Cold Snap Ends Too Late As Falcons Fall in NCAA Title Game
March 26, 2005

National Championship Photos Courtesy Tom Box

Pregame introductions

Amy Taylor shooting

Michelle Beaumont shooting

Team Huddle

Ready for ESPN cameras!

Season Stats     Game Box Score

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (Mar. 26) – Defense wins championships, but Seattle Pacific University simply couldn’t muster enough offense as it went down to Washburn, 70-53, in the NCAA Division II women’s basketball championship game Saturday at Summit Arena.

A cold snap which began during the Falcons’ semifinal win carried over to the first 25 minutes of the nationally-televised title game, and by then the Lady Blues were nearly out of reach.

An SPU surge twice sliced the 24-point deficit to eight in the final seven minutes before Washburn (35-2) essentially sealed the verdict on Carla Sintra’s three-pointer for a 65-53 advantage as the shot clock expired with 62 seconds left.

Carli Smith (Jr., Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) and Brittney Kroon (Jr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.) each scored 14 points for Seattle Pacific, which finished at 30-3. Smith also had 13 rebounds.

Michelle Beaumont (Sr., 5-11, Bellingham, Wa./Sehome) came off the bench to score eight of her 10 points and Smith added six during a run of 14 unanswered points. Beaumont got things going by hitting back-to-back threes and Smith, working inside, capped the spree by scoring underneath to make it 52-43.

A trey by Mandy Wood (Jr., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) and another by Amy Taylor (Sr., 5-8, Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) each brought SPU within eight, the latter at 57-49 with 4:35 remaining.

Washburn responded with layups by Brooke Ubelaker and Sintra, pushing the lead back to 12 and the Falcons got no closer.

“I believed we would come back, everyone did, and no matter how far down we got,” said Taylor, one of three seniors.

“They were better than us today,” said SPU coach Gordy Presnell. “We had a great season, and a lot to be thankful for. God’s blessed us.”

“You want to play to play your best when your best is needed,” he added. “We weren’t quite able to do that.”

Juwanna Rivers, who started in place of injured top scorer Jennifer Harris, scored 22 points and Ubelaker added 20 for the Lady Blues, who never trailed after scoring 10 straight points to go in front 10-2 after four minutes.

Rivers made 7 of nine shots, including 3 of 4 threes. All three came in the first four minutes of the second half, when Washburn widened a 10-point halftime lead to 47-23.

“We had a game plan to slow down Sintra, and I thought we did a good job,” said Presnell. “Rivers came in averaging five points (5.8) and she hit 22, and we weren’t counting on that.”

Seattle Pacific, which lost in its home white uniforms for the first time this season, shot just 17 percent from the field in the first 25 minutes. It finished at 34 percent (21-62) after an 11-year low of 27 percent in Thursday’s victory over Merrimack.

Washburn made 43 percent of its field goals (23-54), with 11 three-pointers. Ubelaker and Lora Westling each had three. SPU was 5 for 27 beyond the arc.

Smith converted 6 of 8 shots and Kroon 6 of 11 but Taylor and Wood, the team’s top two scorers, were a collective 4 for 17 and each scored just five points.

Taylor was voted to the Elite Eight all-tournament team along with Westling, Rivers and Sintra, who was named the most outstanding player, despite being held to seven points by Kroon, Smith and Quinn Brewe.

“Seattle Pacific has a good team and made good a run at us,” said Washburn coach Rod McHenry. “They got hot and put us on our heels but we were able to hit a couple shots to settle us down. Thank goodness for the first-half lead and those threes to start the second half.”

The Falcons are scheduled to arrive at SeaTac Airport Sunday night at 8:55 p.m. on Southwest Airlines via Chicago.

WASHBURN (35-2) Rivers, Juwanna 7-9 5-8 22; Ubelaker, Brooke 6-14 5-6 20; Westling, Lora 4-11 1-2 12; Sintra, Carla 3-11 0-0 7; Roadhouse, April 1-4 2-2 5; Sullivan, Megan 2-2 0-0 4; McHenry, Dani 0-0 0-0 0; Henrichs, Holly 0-0 0-0 0; Menard, Erin 0-2 0-0 0; Keeley, Cindy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 13-18 70.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (30-3) Smith, Carli 6-8 2-3 14; Kroon, Brittney 6-11 2-4 14; Beaumont, Michelle 4-15 0-0 10; Wood, Mandy 2-7 0-0 5; Taylor, Amy 2-10 0-0 5; Hermanson, Trisha 1-3 0-0 3; Christensen, Beth 0-1 1-2 1; Strand, Rachel 0-1 1-2 1; Poe, Jenny 0-1 0-0 0; Fielding, Autumn 0-0 0-0 0; Brewe, Quinn 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 21-62 6-11 53.
Halftime-SPU 29, SPU 19. 3-point goals-WU 11-27 (Westling, Lora 3-7; Ubelaker, Brooke 3-10; Rivers, Juwanna 3-4; Sintra, Carla 1-1; Roadhouse, April 1-3; Menard, Erin 0-2), SPU 5-27 (Beaumont, Michelle 2-10; Taylor, Amy 1-8; Wood, Mandy 1-5; Hermanson, Trisha 1-3; Strand, Rachel 0-1). Fouled out--none. Rebounds-WU 36 (Roadhouse, April 8), SPU 39 (Smith, Carli 13). Assists-WU 13 (Sintra,Carla 4; Westling, Lora 4), SPU 14 (Taylor, Amy 5). Total fouls-WU 13, SPU 14. A-1062