Box Score
BURNABY, B.C. — A valiant comeback effort came up short for the Crusaders on the road Thursday night.
Off a slow start, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team dug out of an early 10-point hole and an nearly erased a late 18-point deficit, only to finish just short against host and 24
th-ranked Simon Fraser, 99-90, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
"Hats off to Simon Fraser, they made us pay every time we made a mistake defensively," NNU head coach
Steve Steele said.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't do a better job on their two best players."
Ellen Kett and Meg Wilson scored 30 and 20 points, respectively, accounting for half the Clan's offense in the win.
And back-to-back Kett buckets put the Crusaders (8-11 overall, 6-7 GNAC) in a 9-0 hole early.
The difference grew to 10 in the opening quarter, but a pair of
Danielle Jardine free throws and an
Ellie Logan bucket had the Crusaders down just 23-19 at the first break.
The Clan (20-3, 11-2) managed to stretch their lead to 44-31 at halftime, but once again, NNU rallied with a 12-3 push capped by two
Carly Parker free throws, trimming SFU's advantage to 54-52.
SFU answered with two freebies of its own, and after
Ellie Logan made it a 56-54 ballgame, Wilson splashed a 3-pointer to hold off NNU.
The Clan then stretched their lead to 18 points with 2 ½ minutes left, seemingly a comfortable margin, but NNU never quit.
Danielle Jardine hit 6-of-6 free throws, and a pair of
Emma Logan freebies trimmed the lead to 95-88 with 31 seconds to go before the comeback came up short.
"I am proud of our effort and toughness," NNU's coach said.
Ellie Logan led NNU with 21 points, while
Danielle Jardine added 17 points and nine rebounds, and
McKenna Walkers scored 10 in a game marred by 40 fouls and 87 total free throws, making for a tough game for fans to enjoy and for the players to find a rhythm.
NNU will look to bounce back from the tough loss on Saturday when the Crusaders play at No. 25-ranked Western Washington at 8 p.m. (Mountain Time).
