MONMOUTH, Ore.—Allowing just three points over the final four minutes of play, Western Oregon University upended Concordia University, 68-51, in GNAC Women's basketball action on Tuesday night.

Western Oregon (8-7, 4-5 GNAC) outscored Concordia (11-6, 5-4 GNAC), 25-11, in the final quarter to break open a back-and-forth battle between Oregon's only two NCAA DII programs.

After several lead changes in the opening moments, the teams entered the halftime break tied at 28-28. WOU managed a slim lead through the end of the third quarter before breaking the game open with the 15-3 run to end the game.

Concordia, in its first full season of NCAA DII, was ranked No. 7 in the West Region in the latest D2SIDA Women's Basketball Poll this week. The win was the third in its last four games for WOU. With one game remaining in the first half of the GNAC schedule, the Wolves are one game back of fifth place in the GNAC standings with the top six teams advancing to the postseason tournament.

"This was a great team win for us and I'm proud of our focus and effort. Concordia is strong, athletic and very balanced, we really had to fight for this one," WOU head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said. "We played solid from start to finish and checked all our boxes in terms of our game plan. When we commit to defending, good things happen and we were able to hold them 25 points under the average tonight."

With its defense applying pressure down the stretch on one end, WOU's offense limited its turnovers throughout the evening and remained steady at the free throw line. The Wolves committed just three turnovers in the first half and converted 11-of-11 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to create the late separation. The conference leaders in free throw efficiency, the Wolves connected on 19-of-20 (95.0 percent) from the line on the night.

Savannah Heugly and Sydney Azorr each scored 15 points to share game-high honors. Azorr helped seal the game with three makes at the line after being fouled from beyond the arc with just under two minutes to play. Azorr finished 9-of-9 from the free throw line for the second time this season with the previous occurrence against Southern Oregon on Dec. 12. 

Working down low to help WOU finish with a decisive edge in rebounds, Natalie DeLonge and Taisha Thomas added eight points each and combined to grab 11 rebounds.

"This was a very balanced attack for us and that's when we play our best basketball," Howard-Carpenter said. "Sav got us going in the first half, Syd was aggressive and then automatic from the free throw line in the second while Nat had a solid second half as well. Our bench made a huge difference tonight and I'm really proud of how they competed. Tai, Ali (Nelke) and Keyonna (Jones) all came in and made an impact defending and rebounding."

Bailey Cartwright and Danielle Hartzog led Concordia with 12 points each while CU point guard Keesha Sarman led all players with 11 rebounds.

Western Oregon will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 18 when it hosts Montana State University Billings as part of a basketball doubleheader. The women tip off at 5:15 p.m. while the WOU men's team will host Central Washington at 7:30 p.m.

"The one thing I was most happy with is how well we took care of the ball.  We need to continue to bring the energy and focus we had tonight in order to make our run. This is a tough conference and we need to be consistent night in and night out no matter who we face," Howard-Carpenter said.