This week...
Thr., Jan. 18, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v CENTRAL WASHINGTON, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.
Sat., Jan. 20, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v SAINT MARTIN'S, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.

Complete 2000 Schedule

1st on line...
Unbeaten at home and ranked No. 19 in the nation, Seattle Pacific University completes a four-game home stand this week with two Pacific West Conference women's basketball games, including one which will keep the winner in at least a tie for first place. The Falcons (6-2, 11-2) take a 12-game home winning streak into Thursday night's (Jan. 18) collision with No. 21 Central Washington (6-2, 11-2). Saturday (Jan. 20) marks the final home game of the month, against Saint Martin's (5-3, 8-5). Next week SPU is on the road at Western Oregon and Humboldt State.

4-way tie at the top...
As the PacWest season nears the halfway point, the Falcons find themselves in a four-way tie for first place. Central Washington, Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene also have two losses and three other teams, including Saint Martin's, are just one game behind. Before the season Seattle Pacific was installed as the favorite. But since that time Coach Gordy Presnell (14th year) has lost his top rebounder and No. 2 scorer to a season-ending knee injury while two of this other top seven players have missed a combined total of five games. Presnell is seeking to take SPU to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years and a third conference title since 1997.

2 makes an even dozen...
The home win streak reached an even dozen last week, yet not without a few tense moments. The 63-49 defeat of Alaska Anchorage avenged the last home loss. Still the biggest effort was saved for Alaska Fairbanks two days later. A great start was negated by a 23-2 run by the Nanooks going into halftime. Point guard Kerie Hughes (So., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa.) sliced into the lane for a layup and what proved to be the winning basket with 14.7 seconds left. All-America candidate Gus Balogh (Sr., 5-11, Szombathely, Hungary) added a free throw later to make the final score 75-73. Balogh led the Falcons with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists while Hughes finished the night with nine points and five assists with no turnovers.

You go-to, girl...
Balogh was the go-to player for Seattle Pacific last week, but then again, that's nothing new. She's been the Falcons' top scorer in eight of the last 11 games and ranks second in the PacWest with an average of 18.8 points per game. Against Anchorage, Balogh led all scorers with 22 points. Starting center Liz Guppy (Sr., 6-3, Beaverton, Or./Westview) rose to the occasion for the Falcons in the Fairbanks contest. Guppy supplied 15 points and yanked down seven rebounds and had a pair of blocked shots to boot. She is just two blocks away from becoming No. 2 on the school's career list, supplanting Kristen Carlson (1996-97) at 177. The record is 213, set by Caroline Pfeil (1986-90).

Assistance from Hughes...
The Falcons are leading the conference and rank 15th nationally in total offense (80.1 points per game) but they are also shooting 46 percent as a team (tops in the conference). Squeezing every possible point out of the offense is the point guard's primary job and Hughes has done hers with aplomb. Hughes is second in conference assists and ninth in the NCAA, averaging 6.9. Defensively, she is second in PacWest steals (2.9). Her backcourt running mate, Stephanie Urrutia (So., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.) has become the team's No. 2 scorer, nearly doubling her freshman season scoring average to 11.1. Urrutia is third in PacWest free throw accuracy (.833), seventh in steals (2.3) and her 14 3-pointers is second-most on the team. She posted her first career double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Fairbanks.

The thrill is back...
One of Presnell's primary objectives in the offseason was to improve the team's outside shooting. A year ago the Falcons ranked near the bottom of the conference in both the number of the 3-pointers made (3.0) and accuracy (30 percent). Behind Balogh, Urrutia and transfer guard Brianne Prescott (Jr., 5-7, San Jose, Ca./Mitty-San Jose CC), SPU is now making 5.8 treys per game and shooting 34 percent, good for fifth in the league.

Put-backs...
Valerie Gustafson (Fr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills), after illness limited her to three minutes of play vs. Anchorage, gave SPU a big lift in the second half against Fairbanks with four points...Prescott hit three treys last week, pushing her season total to 23. The team leader in treys last season, Heidi Umthun, needed 28 games to make 24...Balogh is 81 points from moving into No. 6 on the SPU career list. She is the career leader in free throw percentage (.787) and is No. 5 in field goal accuracy (.497)...Center Jana Holme (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Wilson) scored nine points in each game last week...Reserve center Stacie Lukkes (So., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentwood) had 10 rebounds for the week. Her only two points against Alaska Fairbanks came on a pair of free throws that were a few minutes apart. Lukkes hit in the mouth on the foul and needed to take a few minutes between free throws to stop the bleeding...Becka Beard (So., 5-4, Bremerton, Wa./King's West) had four assists against Anchorage...Balogh is second in conference scoring, seventh in conference field-goal percentage (.536) and eighth in blocked shots (0.9)...Guppy is seventh in free-throw percentage (.815) and field goal percentage (.519) and 8th in blocked shots (1.1)...As a team, SPU slipped to second in scoring margin (+17.7), free-throw percentage (.739), turnover margin (+6.9).

Opponent, series notes...
SPU trails Central Washington in the series, 24-21, but the Falcons are 12-6 versus the Wildcats during Presnell's tenure, including a two-game sweep last year. The Wildcats lead the PacWest in scoring margin and are second in scoring (76.8). Rose Shaw is the conference's top scorer at 19.1...Saint Martin's has not won in Brougham Pavilion since 1983, before Presnell was head coach. The Falcons have won the last seven meetings and lead the series with the Saints 24-10.

Ticket Information...
General admission tickets for all home games are priced $5, with students and senior citizens $3. Ticket windows open one hour before game time. Thursday is also "Everybody Wins Night." If the Falcons don't win, fans can redeem their stubs for free tickets to Saturday's game.

S-P-U on the W-E-B...
You can follow Seattle Pacific via the world wide web. The Falcons Online features weekly releases, rosters, schedules, updated results, histories and coaching profiles for all 12 varsity sports. You're already here!

PacWest Conference Standings

Personnel notes...
No Player Yr-Exp Hgt '00 -01 stats Hometown Notes
12 Becka Beard So-1V 5-4 3.0/ 2.2 ast Bremerton, Wa. 23 points, 8-8 FGs v Pacific
20 Kerie Hughes* So-1V 5-6 8.9/6.6 ast Mount Vernon, Wa. 26 points in Western win
22 Kirsten Daniel Sr-2V 5-7 1.6/1.7 reb Florence, Or. 8 points v Northwest College
23 Brianne Prescott* Jr-TR 5-7 6.2/2.2 reb San Jose, Ca. Hit 6-10 3-pointers at WWU
24 Stephanie Urrutia* So-1V 5-9 11.0/4.1 reb Sunnyside, Wa. Second on team in scoring
30 Stacie Lukkes So-1V 6-0 4.0/4.2 reb Kent, Wa. 10 points, 9 rebounds v Northwest C.
31 Kristin Poe So-1V 5-8 12.5/8.3 reb Enumclaw, Wa. Out for season with injured knee
32 Jana Holme Sr-3V 6-1 5.3/4.6 reb Tacoma, Wa. 11 points, 7 rebounds v Pacific
33 Gus Balogh* Sr-3V 5-11 18.8/4.8 reb Szombathely, Hungary Third in PWC in scoring
40 Liz Guppy* Sr-3V 6-3 7.15/5.7 reb Beaverton, Or. 18 points, 8 rebounds at W. New Mexico
42 Valerie Gustafson* Fr-HS 6-0 9.0/3.8 reb Olympia, Wa. 17 points vs. Western Baptist
*projected starters
Coach: Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene '83) 14th year (272-113) PacWest coach of the year in '97 & '98