SEATTLE – The Western Oregon women's basketball team fell behind early and a late comeback effort fell short as host Seattle Pacific defeated the Wolves, 79-58, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both squads Thursday at Royal Brougham Pavilion.
 
WOU (1-6, 0-1 GNAC) shot just 26.1 percent in the opening half, but picked up the offense in the second half to shoot 41.9 percent in the second half to finish at 35.2 percent for the game (19 of 54). Freshman guard Kaylie Boschma led the Wolves with 10 points (5 for 11), while junior Jordan Mottershaw chipped in seven points. Jasmine Miller and Natalie DeLonge each had five rebounds.
 
"SPU flat out came to play," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "They did everything with a purpose. They cut hard, set up screens, were relentless on the glass and they shared the ball. We just stood around and watched them run circles around us in the first half."
 
Seattle Pacific (3-3, 1-0 GNAC) controlled the opening tip and seized control of the first quarter with a 9-0 run that broke a 5-5 stalemate. Following a Boschma bucket that ended the previous rally, the Falcons ended the period with an 8-2 spurt to lead 24-11 after 10 minutes.
 
Boschma broke a four-minute scoring drought midway through the second quarter with a jumper at the 4:04 mark, but SPU had extended their lead to 22 points (36-14) with a 9-0 run. WOU would again have trouble finding the hoop, going scoreless over the final four minutes of the half to give Seattle Pacific a 47-17 advantage at halftime.
 
SPU hit 19 shots from the field in the first half, including six from behind the 3-point arc and outrebounded WOU 28 to 12.
 
Western Oregon was unable to dig itself out of SPU's largest lead of 36 points, but a fourth quarter rally trimmed down the final margin. Over the final 7:28, the Wolves outscored SPU 19-6 to win the quarter overall (25-13). Ali Nelke and Kelsey Henry each had four points in the final push as WOU shot 5 of 9 from the floor and forced two steals.
 
"We will continue to struggle and keep getting the same result if we come out tentative like we have the past few games," Howard-Carpenter added. "We can't wait until we're down thirty to start playing hard,. At some point we have to break the cycle and start playing as a team."
 
Three Falcons scored in double figures, led by 15 points from Jordan McPhee. Stacey Lukasiewicz finished with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
 
Western Oregon will look to bounce back on Saturday, Dec. 5, when it travels to Saint Martin's for a league matchup at 7 p.m. from Marcus Pavilion.