Big game ahead. With the NCAA tournament just a month away, the Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team plays a game this week with significant implications on seeding and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown. The 12th-ranked Falcons (8-3, 16-4), winners of four of their last five games, must put it all on the line on Thursday (Feb. 7) in Bellingham when they face first-place and 15th-ranked Western Washington (10-1, 17-3). But win or lose, they must rebound quickly to face crosstown rival and much-improved Seattle University (6-4, 11-8) Saturday (Feb. 9). Next week SPU returns home­where it has won 17 straight­to host both Alaska schools.

Last chance. Thursday's contest will go a long way toward determining the GNAC championship. Whereas a victory by the Vikings would virtually assure them the title, a win by the Falcons would pull them within one game and give them the tiebreaker (a season series sweep) should the two teams finish level. Seattle Pacific won the first meeting of the season at the pavilion Jan. 5, 87-74, behind the 26 points of Kelley Berglund (Jr., 6-3, Port Angeles, Wa./Washington State). Western has since won eight in a row.

Glasscleaner. Who needs Windex when you have Kristin Poe (So., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) on your squad? Poe may not do windows but she effectively cleaned the backboards 34 times in last week's wins over Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin's. That includes 22 rebounds­the highest total in the GNAC this season and the most by an SPU player in 11 years­against the Saints. That alone may have been enough to earn Poe player of the week in the conference, but just for good measure she also added 30 points, nine steals and five assists while posting her third and fourth double-doubles in the last eight outings. Poe's performance against Saint Martin's tied her with Tosca Lindberg for No. 2 on the all-time list. Pam Spencer holds the record at 26 rebounds, set in 1977. Poe is now averaging 7.5 boards (9.4 in conference), seventh-best in the league, and she's No. 3 in steals (2.70).

300 and counting. The 74-59 victory over Northwest Nazarene pushed Coach Gordy Presnell into the 300 Club for career wins. On behalf of the school and her teammates, Poe presented Presnell with an autographed ball following the Saint Martin's game, commemorating the occasion which, ironically, came against his alma mater. Presnell has guided the Falcons to 15 straight winning seasons and six NCAA playoff berths in the last seven years, posting a remarkable record of 301-120 (a winning percentage of .715).

Inside job. The frontline of Poe, Berglund and Emily Faurholt (Fr., 5-11, Kennewick, Wa.) continues to be a formidable one. Faurholt has come on strong in the last four games, averaging 18.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and shooting 53 percent. Berglund had another solid week, with 32 points and 18 rebounds while taking just 19 field goal attempts (and making 14). Their efficiency inside­a combined 22-35 from the floor and 52 points) helped the Falcons shoot over 50 percent for the first time in three weeks (six games) against Saint Martin's.

It's (nearly) all-new. It's Presnell's prerogative to change the starting lineup and following the Jan. 26 loss at Central Washington, the coach did just that. He made two changes but the result was three freshmen among the starting five last week. Presnell's new-look backcourt featured Trisha Hermanson (Fr., 5-6, Buckley, Wa./White River) at the point, alongside Michelle Beaumont (Fr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome). Hermanson, who had scored 17 points at Ellensburg, totaled 11 assists and 14 points in her two starts while Beaumont had 12 points against Northwest Nazarene. Faurholt has started all 20 games at forward.

Put-backs. Both Seattle Pacific and Western Washington could move up in this week's new NCAA rankings following a loss by No. 9 Delta State (Ms.). Cal Poly Pomona will likely fall from No. 1 after losing to Cal State Bakersfield...In the last six games, the SPU defense has held opponents to 36 percent shooting and an average of 21.7 turnovers and 65.3 points...Stephanie Urrutia (Jr., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa./Sunnyside), mired in a month-long funk during January, bounced back with 13 points (5-10 FGs) and five assists vs. SMC...Kerie Hughes (Jr., 5-6, Mt. Vernon, Wa./Mt. Vernon), in a rare pair of off-the-bench performances, passed for 14 assists with just five turnovers last week...Berglund, like Poe, has four double-doubles after a 16-point, 10-board outing vs. SMC. Both have brought their game to a boil in conference play. Berglund is averaging 17.0 points and shooting 67 percent and Poe averages 9.4 boards in GNAC games...As a team, the Falcons rank first in the GNAC in scoring (80.5), margin of victory (+19.3), free-throw percentage (.724) and rebounding margin (+9.8). The Falcons are sixth at the Division II level in scoring, second in scoring margin, and ninth in field-goal percentage and rebounding margin...Individually, Berglund is first in GNAC field-goal accuracy (.611), third in scoring (15.8) and 10th in rebounding (6.9). Hughes is first in free-throw shooting (.880), second in assists (5.3) and 3-point percentage (.486, 18-37) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.49). Urrutia is seventh in assists (3.5), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.56) and fifth in blocked shots (0.89). Poe is third in steals and seventh in rebounds.

Opponents & series notes. Western Washington has won 44 of 56 meetings, including seven of the last nine in the series. After the Falcons won five straight at Carver Gym from 1992-98, the Vikings have won the last four in Bellingham, albeit by a total margin of 11 points. Western is 11-0 at home this season. Thursday's game will be carried live on the Internet at http://www.wwuvikings.com/webcasts.htm...Seattle Pacific is quickly closing the gap in the Seattle U. series, having won eight straight to now trail only 23-20. The Redhawks' last victory was in 1995. SPU beat the Redhawks 62-54 at the pavilion Jan. 3, but SU has been on a tear since then, winning six of their last eight conference games.

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.