BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene women's basketball pulled off an incredible feat on Monday, defeating No. 6/11 Western Washington for the second time this season in overtime, 87-76.
How It Happened
Both teams came out firing in the first quarter, shooting very well as NNU raced out to a 24-21 lead after the first quarter.
The Nighthawks would lead by as many as four in the second quarter, but a late 7-0 run by the Vikings gave WWU a 42-39 halftime advantage.
WWU went up by seven early in the third, but NNU rallied to take the lead with an 8-0 run that culminated in an
Erin Jenkins triple that made it 51-50 in favor of the Nighthawks at the 1:45 mark. The Vikings stopped the bleeding, though, and retook the lead before the end of the quarter to go into the fourth up 54-52.
Cami Knishka opened the fourth with a triple to give NNU the lead, and the teams would trade the advantage back and forth with nether gaining a two-possession lead until an and-one from
Teagan Thurman put NNU up four, 64-60, with 3:33 to play.
NNU still led by four, 68-64, with just 11 seconds remaining after a pair of free throws from
Jordan Pinson. WWU made two free throws with six seconds to go to cut the lead to two, and then Pinson went 1-2 from the line with five ticks on the clock to give the Vikings a chance down three. WWU's Riley Dykstra was found open in the corner and drilled a triple at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
WWU struck first in the extra period, but it was all Nighthawks after that as they would outscore the Vikings 18-7 to win by 11. Thurman had six of the 18 points, including a big three to ignite the run.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU improves to 10-6 in GNAC play and 16-8 overall.
- The Nighthawks are one of just two teams to defeat WWU this season, handing the Vikings two of their three losses. The other setback came at home to Central Washington.
- The Nighthawks have now defeated the Vikings in eight of the last 10 meetings between the GNAC powers.
- NNU wraps up their four-game, four-city, seven-day road trip with a 3-1 mark, falling to Simon Fraser but defeating Saint Martin's, Western Oregon, and now Western Washington.
- Six Nighthawks were in double figures, led by 16 points and five rebounds from Erin Jenkins, who made six of the 10 shots she took.
- Teagan Thurman was next with 14 points, followed by Cami Knishka, Lydia Nieto, and Ashlynn Sylve each with 12. Knishka was 4-6 from the field and 3-5 from deep in the game.
- Jordan Pinson rounded out the double-digits scoring with 10 points and five assists, including 8-9 from the free-throw line.
- The Nighthawks were strong from beyond the arc, shooting 45% (9-20) while WWU was just 6-21 (28.6%).
- As was the case in the first matchup between the teams earlier this season, NNU's defense was able to force WWU into a lot of turnovers, with the Vikings committing 28 giveaways that turned into 30 points for the Nighthawks.
Next Up
The Nighthawks return home for the final two games of the regular season, hosting Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings. All 10 GNAC teams will be invited to the conference championships the following week from March 2-5, with final seeding determined by the GNAC Points Rating System after this Saturday's games.
