Box Score

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Crusaders hope the next trip to Montana goes better.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team Saturday night as host Montana State Billings got off to a fast start and topped the Crusaders, 84-62, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Our defense continues to be a major issue," said NNU head women's basketball coach Ryan Bragdon.

"The great news is we have a bye on Thursday to work out that issue."

The Yellowjackets took advantage of NNU's defense early, forging a 14-2 lead 3 minutes into the action, but the Crusaders (4-13, 2-6 GNAC) were undaunted.

A CoCo Gall 3-pointer quickly trimmed the difference down to 17-14, and a Lexi Tubbs triple tied it, 24-24, with 8 ½ minutes until halftime.

But MSU Billings (10-7, 2-5) picked up its offense once again with a 21-8 finish to the first half for a 45-32 lead, then never looked back.

With the NNU defense struggling, the 'Jackets managed to knock down 54.5 percent (30-of-55) of their shots in the win, while the Crusaders went just 22-of-65 (33.8 percent) from the floor in the loss.

Ellie Logan led the way with 15 points for NNU, which also got 10 points from Tubbs and nine points and seven rebounds from Gall.

Now the Crusaders get a week off before hosting Central Washington next Saturday at 2 p.m.