Box Score

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — For half the game Saturday night in Alaska, the Northwest Nazarene women hung around in a bid to upset the national runner-up champions.

Down just a half-dozen points late in the second quarter, the Crusaders saw that margin continue to grow the rest of the way as NNU fell 101-69 to host and 7^th-ranked Alaska Anchorage in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"When you play Alaska Anchorage you have to be perfect on both sides of the ball and we weren't perfect," NNU head coach Steve Steele said. "We played hard and we didn't play scared. I'm proud of that, but they didn't just expose our flaws, they punished them."

A Kate Cryderman bucket with 2 ½ minutes to go in the first period got NNU (7-7 overall, 5-3 GNAC) as close as 17-11 down, and while the host Seawolves (15-1, 8-0) tried to stretch their lead, the Crusaders hung tough.

For a while.

Down 14 early in the second quarter, a Carly Parker 3 capped a 12-4 comeback effort by the Crusaders, making it a 35-29 ballgame with 4 minutes to go until halftime.

And two Cryderman free throws had the UAA lead at just 43-35 before the Seawolves put together a 17-2 charge that broke the game open early in the second half.

Cryderman led the Crusaders with 18 points in the game, while Danielle Jardine added 11 points in the road setback for NNU, which returns home to host Concordia on Thursday at 7 p.m., then Western Oregon at 2 p.m. next Saturday.

"We have a lot to learn, but I'm sure we will bounce back. If nothing else, we are resilient. We showed that on Thursday," Steele said, referring to an 84-77 comeback win in overtime at Alaska.