CALDWELL, Idaho – The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team opened the season with an 86-61 exhibition victory against the College of Idaho on Wednesday in Caldwell.

The Nighthawks, who were picked to win the Great Northwest Athletic Conference earlier in the day by the league's coaches, dominated in the first half, leading 53-30.

"We have a lot to work on," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "It was good that we played a team that was well-coached because they exposed us in areas that we need to fix. I'm happy our freshmen played with some confidence.

"We had way too many defensive breakdowns, more than I'd like to see. For having this many seniors, I thought we were further along defensively."

The Nighthawks are back in action Saturday, Nov. 3 at Oregon State in another exhibition. The game time is yet to be determined.

NNU opens the regular season at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 against Stanislaus State as part of the Homecoming festivities.