Box Score



NAMPA, Idaho – The Crusaders did everything right, but for some reason, the ball just wouldn't fall into the hole.

The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball dominated on defense and pounded the glass hard, which led to 32 more shots than the Wildcats.

Unfortunately, the Crusaders needed just one more of those shots to fall as Central Washington secured a 68-66 win in overtime in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at the Johnson Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

"I love the effort, love the team effort," said NNU head women's basketball coach Ryan Bragdon, "love the hustle, the desire to do the little things to come up with a win, but it didn't happen."
 

The CWU win snapped nearly a decade of dominance for NNU over the Wildcats, who had lost 18 straight against the Crusaders coming into the matinee.

And Central Washington came out strong looking to shake that trend, taking a 9-0 lead early.

Unfazed, the Crusaders (4-14, 2-7 GNAC) chipped away and chipped away, tying it at 23-23 on an Ellen Ferrenburg bucket with 6 minutes to halftime.

From there it was a see-saw battle with neither team breaking free as NNU thrived off offensive rebounds - dominating that stat category 24-6 in the contest - and off Wildcat turnovers as the Crusader defense forced 31 CWU miscues.

That helped NNU overcome a 23-of-82 (28.0 percent) shooting effort on the afternoon.

"I thought our execution was excellent," Bragdon said. "We got people the ball in the spots where they're good at, which is what our offense does, and I thought we did a great job of that.

"We've got to hit those shots," he added. "We can't shoot 28 percent in any game."

Still, two turnovers and an offensive board helped the Crusaders stay alive in the fleeting seconds of regulation.

After a Hannah Shine 3-pointer put the Wildcats (10-7, 5-4) on top 59-55 with a minute left, Ellie Logan made a steal and converted the fast-break bucket, trimming the difference to one possession.
 

NNU got that possession on a turnover by CWU, then prolonged the possession thanks to a dead-ball offensive rebound.

With 2 seconds left, NNU had one final chance to tie the game and put the ball in the hands of Logan, a freshman, who was fouled and calmly knocked down two free throws for a 59-59 tie as time expired.

It looked like the extra session would be a happy one for the Crusaders, who took a 66-61 lead on a Logan 3-point play, but NNU missed three shots down the stretch as the Wildcats rallied to steal the victory.

Logan finished with a career-high 23 points for NNU, which also got 14 points and eight rebounds from CoCo Gall and 10 points and eight steals from Taylor Simmons.

Despite the outcome, the Crusaders have a positive effort to build on as they move forward and prepare to host Alaska on Thursday to start the second half of the GNAC race.