Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Inconsistency proved costly for the Crusaders on Friday afternoon.

The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team played well for stretches, but minor letdowns allowed Hawaii Pacific to pull away for a 91-77 victory in the first game of the Wildcat Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Central Washington.

"We have to rebound and defend consistently," NNU head coach Steve Steele said. "We gave up 26 points combined in two quarters, and 55 points in the other two. We can't beat a good team like Hawaii Pacific like that.

"Every time we weren't fundamental they made us pay."

Starting with a 10-2 run in the first quarter by the Sharks, who stretched a 1-point lead to 22-13 with 3 minutes, 14 seconds left in the period.

A Maya Rodgers 3-point play cut the lead down to 25-19 for NNU (2-1 overall), but the Sharks managed to inch away in the second quarter, taking a 41-25 lead with 7:16 until halftime, and a 49-34 advantage to the locker room.

The Crusaders whittled away at HPU's lead, getting as close as 59-51 back on two Raquel Jardine free throws midway through the third quarter, and trimming the difference to 68-61 on a Rodgers 3-pointer before a 13-2 run by the Sharks ended NNU's comeback bid.

Raquel Jardine finished with a career-high 19 points to lead NNU, which also got 15 points from Rodgers in her Crusader debut.

Kate Cryderman added 11 points, McKenna Walker scored 10, and Colette Gall had two points and seven rebounds for the Crusaders, who play Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Mountain Time) to wrap up the tournament.