With its fourth straight conference championship on the line, the UAA women's basketball team couldn't get the job done Thursday in Nampa, Idaho.
Northwest Nazarene hammered the Seawolves 104-78 to forge a first-place tie with UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.
A win would have given the Seawolves the GNAC regular-season championship. Now there's a chance UAA (24-3 overall, 17-2 GNAC) and NNU (21-3, 17-2) could tie for the title if both win their regular-season finales Saturday.
The Nighthawks were on fire from long range the entire game, hitting 16 of 27 shots from 3-point range, or 59.3 percent.
"We didn't play our best in a big game, and to beat an elite shooting performance, we need to be better focused," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said in a UAA press release. "We will learn from this and still have an opportunity to accomplish our goals."
The game was close for the first half, but NNU outscored the Seawolves 58-34 after the break.
The Nighthawks were 6 of 8 behind the arc in the third quarter to outscore UAA 31-19 and extend a 46-44 halftime lead.
Lexi Tubbs and McKenna Walker each drained five 3-pointers to lead NNU. Tubbs finished with 26 points and Walker had 24.
Shelby Cloninger led the Seawolves with 17 points and seven rebounds. Hannah Wandersee added 13 points and five rebounds, Yazmeen Goo had 10 points and four assists and Sala Langi had 10 points and five rebounds.
UAA will host next week's GNAC playoffs, but Thursday's loss could cost it a chance to host the NCAA Division II West Region tournament.
The Seawolves entered the week as the No. 1 team in the region but Thursday's loss could jeopardize its position in the poll. The top-ranked team typically hosts the eight-team region tournament.
UAA travels to Washington for a Saturday game against Central.