Box Score NAMPA, Idaho — Freshman forward
Jordan Wilson (Henderson, Colo./Business Administration) scored a game-high 26 points Saturday and the Alaska women's basketball team went over the 70-point mark for the sixth time this season, but the Nanooks struggled to contain No. 17 Northwest Nazarene in the second half, falling 88-72 to the Crusaders in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Johnson Sports Center.
Wilson's 26 points was her second-highest total this season behind the 27 she scored on Nov. 8 against Western New Mexico. Freshman forward
Autumn Childers (Dewey Ariz./Civil Engineering) and senior forward
Ruth O'Neal (Fort Washakie, Wyo./Justice) were also in double figures for the Nanooks (7-5, 1-3 GNAC) with 10 points each.
Northwest Nazarene (10-2, 3-1 GNAC) led the entire game, but Alaska cut the lead to one with 5 minutes, 27 seconds, before halftime, and had it down to as low as six during the second half. The Crusaders fended off any chance of an upset, though, with a 60.9 percent shooting performance in the second half while scoring 53 points.
The Crusaders also held a big advantage in the free-throw game. NNU attempted 44 free throws, 24 more than the Nanooks, and made 37 of them for a 23-point advantage from the charity stripe. Alaska was 14 for 20 in free throws.
NNU was led in scoring by Taylor Simmons with 24 points, including a 14 for 15 showing from the free-throw line. Chelsie Luke (17), Kayla Schumann (14) and Megan Hingston (10) all scored in double figures for the Crusaders. Hingston was the only double-figures scorer for the Crusaders who did not make any free throws (0 for 0). Kylee Schierman pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
A 12-1 run gave the Crusaders a 12-point lead just over nine minutes into the first half. The Nanooks turned it over four times during that run, but they would answer with a 14-3 run of their own over a 5:48 stretch to make it a one-point game again. Northwest Nazarene solidified its double-digit lead heading into halftime by closing the first half with a 12-2 run, powered by buckets from five different players to lead 34-23 at the break.
The Crusaders pushed their lead to 14 out of the gate in the second half, but an 18-10 run by the Nanooks whittled it down to six with 14:05 to play. Northwest Nazarene's free-throw shooting proved to be too much, however, as it answered with a 13-2 run (seven free throws) to go up by 17 at 63-46.
Alaska outrebounded its opponent for the eighth time in 12 games this season, edging Northwest Nazarene on the boards 46-44. Sophomore guard
Brianna Kirk (Noatak, Alaska/Communication) led the Nanooks with eight rebounds. All 11 players who saw time on the floor for Alaska pulled down at least one rebound, with nine of them getting two or more.
The Nanooks return home for the first time in 2014 on Thursday for a three-game GNAC homestand. The home series begins at 7 p.m. Thursday against GNAC leader Saint Martin's.
