Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – This one was bitterly close.

Northwest Nazarene's women's basketball team twice erased double-digit deficits on the road and held the advantage on host Western Washington late, but couldn't finish off the Vikings who scored a 70-69, last-second win in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"I'm extremely proud of our fight and effort tonight," NNU head women's basketball coach Ryan Bragdon said. "We executed our plan on both ends of the floor, including on the boards, from start to finish against one of the top teams in the league at their place."

The Crusaders (5-16, 3-9 GNAC) trailed 26-11 with 9 ½ minutes gone in the contest, yet determine to win, battled back into the game with a 15-2 run fueled by back-to-back 3-pointers from Lexi Tubbs.

NNU completed the comeback just before halftime, taking a 31-30 lead on the host Vikings (14-7, 8-4) with 2 minutes left in the opening half on a bucket by CoCo Gall.

Western Washington tried to break the game open early in the second half, going up 55-43 with 13 minutes remaining, but once again the Crusaders refused to lose and battled back into the lead.

Tubbs capped the comeback with a layup with a minute and a half to play, giving the Crusaders a 69-68 edge, and a turnover on the ensuing Western Washington possession gave NNU a chance to pad its lead.

Unfortunately for the Crusaders, the game remained a 1-point difference until the final fateful seconds when Sydney Donaldson hit a buzzer-beater shot, lifting the host Vikings to victory.

"Even on the last play I thought our defense was excellent, taking away their top options on the play, but Donaldson stepped up and hit a huge shot for them," Bragdon said.

"I thought our perseverance and resolve was huge tonight facing double-digit deficits in both halves. We showed the poise to keep ourselves in it and put ourselves in position to win the game," NNU's coach added. "That's all we can ask for."

That spoiled a wonderfully balanced effort by NNU, which got a double-double from Tubbs, who had 10 points, 13 rebounds and five steals.

Taylor Simmons chipped in a team-high 15 points and had four assists, Ellie Logan scored 14 points, Kate Cryderman added 12 points and Katie Swanson scored 10 for the Crusaders, who look to bounce back from the near-miss when they play at Simon Fraser on Saturday afternoon.