NAMPA, Idaho – Senior Ellie Logan matched her career high with 29 points Saturday night and the No. 4 Northwest Nazarene University women's basketball team stayed perfect on the season with a dominant 102-75 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory over Montana State University Billings at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
The GNAC-leading Nighthawks improved to 16-0 on the season and 8-0 in league play, and won their 10th game of the year by a margin of 20 points or more. It was the third 100-point performance by a GNAC team this season, as NNU came within one of its season high in a 103-68 dismantling of NCAA Division III Whitworth on December 18. Saint Martin's University also reached the highest mark in the conference this year in a 107-103 overtime loss at Dixie State University on November 17.
 
Logan's stellar night came nearly four years after her other career 29-point effort, as she also achieved the lofty total as a freshman on February 7, 2015 at Simon Fraser University. After missing the entire 2017-18 season with an injury, Logan had a signature showing Saturday night by making 11 of 14 shots and 6 of 7 free throws to reach the total in just 22 minutes on the court. Avery Albrecht and Marina Valles had 11 points apiece, and Maya Rodgers was also in double figures with 10. All 11 Nighthawks who played in the game scored at least three points and had at least one rebound, and 10 of 11 players had at least one assist as well.
 
"NNU is an unbelievably talented team, and they remind me of Ashland at last year's Elite Eight," said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. "They are deep and very good at all positions, and their team speed is impressive. We need to learn from these defeats and respond appropriately. It will be nice to be home next week after two weeks on the road."
 
Taylor Cunningham led MSUB with 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting, including 3-for-4 accuracy from 3-point range. Taryn Shelley completed her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and senior Vanessa Stavish was also in double figures with 14 points. "Taylor Cunningham was more aggressive on offense tonight which was nice to see," said Woodin. "Offensively we need to get the ball inside more. When we got paint touches for Taryn and Vanessa tonight, good things usually happened."
 
Though the Yellowjackets (7-7, 3-5 GNAC) eventually faded against the No. 4 scoring team in the NCAA, they held the lead for the first nine minutes of play. The 'Jackets won the tip and Stavish drilled her first shot of the night with a three from the wing. Logan's first bucket of the night stopped a game-opening 7-0 run by MSUB, but the 'Jackets continued their strong start and led 13-7 by the first media timeout.
 
"We got off to a great start tonight, which was something we felt we needed to do," Woodin said. "I liked our intensity on both ends. Their pressure bothered us at times, especially in the second quarter. We don't usually turn it over that much, but give them credit for forcing us into some poor decisions."
 
A steal and breakaway layup by Logan gave NNU its first lead of the game, as the home team pushed ahead 19-18 with less than a minute to go in the first. It was part of a 14-0 run by the Nighthawks that closed the first and pushed their advantage to 28-18 early on in the second.
 
After a Logan jumper just two minutes into the second, the Nighthawks reached a double-figure advantage that they never relinquished the rest of the game. NNU reached 90 points for the sixth time this season, and posted its highest total against a GNAC foe this year. "Ellie Logan was outstanding tonight," Woodin said. "She is so explosive, and really carried them in the first half. We allowed them to get to the line too much, and we must defend better one-on-one. I felt they got the ball into the key by the dribble or pass way too easily, and we need to play better overall team defense."
 
NNU avenged last year's 76-69 loss to MSUB in the GNAC Championships semifinals, and won for the fifth time in the last six meetings between the teams. The Nighthawks improved on their GNAC-leading scoring average of 86.9 points per game, and on their scoring margin of plus-24.1 which was No. 8 in the NCAA entering the game.
 
Logan's efficient night also included a 6-for-7 mark from the foul line, where NNU was 24-for-32 overall which was the most attempts and makes by an MSUB opponent this year. It was the 18th game in Logan's career in which she has reached 20 points, and it was the highest individual total by an NNU player this season.
 
The Yellowjackets shot 42.4 percent overall (25-for-59), and a respectable mark of 9-for-20 from 3-point range (45.0 percent). MSUB matched its season high with 23 turnovers however, as NNU's constant pressure throughout the night wore down the Yellowjackets.
 
Freshman Emily St. John had a season-high seven points and a pair of blocks, while sophomore Hannah Collins scored nine points and had a team-high five assists on Saturday. "Brina (Hull) and Emily gave us some good minutes off the bench tonight," commented Woodin.
 
MSUB logged an achievement with its 7-0 run to start the game, as they tied the third-largest deficit that NNU has been in at any point in any game during the season. No GNAC team has led the Nighthawks by more than five points at any point during the 2018-19 campaign, and the last time any team led NNU by that much was on December 8 when Cal State Los Angeles held a 21-11 advantage with 3:13 to go in the opening quarter. Westminster led NNU 9-0 on November 17 just 2:26 into that game, and Colorado Christian University enjoyed a brief 59-52 edge at the end of the third quarter on November 16.
 

Date	Opponent	Deficit	Score	Period
12-8-18	CSU Los Angeles	10	21-11	3:13, 1st Quarter
11-17-18	Westminster	9	9-0	7:34, 1st Quarter
11-16-18	Colorado Christian	7	59-52	1:11, 3rd Quarter
1-19-19	MSU Billings	7	7-0	8:04 1st Quarter