NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene University's last minute shot from behind the arc helped the Crusaders defeat the Humboldt State women's basketball team, 84-82, Saturday.

The Lumberjacks finished the Hampton Inn & Suites Thanksgiving Classic 1-1 and now post a 4-2 overall record, while the Crusaders went undefeated to improve their overall record to 4-2.

Katie Franci tallied team-highs of 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Brittney Taylor added 13 points and 10 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Paige Peterson and Bree Halsey rounded off the Jacks in double-figure points with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Janee Olds and Lindsay Brady posted team-highs with 17 points apiece, while Olds led the team with nine rebounds. Beth Johnson and Jennifer Williams followed closely behind with 14 and 13 points.

“NNU is a very good team,” Humboldt State head women's basketball coach Joddie Gleason said. “They're one of the top three teams in the GNAC and they played very well at home. We just didn't come out and defend to start the game.”

NNU opened the game taking an early 11-point lead, 13-2, with just over three minutes of play. The Jacks answered back as Jennifer Enos posted the Jacks' lone three-pointer of the half and Franci and Peterson hit jumpers to cut the Crusaders lead down to four.
 
With 6:47 left in the half, HSU went on a 12-point run to take a 37-33 lead. But successful shooting at the line by Briaunna King and Janee Olds tied the game at 39-39 and back-to-back three-pointers and a layin with three minutes left secured the Crusaders lead heading into halftime.

“During halftime we talked about our match-ups and defense,” Gleason said. “We needed to be more solid to force them to make tougher shots.”

The second half showed NNU taking its largest lead of 12 points three times, before the Jacks went on a 16-4 run to tie the game with 8:55 left. Five ties and three lead changes later, Brittney Taylor hit a jumper that helped the Jacks take a one-point lead with a minute, 20 seconds left. But the Crusaders next possession showed Johnson hitting a three-pointer to take the lead, 83-82.

With six seconds left Taylor Kilgore sent Brady to the line where she went 1-for-1 to finish the game in favor of the Crusaders.

“I think we did a really nice job of coming out and defending in the second half. We were able to keep them to 31 points in the second half, compared to their 53 points in the first,” Gleason said. “We took them to the line six-to-eight times when they were not a scoring threat, but that's still not something we want to do.”

The Lumberjacks come back home as they begin California Collegiate Athletic Association play as they host Sonoma State, Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 5:30 p.m.

Newspaper Box Score
Humboldt State vs Northwest Nazarene
11/29/08 2pm at Nampa,Idaho
At Nampa,Idaho
NORTHWEST NAZARENE 84, HUMBOLDT STATE 82
HUMBOLDT STATE (4-2)
FRANCI, Katie 6-14 4-5 16; PETERSON,Paige 7-11 0-1 15; HALSEY, Bree 6-10 2-2
14; TAYLOR, Brittney 6-13 1-2 13; ENOS, Jennifer 3-6 2-2 9; BOBIC, Andrea
2-8 0-0 6; KILGORE, Taylor 1-6 0-0 3; OSBORNE, Luiza 1-2 0-0 2; ALABA,
Trisha 1-2 0-0 2; O'KEEFE, Kristina 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 34-73 9-12 82.
NORTHWEST NAZARENE (4-2)
Brady,Lindsay 8-13 1-2 17; Olds,Janee 4-10 7-7 17; Johnson,Beth 5-10 3-5 14;
Williams,Jennifer 5-9 3-4 13; King,Briaunna 3-10 3-6 9; Whipple,Mallory 3-8
0-0 7; Bazzi,Julianne 1-2 2-2 4; Roggenkamp,Brittney 1-1 0-0 3;
Craig,Heather 0-0 0-0 0; Smith,Falissa 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-65 19-26 84.
Humboldt State................   43   39  -   82
Northwest Nazarene............   53   31  -   84
3-point goals-Humboldt State 5-21 (BOBIC, Andrea 2-6; ENOS, Jennifer 1-3;
KILGORE, Taylor 1-6; PETERSON,Paige 1-2; ALABA, Trisha 0-1; OSBORNE, Luiza
0-1; TAYLOR, Brittney 0-1; FRANCI, Katie 0-1), Northwest Nazarene 5-12
(Olds,Janee 2-4; Johnson,Beth 1-2; Roggenkamp,Brittney 1-1; Whipple,Mallory
1-2; Smith,Falissa 0-1; King,Briaunna 0-1; Brady,Lindsay 0-1). Fouled
out--Humboldt State-None, Northwest Nazarene-None. Rebounds-Humboldt State
41 (FRANCI, Katie 16), Northwest Nazarene 39 (Johnson,Beth 9; Olds,Janee 9).
Assists-Humboldt State 18 (FRANCI, Katie 8), Northwest Nazarene 13
(Whipple,Mallory 4; Brady,Lindsay 4). Total fouls-Humboldt State 19,
Northwest Nazarene 15. A-301
Game 4 of the Hampton Inn & Suites Thanksgiving Classic