NAMPA, Idaho – The Crusaders debut as a Top 25 team turned out to be a successful one, but not without a few tenuous moments.

The 25^th-ranked Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team overcame a poor shooting effort and turnovers in the first half, using defense to rally past Colorado Christian for a 72-60 win Friday at the Johnson Sports Center in the NNU Thanksgiving Classic.

"The defense was great. Our energy defensively - that was our focus all week was coming out with energy defensively," said NNU coach Ryan Bragdon, whose team is back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Crusaders host California Baptist in the final game of the Classic.

"It just came down to our aggressiveness and our energy defensively."

That helped NNU (5-0 overall) overcome some early offensive woes, as the Crusaders shot 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) in the first half and turned the ball over 13 times, helping the Cougars (1-2) inch out to as much as a 25-19 lead.

Three straight turnovers by the Crusaders fueled a 7-0 run by Colorado Christian, which took that 25-19 edge on a Gilliam Foster bucket with 2 minutes, 34 seconds remaining in the first half.

"We were just bothered by some of their traps," Bragdon said, "and we were just a little tentative with the ball all the way around.

"Then, when we did get open looks, we were kind of out of rhythm and just didn't hit."

But NNU kept the game close with its defense, holding CCU to 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) shooting and also forcing 13 first-half turnovers, allowing the Crusaders to head into the locker room down only 28-25.

The Crusaders offense began to click in the second half, in part helped by free throws, as NNU hit 18-of-18 from the charity stripe after going 2-of-3 in the opening half.

"We were just more poised and we attacked the basket more," Bragdon said. "That's kind of becoming our theme of second halves, we don't go to the line first half then we attack the basket more second half and we're just more aggressive offensively."

And, NNU's defense continued to set the tone, powering a 14-2 push by the Crusaders that turned a 50-48 deficit into a 10-point NNU advantage.

The Crusaders held Colorado Christian to 1-of-5 shooting during the surge, made two steals, blocked a shot and forced two more turnovers.

Chelsie Luke capped the run with a bucket with 6:08 remaining, putting NNU on top 62-52.

Back-to-back 3-point plays for the Cougars, and a Jennifer Lapp bucket, whittled the difference down to 62-60 with 4:40 remaining before NNU clamped down and pitched a shutout the rest of the way to ice the win.

Megan Hingston led the way for NNU with 18 points and nine rebounds while Luke added 16 points and six boards.

Taylor Simmons scored 15 in the win for the Crusaders, who also got 10 points from Veronika Skokankova.

Kayla Fakelman led the Cougars with 14 points while Jessica Murdoch added 10 points and seven rebounds. 

Central Washington 92, California Baptist 66

NAMPA, Idaho – Jessica VanDyke scored seven points in an early 13-2 push by Central Washington and the Wildcats never looked back, scoring a 92-66 win over California Baptist on Friday in the NNU Thanksgiving Classic at the Johnson Sports Center on the Northwest Nazarene campus.

VanDyke finished with a game-high 30 points for the Wildcats (3-1 overall), and grabbed nine rebounds, while teammate Amber Moser tossed in 25 points.

The Lancers (2-3) got as close as 16-11 back on a Chanel Cambronero bucket midway through the first half before CWU used a 13-1 run to break the game open.

A Moser bucket capped the run, putting the Wildcats up 29-12 with nine minutes left in the first half, and the Lancers never cut the difference to single digits the rest of the game.

Cambronero finished with 17 points for CBU, which plays tournament host NNU on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Central Washington plays Colorado Christian at noon on Saturday.