Box Score

NAMPA, Idaho (Jan. 5) -- The Central Washington University women's basketball team held a 10-point lead over Northwest Nazarene University with 3:02 remaining, but the Wildcats went scoreless the rest of the way in falling to the Crusaders, 76-71, on Saturday evening at the Johnson Sports Center.

The Wildcats fell to 0-3 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and 5-6 overall with the loss. NNU, meanwhile, earned its first conference win (1-2) and improved to 9-2 overall.

“It was a tough loss,” CWU head coach Shawn Nelson said. “We played extremely well for the first 36 minutes and I can't fault the effort for that span. We just got real tentative and played not to lose at crunch time.”

CWU led for the first three minutes of the game, and then kept within striking range until regaining the lead with 5:39 to go in the first half on a jumper by junior Jessica VanDyke (Chester, Mont./Chester-Joplin-Inverness HS). The Wildcats closed the first half on a 15-6 run and led 37-32 at the break.

The lead reached double figures for the first time 3 1/2 minutes into the second half, and stayed there -- with the exception of a 1 1/2-minute span -- until 4:07 remained in the game. The Wildcats' lead was as many as 16 points at one point.

After CWU scored on a basket by freshman Jasmine Parker (Spokane/Mead HS) with 3:02 remaining, which gave the Wildcats a 71-61 lead, they were held scoreless the rest of the way after four missed shots and three turnovers on their final seven possessions. The host Crusaders made three of four shots -- all three-point attempts -- and converted on all six free throws to steal the victory.

“We improved in a lot of areas,” Nelson added, “and I really thought that the players executed and understood our game plan overall. We have to keep pushing and executing when we have the lead, and play from the opening tip until the final buzzer.”

Junior guard Ally Schmitt (Snohomish) scored a team-high 20 points while dishing out six assists. VanDyke added 11 points, with Parker and redshirt freshman Hannah Shine (Lynden) scoring 10 points each. Shine was the Wildcats' top rebounder with seven boards.

Neither team missed a free throw in Saturday's contest, as CWU was 6 for 6 and NNU finished 11 for 11. Each team made 28 total field goals, nine three-pointers, and committed exactly 23 turnovers.

Chelsie Luke led all scorers with 21 points for Northwest Nazarene, while Megan Hingston added 17 points and Heather Adams finished with 14 points and five assists.

CWU will return home next week for a pair of games, beginning with a Thursday (Jan. 10) contest against Saint Martin's University at 7 p.m.