, Central Washington 46

Guard Amanda Dunbar scored 13 of her game-high 22 points in the first seven minutes of the game as Western Washington defeated Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion on the CWU campus.

The Vikings (14-2) stayed atop the GNAC standings at 5-0 with their fifth consecutive victory.  Western claimed the triumph despite being without forward Jessica Summers, who averages a team-high 17.5 points a game and is out indefinitely because of a partially torn plantar fasciitis in her right foot.

Central (4-11, 1-4), which has lost three straight, was led by Stacy Albrecht, who came off the bench to tally 11 points.

Dunbar, who entered the game ranked sixth nationally in three-point accuracy at 50 percent, knocked down four of five treys and added a free throw to help the Vikings jump to a 20-2 lead seven minutes into the game.

Western extended the lead from there, going ahead by as many as 25 points before having a 39-19 advantage at halftime.  Central shot just 17.9 percent (5-28) from the field in the opening period.

The Vikings then held the Wildcats scoreless for more than six minutes to open the second half to take a 50-19 lead, and never led by less than 24 points after that.

Center Lauren Hefflin scored 12 points on six of seven field-goal shooting for the Vikings and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, and forward Willow Cabe added 10 points.

Western, which ranks in the Top 10 nationally in all three shooting categories, hit 49.1 percent (28-57) from the field, including 39.1 percent (9-23) on three-pointers, and was 83.3 percent (15-18) on free throws.

CWU, meanwhile, made only 15 of 52 shots (28.8 percent), including two of nine three-pointers. The Wildcats were 14 of 19 from the foul line (73.7 percent).

Seattle Pacific 68, Montana State Billings 52

Megan Hoisington scored 16 points and Caitlyn Rohrbach added 10 points off the bench as Seattle Pacific used an 18-4 first-half scoring surge to take charge on the way to a 68-52 home victory against Montana State Billings.

The 18th-ranked Falcons (13-2, 4-0) won their sixth straight game, setting up a showdown at Western Washington Saturday night to determine which of them will be the last unbeaten team in conference play.

Hoisington also pulled down four rebounds and blocked one shot, while forward Sydney Benson added nine points and three rebounds.

After scoring the first seven points of the game, Seattle Pacific found itself up just 11-9 near the midpoint of the first half. That's when the Falcons scored 18 of the next 22 points, capped by an 11-0 run that made it 29-13 with 1:32 left before halftime.

It was 29-17 at the intermission, and the Yellowjackets (9-6, 2-2) never got the margin below 10 the rest of the night.

Kalli Stanhope led Montana State Billings with 11 points, and Mandy Jacobs added 10.

The Yellowjackets made just 17 of 45 shots and turned the ball over 30 times as SPU stole the ball 21 times, including five times by Henderson, four by Maddie Maloney and three by Hoisington.

Western Oregon 91, Alaska Fairbanks 40

Katie Torland scored 22 points and Meaghan White had 10 of her 12 points in the first half as Western Oregon (8-11, 3-2) handed Alaska Fairbanks (1-14, 0-4) its 14th consecutive loss.

Torland, who made four of seven treys, also had 11 rebounds, while White had eight as the Wolves controlled the backboards 51-37.

WOU had four players in double figure getting 11 from Jamie Richardson and 10 from Sara Zahler. Led by White and Richardson, the Wolves' bench produced 50 points.

Lakeshia Levi had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Nanooks. Alexandra Melonson scored 11 points.

The game was close in the early going with WOU clinging to a one-point lead at 9-8 and ahead by five at 17-12.

Western Oregon, however, then outscored UAF 34-6 the remainder of the half to lead 51-18 at the break and maintained leads of between 29 and 52 throughout the second period.

Men's Basketball: Seattle Pacific Remains Unbeaten

Brandon Larrieu scored 18 points, including a fall-away 15-foot jumper with 1:12 remaining that gave 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific the lead for good in a 73-66 victory over No. 15 Western Washington Thursday at Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham.

The first-place Falcons (13-2) remained undefeated in four Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests. Defending league champion WWU (16-3), which lost for the first time in nine home games this season, dropped to 3-2 in conference play.

In other Thursday games, Montana State Billings earned another road victory defeating Northwest Nazarene 76-74 at Nampa, Alaska Anchorage beat Saint Martin's 62-45 and Western Oregon outscored Alaska Fairbanks 83-68.

Seattle Pacific trailed 62-57 before outscoring Western Washington16-4 inside the final five minutes in its victory.

Larrieu started the game-ending surge by driving into the lane, stopping and leaning back for a free-throw line shot that put SPU ahead 68-66 with 1:12 remaining.

After WWU's Morris Anderson nailed two free throws at 1:32 to tie the scored 66-66, the Falcons closed out the game with seven straight points.

A senior wing, Larrieu scored 12 of his team-high 18 points during the first half.

SPU junior Chris Banchero poured in 12 of his 17 points in the second half. He converted five of six free throws over the final 35 seconds to complete the scoring.

Rafael Moreira and Jeff Downs each contributed 14 points for SPU, which shot 56.3 percent from the field (27 of 48) while limiting the Vikings to 40.6 percent (26 of 64). That helped the Falcons overcome 35-31 and 17-12 rebound and takeaway deficits, respectively.

Downs made four of six treys, leading the Falcons to a seven of 15 performance from behind the three-point line. WWU made just three of 20 from the arc.

Anderson finished with 22 points to pace the Vikings, who also got 13 points from Zach Bruce, 11 from Derrick Webb and 10 from Andrew Ready. Ready had a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Falcons were ahead from midway through the first half until the 10:55 mark of the second half when WWU used a 10-4 run to capture the lead.

The Vikings pushed their margin to as many as five points at 62-57 on a dunk by Bruce with 5:08 remaining but they scored only four points the rest of the way.

WWU scored the game's first four points and led 14-13 before SPU went on a 13-5 run, ignited by five straight points from Downs. He hit a jumper and a three-point to start the surge that netted the Falcons a 26-19 lead with 7:20 left in the first half.

SPU lead the rest of the half. WWU drew within 31-30 on a Richard Woodward layup at 1:45. SPU tallied the final five points, including a long three-pointer at the buzzer to claim a 36-30 halftime advantage.

Montana State Billings 76, Northwest Nazarene 74

Derrick Wright scored 10 second-half points, including a three-pointer with 2:06 left to snap a 72-72 tie, as Montana State Billings overcame a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Northwest Nazarene 76-74 at the Johnson Sports Center.

It was MSUB's third road win this winter and its second in three conference away games. The Yellowjackets went a combined 1-16 in conference road games the past two seasons.

Wright finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds and was one of four MSUB players in double figures. DeAndre Chambers led the 'Jackets with 21 points, 13 in the opening half when MSUB trailed 44-35.

The 'Jackets (9-4, 3-1), who moved into a three-way tie for second place in the GNAC with Alaska Anchorage and idle Central Washington, also got 15 points from Lasha Parghalava and 12 from point guard DaVell Jackson. Jackson had six assists and three steals.

Kendall Gielow led Northwest Nazarene (10-6, 2-3) with 20 points, including 14 in the first half when he made seven of nine shots as the Crusaders remained winless in three conference home games. The visiting team has won all five conference games in which NNU has been involved.

“Right now it seems like we are playing a little better away,” NNU coach Tim Hill said.

“Tonight it was our defense. . . The game plan was make them dribble it to score, and we didn't make them dribble to score,” Hills said.

Down 24-12 in the opening half, and 52-39 in the second, the Yellowjackets hit seven of 12 three-pointers in the second half to pull out the win.

In addition to Gielow, Northwest Nazarene also got 11 points from Anthony Golden and 10 each from Lateef Williams and Louie Beech. Drew Eisinger had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

After Wright's three-pointer had given MSUB a three-point lead, Gielow made two foul shots with 13 seconds left to pull the Crusaders within one point.

A quick foul sent Chambers to the charity stripe where he made one of two. NNU then had a chance to win it but Eisinger's three-point try was blocked by Parghalava.

After building a 44-35 halftime lead, NNU stretched its advantage to 13 early in the second half. MSUB, which also rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit in a home win last Saturday against Saint Martin's, then went on a 22-9 run to tie it with 9:07 left.

The game remained tight the rest of the way until Wright gave MSUB, which made 10 of 20 three-point shots, the edge with his trey.

“In the first half we were out of formation for almost 20 minutes,” MSUB head coach George Pfeifer said.  “In the second half, we played with a lot more energy, focus and intelligence. 

"I thought DeAndre (Chambers) was the best player on the floor without question tonight, he came off the bench and played really well.  We were really fortunate to win this game.”

Alaska Anchorage 62, Saint Martin's 45

Brandon Walker and Casey Robinson combined for 35 points and Alaska Anchorage used perhaps its best defensive effort of the season to post a 17-point victory over Saint Martin's at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

UAA (12-3, 3-1) also got strong all-around efforts from Nick Pacitti and Kevin White as it outshot the Saints 46 percent to 24 percent and out-rebounded them 41-33.

Saint Martin's (11-5, 1-4), which suffered its fourth straight loss, was led by 12 points and five rebounds from forward Blake Poole, plus seven points and eight rebounds from reserve forward Jeremy Green.

Poole, the GNAC's No. 2 scorer and leading rebounder, was held well under his averages (20.5 ppg,12.3 rpg) as he shot just four of 12 from the field and battled foul trouble in the second half.

The Seawolves took control from the outset, holding the Saints without a field goal for almost seven minutes midway through the first half while they built a 27-14 lead.

The Saints cut it to 30-21 at halftime, but Robinson nailed a three-pointer right after the break to stretch the lead to double digits for good.

Robinson, a 6-6 junior forward, finished with 16 points on six of 11 shooting (4-9 3FGs), topping the 15-point barrier for the third straight game.

Western Oregon 83, Alaska Fairbanks 68

Matt Schmidt scored 22 points to lead Western Oregon to a 83-68 win over Alaska Fairbanks at The Patty Center.

The Wolves (8-8, 1-4) earned their first conference victory of the season, keeping Alaska Fairbanks (5-8, 0-4) winless in the GNAC.

The Nanooks, who played the game without Parrish West, the GNAC's leading scorer at 22.3 points per game, were paced by Nashorn Maynard, who had 24 points and 10 rebounds.

West was ruled academically ineligible by UAF school officials earlier this week.

In addition to Schmidt Western Oregon was paced by Kolton Nelson who came off the bench to score 13 points and grab six rebounds, and by Kyle Long and Blair Wheadon. Long had 11 points and Wheadon had 10 points and eight assists.

Joining Maynard in double figures were Jon Moe and Bo Edwards with 11 points. Moe scored all 11 of his points in the first half. Edwards had nine rebounds.

The game was tied six times in the first half before WOU went on a 14-0 run getting two treys from Long and one each from Schmidt and Wheadon to go ahead by 10. For the game, the Wolves made eight of 16 three-pointers.

UAF, which trailed by 37-32 at the break, scored the first five points of the second half to create the game's seventh time, but WOU took the lead for good with 15:22 left on a basket by Nelson and eventually stretched its lead back to double-digits with 5 1/2 minutes to go.

Wednesday, Jan. 20

Men's Basketball: Falcons, Vikings In Key Clash

The only two West Region teams ranked in this week's NABC Division II national poll square off against each other Thursday night at Sam Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham.

Seattle Pacific is ranked 12th and Western Washington is ranked 15th in this week's poll. No other West Region team received a vote in the poll.

The Falcon-Viking game, along with the rest of the men's and women's games in the conference are available on GNAC TV. Live stats are also available for all of Thursday's games on the GNAC web site.

Seattle Pacific comes into Thursday's contest as the GNAC's only unbeaten team in conference games.

The Falcons (3-0) lead both Western Washington (3-1) and Central Washington (3-1) by one-half a game and are one game up on Alaska Anchorage (2-1) and Montana State Billings (2-1).

Central Washington is idle Thursday before entertaining Western Washington on Saturday. Alaska Anchorage hosts Saint Martin's (1-3) and MSU Billings play at Northwest Nazarene (2-2) Thursday night.

Western Oregon (0-4) plays at Alaska Fairbanks (0-3) to complete Thursday's schedule.

UAA Ranked Fifth Nationally In Rebounding

Alaska Anchorage is ranked fifth nationally in team rebounding in the latest NCAA Division II national statistical report. The Seawolves are outrebounding their opponents by 10 1/2 per game.

Two other conference teams are ranked nationally in a Top 10 category. Seattle Pacific is seventh in field goal percentage (51.2) and Northwest Nazarene is ranked eighth in free throw percentage (76.5).

Individually, Blake Poole is the only GNAC player ranked in the Top 10. He is third in rebounding. Parrish West of Alaska Fairbanks is the conference leader in scoring and ranks 13th nationally, averaging 22.3 per game.

Women's Basketball: UAA No. 13 in WBCA Poll

Alaska Anchorage is ranked 13th and Seattle Pacific is ranked 18th in this week's USA Today ESPN WBCA Division II national poll.

Western Washington, which currently sits atop the GNAC standings with a 4-0 record, is among "others receiving votes" and is ranked 26th overall. Northwest Nazarene also received votes this week and is 39th overall.

Western Washington, which plays at Central Washington (1-3) Thursday, leads Seattle Pacific (3-0) by one-half game in the conference standings. SPU hosts Montana State Billings (2-1) Thursday.

Alaska Anchorage (2-1), which is tied for third place with MSUB, entertains Saint Martin's (0-4). NNU (2-2), which is tied for fifth with Western Oregon (2-2), is idle before hosting MSUB on Saturday. Western Oregon plays at Alaska Fairbanks (0-3).

Seawolves Ranked In Top 10 in Five Categories; First in Defense

Alaska Anchorage is ranked in the Top 10 in five different categories including No. 1 in scoring defense (51.2) in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

The Seawolves are also second in rebounding (13.3), fourth in scoring margin (25.4), eighth in steals (14.9), ninth in turnover margin (7.50).

Western Washington is ranked in three categories - second in three-point percentage (40.8), sixth in field goal percentage (49.2) and 10th in free throw percentage (77.6).

WWU's Amanda Dunbar is sixth in three-point percentage (50.0), 17th in three-pointers made (3.1) and 25th in field goal percentage (53.8).

Other Top 10 ranked teams include Saint Martin's, ninth in free throw percentage (77.0) and third in three-point percentage (40.8). Northwest Nazarene, which won national free throw statistical titles in 2007 and 2009, ranks second in free throw percentage (80.4).

In addition to Dunbar, the only other GNAC individual in the Top 10 is Callie Kautzmann of Montana State Billings, who ranks 10th in free throw percentage at 89.7.

Saturday, Jan. 16

Men's Basketball: Eisinger's 33 Leads NNU Past WOU

Drew Eisinger made his last eight shots and finished with 33 points to lead Northwest Nazarene to a 101-86 win over Western Oregon Saturday at the NPE Building in Monmouth.

The win completed a weekend road sweep for the Crusaders (10-5), who evened their conference record at 2-2. NNU beat Saint Martin's 76-59 Thursday at Lacey.

Elsewhere in the GNAC, Alaska Anchorage (11-3, 2-1) got two free throws by Casey Robinson with 0.4 second left to edge Central Washington 67-66, Montana State Billings (8-4, 2-1) overcame a 16-point first-half deficit in defeating Saint Martin's 74-67 and Western Washington (16-2, 3-1) outscored Alaska Fairbanks 87-71.

Eisinger made 11 of 13 shots, including back-to-back three-pointers early in the second half to finish off a 12-2 run, stretching a four-point lead to 14 (59-45) with 14:13 remaining. WOU (7-8, 0-4) never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

NNU never trailed in the game after opening up a 11-1 lead though the Wolves closed to within two points twice in the first half at 17-15 and 27-25.

After the latter occasion, the Crusaders went on a 10-2 run going ahead 37-27 on another Eisinger three-pointer before settling for a 43-34 lead at halftime. Eisinger made five of his six three-point attempts and was six of six from the foul line.

Drew's brother, Jamie, added 18 points on eight of nine shooting. Jamie also had eight assists and three steals.

Anthony Golden chipped in with 17 points, making five of eight three-pointers as NNU finished 10 of 16 from the arc. Also in double figures were Kendall Gielow with 16 points and David Reeher with 10.

Blair Wheadon led Western Oregon with 25 points. The Wolves also got 11 points from Josh Johnson on perfect shooting (4-4 FGs, 1-1 3FGs, 2-2 FTs) and 10 each from Matt Schmidt, Mike McLaughlin and Kolton Nelson.

McLaughlin also had a game-high 10 rebounds as Western Oregon outboarded the Crusaders 33-27. But the Wolves, who shot 48.4 percent (31-64) couldn't match NNU's 61.8 percentage (34-55) from the field or its 88.5 performance (23-26) from the foul line.

Alaska Anchorage 67, Central Washington 66

Forward Casey Robinson scored a game-high 18 points, including two free throws with 0.4 second remaining, to lead Alaska Anchorage to a dramatic one-point win at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves also got 14 points and nine rebounds from forward Nick Pacitti and 12 points from guard Donnie Lao as they snapped Central's five-game winning streak and handed the Wildcats (9-5, 3-1) their first conference loss of the year.

Central – led by 14 points apiece from forward Riley Spevak and reserve guard Toussaint Tyler – claimed all of the momentum out of the gate and seemed to take more into the locker room when Shane Miller hit a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give the home team a 31-25 lead.

Trailing 36-29 in the second half, the Seawolves made their move when Robinson scored four straight points and Kevin White and Pacitti hit consecutive three-pointers, giving UAA its first lead (39-38) with 13:41 remaining.

The Seawolves built their lead to seven points before the Wildcats scrapped back to tie it at 54-54 with 7:36 remaining. UAA had yet another answer, however, and Lao gave the Seawolves their biggest lead – 62-55 – with a layup at the five-minute mark.

Clinging to a 65-64 lead in the final minute, the Seawolves finally fell behind with 35.8 seconds showing when Tyler nailed a pair of free throws. CWU made 26 of 33 free throws in the second half (after going two for three in the opening period) as three Seawolves – Pacitti, Liam Gibcus and Brandon Walker – fouled out.

With just one active player remaining on the bench, the Seawolves ran down the clock for a chance at the final shot.

White drove the lane and missed a reverse layin with about seven seconds remaining, and Robinson secured a loose-ball scramble for the offensive rebound with 1.7 seconds showing.

After two timeouts, Lao inbounded to Robinson outside the three-point arc, and CWU's Coby Gibler, who had 13 points, was whistled for a foul with 0.4 left -- 25 feet from the basket.

The foul was ruled a non-shooting foul – allowing Robinson two chances instead of three – but Robinson nailed both free throws.

A three-quarter-court heave was no good at the buzzer as the Seawolves claimed just their second win in Ellensburg in the last seven years.

The victory tied the all-time series between the schools at 10-10 and marked the first time that the road team had prevailed since 2007.

Montana State Billings 74, Saint Martin's 67

Lasha Parghalava scored 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half as Montana State Billings rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat Saint Martin's.

Figuring out the change in fortunes between the first and second half for the two squads was as simple as looking at the shooting percentages.

In the opening period, which ended up with the Saints ahead 38-27, SMU made 13 of 30 shots, while holding MSUB to 10 field goals in 30 attempts.

But in the second period, the Yellowjackets shot at a 70 percent clip (14 of 20), while limiting the Saints, who gave up a double-digit first half lead for the second time in three nights, to 10 field goals in 38 tries.

Despite the shooting disparities, Saint Martin's stilled trailed by just one point with 37 seconds left after Blake Poole hit a pair of foul shots.

DaVell Jackson, however, reestablished MSUB's lead at three points four seconds later with two foul shots and then after three-point SMU misses, MSUB's DeAndre Chambers and Mike McCrary each cashed on on a pair of free throws to establish the final score.

Jackson ended up with 17 points, including 10 in the second half when he made all three of his field goal attempts. He also had eight assists and six rebounds.

McCrary, who had 10 rebounds, was also three of three in the second period when he had 10 of his 15 points. Brad Hodge chipped in with 14 points.

The Saints, who led 36-20 with 2:26 left in the first half, got 17 points and 10 rebounds from Poole, 12 points each from Galen Squiers and Jeremy Green and 10 from Roger O'Neill.

Saint Martin's (11-4, 1-3) was in control until MSUB used a 15-2 run early in the second half to go ahead 45-43. Later they extended that run to 25-6 grabbing a 55-47 lead with 8:28 left.

The Saints, however, battled back getting a three-pointer from Squiers and two free throws by Poole before MSUB put the game away at the foul line.

Western Washington 87, Alaska Fairbanks 71

Guard Morris Anderson scored 14 of his team-high 23 points in the first half leading Western Washington to a 16-poimt home win over Alaska Fairbanks at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings, rated No.19 in this week's NABC NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, remained perfect in eight home contests. The Vikings host Seattle Pacific, the lone remaining unbeaten team in conference games, next Thursday.

Forward Parrish West had a game-high 27 points for UAF.  Forward Nashorn Maynard added 20 points.

The Vikings took control early in the contest, jumping to a 23-4 lead midway through the half while holding the Nanooks to just two field goals in their first 13 attempts.  

UAF (5-7, 0-3) used a 17-5 run over the next five minutes to close the gap to seven at 28-21 with 4:43 left in the period, but Western pushed the lead back to 39-25 at halftime.  The Vikings never led by less than 10 points in the second half.

Forward Derrick Webb had 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Western.  Guard Harold McAllister added 11 points on 11 of 11 free throw shooting, and forward Zach Bruce had 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Vikings had a 45-39 advantage in rebounds and committed only 11 turnovers to 14 for UAF.

Women's Basketball: SPU Wins on Buzzer Beater

Henderson

Daesha Henderson hit an 18-footer from the right of the lane at the buzzer Saturday afternoon lifting Seattle Pacific to a 63-61 GNAC road win at Northwest Nazarene.

Elsewhere Western Washington (13-2, 4-0), Western Oregon (7-11, 2-2) and Montana State Billings (9-6, 2-2) also posted road victories.

The Vikings stayed on top the conference - one-half game ahead of SPU (12-2, 3-0) - with a 67-50 win at Saint Martin's. Western Oregon defeated Central Washington 71-49 at Ellensburg. Montana State Billings earned a 67-49 win at Alaska Fairbanks.

Henderson's shot capped a wild final seven minutes of the game. For that matter, it capped a wild final few seconds as the 21st ranked Falcons who raced to a 14-2 lead at the outset, found themselves down 61-56 with 2:49 to play -- then scored the last seven points.

“All I can say is it was wonderful to win,” SPU coach Julie van Beek said. “NNU is a very good team. We got down by five and found a way to win.”

Henderson, who finished with 13 points, had tied the game at 61-61 on a pair of free throws with 36.3 seconds left.

The Falcons' defense then forced a turnover with six seconds remaining as sophomore guard Nyesha Sims came up with a steal before the Crusaders (12-3, 2-2) could get off a shot.

Henderson, thinking time was almost out, threw up a shot from just over the mid court line that fell way short, giving NNU the ball back with 3.8 seconds remaining.

“You don't see the scoreboard there very easily because it's overhead,” van Beek said. “Daesha heard the crowd and thought there were just two seconds left.”

The ensuing inbounds pass from under the Seattle Pacific hoop got away from Northwest Nazarene's Beth Johnson, and the Falcons regained possession with 2.6 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, SPU inbounded from back court. Henderson took it down the right side, pulled up just inside the three-point arc, and launched a shot that went in at the buzzer, handing the Crusaders their first home loss in nine games this season at the Johnson Sports Center.

In addition to Henderson, SPU was also led by Megan Hoisington with 10 points and eight rebounds. Maddie Maloney, whose three-point play with 1:58 remaining started the Falcons' game-winning seven-point rally, also wound up with 10.

Olds led Northwest Nazarene with 13 points, while Brittney Roggenkamp and Lindsay Brady, who now has 995 career points, had 10 each. Kristin Hein, who came into the contest with a team-best 12.4 scoring average, was kept off by board.

The Falcons got off to a torrid start, hitting 10 of their first 13 shots, including six of seven from behind the three-point arc on the way to a 30-16 at exactly the midpoint of the first half.

But Seattle Pacific missed its next 12 shots from the floor, hitting only a pair of free throws as Northwest Nazarene put together a 12-2 run to get within 32-28. It was 34-28 at halftime, and the Falcons gradually pushed its lead back to nine at 42-33 with 15:17 left.

SPU was still up nine at 51-42 when the Crusaders started a 17-3 run, capped by nine straight points including the first six by Brady to move ahead 59-54 with 3:29 left.

Down 61-56 after Olds' two free throws, Maloney pulled the Falcons within two at the 1:58 mark when she hit spun around for a two-footer under the hoop, was fouled and hit the ensuing free throw.

The teams traded one missed shot and one turnover apiece. Hoisington then stole the ball with 42 seconds left and got it to Henderson, who was fouled and, after an NNU timeout, swished both free throws to tie it at 61-61.

SPU, which has won five straight against the Crusaders and 21 of 23 in the all-time series, hit a season-best 85.7 percent at the free throw line, draining 12 of 14. Northwest Nazarene, the GNAC's best team at the line (79.8 percent) got just six free throws, hitting five.

After the hot start, the Falcons wound up shooting 44.9 percent for the game (22 of 49). They limited the Crusaders to 40.6 percent (26 of 64).

Western Washington 67, Saint Martin's 50

Guard Amanda Dunbar had 20 points and forward Willow Cabe added 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Western Washington to a 17-point win over Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

Aided by a pair of three-pointers by guard Jamey Gelhar, Saint Martin's (6-9, 0-4) took an 8-2 lead 4:39 into the game.  But Western responded with an 18-2 blitz, with seven different players scoring in a five-minute span, to grab a 20-10 lead with 5:07 left in the half and led the rest of the way.

The Vikings were ahead 30-23 at halftime, and never led by less than eight points in the final 17 minutes.

Western shot 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field and had a 38-34 edge in rebounds. Dunbar made eight of 12 shots and Cabe was seven of 12.

Dara Zack led Saint Martin's with 16 points and 17 rebounds, including 10 at the offensive end. The Saints, who have lost six straight, also got 13 points from Gelhar and 12 from Krissy Bassett.

Western Oregon 71, Central Washington 49

Sara Zahler made four of five three-point shots and scored a game-high 16 points to lead Western Oregon to a 71-49 win over Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Wolves also got 14 points from Katie Torland on 12 of 12 free throw shooting and 10 points from Jamie Richardson.

Central Washington was led by Sara Bergner with 12 points. Stacy Albrecht added 11 points and Brittany Duerr had 10 plus a team-high four assists.

The Wolves had a 22-6 edge in free throws and also controlled the backboards 47-32, dropping the Wildcats (4-10) to 1-3 in the GNAC. Meaghan White led WOU on the boards with eight, while Lorrie Clifford had seven. Torland and A.J. Hawk had six each.

Western Oregon, which got a three-pointer from Zahler to end the first half and then scored the first seven points of the second half to stretch a two-point lead to 12, also had a 27-9 advantage on three-pointers, making nine of 22.

After opening up a 35-23 lead early in the second half, WOU built its lead to 26 points at 64-38 and then again at 71-45 and was never seriously challenged the rest of the way.

Montana State Billings 67, Alaska Fairbanks 49

Callie Kautzmann scored 10 of her 14 points in the first half and Kayla Ryan and Sarah McNamee had 10 of their 16 and 15-point totals in the second half leading Montana State Billings to a 67-49 win over Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.

The Yellowjackets trailed as late as 4:56 left in the opening period before grabbing a three-point lead at the break. McNamee, who had six rebounds, four assists and four steals, then hit back-to-back three-pointers and Ryan, who had a game-high 13 rebounds, had a basket to start the second half.

MSUB went on to outscore the Nanooks 17-4 to start the period, eventually opening up leads as much as 24 points.

UAF (1-13, 0-3), which sustained its 13th consecutive loss, was led by Lakeshia Levi, who had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double. Jessica Harrison had nine points.

Neither team reached the 40 percentile shooting percentage mark. MSUB, which had nine fewer turnovers (23-14) and five more steals (9-4) than UAF, finished at 36.9 percent, making 24 of 64. The Nanooks converted on one third of their shots (20-60).

Indoor Track: Automatic Time for SPU Foursome

Chad Meis

Great Northwest Athletic Conference athletes posted four national qualifying marks Saturday in the UW Indoor Preview meet at the Dempsey Indoor.

Leading the way was Seattle Pacific's women's distance medley relay team that bettered the automatic qualifying standard in a school and GNAC record time of 11:32.23.

The foursome of Jane Larson, Crystal Sims, Lisa Anderberg and Jessica Pixler bettered the old conference record by 6.01 seconds in winning the event. Stanford finished second in 11:44.05.

SPU also accounted for two of the other three national qualifying marks. All three were provisional marks.

SPU's Amanda Alvarez qualified in the women's triple jump with a leap of 37-6, while the Falcons' Chad Meis qualifed in the mile, placing 12th in a PNQ and school-record time of 4:11.38. Both marks rank third in GNAC history.

Ryan Brown of Western Washington had a PNQ in the men's pole vault. Brown, who holds the GNAC indoor record of 16-6, qualified with a vault of 16-1 1/4 to place sixth.

Several other athletes had GNAC Top 10 all-time marks Saturday, including Sarah Porter, Lauren Breihof, Michelle Howe and Keefe Brockman, all of Western Washington; Ashley Potter, Ashtin Mott and Matson Hardie of Western Oregon, and Torrie Self, Anthony Wright, Brennan Boyes and James Cho of Central Washington.

Porter improved her own No. 2 ranked all-time conference mark in the women's 3000 finishing third in a time of 9:44.31, while Breihof placed 10th in a time of 10:12.28, which ranks sixth on the GNAC all-time chart.

Howe finished eighth in the 60 hurdles in a time of 9.05, cutting .02 seconds off her own No. 2 GNAC mark.

Brockman tied CWU's Boyes for eighth in the men's high jump with marks of 6-5, both equaling the No. 7 spot on the GNAC Top 10 chart. He also placed fifth in the triple jump (46-0 3/4), moving into eighth place on the conference list.

Porter, Howe and Brockman's triple jump marks were all Western Washington schoool records.

Potter placed sixth in the women's triple jump with a mark of 36-10 1/4, No. 8 on the GNAC all-time chart, while Mott placed seventh in the men's 400 in a time of 49.63, No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list.

Hardie had two GNAC Top 10 marks, placing fifth in the men's long jump (22-3 1/2) and second in the triple jump (46-5 1/4). Both marks rank fourth in GNAC history. Seattle Pacific's Justin Felt, the GNAC long jump record holder at 23-2 3/4, was fourth in that event (22-3 3/4).

WOU's men's 4x400 relay team posted a GNAC No. 4 all-time ranked mark, placing fourth in time of 3:22.16.

Self added 1 3/4 inches to her previous No. 6 ranked women's weight throw mark, placing sixth (49-0 3/4). Wright's second-place time of 6.95 in the men's 60 equaled the second best mark in GNAC history, while Cho's fourth-place triple jump mark of 46-1 1/2 ranks seventh all-time in GNAC history,

UW Preview (Jan. 16 at Seattle): Men (Top 8): 3. Anthony Wright, CWU, 6.95; 6. Gabe Aguilar, WOU, 6.99. 200 - 8. Josh Moore, WOU, 22.65. 400 - 7. Ashtin Mott, WOU, 49.63. 60 Hurdles - 5. Andy Loscutoff, WOU, 8.47; 8. Anthony Hogan, CWU, 8.61, 4x400 - 4. Western Oregon 3:22.16; 6. Western Washington 3:24.60. High Jump - 8. Keefe Brockman, WWU, 6-5, and Brennan Boyes, CWU, 6-5. Pole Vault - 6. Ryan Brown, 16-1 1/4. Long Jump - 4. Justin Felt, SPU, 22-3 3/4; 5. Matson Hardie, WOU, 22-3 1/2; 7. Bryan Mack, CWU, 21-6 3/4. Triple Jump - 2. Matson Hardie, WOU, 46-5 1/4; 4. James Cho, CWu, 46-1 1/2; 5. Keefe Brockman, WWU, 46-0 3/4; 6. Will Davis, WWU, 45-7 1/4. Shot Put - 8. Nelson Westlin, WWU, 46-6 3/4. Weight Throw - 5. Jason Slowey, WOU, 52-8 1/4; 6. Mychal Ostler, CWU, 51-6 1/2. Women (Top 8): 400 - 4. Ellie Siler, WWU, 58.88; 7. Sarah Brownell, WWU, 59.87; 8. Jenifer Pike, SPU, 1:00.20. 3000 - 3. Sarah Porter, WWU, 9:44.31. 60 Hurdles - 8. Michelle Howe, WWU, 9.05. 4x400 - 5. Western Washington 3:56.86. Distance Medley - 1. Seattle Pacific 11:32.23. Long Jump - 3. Emily Warman, WWU, 18-1 3/4. Triple Jump - 5. Amanda Alvarez, SPU, 37-6; 6. Ashley Potter, WOU, 36-10 1/4. Shot Put - 7. Raisa Yates, CWU, 38-1 1/2. Weigh Throw - 6. Torrie Self, CWU, 49-0 3/4; 8. Jordan Stueckle, CWU, 46-7 1/4.

Baseball: Keitzman Finalist for Oregon Sports Award

Western Oregon baseball pitcher Blake Keitzman has been selected as one of five male finalists for the Ad Rutschman Small-College Athlete of the Year honor, which will be selected at the 2010 Oregon Sports Awards Sunday, Jan. 31.

Keitzman, a product of Roseburg High School, was a consensus All-American selection during his junior season at Western Oregon . He posted a perfect 9-0 record, to go along with a 2.08 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 86.1 innings.

He was the GNAC Pitcher of the Year and was named to all three NCAA Division II All-American teams, which included a first team selection by the Rawlings/American Baseball Coaches Association. He was also a 15th round pick by the Seattle Mariners in the 2009 major league draft.

Other finalists include Aaron Boehme (Linfield football), Tyrell Fortune ( Clackamas Community College wrestling), Josh Lovell (Linfield track and field) and Greg Schultz (Concordia track and field).

Thursday, Jan. 14

Last November Wood was also selected to the Daktronics regional team as well as the GNAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. He led a CWU defense that finished the season ranked No. 1 in the nation among Division II schools in scoring defense, allowing just 11.9 points per game including 21 to eventual national champion Northwest Missouri State in a 21-20 quarterfinal loss.

Dixie State punter Mike Langston was also named to the Daktronics team and was one of six GNAC players named to the Football Gazette second team. Two more GNAC players were named to the Gazette third team. Four players, all from CWU, earned second team Daktronics honors.

Football Gazette: First Team - Johnny Spevak, CWU (WR, 6-3, 200, Sr., Edgewood, WA); Eugene Germany, CWU (DT, 6-3, 276, Jr., Pomona, CA); Buddy Wood, CWU (LB, 6-3, 214, Sr., Chattaroy, WA). Second Team - Randall Eldridge, CWU (RB, 5-9, 192, Sr.,Lynnwood, WA); Tony Quirk, CWU (OT, 6-6, 300, Sr., Ellensburg, WA); Garrett Rolsma, CWU (K, 6-1, 200, Sr., University Place, WA); Kalani Zoller, WOU (DT, 6-4, 300, Jr., Marysville, WA); Caleb Singleton, WOU (S, 6-4, 205, Jr., Salem, OR); Mike Langston, Dixie State (P, 6-2, 200, Jr., Riverside, CA). Third Team - Nick Rocco, Dixie State (DE, 6-0, 225, Jr., Sammamish, WA); Guy Ricciardulli, HSU (CB, 5-11, 200, Jr., Poway, CA).

Daktronics: First Team – Buddy Wood, CWU (LB, 6-3, 214, Sr., Chattaroy, WA); Mike Langston, Dixie State (P, 6-2, 200, Jr., Riverside, CA). Second Team – Tony Quirk, CWU (OL, 6-6, 300, Sr., Ellensburg, WA); Johnny Spevak, CWU (WR, 6-3, 200, Sr., Edgewood, WA); Randall Eldridge, CWU (5-9, 192, Sr., Lynnwood, WA); Garrett Rolsma, CWU (K, 6-1, 200, Sr., University Place, WA).

Tuesday, Jan. 12

Football: Dixie Names Brumfield Head Coach

Scott Brumfield has been named new head football coach at Dixie State College.

"I am thrilled that Coach Brumfield accepted the position as our head football coach," Dixie interim athletic director Mo Eckroth said.  

"Our administration and staff realize the challenges he faces.  He possesses all the positive attributes and credentials that will help our student-athletes be successful in the classroom and on the field."

Brumfield has served as the offensive coordinator of the Red Storm for the past four years.

Prior to his arrival at Dixie State, Brumfield was the head football coach at Spanish Fork High School (Utah) from 2000-2005.

Prior to entering the coaching field, Scott was a free-agent signee of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1994 and went on to play six years in the NFL. His career as an offensive lineman was cut short due to a spinal-cord injury.

As a result of being temporarily paralyzed and having to relearn how to walk, he was the recipient of the 1997 Ed Block Courage Award. Brumfield was also awarded the United Way Unitarian of Year Award in 1998.

Prior to the NFL, Brumfield played two seasons at Brigham Young University. His on field efforts garnered him a first team All-Western Athletic Conference selection.

He was a two-time JC All-American at Dixie State in 1988 and 1989. After playing, he was inducted into the NJCAA Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

 “It's and honor to work at Dixie State and it is very dear to my heart. It has been the foundation of helping me achieve all my goals and the success that I have. I look forward to the bright future of Red Storm football,” Brumfield said.

Last August, Brumfield's jersey number (74) was retired in a halftime ceremony.

Brumfield will retain Jim Eggleston as Director of operations and has hired former Southern Utah University defensive coordinator Cole Wilson to run the defense.

Scott is the father of four children, Brooke, Nick, Tyler, and Trey and is married to the former Jody Tanner.

Men's Basketball: Poole Ranked In Three Categories

Blake Poole of Saint Martin's is the lone GNAC player ranked in the Top 10 in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

Blake is ranked fourth in rebounding (12.4) and 10th in in field goal percentage. He is also ranked 21st in scoring (21.7). He leads the conference in all three categories.

Three GNAC teams are ranked in the Top 10 in national categories. Alaska Anchorage is second in rebounding (12.8). Seattle Pacific is sixth in field goal percentage (51.2) and Northwest Nazarene is 10th in free throw percentage (76.1).

Seattle Pacific 15th in NABC National Poll

Seattle Pacific is the top-ranked West Region team in this week's NABC national poll. The Falcons are ranked 15th.

Western Washington at No. 19 and Cal Poly Pomona at No. 20 are the only other West Region teams ranked in the Top 25. Alaska Anchorage is among "others receiving votes" and is 34th overall.

Women's Basketball: UAA National Leader In Defense

Alaska Anchorage is ranked first in scoring defense, second in rebounding margin (14.3) and fifth in scoring margin (25.7) in this week's NCAA Division II national statistical report.

Only one GNAC player - guard Amanda Dunbar of Western Washington - is ranked in the Top 10 in an individual category. Dunbar ranks ninth in three-point percentage (48.1).

In addition to Alaska Anchorage, Western Washington, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene are ranked in the Top 10 in various team categories.

Western Washington is fifth in field goal percentage (49.8), sixth in three-point percentage (41.9) and seventh in free throw percentage (77.8).

Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin's are fifth (79.8) and 10th (77.7), respectively, in free throw percentage. The Saints are also fourth in three-point percentage (41.3).

Four Receive Votes in WBCA Top 25

Four Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams, led by No. 12 Alaska Anchorage, received votes in this week' USA Today ESPN WBCA Top 25 poll.

Seattle Pacific is ranked 21st, Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene were among "others receiving votes" and are 29th and 37th overall.

The only other West Region team in the poll is UC San Diego. The Tritons, who have home-court wins over Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, are ranked seventh.

Track and Field: Halle Seventh In MSU Pentathlon

Erika Halle of Montana State Billings finished seventh Monday in the pentathlon at the Montana State University Multi-Events in Bozeman, Montana.

Halle finished the one-day event with a total of 2,639 pointss.

Pentathlon – 7. Erika Halle, MSUB, 2639 (55 Hurdles – 9.37; High Jump – 1.41 - 4-7 ¾; Long Jump – 4.88 - 16-0 ¼; Shot – 7.42 - 24-4 ½; 800 – 2:44.8).

Saturday, Jan. 9

Women's Basketball: Vikings Outscore UAA 78-58

Guard Ashley Fenimore more than tripled her season average scoring a game-high 17 points and also adding five assists as Western Washington beat two-time defending West Region champion Alaska Anchorage 78-58 in a GNAC women's basketball contest Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Meanwhile, Daesha Henderson scored 17 points and ignited a decisive 13-1 scoring run at the outset of the second half with a three-pointer to lead Seattle Pacific to a 75-62 victory against Western Oregon at the New PE Building in Monmouth, Ore.

Elsewhere in the GNAC, Northwest Nazarene rebounded from a loss Thursday at WOU to beat Saint Martin's 77-65 and Central Washington defeated Alaska Fairbanks 82-72.

Forwards Willow Cabe and Jessica Summers joined Fenimore in double figures in WWU's victory adding 16 and 15 points, respectively. Summers also had 11 rebounds.

UAA (11-2, 1-1), which was ranked No. 8 in this week's WBCA NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, was led by guard Kiki Taylor and reserve forward Kelsie Gourdin with 14 points each.

Tamar Gruwell was also in double figures with 10 points. Taylor also had seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

The win was Western's first victory over a Top 10 team since it beat No.10 Cal Poly Pomona in the 2000 NCAA West Region championship game.

The Vikings (11-2, 2-0), who are 7-0 at home this season, took control midway through the contest, closing the first half on a 9-2 run to take a 38-25 lead, then scoring the first six points of the second half to open up a 44-25 advantage with 18:30 to play. The Seawolves never got closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

UAA entered the game allowing an NCAA Division II best 48.0 points a contest, but the Vikings reached that plateau less than four minutes into the second half. 

Western shot 54.0 percent (27-50) from the field and 89.5 percent (17-19) on free throws.  UAA shot just 32.8 percent (20-61) from the field, including just 27.6 percent (8-29) in the first half.

“We played good defense the whole night staying focused at the defensive end for 40 minutes,” said WWU coach Carmen Dolfo .  “The other key was that we moved the ball well.  We found the open person; we didn't force things and we took what they gave us.”

The Seawolves played most of the second half without starting center Hanna Johannson, who suffered a hard fall early in the period and was taken to the hospital with an apparent concussion.

The win was Western's first victory against the Seawolves in their last seven meetings over the last four seasons.

Seattle Pacific 75, Western Oregon 62

Seattle Pacific (10-2, 1-0) opened its conference season with a win for the ninth year in row and extended its win streak against Western Oregon (6-10, 1-1) to 25.

Henderson made seven of 10 shots, including two of three three-pointers to lead the Falcons to a season best 52.8 shooting percentage (28-53).

Forward Megan Hoisington added 16 points, just one short of her season and career high, and pulled down six rebounds. Reserve forward Sydney Benson chipped in with nine points and six rebounds.

The Falcons led from start to finish, jumping to a 6-0 lead. SPU built a 29-19 lead in the first half, but had to settle for a 35-30 halftime edge.

WOU's Lorrie Clifford hit a 17-footer from the right of the lane to open the second half, cutting the lead to just three at 35-32. But the Falcons scored 13 of the next 14 points to make it 48-33. Western Oregon never got closer than nine the rest of the day.

Northwest Nazarene 77, Saint Martin's 65

Northwest Nazarene made 11 of 22 three-point shots, including eight of 12 in the opening half, on the way to a 12-point win over Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

The Crusaders (11-2, 1-1) snapped a 33-33 tie with a 14-5 run late in the first half and led the entire second period, including by at least five points over the final 12 1/2 minutes.

Lindsay Brady led NNU with 17 points, including 12 in the opening period. The Crusaders also got 16 points from Janee Olds and 15 from Brittney Roggenkamp.

The trio combined for nine of 15 three-pointers as Olds made four of seven, Brady converted on three of five and Roggenkamp made two of three.

NNU also got 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds from center Briaunna King. Kristin Hein had four assists and Brady had four steals.

Dara Zack paced the Saints (6-7, 0-2) with 20 points. Krissy Bassett contributed 19 points and matched King's game-high eight-rebound total. Jamey Gelhar chipped in with 10 points and also had three steals. The loss was the first home defeat for the Saints in six games this winter.

Central Washington 82, Alaska Fairbanks 72

Sara Bergner scored a career-high 25 points to lead five players in double figures as Central Washington earned a convincing victory over Alaska Fairbanks at Nicholson Pavilion.

CWU (4-8, 1-1) led by 19 at halftime (48-29) and opened up a 23-point lead early in the second half. The Wildcats were still up by 18 with 90 seconds left before surrendering the game's final eight points.

Joining Bergner, who made eight of 14 shots, including two of four treys, in double figures were Sophie Russell and Colleen Betteridge with 15 points each, Shaina Afoa with 11 and Brooke Fernandez with 10. Betteridge's total was also a career high.

Afoa had a double-double also grabbing 10 rebounds. Stacy Albrecht, who had 11 rebounds, had CWU's only bench points, contributing six in 17 minutes of action.

Lakeshia Levi led the Nanooks (1-12, 0-2), who have lost 12 straight, with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Ronisha Edwards had 19 points and Caitlin Hamsley scored 14.

Alexandra Melonson had nine points, nine rebounds and six assists, leading UAF in the latter category.

Men's Basketball: Clift Keys Central Washington Win

Jon Clift scored a career-high 23 points including 16 in the second half to lead Central Washington to a 85-81 Great Northwest Athletic Conference road win at Northwest Nazarene Saturday afternoon.

In another afternoon game, Western Washington (14-2, 1-1) made 15 of 28 three-point shots and also set a GNAC single-game record for fewest turnovers in a 93-60 road win at Western Oregon.

In night games, Seattle Pacific and Alaska Anchorage earned home-court victories to join CWU as the only unbeaten teams at the end of the opening week of conference play.

SPU (11-2, 2-0) defeated Saint Martin's 81-63 extending its home court win streak over the Saints to 18. SMU hasn't won at Brougham Pavilion since the 1981-82 season.

Alaska Anchorage, playing without two starters, won its conference opener defeating Montana State Billings 80-72.

The Seawolves were without point guard Drew Robinson, who is out four to eight weeks with a stress fracture in his foot and center Malcolm Campbell who has left the team. Campbell was averaging 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.

Central Washington (8-4, 2-0), which has won six of its last seven games, trailed Northwest Nazarene 61-57 before Clift scored eight straight points to key a 12-2 run as the Wildcats went ahead 69-63 with 6:20 left.

NNU later bounced back to tie the game at 72-72, but CWU took the lead for good at 76-72 on a Toussaint Tyler free throw with 3:50 left and a Tyler three-pointer with 3:05 remaining.

The Crusaders climbed back to within one with 22 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Drew Eisinger and then after Tyler hit one of two free throws with 17 seconds remaining had a chance to win it.

But Eisinger missed a three-pointer and Riley Sivak then hit two free throws with one second showing on the scoreboard to account for the final four-point margin.

In addition to Clift, Central, whose 69-63 lead was the biggest of the game by either team, also got 14 points from Chris Sprinker and 10 by Tyler. Sprinker also had a team-high seven rebounds.

Five players were in double figures for the Crusaders (8-5, 0-2), including Anthony Golden with 18 and Drew Eisinger with 16.

Brian Barkdoll had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Kendall Gielow and Jamie Eisinger had 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Western Washington 93, Western Oregon 60

Derrick Webb and Morris Anderson combined for 11 three-pointers and 41 points to lead Western Washington to a 33-point road win over Western Oregon.

The nationally 14th ranked Vikings also committed just three turnovers breaking the GNAC single-game record for fewest turnovers of four set two years ago by Alaska Anchorage against Montana State Billings.

Webb made five of seven treys and had 21 points and Anderson finished with 20 points, making six of 13 three-pointers as WWU shot 53.6 percent (15-28) from the arc.

Also scoring in double figures for the Vikings were guard Andrew Ready with 15 and reserve forward Rory Blanche who had 12 points. Blanche made six of seven two-point attempts.

Forward Matt Schmidt led WOU (7-6, 0-2) with 12 points.  Guard Mike McLaughlin had 10 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds and reserve Kolton Nelson added 11 points.

Ahead by nine at halftime, Western Washington gradually improved its lead to 19 (65-46) with 12:19 to go.  WOU got to within 13 (65-52) at 11:13, but WWU finished the game with a 28-8 run that began with three three-pointers, one by Anderson and two by Webb.

In the first half the Vikings used a 16-3 run following a 9-9 tie to lead by 13 (25-12) with 11:29 to go in the period.  Ready had five points during that stretch, opening it with a three-pointer.

WWU was outrebounded 43-32 but more than made up for the rebound deficit with a plus 15 takeaway advantage (18-3) and a 45-15 point edge on three-point field goals.

Seattle Pacific 81, Saint Martin's 63

Chris Banchero had 17 points, and Ryan Sweet, Brandon Larrieu and Rafael Moreira tallied 15 apiece as Seattle Pacific took charge early in a 81-63 win over Saint Martin's.

The Falcons were on top for all but 25 seconds of the game. Saint Martin's (11-2, 1-1), which had won six in a row, had a brief lead at 11-10, but SPU, which was up by as many as 25 during the second half, then went on a 19-5 run to take control.

SMU, coming off a 94-86 triple-overtime victory against Western Washington Thursday, was led by Blake Poole with 24 points and 12 rebounds.

Poole, who didn't get his first field goal until 1:13 remained in the first half, and Jeremy Green accounted for all but two of their team's points in the first half which ended with SPU ahead 43-28.

Green had 15 of his 17 points in the period, while Poole had 11 points at the break.

Rob Diederichs, who took just one shot, handed out nine assists and pulled down seven rebounds for SPU. Moreira also had seven boards as the Falcons controlled the backboards 38-29.

Seattle Pacific shot 53 percent (35 of 66), and got 62 of its 81 points in the paint, with 10 coming on second-chance opportunities. Saint Martin's hit 41.4 percent (24 of 58).

Alaska Anchorage 80, Montana State Billings 72

Brandon Walker scored all 19 of his points in the second half and Nick Pacitti delivered an impressive double-double as Alaska Anchorage began league play with an 80-72 win over Montana State Billings at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

The Seawolves (10-2, 1-0) also got a combined 30 points and five assists from starting guards Donnie Lao and Kevin White to run their winning streak to seven.

The Yellowjackets (7-4, 1-1) were led by a game-high 28 points from guard DaVell Jackson, who also dished six assists without a turnover.

MSUB, which played the game without starter Derrick Wright who sustained a knee injury in Thursday's win at Alaska Fairbanks, stayed close throughout the game thanks to a mere six turnovers, but UAA pulled out the win with statistical advantages in shooting (54.0 percent to 42.4 percent) and rebounding (36-25).

Pacitti, a 6-6 forward, posted his third double-double in five games with 19 points (7-10 FG, 5-6 FT) and 14 rebounds, helping UAA out-board MSUB 19-8 in the final 20 minutes.

The game appeared to turn into a blowout late in the first half when UAA guard Kevin White drained a deep three-pointer to make it 29-14 with 3:07 remaining. But the Yellowjackets used an 11-2 run to close the stanza and go in trailing just 31-25 at halftime.

After another White three-pointer made it 39-27, MSUB sliced its deficit back to 40-37 in less than two minutes, and the game would stay close.

Leading 59-56, the Seawolves got two big plays from Pacitti, who banked in a short jump shot at the 7:02 mark, then followed with an off-balance, put-back basket while being upended by MSUB's Brad Hodge.

Pacitti finished the three-point play to make it 64-56, and the Yellowjackets would get no closer than six points from there.

Pacitti's 19 points and Lao's 16 were both career-highs, while White finished with a season-best 14 points. Lao shot four of six from three-point land, while White was four of eight from beyond the arc.

Walker, who shot 0 of 4 in the first half, regained his form in the second half, nailing seven of 10 shots and finishing with a team-high five assists.

Friday, Jan. 8

Football: Rolsma, Spevak Lead West to 16-0 Win

Former Central Washington kicker Garrett Rolsma kicked three field goals, including a game-record 48-yarder, in leading the West to a 16-0 victory over the East in the 2010 Valero Cactus Bowl all-star game at Javelina Stadium in Kingsville, Tex. Friday night.

Rolsma scored 10 of his team's 16 points, and fellow Wildcat Johnny Spevak had five receptions for 37 yards, in the Division II all-star contest.

Rolsma, who finished his CWU career as the all-time leading scorer in school history, had an extra point following the game's only touchdown in the second quarter and added field goals from 48, 34, and 40 yards to cap the scoring for the West.

His first three-pointer set a Cactus Bowl game record and was one yard further than his CWU career long of 47 yards.

Spevak, the 2009 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and school record holder in virtually every pass receiving category, tied for the West team lead with his five receptions.

Thursday, Jan. 7

Men's Basketball: Saints End WWU Streak at 12

Blake Poole scored 30 points and pulled down 14 rebounds leading Saint Martin's to a 94-86 triple overtime win over nationally 14th-ranked Western Washington Thursday at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.

The Saints (11-1) extended their own win streak to six games and ended Western Washington's win streak at 12, matching the third longest game in GNAC history in the process.

Elsewhere in the conference, Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings earned road victories and Central Washington posted a win at Nicholson Pavilion as the 2010 GNAC conference race got underway.

Seattle Pacific bounced back from a two-point halftime deficit to defeat Northwest Nazarene 82-71. Meanwhile, Montana State Billings earned a historic win defeating Alaska Fairbanks 82-68 at The Patty Center. At Ellensburg, Toussaint Tyler came off the bench to lead Central to a 82-70 win over Western Oregon.

Poole, who also had six assists and three steals, reached the 30-point level for the third time this season in Saint Martin's victory.

The Saints also got 22 points and nine rebounds from Jeremy Green, 14 points from Galen Squiers and 11 from Roger O'Neill.

Derrick Webb led Western Washington (13-2) with 26 points, including 17 in the three extra periods. Zach Bruce connected on 10 of 14 shots and netted 20 points. Dave Vanderjagt had 10 points.

Morris Anderson was held to seven points, making just two of 14 shots, including a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in the final period.

Both teams had opportunities to win the game before the Saints scored the first seven points of the final period to take a commanding 82-75 lead.

WWU climbed back to within four on a jumper by Webb with 1:52 left, but Ryan Votaw then banked in a three-pointer with 1:15 remaining and the Saints then made seven of eight free throws to close out the contest in the final minute.

Saint Martin's, which is 8-4 in overtime games under head coach Keith Cooper, had a 56-50 lead in regulation but the Vikings closed out the period with a 10-4 run, including an off-balance three-pointer by Harold McAllister with 7.9 seconds left.

Neither team led by more than six points until the third overtime or by more than two points in the first overtime, but in the second OT Webb gave the Vikings a 74-68 lead with a three-pointer and a three-point play.

But Western missed three of four late free throws enabling Poole to tie the contest with a three-pointer - his first of the season - from deep in the left corner with 18 seconds remaining.

WWU made just 18 of 28 free throws, which in the end proved costly. The Saints cashed in on 25 of 31 and also outboarded the Viks 48-42.

The game, which featured 17 ties, was the second three-overtime contest in GNAC history and the first since Alaska Anchorage beat Caldwell 92-87 in its 2004-05 season opener.

The only longer games occurred in 2003 when Seattle Pacific outlasted Humboldt State in four extra periods and in 2006 when Western Oregon lost to CSU Monterey Bay in four OTs.

Seattle Pacific 82, Northwest Nazarene 71

Chris Banchero scored 21 points and Jeff Downs added 15, including six straight during a second-half scoring surge that put Seattle Pacific ahead for good as the Falcons opened GNAC play with a victory at Northwest Nazarene.

Banchero hit nine of 15 shots from the floor as SPU (10-2), which halted a two-game losing streak, handed the Crusaders (8-4) their first home court loss in five games this season at the Johnson Sports Center.

Downs drained five of 10, including two of five from behind the three-point arc, while center Rafael Moreira chipped in 15 points and six rebounds. SPU, which is ranked 17th nationally, also got 11 points from Brandon Larrieu and seven rebounds, seven assists and six points from Rob Diederichs.

Meanwhile Brian Barkdoll led the Crusaders with 19 points, while Drew Eisinger chipped in with 12.

After shooting just 35.1 percent in the first half (13 of 37), SPU hit at a 69.6 percent clip during the final 20 minutes (16 of 23), while holding the Crusaders to 11 field goals in 40 attempts (27.5 percent).

SPU wound up at 48.3 percent for the game (29-60), while NNU finished with a 35.7 percentage (25-70).

Down 36-34 at halftime, the Falcons scored the first six points of the second half as Northwest Nazarene missed its first seven shots. The Crusaders eventually edged back in front, the last time at 49-48 with 13:56 left.

That's when Seattle Pacific started a 17-6 scoring run. Diederichs put the Falcons in front for good at 51-49 on a three-pointer from deep in the right corner. Downs gave SPU its first double-digit lead at 65-55 when he converted a pass from Diederichs for a lay-in, then made it a three-point play.

Montana State Billings 82, Alaska Fairbanks 68

DeAndre Chambers came off the bench to score 18 points and Brad Hodge scored nine of his 17 points in the second half as Montana State Billings recorded its 1,000th all-time victory with a 14-point win over Alaska Fairbanks.

Perhaps more significant is that the milestone victory came on the road where the Yellowjackets have historically struggled. Over the past three seasons, MSUB came into the contest with just two road wins - one of them on a neutral court - in 30 starts.

MSUB also overcame the loss of starter Derrick Wright, who came in averaging 12.2 points per game, to a knee injury. Wright played just three minutes and hit his only shot before sitting out the remainder of the contest.

The Yellowjackets, who got double-figure production from DaVell Jackson (15 points) and Lasha Parghalava (10 points) and nine points each from Mike McCrary and Tyler Hentzen, used a 9-1 run early in the second half to open up a 60-51 lead.

Leading 51-50, a three-pointer by McCrary, two baskets by Hodge, who made six of eight shots, and a hoop by Hentzen gave the 'Jackets some breathing room.

Later MSUB stretched its lead to 14 points on three different occasions before Hodge hit two foul shots with 1:06 left for the 'Jackets biggest margin of the night at 82-66.

Alaska Fairbanks got double-figure production from four players including Parrish West (20 points), Nashorn Maynard (17 points), Emmanuel Jenkins (12 points) and Jon Moe (11 points).

However, MSUB outshot the Nanooks, who had won three straight, 54.2 percent (32-59) to 41.9 (26-62) and also outboarded UAF 39-29 as Hodge led the way with eight. Jenkins had a game-high four steals to lead the Nanooks defensively.

Central Washington 82, Western Oregon 70

Tyler scored 15 of his career-high 17 points in the second half leading the Wildcats (7-4) to their fifth win in their last six starts.

Tyler connected on six of 10 shots, including five of seven in the second half, to join four other players in double figures.

Starters J.C. Cook, Jon Clift and Chris Sprinker had 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively, while Humberto Perez also came off the bench to contribute a dozen points. Perez also matched Sprinker for team rebounding honors with seven each.

Blair Wheadon, meanwhile, led Western Oregon (7-5) with 17 points. Center Mike McLaughlin had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Rico Myles and Matt Schmidt had 14 each. Myles also had nine rebounds and five assists. Wheadon had five steals.

Except for a pair of early one-point deficits, the Wildcats, who scored 10 more points off turnovers than the Wolves, led all the away after scoring eight straight points as part of a 13-3 run in building a 20-11 lead.

Central, which had a 38-3 advantage in bench points, led by seven at halftime and the lead hovered around 10 points until a 9-1 spurt gave the 'Cats a 17-point advantage (72-55) with 6:18 remaining. The Wolves later closed to within nine but never got closer during the final six minutes.

Women's Basketball: Western Oregon Ends NNU Streak

Katie Torland tied a Great Northwest Athletic Conference single-game record for most free throws made leading Western Oregon to a 67-61 win over Northwest Nazarene Thursday at the New PE Building in Monmouth.

In other GNAC league openers, forward Nikki Aden scored 17 points as Alaska Anchorage debuted with a 77-42 victory over Central Washington, Montana State Billings edged Saint Martin's 72-67 and Western Washington clobbered Alaska Fairbanks 92-46.

Torland netted 24 points, connecting on 16 of 20 foul shots to tie the conference record for most free throws made and setting a GNAC single-game record for most attempts.

She also had a three-pointer to start the second half as Western Oregon (6-9) outscored the Crusaders 18-4 in the first 10 1/2 minutes of the half to break away from a 30-30 tie.

Northwest Nazarene (10-2), which hadn't lost since losing 57-54 to Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 21, was able to claw back to within four points at 62-58, but Zahler then connected on four free throws in the final minute to clinch the victory.

Torland, who had a game-high 11 rebounds, scored 13 of her points in the second half. The Wolves also got 11 points from Lindsey Shearer, who made five of six shots.

Brittney Roggenkamp led Northwest Nazarene with 14 points. Kristin Hein scored 12 points and Heather Adams added 11. The Crusaders made six more field goals (25 of 55) than the Wolves (19 of 50), but were outscored 26-9 from the free throw line.

Alaska Anchorage 77, Central Washington 42

In addition to Aden, Alaska Anchorage (11-1) got 10 points, five rebounds and a career-high five assists – with no turnovers – from center Hanna Johansson, while guard Leah Stepovich added a career-high 12 points off the bench on four of four three-point shooting in handing Central Washington its eighth loss in 11 games.

The Wildcats were led by forward Sophie Russell with 14 points and by center and Anchorage native Shaina Afoa with 11. The rest of the Wildcats combined to shoot just seven of 28 from the field and were outrebounded 50-25 by the Seawolves.

UAA took control from the start with a 6-0 lead and held a 23-13 advantage when Afoa knocked down a jumper with 2:45 left in the first half. The Seawolves answered quickly with a fast break layup by Aden on a feed from point guard Kiki Taylor, closing the stanza with an 8-0 run.

UAA's first-half defensive effort marked the second-fewest points allowed in a road game in school history. The Seawolves held Alaska Fairbanks to nine first-half points on Jan. 26, 2008.

An early 7-0 run by the Wildcats in the second half made it 40-25 with 16:24 left, but UAA then held the home team scoreless for the next seven minutes as the lead ballooned back to 57-25.

Aden came one point shy of her career-high on five of six shooting, including three of four from long range. The Portland , Ore. , native also grabbed six rebounds and dished three assists.

Taylor finished with six points, three assists and three steals, and forward Nicci Miller managed eight points and six rebounds despite playing only 17 minutes due to foul trouble.

It was the Seawolf bench that made the biggest difference, though, outscoring their Wildcat counterparts 33-2. Along with Stepovich, Sarah Herrin notched nine points and guard Torle Nenbee had six points and a career-high seven rebounds.

Forward Kelsie Gourdin overcame a 0 for 5 shooting night to produce career-high numbers in rebounds (8), assists (5) and blocks (2).

Montana State Billings 72, Saint Martin's 67

The Yellowjackets used the three-point shot to overcome a nine-point deficit late in the first half and went on to post a five-point win.

For the game, MSUB made 11 of 27 treys, including five of nine by Kalli Stanhope and four of six by Sarah McNamee.

Both players finished the contest with 17 points. MSUB also got 16 points and team highs of seven rebounds and three steals from Callie Kautzmann.

The Yellowjackets trailed 34-25 before closing the opening half with a 12-1 run. McNamee had two treys and Stanhope had one to account for nine of the points.

MSUB then opened the second half with a 9-2 run as Stanhope had another three and led the remainder of the way though Saint Martin's did close to within two points at 67-65 with 1:45 left.

The Saints, however, managed just two points - two fouls shots by Jamey Gelhar - the rest of the way and MSUB pulled away to the five-point win.

Dara Zack led the Saints with 20 points and nine rebounds. SMU also got 11 points from Gelhar and Megan Teade and 10 from Katie Hawkins. Hawkins also had 10 rebounds.

Western Washington 92, Alaska Fairbanks 46

Forward Willow Cabe had 19 of her game and career-high 25 points in the first half as Western Washington (10-2) doubled Alaska Fairbanks' score in a game at Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Cabe, who connected on 10 of 15 shots including three of five treys, also had a game-high 10 rebounds. Forward Jessica Summers had 12 points and guard Amanda Dunbar added 10.

Alaska Fairbanks (1-11), which has lost 11 straight, was led by Alexandra Melonson with 12 points and Caitlin Hamsley with 11.

The Vikings never trailed, jumping to a 10-0 and extending the margin to 33-9 with 7:37 in the first half. 

Western, which shot 54.1 percent (20-37) from the field in the first half, held a 53-22 lead at halftime, and never led by less than 29 in the second half.

The Vikings held the Nanooks to 24.6 percent (15-61) field-goal shooting, and had a 55-31 advantage in rebounds.

Track and Field : Pixler Featured In Sports Illustrated

Jessica Pixler, Seattle Pacific's senior cross country and track star, is among the half-dozen athletes included in Sports Illustrated's Faces In The Crowd feature in the Jan. 11 issue.

Pixler was chosen for winning her third straight NCAA Division II women's cross country championship this past November, becoming just third women -- and the first at the D-2 level -- to accomplish that feat.

That was Pixler's eighth NCAA title. She also has three consecutive indoor track mile championships, one indoor crown in the 5,000 meters, and two outdoor titles in the 1,500.

Pixler also is a finalist for the top women's honor at the upcoming Seattle Sports Star of the Year awards show, set for Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Benaroya Hall.

Tuesday, Jan. 5

NCAA: UAA, NNU No. 1 In National Statistics

Alaska Anchorage and Northwest Nazarene are the national team leaders in scoring defense and free throw percentage in this week's NCAA Division II women's basketball national statistical report.

The Seawolves are allowing just 48.5 points per game, while NNU is shooting 81.6 percent from the free throw line.

UAA is also ranked second in rebounding margin (14.9), third in scoring margin (29.0), fourth in field goal percentage defense (31.8) and eighth in steals (15.0).

Western Washington is fourth in field goal percentage (49.8) and seventh in three-point percentage (40.3). Saint Martin's ranks second in three-point percentage (45.9) and Western Oregon is eighth in free throw percentage (77.7).

Individually, Amanda Dunbar of Western Washington is the GNAC's top-ranked women's player. She ranks sixth in three-point percentage, making half of her attempts.

On the men's side, Blake Poole of Saint Martin's is the GNAC's top ranked player. He ranks fourth in rebounding (12.3) and sixth in field goal percentage (68.0).

Also in the Top 10 is Morris Anderson of Western Washington and Davell Jackson of Montana State Billings. Anderson is ninth in free throw percentage (91.7) and Jackson is 10th in steals (2.9).

The top ranked men's GNAC teams are Alaska Anchorage, second in rebounding (13.0), Northwest Nazarene, sixth in free throw percentage (76.6) and Seattle Pacific, eighth in field goal percentage (51.2).

Rankings: UAA, WWU Earn Top Rankings

Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington are the top-ranked West Region teams in this week's WBCA and NABC national rankings.

Alaska Anchorage is ranked eighth in the women's rankings, one spot ahead of UC San Diego. Seattle Pacific is ranked 22nd, while Northwest Nazarene is "among others receiving votes" and is 27th overall.

In the men's rankings, Western Washington is ranked 14th. Seattle Pacific at No. 17 and Cal Poly Pomona at No. 22 are the only other West Region teams in the Top 25.

The national rankings have no impact on which teams qualify for the playoffs. The first weekly regional rankings, which will determine the at-large teams to the playoffs, will be released Wedneday, Jan. 27.

The champions of the GNAC, PacWest and CCAA receive automatic berths.

All-Sports: Alaska Anchorage 14th in Director's Cup

Alaska Anchorage is ranked 14th in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup National NCAA Division II All-Sports standings.

The competition, which is sponsored by the National Association of College Athletic Directors, is based on finishes in NCAA regional and national championships.

UAA earned points in the fall by placing fifth in the national women's cross country meet and 17th in the men's national meet. It also earned points in volleyball by reaching the West Regional semifinals.

Grand Valley State (Mich.) is the national leader with 380 points. It won the women's national soccer title, placed second in football and women's cross county and fifth in men's cross country. Grand Valley also qualified for the NCAA regionals in volleyball.

Three other GNAC teams are ranked in the Top 100 at the end of the fall sports season. Western Washington is ranked 20th , while Seattle Pacific is 26th and Central Washington is 59th .

Learfield Sports Director's Cup (Through Fall): 1. Grand Valley 380; 14. Alaska Anchorage 165; 20. Western Washington 146; 26. Seattle Pacific 130; 59. Central Washington 70.

Sunday, Jan. 3

Women's Basketball: Ryan Keys MSUB Victory

Kayla Ryan recorded her league-best seventh double-double of the season as Montana State Billings closed out its non-conference schedule with a 68-41 win at Chadron State Sunday.

The Yellowjackets improved to 7-4, including 5-3 in West Region counting games.

“Any time you can go on the road and get a win, it's big,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “Our offense was very balanced today and was able to take care of the ball. The defensive communication today was tremendous which led to a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Ryan finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Joining her in double figures were Kalli Stanhope and Ashley Reed with 12 points and Many Jacobs with 10. Callie Kautzmann had six points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and four steals, leading MSUB in the latter three categories. Her rebound and assist totals were career highs.

MSUB started the game on a 9-0 run and led 39-24 at halftime. In the second half, the Yellowjackets stretched their lead to as many as 29 points before finishing with the 27-point win.

MSUB ended up shooting 44.3 percent (27-61), while holding Chadron State to 27.6 percent (16-59). Kaitlin Petri led the Eagles with eight points.

Saturday, Jan. 2

Men's Basketball: Wolves Nip Colorado Mines 63-62

Freshman Tarance Glynn banked in a contested 10-foot jumper with four seconds left earning Western Oregon a 63-62 win over Colorado Mines in the final game of the Colorado Mines/Metro State New Year's Classic Saturday at Golden, Colo.

In Saturday's first game, Metro State held on to defeat Northwest Nazarene 76-74 to finish the tournament with a 2-0 record. The Wolves (7-4) and Crusaders (8-3) each ended up 1-1.

Dale Minschwaner gave the Orediggers a 62-59 lead on a layup with 46 seconds left. WOU, however, then pulled back to within one point with 32 seconds left on a layup by Kyle Long off an assist from Mike McLaughlin

Blair Wheadon fouled Gordon Galloway with 22 seconds left. Galloway, however, missed the front end of the one-and-one and Rico Myles grabbed the rebound setting the stage for Glynn's game-winner.

"Tarance made a play after our set (play) broke down," said WOU head coach Craig Stanger. "He was able to put the ball on the ground, find some space and will the ball in the hoop over the defender."

Following Glynn's jumper, Myles came up with a steal against Drew Hoffman to clinch the victory.

Myles had a big night, scoring a season-high 22 points on eight of 10 shooting - his previous high had been 20 in a 94-86 loss to BYU-Hawaii - and grabbing eight rebounds. Glynn was the only other Wolf in double figures with 10 points.

Minschwaner led the Orediggers with 22 points. Hoffman and Galloway each had 11 points.

The game was played close to the vest. Colorado Mines' biggest lead was five points, which it accomplished four times in the first half. WOU's biggest lead was four at 28-24 late in the first half.

Brian Minor scored 20 points and had seven steals to lead Metro State (10-2) to its victory over Northwest Nazarene.

The Roadrunners had nine-point leads on three different occasions and were still up by six going into the final minute. NNU, however, got a three-point basket by Drew Eisinger with 12 seconds left to cut its deficit to one point at 75-74.

Reggie Evans then made just one of two free throws with nine seconds left to leave an opening for the Crusaders. However, Shakir Johnson came up with a steal with two seconds left to secure the victory for the RMAC school.

In addition to Minor, Metro got 15 points from Donte Nicholas, 12 from Evans and 10 from Jonathan Morse. Nicholas also had 12 rebounds and seven assists.

Kendall Gielow led the Crusaders with 15 points, while Drew Eisinger and Louie Beech each added 12 points. Jamie Eisinger chipped in with 11 points.

Grand Canyon Edges Seattle Pacific With Last-Minute Rally

Marco Ramos' put-back layup with three seconds remaining capped a late rally for Grand Canyon, which overcame a six-point deficit during the final minute to claim a 69-68 NCAA West Region win over Seattle Pacific Saturday at Antelope Gymnasium.

The Falcons (9-2) lost for the second straight time after opening the season with nine consecutive victories. One of those wins was a 70-57 decision against Grand Canyon on Dec. 19 in Seattle.

SPU went ahead 67-61 on a pair of free throws from Adam Wardell with 56 seconds left to play.

The Antelopes (6-10) answered with two free throws by Ramos and got the ball back after SPU's Jeff Downs was trapped in the corner and turned the ball over. Brad Carroll put back a missed shot to draw GCU within 67-65.

Wardell hit the second of two free throws with 30 seconds remaining for a 68-65 SPU margin before Carroll drew the Antelopes within one point on a jumper.

Colby Vranes then missed two potential clinching free throws for the Falcons, who were ranked sixth nationally prior to their two losses, with 19 seconds remaining.

GCU rebounded the second miss and ran the clock down before Alyx Foster attempted a short jumper. His shot missed, but Ramos rebounded and banked in a layup while being fouled with 3.1 seconds to play.

Ramos missed the subsequent free throw, SPU rebounded and called a timeout. The inbounds pass from under the far basket went to Brandon Larrieu, who dribbled past mid court before launching a shot that caromed off the rim at the buzzer.

Larrieu scored 24 points to lead the Falcons, who also got 16 from Chris Banchero. Ryan Sweet, making his first SPU start, contributed seven points and 11 rebounds.

Nick Witherill came off the bench to pace GCU with 15 points while Ramos finished with 14. Steven Morin added 13 points and Carroll had 12.

Neither team led by more than three points during the first half that finished with Larrieu grabbing an offensive rebound and quickly sinking a 12-foot jumper at the buzzer for a 30-28 SPU edge.

The Antelopes won despite hitting just 8 of 21 free throw attempts. SPU made 23 of 35.

Western Washington Extends Win Streak To 12 Games

Guard Morris Anderson had 11 points and a season-high 11 assists as Western Washington won its 12th consecutive game defeating the State University of New York - Geneseo 75-63 Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Forward Derrick Webb had a team-high 13 points for the Vikings (13-1), who were ranked 16th in the latest NABC Division II national poll. The 12-game winning streak is the fourth longest in school history and equals the sixth longest in GNAC history.

Forward Brandon Simpson paced the Blue Knights (1-5) with game highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Western trailed once (at 4-3) but with the score tied at 5-5, the Vikings went on a 28-6 run in a little over nine minutes to take a 33-11 lead with 7:31 left in the first half.  Anderson had all 11 of his points in the charge.

SUNY pulled to within 16 (42-26) at halftime as Mike Baker closed the half with a shot from just in front of the half court line, then opened the second half with a 9-2 run to narrow the margin to nine (44-35).

But the Vikings put the game away with a 9-2 run (six of the points by Webb) to take a 53-37 advantage with 12 minutes left. The lead was never less than 11 after that, but never exceeded 19.

Rory Blanche had 12 points on six of nine field-goal shooting and Andrew Ready added 10 points for the Vikings. WWU center Dave Vanderjagt had team-highs of nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Vikings had 13 steals, four by Anderson, and made 10 of 24 three-pointers (41.7 percent).  SUNY-Geneseo was just two of six from beyond the arc.

Yellowjackets Beat Great Falls In Non-Conference Finale

Derrick Wright led four players in double figures with 17 points as Montana State Billings closed out its non-conference schedule with a 88-61 home win over Great Falls Saturday.

The Yellowjackets will take a 6-3 record into the conference season which begins Thursday.

Joining Wright, who also had a game-high eight rebounds, in double figures were Lasha Parghalava with 15 points, Brett Taylor with 13 and DaVelle Jackson with 12. Taylor connected on four of six three-pointers.

Marko Lakic led Great Falls with 14 points. Also in double figures was JayTee Tarpley with 10 points.

MSUB, which shot 50.9 percent (27-53), led 45-25 at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead for all but 22 seconds of the second half.

Women's Basketball: CWU Beats Dominican 86-69

Sophie Russell led four players in double figures with 19 points as Central Washington closed out its pre-conference schedule with a 86-69 win over Dominican, Calif., in a NCAA West Region game Saturday at Nicholson Pavilion.

Elsewhere Saturday, Colorado Mines doubled Western Oregon's shooting percentage in a 60-49 win at Golden, Colo. Meanwhile, Northwest Nazarene clobbered Walla Walla 88-20.

Russell was three of five on three-pointers and also had five assists, four steals and two blocks to lead Central to its third win in 10 starts.

Also contributing offensively were Sara Bergner with 17 points and eight rebounds, Brittany Duerr with 16 points and five assists and Shaina Afoa with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Afoa also blocked two shots increasing her career total to 100. She is the ninth player in conference history to block 100 shots.

Alisha Flaaten was the only player in double figures for Dominican (3-8). She had 24 points and also had a team-high four assists.

CWU, which shot 50.0 percent from the floor (37-74), used a 9-0 run, including a three-pointer by Russell, in building a 23-13 lead on the way to a 47-28 halftime advantage.

After falling behind by 23 at 53-30 early in the second half, Dominican outscored CWU 30-13 to pull within six. The Wildcats, however, then regained control with eight consecutive points.

Angie Charchalis scored 18 points and Emily Dalton had 16 as Colorado Mines (8-2) won its sixth straight game beating Western Oregon (5-9). The Orediggers held the Wolves to just 14 field goals in 62 attempts (22.6 percent), while making 22 of 50 (44.0 percent).

Colorado Mines also dominated the backboards outrebounding WOU 55-23. Brecca Gaffney led the Orediggers with 11.

Two players - Katie Torland and Sara Zahler led Western Oregon with seven points and three others - Hannah Whitsett, Courtney Martin and Danielle Bellando - had six each.

WOU made just four field goals in 29 attempts in the first half. The Wolves gave up the first eight points in each half, falling behind 34-18 early in the second period and trailing by as many as 18. WOU never got closer than nine the rest of the way.

Ten different players scored between seven and 10 points in Northwest Nazarene's victory. The Crusaders (10-1), who gave won nine straight, got 10 each from Kristin Hein and Kat Schulte to Buhne and nine from Lindsay Brady.

Six different players had eight points apiece, including Julianne Bazzi, who also had eight assists. Schulte to Buhne had nine rebounds as NNU controlled the backboards 41-21.

The Crusaders, who led 55-9 at halftime, shot 52.9 percent from the floor (37-70), including nine of 18 on three pointers.

Friday, Jan. 1

Men's Basketball: Crusaders Edge Colorado Mines

Drew Eisinger scored 21 points and Louie Beech added 19 as Northwest Nazarene built a 16-point second-half lead and then held on to defeat Colorado Mines 82-80 in Day 1 of the Metro State/Colorado Mines Classic Friday at Denver.

In Friday's second game, Metro State built an early 38-15 lead on the way to a 84-66 win against Western Oregon. The tournament concludes Saturday in Golden, Colo., with Metro State playing NNU and the Orediggers hosting Western Oregon.

NNU had one of the best team shooting performances in GNAC history as it improved to 8-2. The Crusaders made 33 of 49 shots (67.3 percent), including eight of 10 three-pointers. Beech was five of six from the arc.

NNU's overall percentage is the seventh best in GNAC history and its three-point percentage ranks second all-time in conference history for teams attempting at least 10 three-pointers.

Eisinger, who also had team-highs for assists (5) and steals (3), made nine of 13 shots, while Beech, who led the Crusaders with six rebounds, was seven of nine.

Also in double figures were Brian Barkdoll and Anthony Golden with 12 each and Kendall Gielow with 10. Golden made all five of his shots, including two treys.

Dale Minschwaner led Colorado Mines with 18 points. Drew Hoffman scored 17 and Sean Armstrong finished with 16.

Though the final margin was two points, NNU, which shot 80 percent in the second half (16-20), was comfortably ahead for most of the final period leading 61-45 with 12:43 left.

The Orediggers, however, went on a 21-6 run to pull within one at 67-66 with 7:16 remaining.

NNU then scored 11 of the next 12 points to go back on top 78-67 with 2:18 remaining and still led by seven with 23 seconds left. CSM then used a three-pointer and two foul shots to cut the final margin to two points.

Metro State used a 20-3 first-half run to take control against Western Oregon (6-4) as Jonathan Morse scored 17 of his 19 points in the opening period. Reggie Evans finished with a game-high 25 points, 14 in the second half. Donte Nicholas chipped in with 17.

The Wolves got 16 points from Tarance Glynn and 15 from Matt Schmidt, but shot just 29.6 percent (8-27) in falling behind by 19 (46-27) at the break.

Metro State (9-2) made 18 of 31 first-half shots (58.1) and finished at 50 percent (30 of 60). WOU ended up at 38.5 percent, making 20 of 52.

Women's Basketball: WOU's Torland Reaches 1,000

Katie Torland became the 36th member of the GNAC 1000-Point Club Friday as Western Oregon dropped a 69-57 decision to Adams State in a neutral site game at Golden, Colo.

Torland scored nine points to increase her WOU career total to 1,003 points and her overall collegiate total to 1,152.

The Wolves (5-8) also got 12 points from Hannah Whitsett, but couldn't overcome a 16 1/2 minute stretch in which they were outscored 40-4 by the Grizzlies.

Leading 19-12, WOU managed only field goals by Sara Zahler and Whitsett over the next 16 minutes, 34 seconds. Meanwhile, Adams State put together runs of 13, six and 21 points. The latter included the final 11 points of the first half and the first 10 of the second half.

WOU then bounced back outscoring the Grizzlies 23-8 over the final 9:44, but never got closer than the final 12-point margin.

Adams State (9-2) was led by Vera Jo Bustos with 17 points. Kendra Coveal scored 16 points and Kelsie Kruger finished with 12 points.