Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Down eight points on the road, and with time running out, the Crusaders simply decided they had had enough.

Flipping the switch, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team took control of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Alaska Fairbank, with a dominating 21-3 charge that led to an 86-81 win over the Nanooks on Thursday night.

"We just took control of the game, which we hadn't done up to that point," NNU coach Ryan Bragdon said.

"Just our grit and our toughness and our heart - we just decided they weren't going to get any more rebounds, they weren't going to get any more easy buckets."

NNU (12-6 overall, 5-5 GNAC) made five steals during the decisive run, held the Nanooks (8-10, 2-8) to a meager 1-of-6 shooting, and did not allow UAF to grab an offensive rebound after it collected 11 offensive boards over the first 30 minutes of action.

That made the difference for the Crusaders, who started the run with a Chelsie Luke 3-pointer, then got back-to-back buckets from Ellen Ferrenburg, cutting the Nanooks' lead to 56-55.

The Crusaders also made four steals to spark the run, the final one by Megan Hingston who converted on the other end of the floor to give NNU a 57-56 lead with 7:19 to play.

NNU never trailed again.

Brianna Kirk's 3 was the lone bit of offense by the Nanooks, and briefly tied the score at 59-59 before NNU tacked on 10 more points, capping the run with a Luke 3-pointer with 3:20 to play for a 69-59 lead.

The Nanooks closed to 83-81 back in the final 26 seconds on a Kaillee Skjold 3, but the Crusaders – the third best free-throw shooting team in the nation (79.0 percent) – made 13-of-14 free throws down the stretch to ice the victory.

"Every wins a great win, especially on the road, especially with the time change and the difficulties that come with travel to Alaska," said Bragdon, whose team trailed 56-48 with 9:20 left in the game after a 3 by the Nanooks' Victoria Milton. "It's a great team win."

Hingston led the way in a balanced Crusader effort, scoring a game-high 18 points, grabbing seven rebounds and making five steals.

"Megan probably had her best all-around game of the season," Bragdon said, adding, "and just the contributions from everybody who played were excellent."

Luke contributed 16 points for the Crusaders, as did Kayla Schumann, who also dished out six assists, while Taylor Simmons scored 14 points and made six steals and Leslie Warwick added 10 points.

Next up for NNU is a game at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday before the Crusaders return home to host Western Washington and Simon Fraser.

The game against Simon Fraser on Feb. 8 will be a special night at the Johnson Sports Center as NNU "Plays4Kay." The evening will be breast cancer awareness night and the Crusaders will donate half the money for every ticket purchased to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.