BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A tough road trip came to a disappointing end Saturday night for the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team.

The 18^th-ranked Crusaders started the evening strong at Western Washington, but couldn't catch the host Vikings once they took the lead as NNU fell, 81-68, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Tonight we came out and got off to a good start then I think the mental part of playing at Western Washington took over in the first half," NNU coach Ryan Bragdon said. "We got a little tentative in the first half, but I think in the second half we came out and played more like Crusader basketball."

A pair of free throws by Taylor Simmons just 2 minutes, 51 seconds into the game, put the Crusaders (10-4 overall, 3-3 GNAC) in front 7-1.

WWU rallied to grab the lead, but a Chelsie Luke bucket kept the Crusaders close, down 22-18 with 7:26 left until halftime.

Unfortunately for NNU, the Vikings (7-6, 3-2) slowly inched away, finishing a strong first half on a Taylor Peacocke bucket to lead 45-29 at the break.

Dominance on the offensive glass – WWU grabbed nine first-half offensive rebounds – helped the Vikings against the "tentative" Crusaders.

"Tonight it was rebounding in that first half," said Bragdon, whose team was outrebounded 24-14 in the first half. "We shored it up in the second half and kept them off the offensive glass."

That helped NNU battled back in the second half, closing to 54-46 down on a 3-point play by Simmons with 12:22 left on the game clock, but a 9-2 answer by WWU helped put the game away as the lead never dipped below double digits.

"It's just unfortunate we couldn't spread our effort out over 40 minutes and come away with a win," Bragdon said.

Luke led the way for NNU with a game-high 20 points while Simmons tossed in 16 points and six steals and Megan Kingston added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Crusaders.

NNU now returns home - where they are a perfect 8-0 this season - to host Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday. Both games are at 7 p.m.

Saturday night will be a special evening as NNU hosts "Women in Sports" day.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for the event, which is free to girls and women of all ages. Everyone in attendance will get the chance to compete in activities representing all the NNU women's sports.