SEATTLE - Northwest Nazarene women's basketball nearly led from wire to wire at Seattle Pacific on Saturday, taking a 61-47 victory to avenge a defeat to the Falcons the night before.

Nicole Gall's 17 points led NNU (4-5), followed by Erin Jenkins with 10 points. Cami Knishka and Teagan Thurman both tallied nine points, while Thurman and Haley Hanson each recorded 10 rebounds. 

The Nighthawks also outrebounded the Falcons 39-29, and forced 22 Seattle Pacific turnovers. NNU's bench also outpaced SPU's by an incredible margin of 35-3.

"We showed a lot of heart to come back after a disappointing game last night and play with so much effort today, especially on a short turnaround," said head coach Steve Steele. We did a much better job on the defensive end and the boards and really tried to feed off of that all night."

"Offensively we still have to do a better job valuing the basketball and moving it quickly. The next step is to bring that kind of defensive effort every night moving forward."

Seattle Pacific put the first points on the board with a layup on their opening possession, but Jenkins responded with a triple to put the Nighthawks in front. After the game was tied at five apiece, Knishka drained a triple to put NNU up 8-5 at the 3:50 mark, and the Nighthawks would keep the lead for the rest of the game.

NNU led by seven after the first quarter and built the lead up to 15 at halftime, heading into the break with a 34-19 advantage. 

The Falcons put together a run in the third, cutting the deficit to seven, 42-35, but the Nighthawks were able to put SPU away down the stretch and pull away for the 14-point win.

NNU will now host Eastern Oregon on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. before hitting the road to visit Montana State - Billings on Feb. 26 and 27.