Box Score Box Score
NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene downed visiting Montana State Billings Thursday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest, 75-62. With the loss, the Yellowjackets fell to 7-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play. NNU improved to 9-6 overall and 4-3 in conference play.
“You have to give NNU a lot of credit tonight, I thought they played very hard,” MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin said. “They took the lead on us early and it seemed like we were playing catch-up a lot. We had a couple of critical turnovers early in the game and they got ahead.”
NNU had four players in double figures, including a double-double from Megan Hingston as she had a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Beth Johnson scored 13 points, while Chelsie Luke added 10 points off the bench.
Turnovers and second chance points by NNU proved to be a major factor in the game, the Crusaders outrebounded the Jackets 51-29 and outscored the Jackets 18-8 in second chance points. MSUB committed 21 turnovers in the game.
The Jackets were 25 of 62 from the field for 40.3 percent. They were 6 of 21 from deep and were just 6 of 13 from the charity stripe. NNU was 25 of 66 from the field for 37.9 percent. The Crusaders were 7 of 17 from range and were 18 of 27 from the line.
NNU built a 25-9 lead 11 minutes into the game, courtesy of an 18-5 run early one to take control. The Crusaders opened the game with a 5-0 run, but MSUB responded for a 7-4 deficit before the big run.
A layup by senior Kayla Ryan and a triple from Knudsen brought the Yellowjackets within nine at 25-16 with 6:45 left in the half. The Crusaders swelled the lead back to 15 with an 11-5 run over the next three minutes for a 36-21 lead with three minutes left. MSUB again had a mini run as it ended the half with a 9-3 run for a 39-30 deficit at intermission.
Ryan now stands just 10 points away from becoming the 19th player in MSUB history to reach the 1,000 career point mark.
“Throughout the game we seemed to cut it to that 10-point range a lot, but we couldn't get it down to that workable 6-7 mark and that was a lot on what they did,” Woodin added.
The Crusaders kept the Jackets at arm's length through much of the first seven minutes of the second half and held a 53-36 lead with 13 minutes left.
MSUB kept chipping away and used a 7-1 run to pull within 61-51 with eight minutes left. A steal and a triple by Luke put the Crusaders back in command with a 64-51 lead. From the eight minute mark, the Crusaders used an 11-3 run for a 72-54 lead with 2:51 left.
The Jackets kept fighting and pulled within 75-62 on a triple from Knudsen with 23 seconds left.
MSUB concludes its three game road trip Saturday at 2 p.m. at Central Washington. The Jackets then return home to host Western Oregon, Thurs., Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium.
“We are going to have to play well on Saturday to get a win at Central,” Woodin concluded. “It is a difficult place to play and I think we will regroup and give an excellent effort.”
