Complete Box Score

SEATTLE (Feb. 3) – Kelsey Hill scored eight of her career-high 21 points in the final 11 minutes as Seattle Pacific pulled away from cross-city rival Seattle University 68-59 in a women’s basketball battle for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Saturday afternoon at a packed Brougham Pavilion.

The Falcons (7-1 GNAC, 14-5) trailed by two points with 13:15 left to play, but Jessie Menkens (Sr., 5-10, Battle Ground, Wa./Prairie) buried a three pointer to give the Falcons the lead for good, and Hill (So., 6-2, Portland, Or./Portland Christian) followed with the team’s next six points to put SPU on top 54-49 with 8:26 remaining.

After the Redhawks (6-3, 15-5) pulled cut the gap to four, Hill scored again to top 20 points for the first time in her career and give the Falcons a six-point lead with two minutes and change left to play.

The Falcons went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final minute to seal the victory, with Beth Christensen (Jr., 5-5, Enumclaw, Wa.) accounting for eight of those. Christensen finished with 11 points, four assists and four steals, and Seattle Pacific shot 100 percent (12-12) from the foul line in the second half and 79 percent (19-24) for the game.

Hill shot 8-of-12 from the field for the Falcons, who held on to sole possession of first place in the GNAC, increasing their lead over SU to 1.5 games. Hill also led all players with eight rebounds. Autumn Fielding (Sr., 5-9, Kennewick, Wa.) chipped in nine points for the Falcons, who won for the seventh time in the past nine games.

Laina Sobczak led four Redhawks in double figures with 12 points. Ashley Brown added 11 points and six assists, and Kamrica Ary-Turner and Carly Fromdahl each scored 10.

The Redhawks scored on their first seven shot attempts in the opening nine minutes of the game and built a 14-point lead, but the Falcons responded with increased intensity on the defensive end. SPU fired back with 14 unasnwered points to even the score with six minutes left in the first half, and the team traded baskets for the remainder of the period, all the way up to Brown’s running jumper at the buzzer that gave Seattle University a one-point lead at the half.

Seattle University scored four of the first six points to start the second half, but never led by more than four the rest of the way, and surrendered their lead to the Falcons for good less than seven minutes later.

Seattle Pacific’s focus on the defensive end led to 21 points off 16 SU turnovers. More importantly, the Falcons turned the ball over just 11 times against a swarming defense that leads the GNAC in forced turnovers and ranks 30th nationally in steals. The Falcons also shot 42 percent, nearly 10 percentage points better than SU’s average of 33 percent allowed. The Redhawks came into the contest allowing just 53 points a game.

The Falcons now play six of their final eight regular season games on the road beginning Thursday (Feb. 8) at Saint Martin’s in a GNAC contest.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 68, SEATTLE 59
SEATTLE (6-3, 15-5) Sobczak,Laina 5-7 2-2 12; Brown,Ashley 4-11 3-4 11; Fromdahl,Carly 5-8 0-0 10; Ary-Turner,Kamrica 3-8 2-2 10; Murillo,Cassidy 2-6 0-0 6; Payne,Ashley 2-3 0-0 5; Kellogg,Taryn 1-2 0-0 3; Jones,Laura 1-5 0-0 2; Brown,Ashley M. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 7-8 59.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (7-1, 14-5) Hill,Kelsey 8-12 5-7 21; Christensen,Beth 1-6 8-9 11; Fielding,Autumn 3-6 1-2 9; Magnuson,Libby 2-6 2-2 8; Strand,Rachel 3-5 0-0 6; Menkens,Jessie 2-6 0-0 5; Henderson,Daesha 2-4 0-0 5; Hollands,Jackie 0-4 3-4 3; Christensen,Jessie 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 19-24 68.

Seattle....................... 31 28 - 59 
Seattle Pacific............... 30 38 - 68

Halftime-SU31, SPU 30. 3-point goals-Seattle 6-18 (Murillo,Cassidy 2-6; Ary-Turner,Kamrica 2-2; Kellogg,Taryn 1-2; Payne,Ashley 1-2; Brown,Ashley M. 0-2; Jones,Laura 0-2; Brown,Ashley 0-2), Seattle Pacific 7-18 (Fielding,Autumn 2-4; Magnuson,Libby 2-3; Menkens,Jessie 1-3; Henderson,Daesha 1-2; Christensen,Beth 1-2; Hollands,Jackie 0-3; Strand,Rachel 0-1). Fouled out--Seattle-None, Seattle Pacific-None. Rebounds-Seattle 32 (Fromdahl,Carly 6), Seattle Pacific 29 (Hill,Kelsey 8). Assists-Seattle 16 (Brown,Ashley 6), Seattle Pacific 18 (Christensen,Beth 4). Total fouls-Seattle 20, Seattle Pacific 13. A-1219.