Women's Basketball | 12/5/2013 9:13:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The No. 18 Northwest Nazarene University women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point first half deficit en route to an 86-69 road win at Western Oregon University Thursday.

The Crusaders (7-0, 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) remained undefeated thanks to an 18-0 run to close the first half. The game, which was the conference season-opener for both teams, featured a combined 43 turnovers and 47 fouls. After WOU opened by making 10 of its first 16 shots from the field, it was held to 12-of-42 through the rest of the contest.

Megan Hingston led NNU with 22 points. She was 10-of-18 from the field. Chelsie Luke and Veronica Skokankova added 16 points and 13 points off of the bench. Kylee Schierman finished with a double-double of 13 rebounds and 10 points.

The Crusaders made 51 percent of their shots from the field, and were the first team to make over 50 percent of its shots versus Western Oregon this season. NNU was 64 percent from the field in the second half. Northwest Nazarene was 3-of-8 from behind-the-arc and 25-for-34 from the free throw line. The Crusaders also had a 42-32 rebound advantage.

The game was tied at 18 midway through the first half, when the Wolves went on a 19-2 run, to take a 37-20 lead with 5:11 remaining in the opening stanza. Northwest Nazarene missed nine straight shots during the stretch and turned the ball over twice.

After going scoreless during the four-minute stretch, the Crusaders then held Western Oregon without basket for the final five minutes of the half. NNU closed the half with an 18-0 run to take a 38-37 lead into halftime. Northwest Nazarene went 5-of-7 during the run, while the Wolves were held to 10 consecutive misses and committed four turnovers.

The lead changed twice and the score was tied twice at the open of the second half. With the score tied at 42, the Crusaders went on a decisive 22-6 run to break open the game. NNU led by as many as 19 points twice in the second half.

Northwest Nazarene, which won for the fourth time in a row over WOU, had a 42-16 advantage in the paint, and a 33-19 edge in bench points. The Crusaders turned their forced turnovers into 22 points.

The Wolves' (2-4, 0-1 GNAC) Dana Goularte led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. The junior became the first WOU player to score 25 points in a game since Mariah Durian did last season against Pacific Lutheran on Nov. 17, 2012. Goularte also made 12 of her 14 free throws. She grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Chantel Divilbiss made five of her nine three-pointers and finished with 17 points. Melissa Fowler tossed a game-high four assists. Elise Miller made three steals.

"We played a solid 15 minutes in the first half and then just went cold on the offensive end and couldn't hold off their attack," WOU Holli Howard-Carpenter said of her first GNAC game. "Foul trouble really hurt us tonight. Putting teams at the free throw line 10+ more times than we go is a huge disadvantage.  We are working really hard and doing a better job of keeping our hands off. We just have to be able to step up and take charges.

"Hingston is a tough player, but I felt we did a good job on her and made her earn everything. Dana and Chantel carried us tonight; they played with intensity for the entire game. I couldn't ask for better leadership."

Western Oregon welcomes Central Washington (3-3, 0-1) for its next game. The Wildcats fell at Saint Martin's Thursday, 64-49. WOU has won four straight at home over Central Washington, dating back to a 76-68 CWU win in 2009. Saturday's tipoff between the Wildcats and Western Oregon is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Northwest Nazarene vs Western Oregon
12/5/13 7 p.m. at Monmouth, OR
At Monmouth, OR
NORTHWEST NAZARENE 86, WESTERN OREGON 69
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (7-0, 1-0 GNAC)
Hingston,Megan 10-18 2-3 22; Luke,Chelsie 4-6 6-6 16; Skokankova,Veronika
4-5 5-9 13; Schierman,Kylee 4-4 2-3 10; Simmons,Taylor 1-5 6-8 8;
Schumann,Kayla 3-10 0-0 7; Warwick,Leslie 2-5 2-2 6; Babbitt,Taylor 0-0 2-2
2; Swanson,Katie 1-2 0-1 2; Ferrenburg,Ellen 0-0 0-0 0; White,Cierra 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 29-56 25-34 86.
WESTERN OREGON (2-4, 0-1 GNAC)
Goularte,Dana 7-14 12-14 26; Divilbiss,Chantel 6-12 0-0 17; Akins,Shyla 3-4
1-2 9; Mottershaw,Jordan 2-6 1-2 7; Goddard,Katie 2-8 0-0 5; Titus,Angie 1-1
0-2 2; Nicklason,Leah 1-1 0-0 2; Steiger,Jackie 0-4 1-2 1; Henry,Kelsey 0-2
0-0 0; Miller,Elise 0-3 0-0 0; Fowler,Melissa 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 15-22
69.
Northwest Nazarene............   38   48  -   86
Western Oregon................   37   32  -   69
3-point goals--Northwest Nazarene 3-8 (Luke,Chelsie 2-2; Schumann,Kayla 1-3;
Simmons,Taylor 0-1; White,Cierra 0-1; Hingston,Megan 0-1), Western Oregon
10-25 (Divilbiss,Chantel 5-9; Akins,Shyla 2-3; Mottershaw,Jordan 2-4;
Goddard,Katie 1-4; Henry,Kelsey 0-1; Miller,Elise 0-1; Steiger,Jackie 0-3).
Fouled out--Northwest Nazarene-None, Western Oregon-None.
Rebounds--Northwest Nazarene 42 (Schierman,Kylee 13), Western Oregon 32
(Divilbiss,Chantel 7; Goularte,Dana 7). Assists--Northwest Nazarene 13
(Simmons,Taylor 4), Western Oregon 13 (Fowler,Melissa 4). Total
fouls--Northwest Nazarene 20, Western Oregon 27. Technical fouls--Northwest
Nazarene-None, Western Oregon-None. A-313
Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams
NNU Ranked No. 18