Crusaders Hold Off Wolves, 78-68

Leada Berkey led WOU with 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

Salem-News.com SPORTS

NAMPA, Idaho - Janee Olds had 19 points to help host Northwest Nazarene hold off an upset bid by Western Oregon on Saturday night at the Montgomery Fieldhouse, topping the Wolves 78-68 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game.

The win kept the Crusaders unbeaten in conference play at 3-0, 9-5 overall.

Western Oregon dropped its 14th consecutive contest, falling to 1-14 on the year and 0-4 in GNAC play.

Leada Berkey led WOU with 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.

It marked the fourth time this season that the junior forward has posted double-double numbers.

Kori Seymour added 13 points and Brittany MacGregor contributed 11.

Danielle Dwello supported Olds with 12 points and seven boards, and Kristen Hein had similar numbers with 12 counters and nine rebounds.

The Wolves jumped out to an early lead, but the two squads mostly took turns topping the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes.

Lindsay Brady's three-pointer with nine seconds left in the half gave the Crusaders a 37-36 lead, which the hosts took into the locker room at the break.

Only one point still seperated the the clubs after WOU's Clare Carpenter hit a trey five minutes into the second half (46-45), but NNU would then go on a 12-3 run over the next three minutes of play and they would never trail again.

The Wolves would cut the margin to four points (63-59) with 4:51 left on a pair of free throws by Berkey, but NNU answered with a 7-1 run to go up by 10 points and then hit free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Western Oregon will return home to play just one game next week, hosting Western Washington on Saturday at 5:00 PM.

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