BILLINGS, Mont. – The Northwest Nazarene women's basketball team blew out Montana State Billings 80-48 on Saturday to remain undefeated in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and win their seventh consecutive game.

The Nighthawks came out firing on all cylinders, leading 15-0, 26-4 and 31-9 after the first quarter. They stretched their lead to 38-9 early in the second quarter.

"We caught a break because their starting point guard – Hannah Collins – who is one of the best players in the conference, was out injured," NNU coach Steve Steele said. "We had a little bit of an advantage as far as our press goes and that helped with our hot start in the first quarter."

The Yellowjackets made some key adjustments to slow the Nighthawks (9-3 overall, 4-0 GNAC) down, however, as NNU didn't score for the final 5 minutes, 20 seconds of the first half. Nicole Gall ended the drought with a layup 2:04 into the third quarter.

"They made good adjustments and slowed us down offensively and then in the third quarter they improved their offense," Steele said. "I was a little nervous in the third quarter. We had to do some things we haven't really practiced on both sides of the ball and it took us awhile to figure out how to do it in a live situation. Once they figured that out, that made a big difference."

Billings (7-6, 2-2) pulled within 51-37 with 2:27 left in the third quarter on a 23-8 run.

NNU then used a 13-2 run to blow the game right back open.

Jordan Pinson, Avery Albrecht and Clare Eubanks each made a pair of free throws to make it 57-39 after three quarters.

Marina Valles opened the fourth with a layup, Eubanks had a three-point play and Valles made another layup and just like that it was 64-39.

"It was definitely encouraging to see," Steele said. "I have to give credit to my assistants – Elpidia Allen and Ellie Logan – who had good ideas on how to adjust our offense to allow us to play at a higher pace and start scoring."

Valles finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the field to score a game-high 21 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists.

Albrecht added 14 points and four rebounds, Gall had 13 points, McKenna Emerson had 10 points and five steals and Eubanks had nine points, five rebounds and four blocks.

The Nighthawks were playing without starter Erin Jenkins, who was hurt.

NNU heads to Alaska next week for a pair of games, playing at Fairbanks on Thursday and against arch-rival Anchorage on Saturday.