Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Northwest Nazarene women came up just short on the road when a last-second 3-pointer banged off the rim, but not through it, in a 72-70 loss to Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball.

"It came down to the last shot and the shot just didn't go in," NNU coach Ryan Bragdon said. "It was a great look and a great shot and it just didn't go in.

"We definitely played well enough to win, which is all we ask," Bragdon added.

Down two with 10 seconds left, the Crusaders (12-7 overall, 5-6 GNAC) got the ball and Taylor Simmons drove into the lane where she was triple teamed and kicked the ball out to Kylee Schierman at the top of the key.

Schierman's 3-pointer bounced off the rim and NNU's Chelsie Luke grabbed the rebound, but time expired before she could hoist a putback attempt.

The last-second shot nearly finished off a valiant comeback effort, as the Seawolves (14-5, 7-4) broke a 41-41 tie with a 13-2 run and stretched their lead to as much as 62-49 with 9:00 remaining in the game.

A Simmons steal and fastbreak layup ignited the comeback, and a Luke 3-pointer with 4:52 left cut the margin to 64-61.

Another Luke triple with 42 seconds left cut the UAA lead to 71-70 before a free throw by the Seawolves' Alli Madison with 13 seconds remaining set the stage for NNU's missed last-second shot at the win.

"We played great defense against a very, very high-powered offense and withstood two big runs by them," said Bragdon, as NNU held the Seawolves to 13 points below their season average of a league-best 85.2 ppg and just 37.9 percent shooting (22-of-58).  

Simmons finished with 22 points, nine assists and six steals for the Crusaders, who also got 20 points from Luke.

Next, NNU returns home to host Western Washington and Simon Fraser on Thursday and Saturday. Saturday will be a big event as the Crusaders will "Play4Kay." Half of the money from ticket sales for Saturday night's game will be donated to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.