Forward Trishi Williams and guard Corinn Waltrip each scored 14 points to pace a balanced attack as nationally ranked Western Washington University defeated Northwest Nazarene University 70-66 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball contest Saturday, Jan. 26, in Nampa, Idaho.

Center Britt Harris added 13 points for the Vikings who are No. 5 in this week's USA Today Sports/ESPN NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll. It was the ninth straight victory for WWU, which improved to 15-2 overall and 9-0 in the GNAC.

NNU, which knocked off No. 7 Simon Fraser, 60-59, on Thursday, fell to 14-3 overall and 6-3 in conference play. Chelsie Luke led the Crusaders, who suffered their first home loss in eight games this season, with a game-high 24 points, and Megan Hingston added 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The Vikings led by as much as seven early in the second half, but the Crusaders rallied to take a 42-41 advantage on an Ellen Ferrenburg basket with 14:58 left. That was the first of six lead changes and three ties in the next nine minutes.

WWU finally took the lead for good, 60-58, on a layin by Sarah Hill with 4:41remaining. A Katie Colard 3-pointer pushed the margin to five and although NNU twice got within two points, and were within three with 22 seconds left, the Crusaders never had a possession with a chance to tie.

Western shot 48.3 percent (28 of 58) from the field and held NNU to 38.2 percent (26 of 68), although the Crusaders had a 44-39 advantage in rebounding.

NNU used a run of 10 straight points to take to 20-9 lead nine minutes into the game, but the Vikings responded with a 14-2 run of their own to pull ahead 23-22 with 5:47 left in the first half and eventually held a 35-30 lead at halftime.

WESTERN WASHINGTON 70, NORTHWEST NAZARENE 66

WESTERN WASHINGTON (15-2, 9-0 GNAC)

Williams,Trishi 6-13 2-3 14; Waltrip,Corinn 5-12 1-2 14; Harris,Britt 6-10 1-2 13; Bernsen,Kayla 4-6 1-2 9; Hill,Sarah 2-4 3-6 8; Colard,Katie 2-6 0-0 5; Hathaway,Aleisha 2-3 0-0 4; White,Jenni 1-3 0-1 3; Donaldson,Sydney 0-0 0-1 0; Pounds,Marcel 0-1 0-0 0; Benner,Brandi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 8-17 70.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE (14-3, 6-3 GNAC)

LUKE, Chelsie 9-22 4-6 24; HINGSTON, Megan 6-17 2-4 14; SCHIERMAN, Kylee 3-6 2-3 8; SIMMONS, Taylor 3-7 2-3 8; FERRENBURG, Ellen 3-4 0-0 6; ADAMS, Heather 2-7 0-0 5; WARWICK, Leslie 0-1 1-1 1; SKOKANKOVA, Veronika 0-2 0-0 0; WHITE, Cierra 0-1 0-0 0; SCHUMANN, Kayla 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 11-17 66.

Half: WWU 35, NNU 30

3-point goals--Western Washington 6-15 (Waltrip,Corinn 3), Northwest Nazarene 3-13 (LUKE, Chelsie 2). Fouled out-Western Washington-Harris,Britt, Northwest Nazarene-None. Rebounds-Western Washington 39 (Williams,Trishi 7; Hill,Sarah 7), Northwest Nazarene 44 (SCHIERMAN, Kylee 11; HINGSTON, Megan 11). Assists--Western Washington 15 (Williams,Trishi 6), Northwest Nazarene 9 (ADAMS, Heather 3; LUKE, Chelsie 3). Total fouls--Western Washington 17, Northwest Nazarene 20. Technical fouls--Western Washington-None, Northwest Nazarene-None. A-1025