Box Score

        said. "Every time they're scoring, their shots are usually in the paint because it's off of penetration, and we were fouling. We went to a couple of zones, and they hit some 3s."
 
Seattle Pacific bolted to a 14-5 lead, and then outscored the Crusaders by a 28-12 margin to finish the game.
 
But Northwest Nazarene's 58-27 scoring advantage the rest of the time was too much to overcome.
 
The Falcons (15-7, 8-6 GNAC) were looking to clinch a spot in the conference tournament, but now will have to try again next week when they take to the road for two games, the first of which is at Saint Martin's next Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
 
"The biggest thing is we have to win out. We have to realize that we can still play better basketball for 40 minutes," Benson said. "What we're taking from this game is we bonded together. That's what we have to do from start to finish."
 
In building its early nine-point advantage, Seattle Pacific hit five of its first eight shots while NNU was just 1 of 14 through the first six-plus minutes of the game.
 
For the last 14 minutes of the half, however, the Crusaders missed hardly anything. They went on an 18-2 scoring run – capped by 10 in a row – to turn that 14-5 deficit into a 23-16 lead.
 
"We forced some turnovers, but we didn't do anything off of them," Heisey said. "During that stretch, we had three turnovers, and they were able to score off of every one of them. All of a sudden, you give them a little hope."
 
Up 42-27 at halftime, NNU extended it all the way out to 22 at 61-39 with 12:33 left in the game.
 
The Falcons started climbing back in, finally getting the margin down to single digits at 73-65 on a lay-in by Ohlsen with 53.9 seconds left after forcing the Crusaders to turn it over in backcourt. Just seven seconds later, the Falcons stole the ball again, and Ohlsen laid it in again to make it 73-67 with 47.4 seconds remaining.
 
But those were SPU's last points of the night, as two shots in the last 35 seconds fell short, and the Crusaders clinched it on a pair of free throws with less than a second to go.
 
"We kind of beat ourselves," Benson said. "When we went on a run, we were super aggressive. We picked up the intensity and we played together. That's what we should have done from the start. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big of a hole."
 
The big rally took away some of the sting for Heisey, too.
 
"I give our kids credit – we didn't roll over and die," she said. "We found a way to compete at a higher level. The season is not over. We just have to find a way to put a 40-minute game together."
 
The 25 point for senior forward Benson (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS) pushed her up into No. 6 on the Seattle Pacific all-time scoring list, and to No.5 on the GNAC scoring list. Benson now has 1,563 points. She also tied her career high with four blocked shots to push past 100 for her career (103).
 
Ohlsen's 16 points moved her past 800 for her career (806).

 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Northwest Nazarene 75, Seattle Pacific 67
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (13-10, 6-9 GNAC)
Leslie Warwick 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor Simmons 2-7 5-8 9, Cierra White 1-5 0-1 2, Megan Hingston 9-19 2-3 20, Chelsie Luke 4-8 6-6 16, Kayla Schumann 5-9 0-0 15,Taylor Babbitt 0-0 0-0 0, Kylee Schierman 0-0 1-2 1, Katie Swanson 0-1 -00 0, Ellen Ferrenburg 6-10 0-0 12. Totals 27-62 14-20 75.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (15-7, 8-6 GNAC)
Hannah Rodrigues 1-2 2-2 4, Katie Benson 9-16 7-9 25, Maddey Pflaumer 1-3 3-5 5, Suzanna Ohlsen 5-104-4 16, Betsy Kingma 3-16 0-0 8, Stacey Lukasiewicz 0-0 0-0 0, Rachel Shim 0-0 0-0 0, Brianne Lasconia 2-6 0-0 5, Molly Grager 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 23-58 16-20 67.
 
Northwest Nazarene           42           33           -- 75
Seattle Pacific                      27           40           -- 67
 
3-point goals – NNU 7-13 (White 0-2, Luke 2-4, Schumann 5-7), SPU 5-21 (Rodrigues 0-1,Benson 0-1, Ohlsen 2-5, Kingma 2-11, Lasconia 1-3). Fouled out – SPU: Benson. Rebounds – NNU 32 (Luke 7), SPU 43 (Benson 8). Assists – NNU 10 (Simmons 4), SPU 15 (Rodrigues 6). Turnovers – NNU 15, SPU21. Total fouls – NNU 16, SPU 2. Technical fouls – None. A – 351.
 
Next game – Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, Thursday, Feb. 20, 7:00 p.m.