NAMPA, Idaho – The Western Oregon University women's basketball team dug deep in the second half and nearly pulled off the comeback at Northwest Nazarene. Trailing by 17 midway through the third quarter, the Wolves got back to within four a couple of times in the fourth quarter before the Nighthawks held on for the 73-66 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory Thursday night at the Johnson Sports Center.
"NNU played a great game, their available players stepped up and just outplayed us. We turned the ball over way too many times in the first half and then
just didn't box out in the second," head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter said.
Amber Winkler led the way in scoring with 12 points, while Kaelin Williams-Kennedy and Cali McClave added 11 points apiece. Williams-Kennedy had a team-high seven rebounds. Cali McClave also added five rebounds. Tresai McCarver had another all-around solid game with nine points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 38 minutes. Madisyn Clark added seven points and four assists. Alexis Wright had five points and six rebounds, while Casandra White added five points as well.
"Kaelin gave us a great spark off the bench and really helped lead our comeback," Howard-Carpenter said.
Trailing by seven at the half, Northwest Nazarene (10-4, 4-2 GNAC) came out on fire to start the second half. After WOU (7-6, 3-3 GNAC) got back to within four a minute into the third quarter, the Nighthawks went on a 13-0 run to stretch the lead out to 50-33.
The Wolves stayed the course and slowly began to chip away. A three-point-play by McCarver and then a three-pointer by White had the deficit down to eight. Caitlin Wheeler converted on a steal by Williams-Kennedy hitting a layup at the 3:35 mark to leave NNU ahead by just five. The Nighthawks outscored WOU by two the rest of the quarter to hold a seven-point lead entering the fourth.
After NNU pushed the lead back to 10, WOU fought back to within six on a free throw by Williams-Kennedy three minutes into the fourth frame. A pair of free throws by Winkler was followed by a jumper from Clark to trim the deficit to four with 4:11 to play.
The Nighthawks answered with the next five points, just to watch the Wolves come back once again. With under three minutes to play, Williams-Kennedy drove down the lane and hit a layup and then Cali McClave added an up-and-under layup off a steal a minute later to leave NNU with just a five-point lead, 66-61.
Following two at the line for the Nighthawks, Winkler had the deficit back to four when she hit a top-of-the-key three-pointer at the 1:26 mark. After NNU hit three of the next four free throws, WOU got it back down to five on two free throws by McCarver, but that would be as close as the Wolves would get with only 42 seconds left to play.
"Despite our mistakes, I thought we fought hard to come back from down 17. It's always tough to play on the road in the GNAC, but we have to find a way to get it done," Howard-Carpenter said.
Early on, the Nighthawks had the lead out to five near the midway point of the first quarter. WOU countered with an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game. A pair of Williams-Kennedy jumpers closed the run and left the Wolves with a 12-9 lead. After NNU came back to regain the lead, a layup by Cali McClave tied the game at 14 before sister Ana McClave hit a three-pointer from the corner off a pass by Cali to move WOU ahead at 17-14.
WOU still held the lead at 18-17 before NNU capped the opening 10 minutes with a three-pointer by Jordan Pinson for the 20-18 lead.
In the second quarter, WOU fought back to tie at 20 on a jumper by Wright and then at 23 on a triple by Cali McClave. Midway through the quarter, the Wolves got back to within one off a pair of free throws by Clark before Northwest Nazarene closed the half on a 9-3 run to take a 37-30 lead into the break.
WOU went 23-56 (41.1) from the field, 7-24 (29.2) from three and 13-17 (76.5) at the foul line. The Wolves held a strong advantage on bench points (22-8) and were close on points in the paint (26-28). The Wolves held a slight 41-38 edge on rebounds.
Erin Jenkins led the way for NNU with a big double-double tallying 20 points and 10 rebounds. Pinson added 18 points and Ashlynn Sylve chipped in 15 points. The Nighthawks went 25-66 (37.9) from the field, 6-18 (33.3) from three and 17-25 (68) at the foul line. NNU used a big advantage on points off turnovers (29-10).
WOU will continue the road trip traveling to Ellensburg to face Central Washington on Saturday starting at 4 p.m.
