Box Score NAMPA, Idaho – Avery Albrecht scored a career-high 26 points and the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team got back to their winning ways Thursday.

NNU steamrolled Western Oregon 77-43 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action to bounce back from its first loss of the season Saturday at Simon Fraser.

"This is so big," Albrecht said. "To come back and feel like ourselves again and really play like a unit, to have fun and be fluid again."

The Nighthawks (18-1 overall, 10-1 GNAC) didn't shoot well as a team, but Albrecht was on fire throughout.

She scored 26 points in 24 minutes, breaking her previous career-high of 21 points. She was 8-of-13 from the field, 5-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc and 5-of-6 from the line.

"The funny thing is during warmups, I couldn't hit anything," she said. "Sometimes that is how it goes. You try to make yourself optimistic that you will make them during the game."

Albrecht had struggled shooting the ball a bit on the Western Washington-Simon Fraser swing last week, only attempting seven field goals in each game. She had 17 against the Vikings, but just seven in the loss to the Clan.

"I definitely had some off games and my shots weren't seeming to fall," she said, "but playing at home and shooting at home is always easier."

Another big part of it was her teammates making sure to get the team's leading scorer more involved with the offense.

After scoring five points in the first quarter, Albrecht had 12 in the second thanks to two 3-pointers and two three-point plays.

"I don't know what was different tonight," NNU coach Steve Steele said of his star. "She is just really talented. She can shoot the 3, she has the mid-range jumper which you saw in the second quarter, she can get to the rim, she is shooting 90 percent from the free-throw line. I think it is just getting her more touches tonight."

The Nighthawks needed every bit of Albrecht's offense, as no other player scored in double figures.

While the offense was struggling, NNU played possibly its best defensive game of the season.

The Nighthawks forced 36 turnovers and held the Wolves to 37.2 percent shooting from the field, including 1-of-11 from beyond the arc.

"I thought our defense was really great tonight," NNU's Danielle Jardine said. "We were flying everywhere, we were really aggressive and we were just getting to every spot on the court."

Jardine finished with seven points, five rebounds and five assists, while twin sister Raquel had eight points and three rebounds.

McKenna Walker added seven points and Marina Valles had six points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. Natalie DeLonge's 12 points led Western Oregon (6-11, 3-8).

NNU hosts Concordia at 7 p.m. Saturday.

"The second round (of GNAC play) is going to be challenging because teams want to get payback," Danielle Jardine said. "We just have to have the same energy and the love we have for each other every night and we will be great down the end of the road toward the GNAC tournament."