Here we go again. For the second year in a row, the top-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s basketball team has been selected as a No. 1 seed and will host the NCAA Division II West Regional beginning Friday (Mar. 12). The Falcons (27-0), who completed their second straight unbeaten regular season, will face UC San Diego (15-12) in the final game Friday. All seven games of the regional will be played in Brougham Pavilion, including the semifinals Saturday night (Mar. 13) and the championship game Monday night (Mar. 15). The West winner will advance to play the South Central champion at the Elite Eight in Saint Joseph, Mo., Mar. 24.

West’s best. Aside from Seattle Pacific, the West field features just one other nationally-ranked team. Cal State Bakersfield, the defending regional champion, is 23rd nationally and the No. 2 seed in the West. The Roadrunners will face fellow California Collegiate Athletic Association rival Grand Canyon, the No. 7 seed. Cal Poly Pomona, the No. 3 seed, faces a familiar conference foe in Chico State, which is seeded No. 6. Great Northwest Athletic Conference runner-up Western Washington, the No. 4 seed, takes on No. 5 Sonoma State. The winner of SPU-UC San Diego advances to play the Western-Sonoma winner. Seattle Pacific is hosting the regional for the third time, having parlayed the home-court advantage to its only previous Elite Eight trip in 1998.

Familiar territory. If this season seems all too familiar, it is. The Falcons were in the same position last year: a top seed in the West, undefeated and playing on their home court. But Coach Gordy Presnell and his team have high hopes that the outcome this time around is different in one respect–this year they’d like to win one more game and advance to the Elite Eight. Last season’s perfect ride ended with a heartbreaking loss to Cal State Bakersfield in the regional championship game. By a unanimous vote, Presnell earned GNAC and West Region Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.

Most Val-uable. For the third time in four years, the conference player of the year resides at SPU. Valerie Gustafson (Sr., 6-0, Olympia, Wa./Black Hills), the team’s top scorer (15.1) and the GNAC’s top percentage shooter (.573), earned the award, plus first team all-conference. She also averages 6.1 rebounds and ranks among the league leaders in steals (1.85). Kerie Hughes was the ‘03 GNAC player of the year and Gus Balogh got the PacWest award in ‘01.

Not in Poe’s house. Statistically, there’s probably no way to properly quantify her value to the team’s success. But the GNAC coaches knew best, voting Kristin Poe (Sr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa.) to the all-GNAC first team. Poe, a three-time team selection as most inspirational, averaged 9.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.74 steals. She was a second team choice in 2002. Joining Poe and Gustafson as conference honorees was Amy Taylor (Jr., 5-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood-Oregon), who was both newcomer of the year and a second-team selection. Taylor, a transfer from Oregon, averaged 10.9 points, 4.0 assists and led the conference in foul shooting (.907). Brittney Kroon (So., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.), the NCAA shot-blocking leader (4.4), earned honorable mention.

No ‘I’ in T-E-A-M. With its 73-57 road win at Central Washington, SPU made history by joining Columbus State (‘01-’02), Saint Rose (‘97-’98) and Saginaw Valley State (‘84-’85) as the only programs to complete back-to-back undefeated regular seasons. The key to success this season has been its balance and often it’s been the Falcons’ second wave which has wrought havoc. Mandy Wood (So., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) comes off the bench to score 10.3 points per game and fellow reserve Carli Smith (So., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) is the team’s top rebounder (8.6).

Put-backs. This is the Falcons’ eighth straight trip to the NCAA tournament and ninth altogether. They have advanced to the regional title game four times...Gustafson, Michelle Beaumont (Jr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome), Kroon and Wood were selected to the academic all-conference team last week. Gustafson is a three-time selection, Beaumont has been selected twice...Quinn Brewe, a 6-1 forward who signed with SPU in the fall, led Lynnwood’s Meadowdale to the Washington 3A state title last week. Brewe scored 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the title game to earn tourney MVP...As a team, the Falcons finished the GNAC at No. 1 in 14 of 19 statistical categories, among them: scoring offense (80.3, No. 8 in DII), scoring margin (+21.9, No. 4 in DII), scoring defense (58.4, No. 30 in DII), rebounding (43.9), rebounding margin (+9.0, No. 8 in DII), field goal percentage (.462, No. 17 in DII), field-goal percentage defense (.341, No. 6 in DII), three-point field-goal percentage (.390, No. 6 in DII), three-pointers per game (7.15, No. 13 in DII), assists (20.33), blocks (6.93) and steals (11.56)...Kroon is No. 3 in the GNAC for field-goal percentage (.530). Taylor is No. 2 three-point field-goal percentage (.432) and No. 6 in assists. Gustafson is No. 6 in steals and No. 7 in scoring. Wood is No. 1 in three-point field-goal percentage (.434). Smith is No. 3 in rebounding and ninth in free-throw percentage (.797). Kristin Poe is eighth in steals. Beaumont is No. 10 in three-point shooting (.361)...On the records watch, Kroon needs just nine blocks to break the single-season school record of 128, set by Caroline Pfeil in 30 games in 1989-90. Poe moved into a tie for No. 4 on the all-time steals list. Gustafson moved up to No. 10 on the scoring list and her field-goal percentage is on school-record pace...The only Div. II team to win a national title with an unblemished record was North Dakota State (32-0) in 1995.

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.