LACEY, Wash. – After a two-year hiatus, Northwest Nazarene women's basketball is back in the GNAC Championships this year and ready to make some noise at the tournament.
 
The fifth-seeded Nighthawks (16-11, 10-8 GNAC) will take on four-seed Western Washington (17-10, 12-6 GNAC) at 5:15 p.m. Pacific on Thursday at Saint Martin's Marcus Pavilion in Lacey, Washington.
 
If the Nighthawks defeat the Vikings, NNU will then take on one-seed Alaska Anchorage in the semifinals on Friday night at 5:15 p.m. Pacific. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Pacific.
 
2025 GNAC Women's Basketball Championships Links:

• Tournament Website
• Tickets
• Live stream via GNAC.tv
• Live Stats
• Tournament History

How They Got Here
NNU earned the five-seed in the tournament with a 10-8 GNAC record, one game ahead of six-seed Saint Martin's and three clear of Simon Fraser, the top team that did not finish in the top six. The Nighthawks started the GNAC slate 0-2, but played those games against two of the top three seeds in Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington. NNU then rattled off six straight conference victories, including a road win over Western Washington on Jan. 9 and an impressive 75-69 victory over then-No. 6 Montana State Billings on Jan. 16. NNU went 1-4 in their first five games in February, but picked up key home victories over Saint Martin's and Western Oregon in the second-to-last week of the regular season to clinch a spot in the GNAC tournament.
 
GNAC Championships History
Since the inaugural GNAC Championships in 2011, NNU has appeared in nine of the 13 tournaments. The Nighthawks have claimed one tournament title, coming in 2019 when as the two-seed, they defeated six-seed Western Washington in the semifinals and top seed Alaska Anchorage 70-64 in the championship game. In the nine appearances, NNU is 4-8 overall in tournament games. The last victory came during that 2019 tourney when they went 2-0. The other victories came in 2012 and 2013. In the most recent appearance in 2022, NNU was the four-seed and fell to five-seed Montana State Billings in the opening round.
 
Team Notes

• NNU was picked sixth in the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, improving on that prediction by one place in the final standings
• The Nighthawks have gone 5-1 in neutral site games this season
• Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington are the only teams that swept NNU this season, as the Nighthawks went 1-1 against the other three squads in the tourney
• NNU is third in the conference in scoring at 72.2 points per game and sixth in defense, allowing 71.9 points per game
• The Nighthawks are third in the GNAC at 76.1% from the free throw line and are second in free throws made with 397 on the year, trailing only Simon Fraser's 442. The percentage is also 37^th nationally and the total made is 32^nd in the nation
• NNU is fourth in the GNAC with 14.4 assists per game and third with 10.7 steals per game
• The Nighthawks are 14-0 this season when they score more than 70 points, and 2-11 when held to 70 points or less
• NNU is 13-1 when they either tie or win the rebounding battle, 4-9 when they lose the rebounding margin
• NNU is 16-35 in its DII history against quarterfinal opponent Western Washington and 2-3 in games played at a neutral site against the Vikings
• Head Coach Steve Steele is in his ninth season at the helm, compiling an overall record of 146-88 (.624) during his tenure
   

Player Notes

• The Nighthawks had one player selected to the All-GNAC teams, with sophomore forward Kendall Clark named to the First Team. She is NNU's first First-Teamer since Avery Albrecht in 2019 and the 11^th in the program's history in the GNAC
• Kendall has broken out as one of the best players in the GNAC in her second season, leading the conference in overall shooting at 56.8% from the field, a mark that is also 12^th in Division II
• Kendall is also fourth in the GNAC in scoring at 15.7 points per game and fifth in rebounding at 7.2 per game
• Kendall has scored in double digits in 21 of her 26 games this year, including nine games of 20 or more points. She has also recorded three double-doubles, including a 21-point, 14-rebound effort against Simon Fraser on January 11th
• Maddie Gebers is the second-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game and is second in the GNAC with a 38.9% three-point rate, which is also 22^nd nationally
• In Gebers' first season with the Nighthawks in 2023-24, she was second in all of Division II with a 46.7% mark from beyond the arc
• Gebers now holds a 42.5 career three-point percentage at NNU and has made 119 triples in her two seasons, marks that are first and ninth in NNU program history, respectively
• Gebers is also the only Nighthawks player to have started all 27 games this season
• Chloe Deharo is third on the team in scoring at 8.6 points per game and leads the team with 2.0 assists per contest
• Deharo, a true freshman, is also first in the GNAC and sixth in the nation with a free throw percentage of 89.7. She also gets to the line frequently, ranking fourth in the conference and 80^th nationally with 80 made this season
• Kate Clark is fourth on the team with 8.5 points per game and second in three-point shooting at 37.2%
• Loy Waid is fifth on the team with 6.5 points per game and is an extremely efficient free throw shooter, going 50-54 (92.6%) this season (she is just a couple of made free throws shy of qualifying for the GNAC minimum for the rankings)