NAMPA, Idaho – Marina Valles had reason to be frustrated Thursday night.

She had two offensive fouls called on her in the fourth quarter and after she missed a free throw, the Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team suddenly found itself down a point with 14 seconds left.

Valles, though, cut through the lane and made a game-winning layup with seven seconds left as the Nighthawks defeated Simon Fraser 85-84 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

"I was expecting some kind of help and then trying to kick it out for a 3 or an open two," Valles said. "It happened to be wide open and I just went for it."

After Valles' bucket, Simon Fraser quickly went the other way and Kendal Sands had an open look but it rimmed out.

"That was the first time we gave them that look and I really did think she would get all the way to the rim," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "We did something simpler and she attacked the basket. All the kids on the floor gave her space to attack, but I wish she wouldn't have attacked so early."

NNU (11-4, overall, 6-1 GNAC) led 80-76 with 3:08 remaining when Valles was whistled for her first charge. After a steal by Valles and two free throws, the Nighthawks had the ball leading 82-78 with 51 seconds remaining. With the shot clock winding down, Valles drove and was again whistled for a charge.

"I just tried to focus," she said. "If they call a foul, it is no big deal. I just tried to focus on the next play."

Out of a timeout, Simon Fraser's Jessica Jones drained a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 82-81. The Clan then fouled Valles with 21 seconds left. The senior point guard drained the first one, but the second shot rimmed off.

Out of another timeout, the Clan's Tayler Drynan split a double team for a layup and a foul for a three-point play and an 84-83 lead.

Valles, though, had the final answer.

"She's very confident and I think that confidence helps her stay calm," Steele said. "She knows the next play she can come down and create for herself or someone else at any given moment."

Valles finished with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 28 minutes. She added six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

McKenna Emerson added 14 points, five rebounds and four steals, Avery Albrecht had nine points, six rebounds and four assists, Erin Jenkins had nine points and Clare Eubanks had seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Nighthawks played 11 players in the game and all of them scored.

"As a team, everyone is getting better," Emerson said. "We love having everyone play – it's really important to us. That shows we are deep and we have more than just five players, like other teams do."

That was especially important Thursday as the game was extremely up-tempo and for the Nighthawks to run their press as well as play aggressive defense against the Simon Fraser (10-7, 5-2) offense, which features a lot of 3-pointers.

"I hope it is big for their confidence," Steele said of his role players. "We need that for our style of play. We need people to come in and contribute. Today, we got those contributions from the bench and we have to have that because we can't just run Avery, Marina and Erin out there for 40 minutes every game."

The Nighthawks move into sole possession of second place with the win. They host Western Washington at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.