Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Playoff plans will wait for now as a road-weary Crusader squad came up just short in its first attempt to punch its ticket to the postseason.

Playing in its third road game in six days, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team struggled shooting in a see-saw battle at Central Washington.

That opened the door for the host Wildcats, who used back-to-back 3s late to force overtime, where NNU fell 84-76 on Tuesday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Hats off to Central Washington, they had a great game plan and hit really big shots at really big moments," NNU head coach Steve Steele said.

"Tonight we weren't anything close to the team we have been over the last three weeks, especially on the defensive end," NNU's coach added.

Despite that fact, the Crusaders started strong as a 12-2 charge in the opening quarter put NNU (11-14 overall, 9-10 GNAC) up early, and a pair of Danielle Jardine free throws gave the Crusaders an 18-12 lead after one stanza.

The host Wildcats (13-14, 8-11), competing for their playoff lives and needing to win out to earn a postseason berth, tied it at the break — 29-29 — and built a 49-42 lead late in the third quarter against a Crusader squad that shot just 25-for-79 (31.6 percent) from the field.

But NNU was far from finished and made a determined push to punch its playoff ticket, using an 8-2 run capped by two Jardine freebies to tie it, 55-55. A pair of Ellie Logan charity tossed then gave the Crusaders a 66-62 lead in the final minute.

The Wildcats promptly answered with a Rachel Lorentson 3-pointer, then fouled Jardine, who did her job for NNU by knocking down two more free throws.

Down 68-65 with 24 seconds left, the Wildcats needed a 3 to keep their season alive, and Kortney Grattic provided the season-saving shot with 6 seconds left, forcing overtime.

Once into the extra session the road-weary Crusaders ran out of steam, going 2-for-12 from the field as two McKenna Walker free throws made it a one-possession game — 79-76 — with a little more than a minute left before NNU missed its final five shots and CWU iced the win.

Logan led the way for NNU with 25 points on the night, while Jardine added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Kate Cryderman chipped in 10 points.

A win would have secured a spot for NNU in the six-team GNAC Tournament held March 2-4 and hosted by St. Martin's, but instead the Crusaders will wait and see what happens on Thursday, for now.

A loss by Central Washington at Montana State Billings and a loss by Concordia at Seattle Pacific would send NNU to the playoffs with one game left on the Crusaders schedule.

That game is Saturday night in Montana, when the Crusaders can win their way into the GNAC Tournament by beating MSU Billings, regardless of any other game's result.