Be their guests. Once, twice and now three years in a row March Madness is arriving on Seattle Pacific University’s doorstep. Or Brougham Pavilion, to be more precise. The No. 4-ranked Falcon women’s basketball team is once again hosting the NCAA Division II West Regional beginning Friday (Mar. 11). Winner of 28 straight home games, SPU (25-2) faces Montana State Billings (21-6) in the first round. All seven games take place in the pavilion, including the Saturday night (Mar. 12) semifinals and the Monday evening (Mar. 14) championship game. The West winner advances to the Elite Eight and meets the Great Lakes representative Mar. 23 in Hot Springs, Ark.

Best in the West. Four nationally-ranked teams are among the eight in the West Regional. The defending champion Falcons took the top seed after winning 22 of 23 games in the region and claiming their third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown. GNAC runner-up and 12th-ranked Western Washington (23-4) looms on the other side of the bracket, along with California Collegiate Athletic Association champion and No. 17 Chico State (22-5), No. 21 Cal Poly Pomona (20-7) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (17-9). Saint Martin’s (21-6), the only regional team to defeat SPU this season, plays Cal State Bakersfield (20-7). The winner meets the MSU Billings-Seattle Pacific victor.

Moving on up. Year by year, step by step, Gordy Presnell’s program is progressing toward the goal of an NCAA championship. Perhaps this time around the Falcons can take a giant leap. In 2002, Presnell’s squad lost by one point in the regional title game to Cal Poly Pomona, the eventual national champion. In ‘03, SPU brought the regional back to Seattle but again fell victim in the final game. Last year, Seattle Pacific went to the Elite Eight for just the second time, but was eliminated in the quarterfinal by Drury (Mo.), currently the nation’s No. 1 team and last season’s national runner-up. Presnell, who was voted co-coach of the year in the GNAC, also guided his program to the Elite Eight in 1998, when the West Regional first came to Seattle.

Defending the home floor. Nothing beats playing at home in the playoffs. Or at least next to nothing does. Seattle Pacific is 7-1 at the pavilion in eight previous tournament games. Over the last two seasons, the Falcons have won 28 consecutive home games, and 63 out of 64 over five seasons. The only blemish was applied by Cal State Bakersfield in the ‘03 West title contest. This season they have won their home games by an average of 27.8 points.

Taylor-made. A few of the Falcons have been unbeatable at Brougham, and chief among them is point guard Amy Taylor (Sr., 5-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood), who was a near-unanimous pick for player of the year in the GNAC. Taylor became the third SPU player in as many years to earn the conference’s top award. She was also voted to the all-region team and was a unanimous first team all-conference selection after leading the team in scoring (12.6), assists (3.8) and three-point accuracy (.401). It was Taylor who sparked a win over Pomona with 21 points in last year’s regional championship game.

Double-double Smitty. Joining Taylor on the GNAC first team is the first Falcon to average a double-double in 13 years–forward Carli Smith (Jr., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian). Elevated from a reserve role the past two seasons, Smith has just been plain solid inside, averaging 10.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 84.7 from the foul line. Her 272 rebounds thus far rank No. 5 in the all-time season list. The record of 359 was set in 1991 by Tosca Lindberg, the last player to average a double-double.

Like swatting flies. Most people fear rejection, but center Brittney Kroon (Jr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.) embraces it because it’s part of her job description. Kroon rejected a total of 11 opponent shots in a pair of victories at Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage. That included nine in the latter game, played near her hometown. That effort pushed Kroon to the top of the GNAC career list with 270 in less than three complete seasons. She already owns all of school’s records for blocks. Kroon also totaled 23 points and 15 rebounds and shot 60 percent from the field in the two Alaska wins, including a season-best with 17 points at Fairbanks. An honorable mention all-conference choice, Kroon leads the GNAC and ranks No. 4 nationally in blocks, averaging 3.74 per game. She’s also the league leader in field goal percentage (.597), some 20 percentage points ahead of school-record pace.

Put-backs. This is Seattle Pacific’s 10th trip to the NCAA tournament and the ninth straight. The Falcons have played for the regional championship four times. During the regular season they were a combined 5-1 against other regional participants. Saint Martin’s gave SPU its closest home win (77-68), and the only other games decided by fewer than 10 points were victories at Western Washington and Chico State...Taylor matched her season high for the sixth time this year with four treys in SPU’s win over Alaska Fairbanks. She joins Linda Johnson (1988), Gus Balogh (2001), Kerie Hughes (2003) and Valerie Gustafson (2004) as league players of the year from SPU...Jenny Poe (Jr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa.) scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds last week...Smith totaled 16 points and 21 rebounds...Nationally, the Falcons rank No. 4 in scoring margin (21.1), No. 7 in rebounding margin (9.5), No. 9 in field-goal percentage defense (.344), 11th in scoring (79.2) and 3-point percentage (.374), 12th in free-throw percentage (.765) and 20th in field-goal percentage (.459). Those figures, except for free throw accuracy, lead the GNAC...Besides Kroon and Smith, Taylor leads the GNAC in assists-to-turnover ratio (1.82). She’s also No. 3 in 3-point percentage (.401) and seventh in assists (3.78). Kroon is No. 7 in rebounding (7.0) and Smith is No. 2 in field-goal percentage (.547). Mandy Wood (Jr., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) is No. 5 in assists (3.68) and 3-point percentage (.372).

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.