Boxscore

NAMPA, Idaho -  The Northwest Nazarene University women's basketball team built a 14-point second half lead and held on to defeat Saint Martin's University 67-66 on Thursday night in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.

 

The Crusaders (4-3, 1-1 GNAC) built leads of 14 points three times in the second half, but none was more important than after Heather Adam's pair of free throws with 5:42 remaining made it 67-53.  Adams two free throws would be the final points the Crusaders would score, as Saint Martin's (6-3, 1-1 GNAC) would finish the game with a 13-0 run and draw within one on a Roni Jo Mielke lay-in with 63 seconds to play.

 

NNU's Chelsie Luke would miss a jumper with 38 second left, giving SMU a shot to win.  The Saints' Dara Zack missed her game winning opportunity with 13 seconds remaining and a quick foul sent Falissa Smith to the line for the Crusaders.  Smith missed the front end of the bonus free throw with eight seconds to play, but Zack's three pointer at the buzzer caromed off the rim, giving the Crusaders the victory. 

 

SMU's Zach finished with a game-high double-double of 31 points and 10 rebounds and was the only Saint to reach double figures.  Kellie Snyder had nine points and nine rebounds as the Saints out-rebounded the Crusaders 36-30.

 

The Crusaders were led by the freshman duo of Luke with 16 and Megan Hingston with 12.  Also in double-digits were Monica Garcia and Beth Johnson with 11 each.  Johnson also paced the Crusader effort on the glass with seven.

 

NNU forced 26 Saint Martin's turnovers and shot 41.1-percent (23-56) from the field and 50-percent (6-12) from the three-point line.  The Saints were 24-of-52 (46.2-percent) from the floor and 3-of-13 (23.1-percent) from the arc.

 

The Crusaders will return to action this Saturday afternoon, hosting Eastern Oregon University at 4:00 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center in a non-conference game as part of the NNU Holiday Classic.