Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho – The Crusaders needed to be resilient and show their character.

The Northwest Nazarene women did so in fine fashion Saturday night, surviving a battle with Central Washington, 55-53, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference basketball at the Johnson Sports Center.

NNU overcame a 5-of-27 shooting performance in the first half and erased an eight-point deficit midway through the second half to topple the Wildcats in a victory that keeps the Crusaders charging toward the postseason.

"I thought what kept us in the game in the first half was our defense, which has been an issue for us, but they really bought into that the first half," said NNU coach Ryan Bragdon.

"And for them to shake it off (shooting 18.5 percent in the first half) and come out and shoot 50 percent in the second half is just a show of the character we have on our team and that never say die attitude."

NNU weathered a tough first half as Chelsie Luke's jumper with 7 minutes, 26 seconds gone was the first made field goal of the night for the Crusaders.

But the defense did its part as Luke's bucket trimmed the difference to 11-6.

The Crusader defense not only kept them in the game, but helped NNU grab a 21-17 lead on two Luke free throws before a 13-0 run by the Wildcats (6-18 1-15) gave them a 30-21 lead early in the second half.

But NNU's shooting came alive in the final 20 minutes as the Crusaders hit 15-of-30 shots from the field, which included 3-of-5 3-pointers.

Still, the Crusaders never shook the Wildcats, who forged a 45-37 lead on an Erika Locker bucket with 10:37 remaining.

A Luke bucket finished a 15-3 answer by NNU, giving them a 50-48 edge and signally the start to a see-saw finish.

Megan Hingston's bucket with 1:13 left snapped the back-and-forth battle and gave the Crusaders a 54-53 lead they never relinquished.

Luke added a late free throw to help pad the lead, and four crucial defense rebounds late by Kylee Schierman helped seal the victory for NNU, which weathered a late 3-point attempt for the win by the Wildcats.

"It was great to see Chelsie, really for the first time this year, take over and refuse to lose at the end of the game," Bragdon said of Luke, who had a game-high 18 points and nine rebounds.

"Megan hit some big shots and Kylee grabbed big board after big board at every single moment that we needed it," Bragdon added of Hingston, who had nine points in the win and Schierman, who grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

NNU now continues its charge toward the postseason by hosting Western Oregon on Thursday and St. Martin's on Saturday in the final two games of the regular season. Both games tip-off at 5:15 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center.