This week...
Thr., Feb. 8, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v WESTERN NEW MEXICO, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.
Sat., Feb. 10, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v MONTANA ST. BILLINGS, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.

Complete 2000 Schedule

Still home at Brougham...
Back atop the Pacific West Conference standings, the 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team (11-3, 16-3) will face one of the top contenders as it completes a four-game homestand this week. The Falcons, winners of five straight and seven of the last eight games, host cellar-dweller Western New Mexico (0-14, 0-19) Thursday night (Feb. 8) before facing Montana State Billings (8-6, 12-7) in a rematch of last year's NCAA first-round playoff Saturday night (Feb. 10). A stretch of four consecutive road games begins Feb. 15 at Alaska Fairbanks.

Grudge match...
Saturday night's game qualifies as a grudge match for a couple reasons. First, the Yellowjackets knocked the Falcons out of the West Regional last March. Secondly, they also handed SPU one of its three setbacks this season. And MSU Billings has plenty at stake as well, currently sitting sixth in the PacWest and beyond the top eight in the regional poll. Seattle Pacific was third regionally last week, behind Cal Poly Pomona and Western Washington. The top six teams in the West qualify for the NCAA Division II tournament next month.

The hurts keep on comin'...
It's a credit to Coach Gordy Presnell's (14th year) team that it remains in postseason contention, let alone in a position to win the conference. Already Presnell has lost one starter for the season, plus several others have missed time because of injuries. And now the Falcons must persevere for the balance of the campaign without their starting point guard. Kerie Hughes (So., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa.), the conference leader in steals and No. 2 in assists, suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee during the first half of last week's victory over Seattle University. Earlier in the year, Presnell lost his leading rebounder and No. 2 scorer, forward Kristin Poe (So., 5-9, Enumclaw, Wa.), to a torn ACL at Western Washington.

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.

Urrutia is honored...
When Hughes went down against Seattle U., Stephanie Urrutia (So., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.) stepped forward to fill the void. And then some. Urrutia posted her first career double-double, swishing the net for 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, while also contributing. five assists and four steals. While it's debatable whether her statistics were better, without a doubt Urrutia definitely delivered a clutch performance two days later versus Northwest Nazarene. She scored six of her career-high 21 points in the final 67 seconds of an 82-76 homecoming victory which lifted SPU to the top of the standings. In 38 minutes of work, much of it at the point, Urrutia also had eight assists and two steals to rightfully earn PacWest player of the week. Over the last four games, the she has averaged 18.7 points.

Gus & Guppy movin' up...
If Urrutia's endeavors can be counted upon during the season's stretch run, All-America candidate Gus Balogh (Sr., 5-11, Szombathely, Hungary) can look forward to some more big nights as well. Over the weekend, the Balogh passed Tosca Lindberg for No. 6 on the career scoring list (1990-93) and should move ahead of Linnea Jarvits (1993-97, 1544pts.) for No. 5 in the next few games. Balogh scored 31 points in the two games, including 21 against Northwest Nazarene, and now has a career total of 1483. Shot-blocker Liz Guppy (Sr., 6-3, Beaverton, Or./Westview) rejected eight more attempted field goals last week and, with eight regular season games to go, is just 24 blocks away from becoming the school's all-time leader. Caroline Pfeil (1986-90) is the record-holder with 213. Guppy also scored 15 points on six of eight shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds in the homecoming win.

Holme gets 14...
While Balogh and Urrutia got most of the attention last week, Jana Holme (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Wilson) was going gung-ho after the ball. Holme took down 14 rebounds vs. NNU--two shy of her career-high.

The rest of the nest...
Becka Beard (So., 5-4, Bremerton, Wa./King's West) moved into the starting lineup for Hughes. She had seven points and seven assists against the Redhawks and scored eight vs. NNU. Valerie Gustafson (Fr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) packed it in the paint in the two victories, scoring 16 points and grabbing five rebounds. Gustafson ranks No. 7 on the PacWest Charts in field goal percentage (.520).

Put-backs...
The 39 points by Seattle U. was the fewest allowed by the Falcons since 1988-89, when Trinity Western finished with 33...Stacie Lukkes (So., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentwood) hauled down 10 rebounds in the wins...Brianne Prescott (Jr., 5-7, San Jose, Ca./Mitty-San Jose CC) was cool from beyond the arc, connecting on just two of 14 treys but has long passed last year's season leader, Heidi Umthun, with 35 treys. Umthun connected on 24 3-pointers in 28 games last year. Prescott is fourth on the conference charts for treys made per game (2.19)...The Falcons have hit 108 which is 25 more than last season's total...Hughes leads the PacWest in steals (3.11) and is second in assists (6.0) and sixth in free-throw percentage (.789)...Balogh is second in conference scoring (17.7) and seventh in free throw percentage (.786)...Urrutia moved up to fourth in steals (2.63) and Guppy climbed two spots to No. 4 in blocks (1.76)...SPU is second in conference scoring, field-goal shooting (.451), free-throw shooting (.715), steals (12.05) and first in field-goal percentage defense (.364).

Opponent, series notes...
The Falcons lead the series with Western New Mexico a lopsided 9-3 including a 82-53 rout earlier this year in Silver City. Guppy poured in 18 points and had eight rebounds to lead all in that contest. The Mustangs have lost the last eight meetings...Montana State Billings defeated SPU at home Jan. 6, 61-52, and leads the series 15-8. At Billings, the Falcons shot just three free throws (made one) to the Yellowjackets 24 (made 19). Balogh had 14 points and nine rebounds in that contest.

S-P-U on the W-E-B...
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PacWest Conference Standings

Personnel notes...
No Player Yr-Exp Hgt '00 -01 stats Hometown Notes
12 Becka Beard So-1V 5-4 3.3/ 2.2 ast Bremerton, Wa. Started against Northwest Nazarene
20 Kerie Hughes* So-1V 5-6 8.8/6.0 ast Mount Vernon, Wa. Out with torn ACL
22 Kirsten Daniel Sr-2V 5-7 1.6/1.1 reb Florence, Or. Three assists vs. Northwest Nazarene
23 Brianne Prescott* Jr-TR 5-7 8.1/2.1 reb San Jose, Ca. Fourth in PacWest in 3's made per game
24 Stephanie Urrutia* So-1V 5-9 12.4/4.9 reb Sunnyside, Wa. Averaged 18.7 points in last four contests
30 Stacie Lukkes So-1V 6-0 3.8/4.2 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 5.6/5.0 reb Tacoma, Wa. 14 rebounds against Northwest Nazarene
33 Gus Balogh* Sr-3V 5-11 17.7/4.9 reb Szombathely, Hungary Needs just 62 pts. to be No. 5 all-time scorer
40 Liz Guppy* Sr-3V 6-3 7.7/5.1 reb Beaverton, Or. 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 blocks vs. NNU
42 Valerie Gustafson* Fr-HS 6-0 8.6/4.1 reb Olympia, Wa. Career-high 19 points v Humboldt
*projected starters
Coach: Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene '83) 14th year (277-114) PacWest coach of the year in '97 & '98