NAMPA, Idaho - Junior forward Rylee Peterson's jumper with 47 seconds left proved to be the game-winner as the Western Oregon women's basketball team defeated host Northwest Nazarene 76-72 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday.

The win gives the Wolves (11-15, 9-9 GNAC) a share of sixth place in the GNAC standings. Northwest Nazarene (14-12, 9-9 GNAC) also finished sixth, but WOU will earn the GNAC tournament's sixth seed after sweeping both of its meetings with NNU. Western will travel to Seattle for the tournament's quarterfinal game Monday, where they will meet third-place finisher Seattle Pacific. Game time is set for 5:15 pm PST.

Peterson (Newport, Ore./Newport) led all scorers with 22 points on nine of 12 shooting. Senior guard Sara Zahler (Newberg, Ore./Newberg) scored all 13 of her points in the second half. Senior forward Danielle Bellando (Eugene, Ore./Willamette) registered 12 points and eight rebounds while sophomore guard Jamie Richardson (Grants Pass, Ore./Hidden Valley) added ten points and five assists. Sophomore guard Lorrie Clifford (Eagle River, Alaska/Chugiak) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with eight points.

"This was a great team win," WOU head coach Greg Bruce said. "We got contributions from everyone. The girls should be very proud of how they played."

Western led by as many as eight points in the second half, holding a 54-46 advantage with 10:21 left. NNU battled back to take a three-point lead at 66-63 with 4:31 remaining. WOU scored the next four points to take the lead back, but Northwest Nazarene answered with a triple to go back up by two at 69-67 with 3:01 remaining. The Wolves would use another 4-0 run to take a one-point lead but another Crusader three put the hosts back on top at 72-71 with 57 seconds left.

The final lead change would come ten seconds later when Peterson's jumper with 47 seconds left put Western on top for good. After an NNU miss, WOU guard Lorrie Clifford nailed two free throws to go up by three at 75-72. The Crusaders would miss another three-pointer then foul Peterson, who iced the game after making one free throw.

"It was great to see the girls get this win," Bruce noted. "We had been playing well, and had late leads in all of our recent losses, but we struggled to make plays down the stretch. This victory is a testament to their heart and their will to win"

Western torched the nets, shooting 57.4 percent for the game, including a blistering 60 percent in the second period. NNU was held to 36.9 percent shooting and made just five of 16 three-point shots.

"We were unbelievable offensively," Bruce added. "Most everyone shot at least 50 percent and our passing was very good, too."

Northwest Nazarene controlled the boards, outrebounding WOU 36-29, including a plus-14 offensive rebound advantage. The Crusaders had 17 second-chance points to Western's three. WOU also turned the ball over 24 times, leading to 34 NNU points.

The Wolves took a 34-33 lead into intermission.

NNU senior forward Beth Johnson registered a double-double with 17 points and ten boards.