SEATTLE, Wash.—After a back-and-forth first half, Seattle Pacific University pulled away in the third quarter to defeat Western Oregon University, 73-68, in GNAC women's basketball action on Thursday night.

Seattle Pacific (20-6, 13-6 GNAC), ranked No. 6 in the latest West Region poll, has clinched the No. 3 spot in the GNAC Tournament. Coupled with a win by Simon Fraser on Thursday, Western Oregon (11-14, 7-12 GNAC) was eliminated from contention for the sixth and final GNAC Tournament playoff spot.

Holding the Falcons to 24.1 shooting in the first half, the Wolves looked to extend their playoff hopes until the final day of the regular season.

Including a lead-changing layup with six seconds remaining in the first half, Shelby Snook scored 15 of her team-high 20 points before the break to give WOU a 31-30 advantage.

Seattle Pacific used a 10-3 run in the third to create an eight-point lead and went on to boost the gap to a game-high 12 points at the 3:09 mark in the fourth quarter before a late spark by the Wolves made it a five-point spread at the buzzer.

"This was a tough loss to say the least and to come up short in such a big game is disappointing. We played a solid game but SPU made plays when they needed them," WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. 

Following Snook's 20-point game, her third straight, the Wolves received 12 points from Kaylie Boschma and 11 from Keyonna Jones. Savannah Heugly added 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

SPU's Courtney Hollander led all scorers with 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting.

"We had a good start and battled the entire first half. There was a stretch in the third quarter where we didn't get back in transition and lost shooters and we just weren't able to recover from that run. We didn't hang our heads though, we fought to the very end and I'm proud of that," Howard-Carpenter said.

WOU will close out the regular season on Saturday at Saint Martin's. Opening tip against the Saints is set for 5:15 p.m.