Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Crusaders trip to the Hawaiian Islands ended in disappointment Thursday night.

Host Hawaii Pacific rallied from a 12-point deficit in the first half and held off a comeback by the 17^th-ranked Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team, which missed a pair of shots in the final minute in a 72-71 loss to the Sea Warriors.

"We played another competitive 40 minutes tonight and had two great looks at the basket in the final minute," said NNU coach Ryan Bragdon.

Unfortunately for the Crusaders, who shot 50 percent (16-of-32) in the first half, shots simply would not fall in the final 20 minutes, including those two misses in the closing moments of the game. NNU shot 7-of-31 (22.6 percent) in the second half.

But with a hot hand in the opening stanza, NNU (8-2 overall, 1-1 GNAC) took control, pushing its lead to 32-20 on a Chelsie Luke 3-pointer with 9 minutes, 39 seconds left until halftime.

Trailing 46-40 at the break, the Sea Warriors (6-2, 3-0 Pac West) battled back with a 15-1 run midway through the second half, a surge capped by a Laken McClelland layup with 6:58 left that gave Hawaii Pacific a 65-56 lead.

Chelsie Luke tied it for the Crusaders, 69-69, with 1:37 remaining, but NNU never regained the lead.

"Our defense and rebounding was superb down the stretch in the time-and-score situations," Bragdon said, as NNU held the Sea Warriors to 37.3 percent shooting (22-of-59) in the game, outrebounded the Sea Warriors, 49-39, and forced 21 turnovers.

"I'm very proud of our effort and our ability to overcome obstacles all week," Bragdon added.

Luke led NNU with a game-high 20 points while Taylor Simmons scored 19 and made five steals for the Crusaders, who also got 10 points and 10 rebounds from Hingston.

The Crusaders now get two weeks off for Christmas break before returning to the court to host Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2.