This week...
Thr., Jan. 25, 5:30 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at WESTERN OREGON, New Physical Education Building, Monmouth, Or.
Sat., Jan. 27, 6 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL at HUMBOLDT STATE, East Gym, Arcata, Ca.

Complete 2000 Schedule

A must-sweep?...
Following a rare home-court split, 16th-ranked Seattle Pacific University packs its bags for a trip down the Coast for a pair of Pacific West Conference women's basketball games. With the season past the midway point, the Falcons (7-3, 12-3) find themselves in a must-sweep situation to remain in contention for the conference crown. The trip begins Thursday night (Jan. 25) at Western Oregon (6-4, 9-6) and wraps-up Saturday (Jan. 27) night at Humboldt State (4-6, 6-8). Next week another four-game homestand begins, with Seattle University on Feb. 1.

Still sittin' pretty...
At the halfway point, the Falcons find themselves tied for second place in the PacWest with Central Washington, which snapped their 12-game home win streak last week. Western Washington and Montana State Billings each have only two conference losses. In the preseason poll, Seattle Pacific was picked as the favorite to win the PacWest. Since then, 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 has averaged over 21 wins per season over his career and is attempting to take SPU to the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years and its third conference title since 1997.

Bouncin' back for round 2...
All-America candidate Gus Balogh (Sr., 5-11, Szombathely, Hungary) had an unusually shaky night against Central, scoring an uncharacteristically low eight points on 2 of 12 shooting, but bounced back to help sack Saint Martin's with 20 points, five rebounds and four steals. Balogh is leading the team and is second in the conference, averaging 18.2 points per game. Also reloading after poor showings against Central were guards Kerie Hughes (So., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa.) and Stephanie Urrutia (So., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.). Against Central, the two totaled just 16 points and four assists. Between them versus Saint Martin's Hughes showed why she is one of the PacWest's best playmakers and thieves. She had seven assists and five steals to go along with 15 points against the Saints. Meanwhile, Urrutia netted 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Guppy packs a wallop...
With just two more swats, center Liz Guppy (Sr., 6-3, Beaverton, Or./Westview) will climb to No. 2 on the school's career blocked shots career list. Kristen Carlson (1996-97) is currently No. 2 at 177. Guppy, with four blocks last week, stands at 176. The record is 213, set by Caroline Pfeil (1986-90). Coming out of a miniature midseason slump over the weekend was reserve center Valerie Gustafson (Fr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills). The rookie redhead yanked down seven rebounds and had as many points in the loss and scored another half-dozen points in the latter outing.

Prescott fires away...
Three-point artist Brianne Prescott (Jr., 5-7, San Jose, Ca./Mitty-San Jose CC) nailed six treys last week, including three in a pivotal 2-minute stretch of the second half against the Saints. For the weekend, Prescott averaged 11.0 points per game and shot 6 of 17 from beyond the arc. Balogh was perfect from the outside against Central, canning two treys. The Falcons rank No. 5 on the PacWest charts in three-point field goals made and three-point percentage. Just a year ago, the Falcons ranked near the bottom of the conference in both the number of treys made and accuracy. So far, Prescott has hit a team-high 29 3-pointers, followed by Urrutia's 15 and Balogh's 11.

Streak ends...
The home win streak met an untimely end last week, as Central slipped into Brougham and won, 67-55. It was Wildcats' first victory in Seattle since 1988. Central out-rebounded SPU by 11 (45-34) and held the Falcons to just 33 percent shooting from the field. Center Jana Holme (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Wilson), Prescott and Hughes each finished with 10 points. Holme, who was 4 of 6 from the field with one 3-pointer, also had five rebounds.

Put-backs...
Balogh is 44 points from moving into No. 6 on the SPU career list, ahead of Tosca Lindberg (1990-93). She is the career leader in free throw percentage (.795) and is No. 6 in field goal accuracy (.492). Balogh, currently shooting 50 percent from the field, is bidding to become only the fifth SPU player to finish a season at or above that level...Hughes leads the PacWest in steals (3.2) and is second in assists (6.3)... Urrutia is sixth in conference steals (2.5)... Guppy, who is eighth in career field-goal percentage (.491), needs 48 rebounds to make the career top 10. She is sixth in PacWest blocked shots (1.2) and seventh in free throw accuracy (.815)... Reserve center Stacie Lukkes (So., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentwood) has proven herself to be a force on the boards for SPU. Lukkes snared six balls last week in just 18 minutes...Prescott ranks third in 3-pointers made (2.42) per game.

Opponent, series notes...
SPU leads the series with Western Oregon 6-2, and has not lost to the Wolves since they joined the PacWest in 1998. Western Oregon started the season at 6-1 but has since lost five of its last eight. The Wolves are 7-0 at home this season and center Heather Laats leads the PacWest in rebounding (12.5) and is No. 3 in scoring (17.8)... The Falcons have lost to Humboldt State only once in the program's history and lead the series a lopsided 11-1, with four consecutive wins over the past two seasons. The Lumberjacks have lost six of their last nine... The SPU women will be playing prior to the SPU men on both nights this week. Saturday's game can be heard live on the Internet at www.humboldt.edu/`hsujacks/html/sid/listen.htm.

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 2.8/ 2.2 ast Bremerton, Wa. 23 points, 8-8 FGs v Pacific
20 Kerie Hughes* So-1V 5-6 9.4/6.9 ast Mount Vernon, Wa. 26 points in Western win
22 Kirsten Daniel Sr-2V 5-7 2.0/1.3 reb Florence, Or. 8 points v Northwest College
23 Brianne Prescott* Jr-TR 5-7 8.6/2.3 reb San Jose, Ca. Hit 6-10 3-pointers at WWU
24 Stephanie Urrutia* So-1V 5-9 10.9/4.2 reb Sunnyside, Wa. Second on team in scoring
30 Stacie Lukkes So-1V 6-0 3.6/4.0 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 6.1/4.5 reb Tacoma, Wa. 11 points, 7 rebounds v Pacific
33 Gus Balogh* Sr-3V 5-11 18.2/4.8 reb Szombathely, Hungary Third in PWC in scoring
40 Liz Guppy* Sr-3V 6-3 7.6/5.3 reb Beaverton, Or. 18 points, 8 rebounds at W. New Mexico
42 Valerie Gustafson* Fr-HS 6-0 7.7/4.1 reb Olympia, Wa. 17 points vs. Western Baptist
*projected starters
Coach: Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene '83) 14th year (273-114) PacWest coach of the year in '97 & '98