NAMPA, Idaho – To say the Northwest Nazarene University women's basketball team hasn't had a lot of success against Seattle Pacific would be a bit of an understatement.

The Falcons owned a 32-8 record against the Nighthawks coming into Saturday night's game at Johnson Sports Center.

But this Nighthawks team is different than any other since the program switched to NCAA Division II and they showed why Saturday.

NNU built a commanding lead in the third quarter and hung on for a 77-70 victory to take a two-game lead on SPU for second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.

"It is a big game with lots of emotions involved," senior Lexi Tubbs said. "With our coach coming from there and (SPU coach) Julie (Heisey) being from here it's going to be a rivalry no matter what."

The two teams played to a 39-39 draw in the first half, before the Nighthawks (16-3 overall, 12-2 GNAC) turned up the intensity on defense to take a nine-point lead after three quarters.

"I think we just kind of got in our own head a little bit," Tubbs said of the first half. "We had awesome energy tonight and I thought that made a huge difference."

Part of that difference was the play of NNU's seniors: Tubbs, Colette Gall and Kaitlyn Merritt. The three combined for 12 points in the third quarter and Gall and Merritt each made three free throws down the stretch to help NNU hang on for its seventh consecutive victory.

"Those kids had fantastic games," Steele said. "They just kept pulling their team up. Last year we only had one senior and a new coach – this year we have so much better leadership on the floor."

Tubbs finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Gall had 17 and five. Merritt added 10 points and McKenna Walker had 11.

"It feels really good," Gall said. "We played our best basketball that I've seen us play this year, so it was nice to see all of our hard work come together and show in this big game."

In the third quarter, NNU pulled away in part because of its balance. Seven players scored, including Walker, Tubbs, Merritt and Danielle Jardine all hitting 3-pointers.
The defense was the key, though, as the Nighthawks held the Falcons (16-5, 10-4) to 13 points in the period.

"We figured out a couple of things that we weren't doing well in the first half," Steele said. "Because we held them to 13, that was where the separation came from, not so much the offensive side."

The win marked only the second time in program history NNU has swept the regular-season series with Seattle Pacific, also accomplishing it in the 2014-15 season.

"It says we played our best when we needed to," said Steele, who was an assistant at SPU before coming to NNU last season. "Their defense is ridiculous. They have tremendous depth and lots of offensive weapons, but we played our absolute best on those two nights. We want to win every night, but it is nice to know we are our best when it was needed."

Now the Nighthawks have a short turnaround, playing at Central Washington at 8 p.m. MST on Tuesday. The Wildcats defeated the Nighthawks in Nampa last month and have been surging since then.

"I think we are playing a different kind of basketball right now," Tubbs said. "I think everything is coming together at the right time. The second half of conference is hard because you've seen everyone and everyone has seen you.

"They know how you are going to play, so you really have to dial things up."