Hittin’ the road. The No. 13-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s basketball team will focus on taking care of business in the classroom for the first half of this week before hitting the road to play back-to-back non-conference games over the weekend. The unbeaten Falcons (6-0) face Warner Pacific (4-3) in Portland Friday night (Dec. 12) then head back up Interstate-5 to take on Northwest College (3-4) in Kirkland Saturday night (Dec. 13). SPU’s final pair of games in 2003 will take place at the CCAA/GNAC Challenge Dec. 19-20 in Los Angeles. Great Northwest Athletic Conference play resumes Jan. 8 at home.

13 and climbing. Top 25 to start, then top 15 and now what? The Falcons figure to climb higher still in the NCAA Division II rankings this week. After being ranked No. 22 in the USA Today/ESPN preseason poll conducted by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, SPU jumped nine spots in the first regular season rankings. Add a pair of convincing wins, over Central Washington (71-61) and No. 23 Chico State (88-71), plus a couple losses by teams ahead in the polls and Seattle Pacific could break into the top 10 when the next rankings are released Tuesday (Dec. 9). SPU owns a 39-game regular season win streak and it has not lost to an NAIA or Div. III program in eight years.

Career nights. As if garnering two tournament MVP awards and a GNAC player of the week honor wasn’t already enough, forward Valerie Gustafson (Sr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) keeps pushing her game to new heights. In the win over Central Washington, Gustafson netted a career-high 25 points only to establish a higher standard of 29 points (11-16 FGs) against Chico State two nights later. Her totals of 54 points, 15 rebounds and four steals earned her GNAC player of the week for the second time already. Gustafson was dominant in the Chico game, scoring 17 of her 29 before halftime, including taking and making her first two three-pointers of the season. She leads the GNAC in scoring (20.7), is tied for first in steals (2.83) and is ranked fifth in field-goal percentage (.553).

Taylor-made tough. Point guard Amy Taylor (Jr., 5-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood-Oregon) came up big in the clutch last week. Against Central, Taylor hit a big jumper as the shot clock expired to push the SPU lead to 10 with 1:15 left. She finished with a career-high 23 points, including a perfect 8-8 from the line. Taylor then scored all seven of her points during a game-breaking 20-7 second-half run vs. Chico State. Aside from scoring, she’s proving to be a reliable playmaker. She dished a total of 13 assists in the wins, including a season-high 10 (vs. no turnovers) against Chico. Taylor leads SPU with 4.5 assists per game (No. 6 in GNAC).

Eight is enough. After Gustafson, one would be hard-pressed to find another SPU player among the conference scoring leaders, yet the Falcons lead the GNAC in scoring offense (81.5). The key is balance, as eight players average between 6.0 and 10.5 points per game. Taylor, center Brittney Kroon (So., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.), Michelle Beaumont (Jr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome) and reserve guard Mandy Wood (So., 5-7, Port Angeles, Wa.) have all demonstrated scoring ability in the young season. Kroon and Wood have each led the team in scoring once and Beaumont, the GNAC single-game scoring record-holder, sparked Seattle Pacific in the opening stages of the Chico contest, scoring seven of her 16 points in the first three minutes.

Boardin’. The Falcons have a nice 1-2 punch on the glass as Carli Smith (So., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) and Kristin Poe (Sr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw) swarm after seemingly every loose missed shot. Poe snagged a game-high 13 boards vs. Central while Smith pulled down 15 rebounds (including eight offensive) against Chico. Smith leads SPU and is the GNAC’s No. 4 rebounder (8.8 rpg) and Poe ranks No. 8 (7.3) in the conference and is now No. 7 on the school’s career list.

Put-backs. Jenny Poe (So., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa./Enumclaw-Portland State) totaled seven steals in the pair of wins and is now averaging 2.2 per game (No. 6 in GNAC). She leads the conference with a 6.3 to 0.5 assists-to-turnover ratio...Kroon is tops in the GNAC with 3.67 blocks per game and is No. 7 in field-goal percentage (.514)...After beating Central Washington, the Falcons have now won 25 straight conference games, dating back to Feb. 7, 2002...Guard Trisha Hermanson (Jr., 5-6, Buckley, Wa./White River) played six minutes (scoring five points) vs. Chico State, her first action in four games after being out with a hand injury...The team also leads the GNAC in scoring margin (+22.8), field-goal percentage defense (.332), steals (12.83), blocks (6.17), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.20) and offensive rebounds (17.0). It is second in field-goal percentage (.434) and turnover margin (+8.83).

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

SPU Coaches. Coach Gordy Presnell was voted the 2003 Russell Athletic/Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year for NCAA Division II last season after having also been named both conference and regional coach of the year. He has never registered a losing season in 16 years at the helm of the Seattle Pacific University basketball program. Presnell 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 21 wins per season and qualified for the playoffs 11 times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 1998.

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.