PORTLAND, Ore. – Kaitlyn Merritt had only shot eight free throws all season long.\

The Northwest Nazarene University senior point guard generally is asked to pass the ball rather than look for ways to score.

On Saturday at Concordia, though, Merritt was 8-for-8 from the line, including making four in the final minute as the Nighthawks earned a 75-71 victory in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"Nobody is surprised," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "She is normally distributing the ball, not looking to make plays. They were trying to foul her. You get that there from seniors. That is one nice thing about our team, we have really good senior leadership."

The win is the fifth in a row for the streaking Nighthawks (14-3 overall, 10-2 GNAC), who are guaranteed to be at least in second place heading into a big weekend in Nampa. NNU hosts Saint Martin's on Thursday and then Seattle Pacific, which is also in the top two, on Saturday.

Against Concordia, Merritt made a reverse layup for her only field goal to give the Nighthawks a 68-66 lead with 90 seconds left. After Concordia made a free throw, Jardine made a layup at the other end for a 70-67 lead.

Concordia again answered and Marina Valles made 1-of-2 from the line for a 71-69 lead with 12 seconds left.

Concordia's Keesha Sarmeen then got past her defender at halfcourt and headed toward the basket where Jardine awaited, drawing the charge despite having four fouls.

"That was a really important play," Steele said. "She also had four or five buckets in a row earlier when we had gone through a rough stretch where we hadn't scored."

Merritt then made four free throws to finish out the victory.

"We did a good job of taking care of the ball when they were trying to trap and foul," Steele said.

Colette Gall scored a team-high 15 points, while Jardine had 12 points, Lexi Tubbs had 11 and Merritt finished with 10. Valles, Avery Albrecht and Carly Parker each added nine, as the Nighthawks flashed their balanced scoring yet again.

One area of concern, however, was Concordia pulling down 19 offensive rebounds.

"We have to rebound better than that," Steele said. "I don't think it would've been as close if we hadn't given them all those extra shots. That was certainly a huge factor in the game."

Bailey Cartwright's 15 points and 13 rebounds led Concordia (11-9, 5-7), while Kizzah Maltezo added 20 points.

"I think Concordia has as much talent as anyone in the conference," Steele said. "They have gotten some bad breaks and lost some close games, but they are really, really talented up and down their roster."