Regional showdown. For those who wish to see what’s in store for the New Year, they may only need to wait a few days. Saturday night (Dec. 18), No. 4-ranked Seattle Pacific University (7-1) visits unbeaten Chico State (6-0) in what could prove to be a preview of the NCAA Division II women’s basketball tournament next March. It’s the final pre-Christmas game for the Falcons, who are making their second trip to northern California in as many weeks. They will resume play Dec. 29-30, hosting the Great Northwest Athletic Conference/California Collegiate Athletic Association Challenge.

All the angles. Games between SPU and Chico State have taken on an all-new dimension over the last couple seasons, due in large part to the connection between the two coaching staffs. Lynn DeYoung, a former Falcon player and assistant to Coach Gordy Presnell, became the Wildcats’ head coach in 2002. Since then, DeYoung has guided Chico to a pair of playoff appearances, including a first-round meeting with Seattle Pacific in 2003.

Falcons continue to dominate. With another pair of convincing victories last week in a Bay Area tournament, Seattle Pacific effectively maintained its vice-like hold on bragging rights in the West Region. The Falcons, winners in 67 of their last 68 regular season games, were dominant in defeating Sonoma State, 77-44, and host San Francisco State, 73-50. All seven wins have been by a margin of at least 20 points. However, that trend will be difficult to continue over the next couple weeks, with the upcoming bouts at Chico and at home against No. 12 Cal Poly Pomona Dec. 30.

No knock on Wood. Two years ago, the Falcons revolved around an all-region center in Kelley Berglund. Last year, forward Valerie Gustafson was transformed from role player to All-American. Now Presnell’s squad seems centered around the backcourt. And last weekend the guard tandem of Mandy Wood (Jr., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) and Amy Taylor (Sr., 5-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) ran roughshod over Sonoma State and San Francisco State. In the first win, Wood cashed in on 4-of-7 three pointers and shot 9-12 overall, torching the Seawolves for a career-high 24 points. She followed that up with an impressive 16-point outing and 4-of-5 shooting from behind the arc the next night. Wood’s total of 40 points earned her tournament MVP honors.

Taylor, Kroon all-tourney. Taylor, the point guard, took pride in executing the offense with precision. She totaled 10 assists and scored 13 points to join Wood on the all-tournament team, along with center Brittney Kroon (Jr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.). Kroon blocked 12 shots, and averaged 6.5 points and four rebounds in the victories.

Cleaning the glass. The Falcons continued their dominant play in the paint, out-rebounding Sonoma State 44-28. They lead the GNAC in rebounding with an average margin of plus-11.2 per game. Forward Carli Smith (Jr., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) led the way, posting double figures in boards in both games. Smith scored seven points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Sonoma. The following night she came through with her second double-double of the season, with 15 points and 14 rebounds against San Francisco State. Smith’s hard work on the glass, especially on the offensive end, has led to several easy baskets for SPU. She shot a highly efficient 73 percent (8-11) in the two tournament games and leads the GNAC with a 64.3 shooting percentage. She took over the team lead and moved up to fifth in the conference in rebounding (8.6).

Put-backs. The Falcons moved up one spot in this week’s rankings while Drury (Mo.) dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 and was replaced by Washburn (Ks.)...Quinn Brewe (Fr., 6-1, Lynnwood, Wa./Meadowdale) missed both games last week while recovering from a concussion but is expected to play this week. Brewe, the 2004 state prep player of the year, started the first two games but has appeared in only one game since...Kroon needs 12 more blocks to surpass Liz Guppy (214) as the career leader...Despite fulfilling a non-starter role her first two seasons, Smith is just 31 rebounds away from joining the school’s career top 10...Wood shot a combined 64 percent (14-22) from the field, including 67 percent (8-12) on threes last week. She has netted four treys in a game three times this season. She’s the likely future record-holder for career treys. She has 117 in two-plus seasons and DeYoung set the standard of 196...Michelle Beaumont (Sr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome) averaged 13.5 points, four rebounds and 1.5 steals in SPU’s two tournament wins. She shot 61 percent (11-18) from the field...Seattle Pacific ranks third in the GNAC in scoring (80.4) and second in scoring defense (58.1), producing a +22.2 margin...The Falcons lead the league in shooting percentage (.471) and rank third in three-point percentage (.360)...SPU is also second in three-pointers made (7.4), rebounding (44.4) and assists (20.6)...Behind GNAC leader Kroon (4.25), the Falcons lead the conference in blocked shots (5.75)...Wood is 11th in the GNAC in scoring (14.4), third in assists (4.4), fourth in three-pointers (2.1), eighth in three-point percentage (.405) and 13th in field-goal percentage (.500)...Beaumont ranks 14th in scoring (12.4), seventh in three-point percentage (.406), 11th in three pointers (1.6) and 12th in field-goal percentage (.522)...Taylor ranks fifth in assists (4.1), eighth in three pointers (1.9) and leads the league in assists-turnover ratio (2.5)...Kroon is eighth in field-goal percentage (.532) and ninth in rebounding (7.4).

Coaching Staff. For the second straight year, Gordy Presnell was voted the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s NCAA Division II Coach of the Year for 2004, along with conference and regional coach of the year honors. He has never registered a losing season in 17 years at the helm of the Seattle Pacific University basketball program, including back-to-back perfect records during the regular season the past two years. 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 12 times, including Elite Eight appearances in both 1998 and 2004. Returning to Presnell’s staff for her third season is former University of Oregon player Jamie Craighead, who completed her career in 2002 as Oregon’s leader in three-pointers. During her final season, she started all 35 games, averaging 7.9 points.

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.

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.