Box Score




NAMPA, Idaho — The late-games tests had been wearing on the Crusaders.

So much so, head coach Steve Steele admits using the word "desperate" with his team prior to Saturday's home game with visiting St. Martin's at the Johnson Sports Center.

"We definitely need it, we actually used the word desperate in the locker room before the game," Steele said, "not just that we desperately needed a win, but that we needed to play like we were desperate for 40 minutes."

Playing determined, and a little bit desperate for a win, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team built a 20-point lead in the second half then held off a Saints comeback to score a much needed, 86-77, win in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 

"I was much happier tonight with the energy level," Steele said of a victory that snapped a four-game skid, a run that saw NNU lose its last three by a combined 10 points, each game being decided in the final two minutes.

Saturday, NNU (8-10 overall, 6-6 GNAC) made sure it wasn't that close in the closing moments, leading 22-15 at the end of the first quarter after a Lexi Tubbs free throw, and going up as much as 45-31 on a Maya Rodgers layup with less than 2 minutes left before halftime.

NNU pushed its lead to as much as 63-43 on a pair of Raquel Jardine free throws midway through the third quarter before St. Martin's (5-15, 1-11) tried to make a comeback.
And the Saints did a good job closing the gap with an 11-0 run capped by two Shelbie Drey free throws, making it a 71-65 ballgame with 7 minutes remaining.

But the Crusaders played determined, and a little bit desperate, as a Rodgers layup snapped SMU's run, then a Rodgers 3-point with just less than five minutes left put the Crusaders on top, 76-67.

An Ellie Logan bucket pushed the lead back up to 10 and a late Rodgers 3-ball iced the victory, giving NNU plenty of breathing room down the stretch.

Tubbs led the way for NNU with 13 points and six rebounds, while Logan added 11 points and five assists, Rodgers had 10 points and five rebounds, and Colette Gall chipped in 10 points in the win.

A win that closes a four-game homestand on a high note for NNU, which now hits the road to play at third-place Simon Fraser on Thursday and second-place Western Washington on Saturday.