After four weeks of non-conference competition, the Seattle Pacific women’s basketball team played its first two games of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Thursday, Dec. 5, and Saturday, Dec. 7.
The Falcons went toe-to-toe with two top-voted teams: Simon Fraser University and Western Washington University, both of which were picked for the top five of the GNAC preseason poll.
The Western Washington Vikings, who finished second in the 2023-2024 season, were picked for a first-place finish, and the Simon Fraser Red Leafs, who tied for fourth last season, are expected to finish fifth.
Seattle Pacific lost 87-73 to Simon Fraser on Thursday, Dec. 5, in Burnaby, British Columbia, and 83-68 to Western Washington in Bellingham, Washington.
Starting their 2024-2025 season against top-notched opponents, interim head coach Karen Byers is sure the Falcons are becoming a team to be reckoned with.
“We did not have an easy start this week [but] we had some really positive things happen,” Byers said. “We played pretty even with Simon Fraser until the fourth [quarter]. With Western, we had a really hard time getting in the groove of the game, but the [reserves] and some of the younger players did really well.”
The Falcons led 21-16 in the first quarter against Simon Fraser, but the Red Leafs turned the tables 40-38 in the second quarter. Simon Fraser tried to extend its lead past the Falcons’ reach, creating two 10-point gaps in the third quarter at 59-49 and 61-51.
Seattle Pacific entered the fourth quarter just two points behind SFU. The Falcons kept the gap smaller than 10 points for most of the quarter until two free throws followed by a 9-6 scoring run closed the game for the Red Leafs’ win.
Top scorers were senior guard Lolo Weatherspoon with 24 points and junior guard Layne Kearns with 14. Seattle Pacific’s 73 points against the Red Leafs was a new season-high score for the team.
On Saturday, Dec. 7, the Falcons faced the Western Washington Vikings, an opponent SPU has not beaten since 2019.
The Vikings immediately gained the lead over Seattle Pacific. The margin quickly expanded, and SPU fell behind 28-14 by the end of the first quarter. The Vikings made a brief 16-point gap in the 13th minute, but Seattle Pacific closed the difference to 42-31 as the game entered halftime.
Western Washington played more aggressively throughout the third quarter, widening their lead to 68-49. The Falcons fought hard but could not avoid the loss.
The top scorers were Weatherspoon with 13 points and senior center Schuyler Berry with 12.
“We put more points on both teams than we had in the past,” Byers said. “We had more possessions, pushed the pace and put our press on, so we were getting used to that. We need to make some adjustments because we let both teams go to the line too many times. We’ve got our offense dialed in, and now it’s time to fine-tune our defense.”
Seattle Pacific’s conference record is now 0-2 and 2-9 overall. The Falcons return to non-conference play for the rest of December. They will host California State University, Stanislaus in a non-conference contest on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 2:00 p.m. in Royal Brougham Pavilion.
