NAMPA, Idaho - Northwest Nazarene women's basketball led from start to finish on Wednesday night, defeating local rival College of Idaho 76-51. 

The Nighthawks jumped on the Yotes from the beginning, taking a 22-10 lead after the first quarter and a 43-26 halftime advantage. At the half, NNU had forced 22 C of I turnovers and only allowed 16 shot attempts.

"It's always nice to beat a rival school, especially on our home court," said head coach Steve Steele. "We played with a lot of energy, forced a lot of turnovers, and got some easy baskets off of those turnovers."

The final turnover tally for C of I was 29, with NNU recording 20 steals and scoring 29 points off turnovers. The Nighthawks also finished with a big advantage in the paint, 40-22, and on the break, 15-4.

Three Nighthawks finished with 11 points apiece, led by Teagan Thurman's line of 11 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Erin Jenkins and McKenna Emerson also had 11, while registering five and four steals, respectively. Clare Eubanks narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and eight boards, while Jamella Sampson came off the bench to score seven points in nine minutes of action.

"I was happy with our balanced scoring," said Steele. "We also had some young players that don't usually get as many minutes get on the court for extended periods of time, and they gave some great efforts off the bench."

Tied at four after two minutes of play, NNU jumped on C of I with an 18-6 run over the rest of the opening quarter. Emerson started the run with a triple in the corner, and five free throws capped it to bring the Nighthawks' lead to 22-10.

The Yotes were able to cut the NNU lead to single digits a few times in the second quarter, but the Nighthawks rallied just before the half to take a 17-point advantage on Nicole Gall's triple just before the buzzer.

The second half was much of the same, as a 14-0 NNU run midway through the third quarter extended the lead to 25, 57-32, at the 3:08 mark. The Nighthawks then held C of I without a point over the first five minutes of the final frame, grabbing their largest lead of the contest of 36 points with a Cami Knishka triple that made it 74-38 with 4:06 to play. 

College of Idaho put a few points up in the final minutes, but NNU still came away easily with the 25-point win.

Next up for the Nighthawks is a visit to DI-member Idaho State on Friday. NNU and ISU are set to tip off at 5:00 p.m. in Pocatello.