This week...
Thr., Mar. 1, 7 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v HUMBOLDT STATE, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.
Sat., Mar. 3, 5 p.m. -- WOMEN'S BASKETBALL v WESTERN OREGON, Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wa.
Sun., Mar. 4, 3:30 p.m. -- NCAA TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCEMENT

Complete Schedule

One away from clinching...
One win away from clinching the Pacific West Conference championship, the 17th-ranked Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team comes home for the final two regular season games this week. The Falcons (16-4, 21-4), whose 10-game win streak came to an end in their last outing, host Humboldt State (7-13, 9-15) Thursday night (Mar. 1). On Saturday evening (Mar. 3), they honor four graduating seniors prior to playing Western Oregon (12-8, 15-10) in the final precursor to the playoffs. NCAA Division II tournament bids will be announced Sunday (Mar. 4) with West Regional play Mar. 8-10.

Locking-up a high seed...
Prior to last week's games, the Falcons were ranked No. 2 in the West, behind Cal Poly Pomona. Both teams split road games so there's little chance of a shakeup, and the Broncos currently have the inside track toward earning the homecourt advantage. The No. 2 seed earns a first-round bye so SPU has plenty at stake this week. The top saix teams in the region qualify for the playoffs. Rounding out the top six last week were Cal State State Bakersfield, Western Washington, Central Washington and Alaska Fairbanks. Coach Gordy Presnell (14th year) has taken the program to the NCAA tournament five of the last six years, including a regional title and the Elite Eight in 1998.

PacWest picture...
Seattle Pacific is assured of at least a tie for the conference title and currently owns a two-game advantage on second-place Western Washington and Alaska Fairbanks. It would win the tiebreaker with both teams. Presnell previously took the Falcons to PacWest championships in 1997 and '98.

Ticket information...
General admission tickets for all home women's basketball games are priced $5, with students and senior citizens $3. Reserved tickets will be available for Saturday's men's and women's doubleheader, and are priced $7 and $6. Team and group rates are available by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

The last and the first time...
If the regional rankings hold true, Saturday night's contest will be the final home game for the program's four seniors: Gus Balogh (Sr., 5-11, Szombathely, Hungary), Jana Holme (Sr., 6-1, Tacoma, Wa./Wilson), Liz Guppy (Sr., 6-3, Beaverton, Or./Westview) and Kirsten Daniel (Sr., 5-7, Florence, Or./Siuslaw). Balogh, Holme and Guppy have played in three NCAA tournaments, including the school's only Elite Eight advancement in 1998. Holme, who missed last season with a broken leg, is a fifth-year senior.

Gus hits season-high...
By the time she steps on the court Saturday, Balogh will likely be the school's No. No. 4 career scorer. She scored 45 points last week, including a season-high 28 in the 71-62 loss at Central Washington. Balogh, now with 1601 points, needs six to surpass Lori Robinett (1986-89). Diane Black (1983-86) is No. 3 with 1705. She will likely graduate among the SPU leaders in career field goal percentage, career free throw percentage, season scoring average (needing 50 points to tie for No. 10) and season free-throw percentage by year's end. Balogh is a finalist for both Academic All-America and the All-America teams, which will be announced in mid-March. She has already been named to the academic all-conference and all-conference teams this season.

Prescott fires it up...
After losing Kristin Poe (So., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa.) and Kerie Hughes (So., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa.) to season-ending injuries, thank goodness that Brianne Prescott (Jr., 5-7, San Jose, Ca./Mitty-San Jose CC) was ready to step into a starting role. Prescott drilled eight 3-pointers (out of 21 tries) and scored 26 points in two games last week. Since moving into the starting five six games ago, she has averaged 10.3 points per game and has connected on 38% of her attempts from beyond the arc.

Uneeda Urrutia...
Stephanie Urrutia (So., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.), who assumed the starting point guard role in the wake of Hughes's injury, had 13 assists last week. Urrutia has climbed the conference charts in the passing categories. She is ranked No. 8 in the PacWest (4.1) and is sixth in steals and seventh in assist to turnover ratio. Urrutia tallied a game-high 19 points at Saint Martin's and had six assists. She was credited with a career-high four blocked shots at Central.

Put-backs...
The win streak of 10 games was the longest since going 12-0 to start 1997-98...Guppy swatted six shots in the weekend split to bring her within 11 of passing Caroline Pfiel (1986-90, 213 blocks) for the career record. Last week, Guppy moved onto the career rebounding charts (10th, 560) and could move as high as No. 8 by season's end. Guppy ranks fourth in the PacWest in blocks (1.9)...Holme pulled down seven rebounds in the Central game and eight more against Saint Martin's and her total of 15 led the team for the week...Playing near her hometown, Valerie Gustafson (Fr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) hit for 15 points against the Saints and was a perfect 5 of 5 from the field...Becka Beard (So., 5-3, Bremerton, Wa./King's West) had nine points and seven assists in the pair of games.

PacWest chart...
SPU is first in conference scoring margin (+14.4), assists (18.92) and field goal percentage defense (.359) and second in field goal shooting (.446). The Falcons are third in free-throw shooting (.710), scoring offense, and steals (10.76)...Individually, Urrutia is eighth in PacWest steals (2.32), 7th in assists (4.02) and assist to turnover ratio (1.70), and 15th in scoring (11.9)...Balogh ranks No. 2 in scoring (18.2), ninth in field-goal percentage (.507) and free-throw percentage (.785), and tenth in three-point percentage (.411)...Guppy is No. 4 in blocks (1.87) and Prescott is No. 3 in treys made (2.5)...Hughes will likely finish the season at No. 2 in assists average (6.0), No. 8 in free-throw percentage (.789) and No. 1 in steals (3.11)...SPU moved up two spots in this week's national poll, from No. 19.

Opponent, series notes...
SPU leads the series with Humboldt State 12-1, including a 78-57 decision Jan. 27 in Arcata, Ca. Gustafson came off the bench for 19 points in that game while Balogh had 18. The Falcons, whose first NCAA playoff game came against the Lumberjacks in 1995, have won 11 straight in the series and lead 12-1 overall. Humboldt has lost eight of its past 11 games...Seattle Pacific owns a 7-2 series advantage over Western Oregon. SPU defeated the Wolves 79-73 Jan. 25 in Monmouth behind Urrutia's 18 points and four steals. Western has won five of the last six.

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 3.2/ 2.3 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 1.4/1.2 reb Florence, Or. Two assists at Saint Martin's
23 Brianne Prescott* Jr-TR 5-7 8.9/2.5 reb San Jose, Ca. 14 points at Central
24 Stephanie Urrutia* So-1V 5-9 11.9/5.3 reb Sunnyside, Wa. Double-double 15 pts. 10 rebs. at Anchorage
30 Stacie Lukkes So-1V 6-0 3.7/4.4 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 5.3/5.2 reb Tacoma, Wa. 14 rebounds against Northwest Nazarene
33 Gus Balogh* Sr-3V 5-11 18.2/5.1 reb Szombathely, Hungary Season high 28 points at Central
40 Liz Guppy* Sr-3V 6-3 7.7/5.3 reb Beaverton, Or. 15 points, 7 rebounds, 6 blocks vs. NNU
42 Valerie Gustafson* Fr-HS 6-0 8.3/3.9 reb Olympia, Wa. Career-high 19 points v Humboldt
*projected starters
Coach: Gordy Presnell (Northwest Nazarene '83) 14th year (280-115) PacWest coach of the year in '97 & '98