Senior Duo Lead No. 1 SPU Women Past Northwest Nazarene
February 28, 2004

SEATTLE (Feb. 28) ­ Valerie Gustafson scored 22 points and Kristin Poe had 19 points as No. 1 Seattle Pacific University beat Northwest Nazarene 82-63 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game Saturday night at Brougham Pavilion.

Prior to Saturday’s game, the program honored seniors Valerie Gustafson (left) and Kristin Poe (right), who have played on three conference championship teams in the last four years. They returned the favor by scoring 22 and 19, respectively.

With the win, the Falcons (26-0, 17-0 GNAC) pushed their regular season win streak to 59 games and their conference string now stands at 41 straight. The Crusaders (13-12, 8-8) have lost two in a row.

Gustafson (Sr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) and Poe (Sr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa.), who were honored before the game on Senior Night, were joined in double figures by Carli Smith (So., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) with 11 points. Brittney Kroon (So., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.), the top shot blocker in NCAA Division II, had eight blocks for SPU.

Northwest Nazarene went up 26-23 with 8:06 to play in the first half, but the Falcons scored 14 unanswered points over a 3:13 stretch to take the lead back for good, 37-26. Poe’s jumper just before the halftime buzzer gave SPU their largest lead of the half, 44-31.

The second half belonged to Gustafson as she scored 14 of her game-high 22 on 7-of-9 shooting. The Falcons extended their lead to 59-39 with 13:53 to play and cruised the rest of the way.

The Crusaders managed to outrebound SPU, 40-37. The Falcons shot 49 percent and forced NNU into 36 percent shooting. Seattle Pacific scored 26 points off 21 Northwest Nazarene turnovers.

Jenny Binford had 19 points, Heidi Buehler scored 16 and Danielle Pridgen added 10 points and 11 rebounds for NNU.

SPU plays its final game of the regular season at Central Washington on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC ­ Gustafson 22, K. Poe 19, Smith 11, Taylor 9, Beaumont 8, Kroon 8, J. Poe 3, Wood 3, Hermanson 0, Strand 0, Duffin 0, Soule 0.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE ­ Binford 19, Buehler 16, Pridgen 11, Barker 6, Gonzalez 5, Zillner 2, Sacht 2, Lind 2, Harrison 0.

Halftime -- SPU 44, NNU 31. Attendance ­ 1,125