Unbeaten at home. After playing eight of its last 10 on the road, the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team is bound for its own Brougham Pavilion for four of the next five games. It begins this week with the 6th-ranked Falcons (4-2, 12-3) looking to remain unbeaten at home when they host Western Oregon (2-3, 9-5) Thursday (Jan. 17) and Humboldt State (2-3, 4-9) Saturday (Jan. 19) in Great Northwest Athletic Conference games. Following that is a one-week break before traveling to Central Washington Jan. 26.

Golden opportunity. Hopefully SPU can parlay this quasi-homestand into an improved position, both with regard to the GNAC race and the NCAA Division II playoffs. Currently, the Falcons find themselves one game behind Western Washington in the conference after arriving home with a split on the road in Alaska. Regionally, Seattle Pacific was fifth in the West when it embarked on that trip. No. 4 Sonoma State and four of the five teams trailing the Falcons lost at least once last week. The top six teams in the region qualify for the playoffs in March. Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Bakersfield and Montana State Billings are running 1-2-3. After matching their all-time high national ranking at No. 6 again last week, the Falcons are likely to drop in this week's rankings. However, due to a number of losses by teams near the top, they could remain somewhere in the top 10.

A baker's dozen. It's been nearly a year since a visitor has proven victorious over the Falcons at home, where they have won 13 straight. Dating back to the 1999-00 season, they have won 26 of their last 27 in the pavilion. In winning their first six games in the pavilion this season they have outscored opponents 91.0-58.5 and have shot over 50 percent from the field.

Berglund blazes away. Center Kelley Berglund (Jr., 6-3, Port Angeles, Wa./Port Angeles-Washington State) continues to build her case as a candidate for the GNAC newcomer of the year and possibly player of the year. Berglund, after being named conference player of the week for scoring 26 points in the Jan. 5. win over Western, followed that with a career-high 33 plus 10 rebounds in a record-breaking performance at Anchorage. She finished a perfect 14-for-14 from the floor to set a new school record for shooting percentage. It was the first 30-plus game by a Falcon since Ashley Miller notched 37 against Western Dec. 11, 1999. And the flawless shooting display displaced Lori Robinett in the record book. Robinett had shot 16 for 17 vs. Alaska Pacific in 1987-88. In the last four games, Berglund is averaging 22.8 points per game and .778 shooting from the floor.

Frosh phenoms. Without question, Coach Gordy Presnell's recruiting has certainly proven to be the difference between this being a playoff chase rather than a rebuilding year. Besides Berglund, freshmen Emily Faurholt (Fr., 5-11, Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick) and Michelle Beaumont (Fr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome) are among the team's top six scorers, averaging 10.0 and 8.9 points, respectively. Beaumont scored a career-high 17 in the 87-55 win at Anchorage and shot 11-22 for the trip while Faurholt, who has started all 15 games, totaled 24 points on the trip, hitting 8-16 field goals. Guard Trisha Hermanson (Fr., 5-6, Buckley, Wa./White River), another rookie, started her first two games of the season in Alaska and played a total of 75 minutes, contributing six assists, six steals and six points.

Put-backs. Berglund's 33 points against Anchorage was the most by any GNAC player this season and it was her third double-double...Kristin Poe (So., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) passed for a career-high nine assists at UAA...The .385 shooting percentage in the 75-71 overtime loss at Fairbanks was the second-worst of the season and the seven assists matched the lowest...Presnell is three wins away from reaching the 300-victory career milestone...As a team, the Falcons rank first in the GNAC in scoring (81.5), margin of victory (+21.0), free-throw percentage (.725), field-goal shooting (.465), 3-point shooting (.270) and rebounding margin (+9.4)...Individually, Berglund is first in field-goal shooting (.609), third in scoring (16.1) and ninth in rebounding (6.9). Kerie Hughes (Jr., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa./Mt. Vernon) is first in free-throw shooting (.885), second in assists (5.2) and 3-point percentage (.536) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.46). Stephanie Urrutia (Jr., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa./Sunnyside) is second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.76), fourth in blocked shots (0.93) and seventh in assists (3.6). Poe is fourth in steals (2.73). Valerie Gustafson (So., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) is seventh in blocks (0.71)...Hughes and Urrutia did not play at Anchorage, serving a one-game suspension for violating team rules. Hughes hit three late 3-pointers to help bring SPU back from an 11-point deficit and force overtime at Fairbanks.

Opponents & series notes. SPU is 8-2 all-time against Western Oregon, which has lost three in a row after winning nine straight. The Falcons have won the last eight meetings between the two teams. The Wolves' last victory was in 1982-83. They feature the GNAC's top rebounder in Heather Laats (8.9)...SPU is 13-1 all-time against Humboldt State, including an 8-0 mark at the pavilion. The last time the ŒJacks beat SPU was in 1993 in Arcata, Ca. The Lumberjacks have dropped five of their last six outings.

Tickets please. General admission for all SPU home games are $5 with students, youth and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Reserved tickets for doubleheaders are priced at $7 and $6. Teams or groups can quality for discount rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

SPU Coaches. Coach Gordy Presnell began the 2001-02 campaign needing just 15 wins to reach the 300-victory milestone. Presnell has never registered a losing season in 14 years at the helm of the Seattle Pacific University basketball program. He took a team that had not recorded a winning record in nine seasons or earned a trip to the postseason and transformed it into a Division II powerhouse. During his tenure, the Falcons have averaged more than 20 wins per season and qualified for the playoffs nine times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1998. Lynne DeYoung is in her fifth season as an assistant coach under Presnell after recording a handful of three-point shooting records for the Falcons. Brett Hecko enters his first as an assistant coach this season.