Boxscore
NAMPA, Idaho - 21st-ranked Seattle Pacific University's sideline inbounds pass with 2.8 seconds to play found Daesha Henderson on the right side of the floor and after a spin move in traffic Henderson converted the 15-foot game winner as time expired to lift the Falcons to a 63-61 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa.
The Crusaders (12-3, 2-2 GNAC) were led by Janee Olds, while Henderson led the Falcons (12-2, 3-0 GNAC), as each player scored 13.
Brittany Roggenkamp and Lindsay Brady each added 12 as the Crusaders shot 41-percent (26-64) from the floor, while Megan Hoisington and Maddie Maloney added 10 each for the Falcons, who shot 45-percent (22-49) from the field.
"I was proud of hard we played today," commented NNU head coach Kelli Lindley, "We executed the game plan well, did a nice job on the boards...but just missed a couple clutch shots at the end."
NNU freshman post Katharina Schulte to Buhne led all players with a career-high 10 rebounds, finishing with five points, 10 rebounds, one assist, and one blocked shot.
SPU came out of the blocks on fire, hitting six of their first seven three-pointers to take a 28-14 lead with 11:12 to play in the first half. The Crusaders battled back, closing the half on an 8-2 run that included two buckets by Brady and jumpers from Olds and Roggenkamp to make it 34-28 at the break.
The Falcons would lead by as many as 10 in the second half at 43-33 with 15:17 left, but the Crusaders would close the gap to three twice, and one once, before finally taking the lead at 56-54 with 4:14 to play on another Brady lay-in. Brady's 12 points give her 994 career-points, 20th all-time at NNU.
The Crusaders would lead by as many as five at 61-56 with 2:49 to play, but Seattle Pacific would score the final seven points of the game, fueled by three NNU turnovers in the final 44-seconds.
NNU forced 27 Falcon turnovers and out rebounded SPU 34-32, but committed 22 turnovers themselves.
The Crusaders will now face Montana State University Billings next Saturday night at 7 p.m. in a GNAC counter.