Monday, January 22, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Highlighted by its first victory over Alaska Anchorage in seven years, a two-win week for Seattle Pacific gave the Falcons much to cheer about as the first half of GNAC action came to a close. Adding to the pair of wins over the Alaska schools inside Brougham Pavilion, Seattle Pacific has been selected as this week’s Red Lion/GNAC Team of the Week.

Not only did Seattle Pacific hand Alaska Anchorage its first conference loss of the season, it snapped the Seawolves’ 33-game GNAC win streak and handed Alaska Anchorage its first conference road defeat in 23 games.

Prior to their 66-48 win against the Seawolves on Saturday, the Falcons took care of Alaska, 86-54, on Thursday. Seattle Pacific (14-3, 8-2) continues to share second place with Northwest Nazarene and has won its last five games.

Senior guard Rachel Shim led Seattle Pacific with 12.5 points per game in the two contests. Senior forward Courtney Hollander had a solid all-around week as well, averaging 11.5 points and 7.5 rebounds over the two games. Seattle Pacific’s bench played a key role in both games as it outscored its opponents by a combined 41 points (58-17).

Against Alaska Anchorage, senior forward Julia Haining led five Falcons in double-figure scoring with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting. The Falcons outscored the Nanooks 17-6 from the free throw line and took 11 more field goal attempts.

“I thought we did a pretty good job. We played really hard. I subbed a lot because we were playing hard, I’m really happy with our effort,” said Seattle Pacific head coach Julie Heisey on the win over UAF.

Entering the week, Seattle Pacific led the GNAC in scoring defense, giving up 60.4 points per game. This trend continued Saturday when the Falcons limited Alaska Anchorage to 26.4 percent (14-53) shooting from the floor and to just six points in the paint. Shim poured in a career and game-high 23 points on 8 of 13 from the field and 5 of 6 from three-point range while pulling down a career-high eight rebounds. Not only did the Falcons stifle UAA on defense, but they dominated the glass, outrebounding Alaska Anchorage 46-30 for 12 second-chance points. The Falcons also shot well from deep, converting 9 of 20 attempts from beyond the arc while the Seawolves shot just 29.2 percent. Saturday’s win gave Seattle Pacific its first win over Alaska Anchorage since a 67-62 victory on Feb. 2, 2012.

“We’re a great defensive team,” said Heisey. “I knew we could defend, but I didn’t know we could defend to the point of [forcing the Seawolves] into 19 turnovers and [limiting them to 26 percent] from the field. I give our kids credit and I give my assistant coach Mike Simonson credit – he did an amazing job scouting and prepared us very well.”

Seattle Pacific improves two spots to No. 2 in the D2SIDA West Region Poll. It opens the second half of GNAC play with a trip to Saint Martin’s on Tuesday before finishing the week at Montana State Billings on Saturday.