ANCHORAGE (Jan. 5) - The UAA women's basketball team played tough for a half but committed too many turnovers to stay in the game, falling 77-56 to Northwest Nazarene at the Sports Center tonight.

Senior center Bell Jordan led UAA (4-9, 0-4 GNAC) with 15 points and 9 rebounds, while forward Alysson Kollmann paced four Crusaders (7-5, 2-3) in double-figures with 16 points and 6 rebounds.

UAA shot 45 percent in the first half and held the lead, 34-33, with 1:13 left. But NNU's Anna Allen-McGarrah hit consecutive three-pointers to complete the scoring and the Crusaders took a 39-34 advantage into the locker room.

With the Seawolves hanging in down 47-43 with 14 minutes to go, the Crusaders went on another spurt, jumping to a 60-47 lead in the next 5 minutes. UAA tried to keep it close, but was hurt by 28 turnovers and NNU's sharp free-throw shooting down the stretch.

Sophomore guard Tanya Nizich had 11 points for UAA, but she managed only 4-of-13 shooting, including 1 of 6 on threes. Freshman Amber Nasby scored 8 points for UAA on 4-of-7 shooting in just 16 minutes.

UAA returns to Great Northwest Athletic Conference action Jan. 10 when it hosts Seattle Pacific at 7:05 p.m.