HAYWARD, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene women's basketball lost a heartbreaker in overtime to second-seeded Central Washington in the West Regional on Friday, falling in the instant classic 79-74.
How It Happened
NNU started strong, not allowing a CWU field goal over the first three minutes as the Nighthawks took an early 8-1 lead. NNU maintained the lead over the rest of the quarter, with a
Lydia Nieto free throw with seven seconds remaining putting the Nighthawks up 17-13 after one.
Ashlynn Sylve and
Kate Clark notched back-to-back buckets to open the second period, extending NNU's lead back up to eight. The Wildcats responded with an 11-0 run, however, including a trio of triples from Kizzah Maltezo to go up 24-21 with 5:03 to go in the quarter.
Emma Clark stopped the bleeding with a triple to tie things back up at 24, but the Wildcats would eventually go into halftime up by three, 31-28.
The lead changed hands multiple times in the third, with a
Teagan Thurman jumper eventually sending the two teams into the fourth tied at 43.
CWU went up by five early in the fourth, but NNU came back to take a 52-51 lead on a three-pointer from
Erin Jenkins with 4:39 to play. The Wildcats and Nighthawks would go back-and-forth over the rest of regulation, until Thurman made a turnaround jumper to tie it a 64 with 13 seconds remaining. CWU turned the ball over with three seconds left, but a last-second shot by Thurman was off to send the game to overtime.
NNU quickly took a four-point lead in overtime, going up 70-66 on a
Nyalam Thabach layup with 3:01 on the clock. The Wildcats pushed back, though, as a Tori Maeda triple put CWU back on top 73-72 with 1:25 to play.
Jenkins swung the advantage back to NNU with a jumper on the next possession, but Samantha Bowman scored on a second-chance opportunity to put CWU back up one with 40 seconds remaining. NNU was unable to keep the back-and-forth going as they came up empty on their next attempt, and CWU was able to make four free throws to come away with the five-point win.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks end the season with an 18-10 record along with their 12-6 mark in GNAC play.
- NNU made their fourth appearance in the West Regional in the last five years.
- Erin Jenkins had 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in her final game with the Nighthawks.
- Three others were in double figures, with Thurman at 12, Clare Eubanks at 10, and Emma Clark at 10.
- Eubanks and Kate Clark each had six rebounds, while Lydia Nieto equaled Jenkins for the team lead with four assists.
- NNU only took four free throws, going 3-4 from the line, as CWU was called for just eight fouls in the game.
- The Nighthawks shot 50% (31-62) from two in the game, but struggled from deep as they made just 3 of 16.
