Complete Box Score

SEATTLE (Mar. 3) Jackie Hollands scored a career-high 24 points and keyed a game-changing 14-0 run midway through the second half that led Seattle Pacific to the outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship with a 59-55 victory over cross-city rival Seattle University Saturday night at SU’s Connolly Center.

The Falcons (12-4 GNAC, 19-8) had already earned at least a share of the conference championship, their fourth in the past five season, but tonight’s victory gave SPU a one-game advantage over second-place Alaska Anchorage and the GNAC’s automatic berth in the NCAA II tournament, the school’s 11th straight playoff appearance.

The Redhawks (9-7, 18-9) captured their first lead of the game on a basket by Kamrica Ary-Turner with 16:57 left in the contest, and extended their lead to four, 43-39, with 12:11 left to play. The Falcons, however, fired back with 14 unanswered points to pull ahead 53-43 with 7:10 remaining in the contest.

Hollands (Jr., 5-9, Oregon City, Or.) had five points and one assist during that stretch an finished with 24 for the game on 8-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. Kelsey Hill (So., 6-2, Portland, Or./Portland Christian) had six points during the run and finished with 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.

Rachel Strand (Sr., 6-0, Shoreline, Wa./King’s) added 15 points and four rebounds in the victory for SPU. Hill, Hollands and Strand combined for 52 of SPU's 59 points.

The Redhawks pulled back to within six with 5:49 left to play, but Seattle Pacific pushed the lead back to 10 with 3:40 remaining. Seattle University hit back-to-back threes to get back to within four with two minutes remaining, but SPU did not allow a field goal the rest of the way.

Ary-Turner led the Redhawks with 20 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Cassidy Murillo added 13 points and seven rebounds. Seattle University got just nine points from its starters, seven from Ashley Brown.

The Falcons scored the first eight points of the game as the Redhawks made just one of their first eight field-goal attempts. A Hollands three pointer with 12:49 left in the first half to give the Falcons their largest lead of the period, but never got to double figures as Seattle University pulled back to within three at the half.

Both teams made four of their first five three-point attempts as SPU finished 7-for-19 (37 percent) for the game. The Redhawks finished 11-for-19 (58 percent) from behind the arc. The Falcons also had a 39-29 advantage in rebounding.

The Falcons will compete in the NCAA II West Region tournament March 9-12 to be hosted by the region’s No. 1 seed. Tournament seeds and pairings for the entire 64-team NCAA II tournament field will be announced tomorrow and broadcast live on the internet at www.nccasports.com/dii.

SEATTLE PACIFIC 59, SEATTLE UNIVERSITY 55
SEATTLE PACIFIC (18-8, 11-4 GNAC) Hollands,Jackie 8-10 3-5 24; Strand,Rachel 7-12 0-1 15; Hill,Kelsey 5-12 4-4 14; Menkens,Jessie 1-6 0-0 3; Christensen,Jessie 1-1 0-1 2; Henderson,Daesha 0-1 1-2 1; Hoisington,Megan 0-0 0-0 0; Fielding,Autumn 0-1 0-0 0; Christensen,Beth 0-2 0-1 0; Magnuson,Libby 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 8-14 59.
SEATTLE UNIVERSITY (18-8, 9-6 GNAC) Ary-Turner,Kamrica 8-11 0-0 20; Murillo,Cassidy 3-6 4-6 13; Kellogg,Taryn 3-5 0-0 9; Brown,Ashley 3-11 0-2 7; Sobczak,Laina 1-8 2-2 4; Fromdahl,Carly 1-5 0-0 2; Dougherty,Danica 0-0 0-0 0; Payne,Ashley 0-3 0-0 0; Jones,Laura 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 6-10 55.

Seattle Pacific............... 28 31 - 59 
Seattle University............ 25 30 - 55

3-point goals-Seattle Pacific 7-19 (Hollands,Jackie 5-7; Strand,Rachel 1-3; Halftime-SPU 28, SU 25. Menkens,Jessie 1-4; Henderson,Daesha 0-1; Fielding,Autumn 0-1; Christensen,Beth 0-1; Magnuson,Libby 0-2), Seattle University 11-19 (Ary-Turner,Kamrica 4-5; Kellogg,Taryn 3-5; Murillo,Cassidy 3-5; Brown,Ashley 1-2; Payne,Ashley 0-1; Jones,Laura 0-1). Fouled out—Seattle Pacific-None, Seattle University-None. Rebounds Seattle Pacific 39 (Hill,Kelsey 17), Seattle University 29 (Murillo,Cassidy 7). Assists Seattle Pacific 13 (Magnuson,Libby 5), Seattle University 11 (Brown,Ashley 5). Total fouls-Seattle Pacific 14, Seattle University 15. A-602.