POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

LA JOLLA, Calif. – The Humboldt State women's basketball team gave its all but was unable to overcome Northwest Nazarene as the Green and Gold suffered an 85-75 loss in the NCAA West Regional Tournament Friday afternoon in RIMAC Arena.

The Lumberjacks end the season with a 19-7 overall record. Northwest Nazarene improved to 28-2, and the Nighthawks will face Alaska-Anchorage in Saturday's semifinal round.

"I told the team before the game that this was going to be a hard-fought game against a talented Northwest Nazarene team, and the game didn't disappoint," said HSU Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "It was a hard-fought game from beginning to end. I am proud of our team because I thought they did what they needed to do from a competitive standpoint. I thought this game could have gone either way in the fourth quarter. Our girls fought the entire time and I am extremely proud of them."

Senior Isamar Conde got the North Coast squad started with a 3-pointer and the early lead, but the Nighthawks scored the next three baskets to move ahead 7-3. Northwest Nazarene leaned on sharpshooter Avery Albrecht in the opening 10 minutes as she sank three 3-pointers and gave the No. 2 seed a 22-15 advantage.

Bento-Jackson demanded a focus on defense between quarters and it immediately paid off. The Nighthawks committed four turnovers on their first four possessions of the second period and the Green and Gold converted those miscues into a 10-0 run. HSU saw its lead swell to five, 29-24, with a jumper from junior Tyra Turner at the 6:07 mark, and the Jacks took the lead into intermission, 38-34.

"We were getting some live-ball turnovers that led to good shots for us," said Bento-Jackson. "It starts with our defensive intensity, and that is where we gained the momentum."

All-Region junior Alexia Thrower led the Green and Gold with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting and swiped four steals to go with four rebounds in the first half. Northwest Nazarene outrebounded HSU 20-12, an advantage that would prove to be essential to the Nighthawks victory.

"We knew what we were playing for, we have two seniors on our team and we were going hard for them," said Thrower. "We wanted to leave everything out on the court, play hard, keep everyone energized and stay positive."

A layup from Thrower 31 seconds into the third quarter extended the HSU lead to a game-high six points, 40-34, but Northwest Nazarene responded by scoring the next six to even the game at 40-all. The Nighthawks outscored the Jacks 21-15 in the third and rebounded for an 0-2 mark from outside the arc in the second quarter with a trio of treys to begin the second half.

Trailing 55-53 with 10 minutes remaining, HSU traded baskets with Northwest Nazarene until a 7-0 burst gave the Nighthawks a 65-58 edge. The Jacks went without a field goal for over five minutes midway through the quarter until Conde sank her second 3-pointer of the game with 3:21 left. The senior's spark was too late as Northwest Nazarene led the rest of the way and HSU never got closer than five points.

The battle of the boards was a landslide in favor of the Nighthawks as they outrebounded the Green and Gold 46-25. Northwest Nazarene shot 49.3 percent from the field and connected on 50 percent of its 3-point tries. HSU finished with 17 assists compared to just 13 turnovers, and the North Coast squad swiped 12 steals.

Thrower led all HSU scorers with 22 points, while Conde added 19 and Turner finished with 17. Turner was outstanding against the Nighthawks press, and she dished out a team-best nine assists. Thrower corraled a team-leading eight boards. All three finished the game with four steals apiece.

"This was a hard-fought game with a lot of ups and downs," said Turner. "I thought we did a good job of bringing the intensity and intangibles to the court. It is disappointing to come away with a loss, but I thought we fought hard."