Women's Basketball | 1/23/2014 9:28:00 AM

Box Score

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's basketball team cruised to a 72-56 victory over Western Oregon University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game Thursday.

The Falcons (12-4, 5-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) won their fourth straight game, and 19th consecutive meeting with WOU in Seattle. SPU used a 29-8 run through the middle of the game to pull away from the Wolves. Seattle Pacific made 42 percent of its shots from the field in the win, while Western Oregon was held to 32 percent. The Falcons made 26 of their 29 free throw attempts as well.

The Wolves, which last won at SPU in 1981, were held to 6-of-26 shooting from the field in the first half. WOU made one of its last 10 shots from the field to close the opening half.

"We continue to struggle to put together two solid halves," WOU Head Coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "We went on a few small runs in the second half but just couldn't get it under ten."

The Falcons' Katie Benson finished with her GNAC-leading seventh double-double. She scored 16 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Riley Butler and Brianne Lasconia both had 11 points. Betsy Kingma added 10 points. Suzanna Ohlsen dished out a game-high four assists. Molly Grager made three blocks.

The game featured four ties and four lead changes, with Western Oregon's lead never larger than one point. After all the ties and lead changes coming in the first 12 minutes, SPU broke a 14-14 score to a 32-19 halftime lead. A Kingma three-pointer five minutes into the second half gave Seattle Pacific its largest lead of the game, 46-24.

The Falcons' bench outscored their counterparts, 35-5. SPU turned 18 Wolves' turnovers into 20 points. Seattle Pacific committed 19 turnovers. It also had a 14-7 advantage in second chance points and an 18-16 edge in the paint.

Dana Goularte finished with a career-high 27 points leading Western Oregon. The junior made 9-of-16 from the field and 7-of-10 from the free throw line. She also had two blocks. Kelsey Henry added 11 points. Jordan Mottershaw had a team-high six rebounds. Melissa Fowler threw three assists. WOU made 13 of its 19 free throws, and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds.

"Dana, once again, had another great game," Howard-Carpenter said. "She has been consistent night in and night out for us."

The Wolves (5-11, 2-6 GNAC) have lost three straight, and five of their last six. They are at Montana State University Billings Saturday. The Yellowjackets (13-5, 6-2) moved atop the conference with their third straight win Thursday over Saint Martin's, 75-56. MSUB has won all eight of its home games this season, and is 9-1 all-time versus Western Oregon in Billings. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Mountain Time with live video and stats on WOUWolves.com.

Western Oregon vs Seattle Pacific
01/23/14 7:00 PM at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
At Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
SEATTLE PACIFIC 72, WESTERN OREGON 56
WESTERN OREGON (5-11, 2-6 GNAC)
Goularte,Dana 9-16 7-10 27; Henry,Kelsey 4-9 3-5 11; Divilbiss,Chantel 2-9
1-2 6; Fowler,Melissa 2-5 0-0 4; Akins,Shyla 1-2 0-0 3; Miller,Elise 1-4 0-0
3; Steiger,Jackie 0-1 2-2 2; Nicklason,Leah 0-0 0-0 0; Buck,Rebecca 0-1 0-0
0; Reade,Amber 0-3 0-0 0; Goddard,Katie 0-3 0-0 0; Mottershaw,Jordan 0-5 0-0
0. Totals 19-58 13-19 56.
SEATTLE PACIFIC (12-4, 5-3 GNAC)
Benson,Katie 7-17 2-2 16; Butler,Riley 2-4 7-8 11; Lasconia,Brianne 4-7 2-2
11; Kingma,Betsy 3-7 1-2 10; Shim,Rachel 2-3 4-4 8; Ohlsen,Suzanna 2-6 2-2
6; Lukasiewicz,Stacey 1-2 3-3 5; Rodrigues,Hannah 0-4 3-4 3; Grager,Molly
0-0 2-2 2; Heinly,Caitlin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 26-29 72.
Western Oregon................   19   37  -   56
Seattle Pacific...............   32   40  -   72
3-point goals--Western Oregon 5-18 (Goularte,Dana 2-4; Divilbiss,Chantel
1-5; Miller,Elise 1-4; Akins,Shyla 1-1; Buck,Rebecca 0-1; Goddard,Katie 0-2;
Mottershaw,Jordan 0-1), Seattle Pacific 4-11 (Kingma,Betsy 3-5;
Lasconia,Brianne 1-1; Shim,Rachel 0-1; Ohlsen,Suzanna 0-1; Rodrigues,Hannah
0-2; Benson,Katie 0-1). Fouled out--Western Oregon-None, Seattle
Pacific-Butler,Riley. Rebounds--Western Oregon 33 (Mottershaw,Jordan 6),
Seattle Pacific 42 (Benson,Katie 14). Assists--Western Oregon 9
(Fowler,Melissa 3; Miller,Elise 3), Seattle Pacific 10 (Ohlsen,Suzanna 4).
Total fouls--Western Oregon 22, Seattle Pacific 19. Technical fouls--Western
Oregon-None, Seattle Pacific-None. A-206