Complete Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Mar. 10) – Brittney Kroon scored a career-high 20 points and Mandy Wood scored all 16 of her points in the second half as Seattle Pacific overcame a 15-point second-half and upset top-seed and nationally fourth-ranked Western Washington 70-50 in a NCAA II West Region women’s basketball semifinal Saturday night at WWU’s Carver Gym.

Seattle Pacific (24-5), the fifth seed in the tournament, won for the 17th time in the past 18 games and will face No. 2 seed Chico State (26-3) in the regional championship Monday night at 7:00 p.m. in Bellingham. Chico, ranked No. 14 in NCAA II, defeated third-seed Cal State Bakersfield 83-80 earlier in the evening in the other semifinal.

This marks the fourth straight regional final appearance for the Falcons, who have won eight straight regional games. SPU defeated Chico 85-70 in last year’s regional championship. The Falcons, who advanced to the national championship game last season, are seeking their third straight regional title.

“These girls remember losing in the national championship last year and want to get back for another shot,” said SPU coach Julie van Beek. “They’ve been in big games and that brought out the best in them tonight. This is a group of winners.”

The Falcons trailed 45-38 with 9:54 left to play but scored 14 straight points to pull ahead 52-45. Wood (Sr., 5-6, Enumclaw, Wa.), SPU’s leading scorer, scored five straight during that span, including one of her four three pointers that gave the Falcons the lead for good. She finished 4-of-7 from behind the arc after missing her two first-half attempts.

“(Western Washington) did a good job of stopping Mandy in the first half,” van Beek said. “She starting moving more off the ball and getting better shots. I told her to be patient, and she came up big.”

Kroon (Sr., 6-4, Wasilla, Ak.) kept the Falcons within striking distance early on. She scored half of SPU’s points in the first 20 as the Falcons trailed 31-20 at the break. Kroon poured in another 10 in the second half and also grabbed seven rebounds for the game.

“Before the game, I told the team that the only difference between all four teams left in the tournament is Brittney Kroon,” van Beek said. “I challenged her to be a dominant player and, after she missed some shots early, she came back very strong.”

SPU fell behind 35-20 early in the second half, but went on a 14-2 run over the next five minutes to pull within three, 37-34, with 13:29 left. After a Kroon free throw, the Falcons hit three straight three pointers, beginning with one from Carli Grant (Sr., 5-11, Spokane, Wa./Valley Christian), the first trey of her career. Grant, who finished with nine points and 11 rebounds, was 0-for-9 from behind the arc for her career, 0-for-5 this season coming into the contest.

The Falcons then went on to close the game with 11 straight points. After shooting 29 percent in the first half, SPU shot 55 percent in the second half and outscored Western Washington 50-19 over the final 20 minutes. The Falcons avenged two losses to the Vikings this season, SPU’s only two league losses.

Western Washington finished its season 27-2.

“I don’t think (Western Washington) had seen the real Seattle Pacific yet this year,” van Beek said. “We panicked a bit in the first half, but this is a tough group and they came back fighting. I saw a different group of kids in the second half. They had to go out and play without fear.”

Courtney Clapp scored 13 of her team-high 15 points in the first half for the Vikings. She was the only WWU player to score in double figures. Tina Donahue added nine points and three rebounds.

The Falcons ended Western Washington’s school-record 21-game winning streak. It was also Western’s first home loss in 20 contests.

The Vikings shot just 23 percent in the second half and finished at 33 percent for the game. The Falcons shot 7-for-15 (47 percent) from three-point range after going 0-for-4 in the first half. SPU held a 41-32 advantage in rebounding.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 70, WESTERN WASHINGTON 50
SEATTLE PACIFIC (24-5) Kroon,Brittney 7-11 6-8 20; Wood,Mandy 6-14 0-0 16; Grant,Carli 4-5 0-0 9; Poe,Jenny 1-6 4-4 6; Fielding,Autumn 2-8 0-0 5; Menkens,Jessie 2-3 0-0 5; Christensen,Beth 1-3 3-5 5; Strand,Rachel 2-6 0-0 4; Hill,Kelsey 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 25-59 13-18 70.
WESTERN WASHINGTON (27-2) Clapp,Courtney 5-13 3-4 15; Donahue,Tina 3-9 2-2 9; Stelmack,Mollie 4-15 0-0 8; Pallansch,Claire 3-8 0-0 6; Hubbard,Samantha 1-3 2-2 5; Dykstra,Kelly 1-4 1-2 4; Hartman,Elyse 1-1 0-0 3; Cabe,Willow 0-1 0-0 0; McCarrell,Liz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 8-10 50.

Seattle Pacific............... 20 50 - 70 
Western Washington............ 31 19 - 50

3-point goals-Seattle Pacific 7-15 (Wood,Mandy 4-7; Fielding,Autumn 1-3; Grant,Carli 1-1; Menkens,Jessie 1-1; Strand,Rachel 0-3), Western Washington 6-18 (Clapp,Courtney 2-5; Dykstra,Kelly 1-1; Donahue,Tina 1-5; Hubbard,Samantha 1-1; Hartman,Elyse 1-1; Cabe,Willow 0-1; Stelmack,Mollie 0-4). Fouled out--Seattle Pacific-None, Western Washington-None. Rebounds-Seattle Pacific 41 (Grant,Carli 11), Western Washington 32 (Stelmack,Mollie 7). Assists-Seattle Pacific 17 (Poe,Jenny 4), Western Washington 14 (Stelmack,Mollie 4). Total fouls-Seattle Pacific 13, Western Washington 16. A-1205