Box Score

CALDWELL, Idaho — This time, the Crusaders did spot their foe any advantage.

Katie Swanson and Lexi Tubbs each scored four points in a fast start for the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team, which jumped up 12-2 on host The College of Idaho and rolled to a convincing 90-59 rout of the Coyotes in the ladies version of the Canyon County rivalry Wednesday night.

"We made strides tonight on the defensive side of the ball," NNU head women's basketball coach Ryan Bragdon said.

"For the most part we limited their penetration," NNU's coach added, "and we did a better job contesting shots from deep against a team who hit 16 3s on us last year."
 

Tubbs, who had a game-high 25 points, put the Crusaders (1-2 overall) on top by 10 points just 3 minutes into the action, and NNU – which trailed by double digits against Hawaii Pacific and Cal Baptist early on in games over the weekend - never trailed.

The C of I — which played the game as an exhibition — did get as close as 18-15 back on a Haylee Burnham bucket midway through the first half, but a Cierra White 3-pointer stretched the lead to 25-17 with 6 ½ minutes until halftime, and an Ellen Ferrenburg putback just before the break gave the Crusaders a 39-27 edge.

A Taylor Simmons steal and layup followed by a Tubbs triple ignited the offensive-oriented Crusaders in the second half, stretching the lead to 44-27, and NNU never let its advantage slip into single digits the rest of the night.

In part thanks to great defense as the Crusaders held the Coyotes to 29 percent shooting (20-of-69), outrebounded The C of I 50-41, and forced 17 Yote turnovers.

"We still have a lot of work to do defensively, and we improved our rebounding, but we continued to grow as a team, so with that I'm pleased," Bragdon said.

Kate Cryderman added with 14 points in the win for NNU, which also got 12 points from Ellie Logan and eight points and eight rebounds from Swanson.