NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene women's basketball was able to hold off a tough Seattle Pacific squad on Thursday night, taking a hard-fought 57-54 victory.
How It Happened
The Nighthawks started well, jumping out to an 11-3 lead after a pair of free throws from
Emma Clark at the 6:15 mark of the opening quarter. An SPU triple five minutes later cut the lead to four, though, but two more free throws from
Lydia Nieto built the NNU lead back to six, 18-12, at the end of the first quarter.
NNU pulled away a bit in the second quarter, going on an 8-0 run midway through the period to take a 31-17 lead on an
Ashlynn Sylve layup with three minutes to go before the half. The Falcons would go on a small run before the break, though, cutting the NNU lead to eight, 35-27.
The Nighthawks built the lead back up to 13, 46-33, with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter, but SPU then went on an 11-0 run spanning the next four minutes of game action to cut the deficit to just two.
Teagan Thurman finally stopped the bleeding with a triple at the 7:58 mark of the fourth, making it 49-44 in favor of the Nighthawks. SPU continued to inch closer, however, hitting a three with 4:44 to play to bring it to a one-point game, 53-52.
Thurman then went on a 4-0 run by herself, getting a layup on the break and then knocking down a jumper from the top of the key to put the Nighthawks up five with three minutes remaining.
SPU cut it to three with a bucket with two minutes left, and neither team would score the rest of the way. The Falcons had a chance to tie in the final moments, but NNU's defense locked down and didn't allow a shot to get off before the final buzzer.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU improves to 17-8 on the year and 11-6 in conference play.
- The Nighthawks have now won nine of the last 10 over the Falcons.
- Thurman led the Nighthawks with 15 points and eight rebounds, just missing a double-double.
- Nyalam Thabach was the only other Nighthawk in double figures, tallying 12 points and five boards.
- Jordan Pinson added three assists, while Emma Clark had three steals.
- The Nighthawks nearly led from start to finish, holding the advantage for 96% of the game.
- NNU struggled from deep, making just 2-11, but made up for it from two for an overall percentage of 42.2% from the field.
Next Up
The Nighthawks will wrap up the regular season with their final home game on Saturday, hosting Montana State Billings at 5:15 p.m. in the Johnson Sports Center. The GNAC Tournament will be next week from March 2-5, dually hosted by Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. All 10 teams are invited this year, and NNU will find out their seeding and opening game location following the games this Saturday night.
