NAMPA, Idaho – For the first time in 20 years the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team finished a regular-season undefeated.

Thanks to an 85-71 win Saturday against Western Washington in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the Nighthawks continue to pile up the historic achievements.

And while senior night was certainly special for the family and friends in the stands, the players on the court are hoping for even more history to come.

"It was sad walking out and introducing the seniors, but I had to stay mentally focused for this game and because we still have more games ahead," senior Danielle Jardine said.

For example, next Thursday the Nighthawks (25-1 overall, 17-1 GNAC) face off against Alaska Anchorage on the road with the GNAC regular-season title on the line. The two teams split the title a year ago and will enter Thursday's showdown with one loss on the season each.

"I think it was tonight," senior McKenna Walker said, "but just knowing how far we go in this season, it didn't change much."

The Nighthawks are off to the best start in program history and barring a late season meltdown will finish with the least losses in a season in program history. They finished this regular season with a 14-0 record at home, their best since going 15-0 in 1998-99 when the school was NAIA Division II. And they were ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in program history.

What's scary for future opponents is that they think they can play even better.

"We said after the game tonight that we feel like we can still step up another level," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "We feel like we can still play better, so that's good news. We have the kind of team that I can challenge that way."

On Saturday, the Nighthawks were challenged early and often by Western Washington (14-12, 9-9). The physical Vikings kept the game close until midway in the second quarter.
With the game tied 28-28 with 5 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the first half, NNU went on a 17-0 run to blow the game open.

Jardine started it with a three-point play, Avery Albrecht hit a 3-pointer, Walker had four free throws, Maya Rodgers had a three-point play, Marina Valles hit two free throws and Walker closed it with a jumper.

"We knew it would be close at times, but we just kind of fed off of our defense," Walker said. "That has kind of been a theme this year for us, feeding off of our defense. Once our defense got flowing, the whole game started turning our way."

The Nighthawks were never really challenged the rest of the game and Steele was able to pull all five seniors at the same time to a huge ovation from the biggest crowd of the season.
Raquel Jardine, Carly Parker, Ellie Logan, Walker and Danielle Jardine all came off together with less than 2 minutes remaining.

"It's really hard to control the emotions on senior night, especially when you have five seniors," Steele said. "And Maya (Rodgers) is basically a senior and Kaylana (Quach) has been part of our team for five years."

NNU controlled its emotions and the game and thanks to that, the Nighthawks have a date with Alaska Anchorage with a GNAC title at stake.

Danielle Jardine finished with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds, Albrecht had 15 points, Walker had 11 points and 12 rebounds, Logan had 11 points, Raquel Jardine had seven points and Parker had six.