Second half begins. Heading into the home stretch of the women’s basketball season, Seattle Pacific University finds itself on the road and peaking at the right time. With each week, the Falcons bear a closer resemblance to the regional champions of the past couple years. They begin the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season on a seven-game win streak and the next three contests on the road, with destinations radiating farther from campus with each game. SPU (8-1, 14-4) begins by taking the short drive across town to Seattle University (5-4, 10-7) Thursday night (Feb. 2). A visit to Saint Martin’s (4-5, 8-10) comes Saturday (Feb. 4). There’s only one game next week, a Feb. 11 encounter with travel partner Northwest Nazarene.

Steady at sixth. Despite its winning ways, Seattle Pacific has not gained ground in the West Region rankings. The Falcons are sixth for the third week in a row. Cal State Bakersfield, UC San Diego, Western Washington, Chico State and Cal State L.A. are ahead of them.

Check the nets. A close inspection of the Brougham Pavilion nets may find singe marks after Seattle Pacific shot over 53 and 52 percent in their 91-48 victory over Alaska Fairbanks and 88-74 win against Alaska Anchorage. The Falcons hit 40 percent from three-point range and 85 percent from the foul line. They now rank 12th among NCAA Division II members in field-goal percentage (.468) and 13th in scoring (78.6 points per game).

Ringleader Mandy. Against Anchorage, SPU stubbed its collective toe with turnovers, but come clutch time Mandy Wood (Sr., 5-6, Port Angeles, Wa.) helped make everything right. Wood scored six of 18 unanswered points as the Falcons surged past the Seawolves for the 34th straight home victory. She scored 20 points in the game and 40 for the week, and hit 4 of 10 three-pointers to earn GNAC player of the week. Wood is now 14th all-time in GNAC career scoring (1,142) and fourth in three-pointers (193). With 45 more points she will rise to No. 10 in SPU career scoring, and she is already No. 1 in three-point accuracy.

Autumn in winter. Joining Wood with late UAA game heroics was wing Autumn Fielding (Jr., 5-9, Kennewick, Wa.), who pumped in 13 of her career-high 18 points in the second half. Fielding buried back-to-back treys during the same 18-0 run, and finished 4-for-5 from behind the arc. She totaled 33 points, 12 assists and four steals in the two wins, and shot 68 percent overall. In conference play, Fielding is hitting 50 percent (12-24) on treys, and her season clip of .460 is third in the GNAC.

True Britt. Shot-blocking specialist Brittney Kroon (Sr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.) sent a couple postcards home with her impressive displays against the teams from her home state. Taking the offensive, Kroon contributed 22 points, including 14 versus Anchorage, when she also rejected a season-high 11 shots. It was the fourth time Kroon has reached double figures in blocks. She holds the GNAC and SPU record with 13, set in ‘03-04, and leads the NCAA with an average of 4.76 this season.

Record Granted. There’s a new name at the top of the GNAC career rebounding list. Carli Grant (Sr., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian) hauled down 20 more boards last week, including 12 rebounds in the win over Anchorage, to reach 956 for her career. That ranks No. 2 on the SPU list. Western Oregon’s Heather Laats held the old conference mark of 952. With 977 points, Grant remains on pace to become only the second Seattle Pacific player to amass 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, joining Tosca Lindberg (1989-93). Grant entered her final season ranked among the top six career shooters from both the field and foul line. Her season average of 8.8 rebounds also leads the GNAC.

Put-backs. Coach Julie van Beek shuffled her starting lineup last week, inserting Fielding and bringing Jenny Poe (Sr., 5-8, Enumclaw, Wa.) off the bench. Poe, who missed four practice sessions due to a knee injury, responded with 11 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes vs. UAF...Jackie Hollands (So., 5-9, Oregon City, Or.) is not expected back for 4-6 weeks due to a knee injury. She has now missed four games...The Falcons have not lost a January game (30 straight) in four years...They have now won 68 regular season home games in a row and 48 consecutive GNAC home games...Three of the four losses this season are to teams currently ranked among the top 16 in the nation. Western Washington, currently the GNAC leader and No. 8 in Div. II, visits Brougham Pavilion Mar. 2...After trimming turnovers to 15.5 over the previous four games, SPU lost the ball 24 times vs. UAA. The season average of 19.2 is 2.0 more than a year ago...Amy Taylor and Michelle Beaumont were among those departed seniors to joined the remaining holdovers from the NCAA runner-up team who received commemorative watches following the UAA game...Fielding established career highs in points (18) and rebounds (5), and matched her bests in assists (6) and three-pointers made (4) in the victories last week...Wood ranks fifth in the GNAC in scoring (15.4), third in both three-pointers (2.1) and assists (4.3), and eighth in shooting percentage (.505). Beth Christensen (So., 5-5, Enumclaw, Wa.) is No. 2 in assists (4.9) and No. 7 in steals (1.94). Fielding ranks is fifth in overall shooting percentage (.530). Seattle Pacific leads the GNAC in blocks (5.7). The Falcons are second in shooting (.468), scoring (78.6), rebounding (+6.0) and three-point percentage defense (.303)...In conference games, reserve center Kelsey Hill (Fr., 6-2, Portland, Or./Portland Christian) is shooting 60.5 percent from the field. She is ninth in overall shooting percentage.

Coaching Staff. Julie van Beek is in her first year as the Falcons’ head coach after building Nashville’s Trevecca Nazarene into an NAIA national power. After starting the program from scratch, van Beek’s last six squads reached the playoffs, including a national quarterfinal appearance in 2005. In nine years at the helm her record was 162-119. She is a native of Nampa, Id., and played at Northwest Nazarene. Michelle Skyles is the top assistant, having moved from a similar position at Eastern Washington. Skyles coached Jerome to the Idaho state 4A title in 2004. Sasha Anderson joins the staff following five years as head coach at Snohomish County Christian.

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 is $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.