Box Score

LACEY, Wash. — The Crusaders are on a roll, and it's all taken place on the road.

The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team led wire-to-wire at St. Martin's to secure a third straight win — all away from the friendly confines of the Johnson Sports Center — topping the host Saints, 74-69, Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"That is a really hard place to play, and they are very well coached," NNU assistant women's basketball coach John Hartman said. "They are a very physical team and they hustle. I was proud of the way our girls hung in there."

Ellie Logan and Cierra White each hit a bucket and Taylor Simmons knocked down an early 3-pointer as the Crusaders (8-10 overall, 6-6 GNAC) quickly jumped up 7-0 and never looked back.

The Saints (5-14, 3-9) got within a single point in the opening quarter, but NNU blew the game open in the second stanza as a Logan layup capped an 8-0 run, putting the Crusaders up 25-15, and a Kate Cryderman bucket made it 38-22 in favor of NNU at the break.

St. Martin's chipped away all second half and got as close as 65-64 down on a pair of Elin Johansson free throw with 2 ½ minutes to go, but a CoCo Gall bucket, two Logan free throws and a Simmons steal and layup put the Crusader back in control on route to the win.

Simmons led the way with a huge night for NNU, scoring a game-high 24 points while adding six steals and five rebounds.

"Coco did an outstanding job banging it out with them under the basket and Taylor did an incredible job controlling things down the stretch," said Hartman.

Gall tossed in a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Logan had 18 points for the Crusaders, who return home Thursday to host Simon Fraser, then host Western Washington for "Play4Kay" breast cancer awareness night on Saturday.

"We have some things to work on when we get back, but I'm proud of these kids tonight," NNU's assistant coach added.