NAMPA, Idaho – It was almost an amazing comeback. Almost.

Down 16 early in the second half, and trailing by 13 points in the final five minutes, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball stormed back to within a possession before their comeback came up just short in a 66-61 loss to visiting Montana State Billings in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center.

"I loved our fight at the end to get us back in it," NNU coach Ryan Bragdon said. "Cierra (White) hit some big, big shots, and that group, their fight at the end was – it shows the grit and toughness we do have inside our players."

White scored eight points in the late push and finished with 11 for the Crusaders (10-6 overall, 3-5 GNAC), who trailed by as much as 46-30 after a Bobbi Knudsen layup with 14:35 remaining for the Yellowjackets.

A pair of free throws by Chelsie Luke cut the margin down to 46-37, but MSU Billings (12-5, 5-2) pushed the lead back out to 14 points on an Austin Hanser free throw, and looked to be comfortably in control up 63-50 with 4:14 to go.

"We just couldn't finish plays on offense," Bragdon said.

Then the Crusaders finished with a flourish as an Ellen Ferrenburg bucket started the charge, then White sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Taylor Simmons free throw.

A defensive rebound by White in the final minute sent her running, and when she converted the fast-break bucket, over Knudsen, the Crusaders trailed just 63-61 with 33 seconds remaining.

"It's great we were in the game and had a chance to win when we were shooting 23 percent," Bragdon said.

Unfortunately for NNU, the comeback stopped there as Knudsen – who finished with a game-high 25 points – knocked down two free throws, virtually icing the victory for the Yellowjackets.

Luke – who was honored prior to the game as the 24^th member of the NNU 1,000-career point club - led the Crusaders with 17 points and nine rebounds while Simmons scored 14 in a game that saw NNU shooting just 23.4 percent (15-of-64).

It was the lowest shooting percentage of the season for NNU, which was also hurt by the Yellowjackets efforts on the glass, as MSU Billings outrebounded the Crusaders 50-42 in the win, and held a 27-15 edge in the first half when the 'Jackets forged a 34-24 lead.

"Offensive rebounding hurt us in the first half, again, and it turned out to be the difference in the game," said Bragdon, as MSU Billings won the offensive rebounding battle 8-3 in the opening 20 minutes.

And preseason GNAC Player of the Year, Knudsen, also hurt NNU with her 25 points, along with nine rebounds and five assists.

"Bobbi Knudsen is one of the best players in the conference and she hit big shots when they needed it," said Bragdon, whose team now gets a week off before playing at Central Washington next Saturday.