SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Northwest Nazarene women's basketball came very close to their first win of the young season, but Point Loma outlasted NNU in the end 78-75.

The Nighthawks led by two after three quarters, but NNU's offense went cold in the fourth with just 11 points. 

"We're Incredibly young, with a lot of new pieces, so we're going to have some bumps in the road early and need to get more consistent," said head coach Steve Steele. "These are all fixable things. After this tough opening road trip with four games in five days, I believe we're going to be in great shape."

NNU did fare better on offense than in the season opener, making 11 triples and leading for most of the second and third quarters. The defense also stepped up, forcing a whopping 30 turnovers by PLNU with an intense press that caused a lot of problems in the backcourt.

"We shot a little better and created a lot of turnovers," said Steele. "We competed really well, but ended up making too many mistakes, especially on the boards. We need to be able to hold our own on the rebounding end."

Nyalam Thabach led the Nighthawks with 12 points and six rebounds. Three others were in double figures, with Lydia Nieto at 13, McKenna Emerson at 11, and Jordan Pinson at 10. Emerson also had a team-high five steals, while Teagan Thurman tallied seven points and seven boards.

"Ny was only able to play limited minutes due to foul trouble, but played well when she had the opportunity," said Steele. "McKenna also had a good game for us, and Jordan gave us a great lift in the second quarter when we put together a good run."

NNU scored the first basket of the game as Haley Hanson found Thabach for a layup off the opening tip. The rest of the first quarter was all Point Loma, though, with the Sea Lions taking a 26-15 lead after the opening period.

The momentum flipped right away in the second quarter, though, as the Nighthawks played their best 10 minutes of the young season. Erin Jenkins and Nieto opened the frame with back-to-back buckets, and after a pair of PLNU free throws, NNU scored the next 15 points unanswered to go up 34-28 with five minutes left in the half.

Three triples punctuated the run as NNU made six of seven shots, with the lone miss grabbed by Thurman and sent out to Nieto for a trey. The Nighthawk lead grew to as many as eight during the period, and NNU went into the break up six, 42-36.

Overall in the opening half, NNU turned PLNU over 17 times, leading to a 24-10 advantage in points off turnovers. The Nighthawks also featured a balanced offensive attack, with nine players finding the scoring column led by Nieto's eight points.

The Nighthawks kept firing to open the third, going up by 13, 64-51, with 1:47 remaining in the quarter after a pair of threes from Pinson and Nicole Gall. The Sea Lions responded with a flurry of triples, however, making three in a row along with a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two heading into the final ten minutes.

PLNU took the lead on a triple to open the fourth, but Thurman answered back with a three of her own. The Sea Lions would take back the lead, however, and extend it to six, 78-72, with 45 seconds to play.

Emerson knocked down a three to cut the deficit in half with 30 seconds left. The Nighthawk defense stepped up, forcing back-to-back Point Loma turnovers in the final seconds, but NNU could not convert offensively as PLNU took the 78-75 win.

The Nighthawks will face their third opponent in as many days tomorrow, as they travel back up the California coast to take on Biola at 5:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. MT.