Next order of business. With the conference championship and the school's first-ever perfect regular season in the books, Seattle Pacific University turns its attention to earning a trip to the Elite Eight when it hosts the NCAA Division II West Regional this week. Seven other women's basketball teams will converge on Brougham Pavilion, where the Falcons have won 33 straight. Play begins Friday (Mar. 14) with four first-round games, including the No. 1-ranked Falcons (27-0) facing Chico State (17-9) in the nightcap. Semifinals are Saturday night (Mar. 15), with the regional championship game Monday night (Mar. 17). The West winner will advance to play the North Central champion at the Elite Eight, Mar. 26 in Saint Joseph, Mo.

Eight is enough. Until this year, a top seed needed only a couple wins to move beyond the region, but the NCAA expanded the national bracket to 64 teams and the regionals to eight. The West field features three nationally-ranked teams: SPU, No. 5 Cal State Bakersfield and No. 24 Western Washington. The latter are the region's Nos. 2 and 3 seeds. Western Washington plays Northwest Nazarene in an all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup while CSUB meets a conference rival of its own, Cal State Stanislaus. The SPU-Chico victor advances to play the winner of Montana State Billings and Central Washington. This is the second time Seattle Pacific has hosted the West Regional. It parlayed the home-court advantage to reach the 1998 Elite Eight.

But wait, there's more. Coach Gordy Presnell and his team set two primary goals before beginning this season: win the GNAC championship and host the regional tournament. Missions accomplished. And yet, there's so much more to be done. "We've accomplished more than we ever imagined, but we're confident we are capable of even more," said Presnell, who hopes history repeats itself. The top seed in the West the past two years-Cal Poly Pomona-has not only gone on to the Elite Eight but has won two NCAA championships. North Dakota State is the only team in the history of Div. II to complete a perfect season, claiming the 1995 title with a 32-0 record.

Interesting twists. Friday's first-round game features an interesting twist: Chico State's rookie head coach, Lynne DeYoung, played at SPU and was Presnell's top assistant for five seasons. If the Falcons advance, they could meet Central Washington in the semifinal round. The Wildcats met Seattle Pacific twice in GNAC play, with the total margin of the losses only 14 points. They are also the last visitor to win at the pavilion. Finally, should the top two seeds meet in the championship, it represents a rematch of last year's first-round game, which Cal State Bakersfield won, 96-84. SPU has not lost since.

The winning formula. Presnell, voted the GNAC Coach of the Year, will tell anyone that the formula for success lies in the leadership and unselfish but spectacular play of three seniors, plus a wealth of talent. Point guard Kerie Hughes (Sr., 5-6, Mount Vernon, Wa./Mount Vernon) earned GNAC Player of the Year, and is a first team all-conference pick along with center Kelley Berglund (Sr., 6-3, Port Angeles, Wa./Washington State), and Stephanie Urrutia (Sr., 5-9, Sunnyside, Wa.) received honorable mention. Berglund, the team's scoring (13.5) and rebounding (8.4) leader, was the GNAC player of the week after totaling 32 and 15, respectively, in last week's wins over Western Oregon (89-44) and Humboldt State (78-44). During the past month, Hughes is averaging 15.9 points. In four games versus nationally-ranked Div. II teams, Berglund averaged 18.5 points and 3.3 steals while Hughes averaged 14.0 points and 6.8 assists.

Depth charge. One reason the individual numbers won't astound many observers is because Presnell goes 11 deep, meaning the minutes are spread out. The quality depth enabled SPU to overcome the losses of forward Kristin Poe (Jr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) and guard Trisha Hermanson (So., 5-6, Buckley, Wa./White River) for 13- and 10-game absences, respectively. In fact, two games after replacing Poe in the starting lineup, Michelle Beaumont (So., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome) scored a GNAC-record 35 points. Carli Smith (Fr., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian), with five double-doubles in points and rebounds, is the GNAC freshman of the year while Mandy Wood (Fr., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) is the No. 1 three-point shooter (.507) in the conference.

Put-backs. Seattle Pacific will practice from 3-4:45 p.m. through Wednesday and 6-7 p.m. Thursday. The latter is closed to the media...Since going to No. 1 in the nation Feb. 12, the Falcons have attraced three crowds in excess of 1,200, including a record 1,475 in the final regular season game...The team has tied the school season record for victories at 27, first set in 1997-98. It is on record pace for free-throw percentage (.754)...Hughes, Valerie Gustafson (Jr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills), Beaumont and Stacie Lukkes (Sr., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentwood) were selected to the academic all-conference team last week. Lukkes is a three-time selection and Gustafson a two-timer...Urrutia, who is 13-23 from the field in her last three outings, moved up to No. 9 on the career scoring leader list while Poe is now No. 10 in rebounds...The Falcons led the GNAC in eight statistical categories, including scoring (84.3), scoring margin (+23.1), field-goal percentage (.480), three-point accuracy (.397), rebounding (+9.2), steals (13.0), scoring defense (61.1) and defensive field-goal percentage (.357)...Nationally, SPU is No. 4 in scoring margin, No. 5 in scoring offense and sixth in three-point accuracy. Individuals among the GNAC top five, besides Wood, include Brittney Kroon (Fr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.), No. 2 in blocks (1.27); Beaumont, No. 2 in 3-point percentage (.478); Gustafson, No. 3 in field-goal percentage (.569); Hughes, No. 3 in assists (5.81) and No. 5 in 3-point accuracy (.427); Berglund, No. 4 in rebounding (8.5) and No. 4 in field-goal percentage (.558); and Smith, No. 5 in field-goal percentage (.552)...Presnell has now been a conference coach of the year five times (1995, '97, '98, '01 and '03).

SPU Coaches. Coach Gordy Presnell reached the 300-victory milestone last season and has never registered a losing season in 15 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 11 times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1998. Joining Presnell's staff this season are two former University of Oregon players. Lindsey Dion served as a volunteer graduate assistant last season when the Ducks won the WNIT title. She played on Oregon's Pac-10 championship team in 2000 and was co-captain of another NCAA tournament team in 2001. Jamie Craighead completed her career last season as Oregon's leader in three-pointers and started all 35 games, averaging 7.9 points.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.