IRVINE, Calif. - Northwest Nazarene women's basketball opened the season with a tough defeat at the hands of Concordia-Irvine on Thursday, falling to the Eagles 85-54.

It was the first of an opening stretch of four games in five days as NNU will travel around Southern California to face members of the PacWest Conference.

The Nighthawks struggled to find their footing offensively, shooting 25% from the field and 19% from beyond the arc. On the other side, the Eagles shot 44% from the field and 42% from deep.

"We definitely had issues on the offensive side," said head coach Steve Steele. "We had 17 more shots than they did, but couldn't buy a basket. Our team is very young and it showed, and we need to regroup and learn from what we saw today."

In the return to her home state of California, Teagan Thurman recorded a double-double in her first collegiate game. The freshman led NNU with 12 points and 13 rebounds, including six boards on the offensive end.

Lydia Nieto was in double figures with 10 points, while also recording six rebounds, three assists, and two steals in her NNU debut. Nyalam Thabach was next for the Nighthawks with eight points and five rebounds, followed by Erin Jenkins with seven points.

The teams traded buckets over the first five minutes, with CUI taking a 12-10 lead at the 4:22 mark of the opening quarter. The Eagles then went on an 8-2 run to go up by eight, but the Nighthawks responded with a 10-2 run of their own to even the score at 22 on a Thurman triple with 8:22 left in the half.

The momentum swung back in CUI's favor, though, as the Eagles scored the next 11 points in a row and went on to take a 16-point lead at the break, 47-31.

A Jenkins three-pointer brought the deficit back to single digits, 54-45, with 3:52 to go in the third, but that was as close as the Nighthawks would come as CUI pulled away for the 85-54 victory.

NNU will head south to San Diego tomorrow for a matchup against Point Loma Nazarene, with the opening tip slated for 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 PM MT.