Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play

NAMPA, Idaho – What Betsy Kingma started, Suzanna Ohlsen finished.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons needed all of that, and more on Thursday night – and got it.
 
Ohlsen scored 21 points, getting 10 of those in the last 1 minute, 50 seconds of the game, and Kingma also tallied 21 for her career high as SPU came from behind, then hung on to beat Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest, 82-77.
 
The last two points for junior guard Ohlsen (Monroe,Wash. / Monroe HS) came at free throw line with two seconds left to provide the final margin.
 
Junior guard Kingma (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue HS) got 18 of her points on the first half, all on 3-pointers. She now has 11 treys in the past two games. She eclipsed her previous scoring high of 18, set on Feb. 4, 2012, against Alaska Fairbanks. The last Falcon to hit half a dozen 3-pointers in a game was Daesha Henderson on Feb. 27, 2010, against Central Washington.
 
"I'm super proud of our kids – they rose up," said head coach Julie Heisey, whose Falcons (10-4, 3-3 GNAC) won their second straight after a three game losing streak, and handed the Crusadders (10-5, 3-4 GNAC) their third straight loss. "Betsy had an amazing first half. Then in that last three minutes, Katie (Benson) made a hard cut and was able to catch and shoot (getting SPU within one point), and did it with authority.
                                              
"All of a sudden, you could tell we were able to dig deep, and we weren't going to lose the game," Heisey added. "They were tough and they were together. We played with a lot of grit and poise down the stretch."
 
Senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds. She played the last 4:58 of the game with four fouls. Freshman guard / forward Hannah Rodrigues tallied a career-high 10 points and forced a traveling call on NNU with 36 seconds left, giving the ball back to Seattle Pacific and ultimately two a pair of free throws by Ohlsen for a 77-72 lead.
 
Megan Hingston had 30 points for the Crusaders, including their first nine of the game.
 
The Falcons hadn't won in Nampa since 2011, but were in command early in the second half, extending a 14-point halftime lead to 17 at 46-29 with 18:31 left.
 
But Northwest Nazarene, anxious to get back on track after losing at Simon Fraser and Western Washington last week, put together a 29-7 run over the next 9 minutes, 45 seconds to take a 58-53 advantage with 8:46 to go. Seattle Pacific got within a point on four occasions, but NNU was back up three at 68-65 at the 3:08 mark.
 
Benson then made her cut to the right corner, Ohlsen found her with the pass, and Benson drained an open 15-footer. The Falcons' defense forced a five-second inbounds violation under the Crusaders' basket, and on their next trip downcourt, Benson fed Rodrigues for a driving lay-in and a 69-68 lead with 2:24 remaining.
 
Ohlsen drove for a lay-in and one, making it 72-68 at 1:50. Hingston answered with a five-foot banker; Ohlsen replied to that with a 3-pointer for 75-70. Kylee Schierman laid one in for NNU, but missed on the three-point play opportunity with 57 seconds to go, leaving it at 75-72.
 
A miss by Kingma was rebounded by Schierman, but she went to the floor trying to get away from Rodrigues' defensive pressure, and was called for traveling with 36 seconds left. From there, Ohlsen hit two free throws, and Kingma drained three to maintain the two-possession margin, leading up to Ohlsen's clinching pair from the foul line at the two-second mark.
 
"It was all just a blur," Ohlsen said of the frantic last few minutes. "There was a point in the game where there was a foul and we all just huddled and looked at each other, and said, 'We are not going to lose this game.' It was really cool to see everyone stepping up and playing roles. Hannah Rodrigues played a fantastic game today."
               
Up 31-27, the Falcons outscored NNU by an 11-1 margin to close out the first half and take a 42-28 lead at the break .Kingma started that run with her sixth trey of the night, then Rodrigues and freshman guard Stacey Lukasiewicz (Centennial, Colo.) contributed four points apiece.
 
The lead changed hands four times, and the game was tied four times through the first half.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Johnson Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Seattle Pacific 82, Northwest Nazarene 77
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (10-4, 3-3 GNAC)
Suzanna Ohlsen 6-15 5-5 21, Betsy Kingma 6-14 3-4 21, Molly Grager 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah Rodrigues 5-5 0-0 10, Katie Benson 7-12 0-0 14, Stacey Lukasiewicz 2-7 0-0 4, Brianne Lasconia 1-3 0-0 2, Riley Butler 2-3 4-4 8. Totals 30-60 12-13 82.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (10-5, 3-4 GNAC)
Kayla Schumann 0-2 2-2 2, Taylor Simmons 1-7 2-2 4, Kylee Schierman 4-5 1-3 9, Megan Hingston 12-15 5-6 30, Leslie Warwick 0-3 0-0 0, Taylor Babbitt 0-2 0-0 0, Cierra White 1-2 0-0 2, Chelsie Luke 4-13 3-4 15, Katie Swanson 2-3 1-2 5, Ellen Ferrenburg 2-8 6-6 10. Totals 26-60 20-25 77.
 
Seattle Pacific                       42           40           -- 82
Northwest Nazarene           28           49           -- 77
 
3-point goals – SPU 10-25 (Ohlsen 4-9, Kingma 6-13, Benson 0-1, Lasconia 0-2), NNU 5-11 (Schumann 0-1, Simmons 0-1, Hingston 1-2, Babbitt 0-1, Luke 4-6). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 34 (Benson 9), NNU 34 (Schierman 10). Assists – SPU 22 (Ohlsen 7), NNU 12 (Simmons 8). Turnovers – SPU 18, NNU 14. Total fouls – SPU 19, NNU 16. Technical fouls – None. A – 523.
               
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, Saturday, 7:00 p.m.