BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Northwest University's Jordan Asher's lay-in with 7 seconds to go in the game gave the Eagles a 78-76 win over St. Martin's tonight in the Lynda Goodrich Classic at Western Washington University. It was quite a turnaround from the 38 point loss NU suffered at the hands of St. Martin's in Lacey a week ago.

Tonight, it was Northwest with the hot hand in the first half as they hit 45% (14-31) of their shots and the Saints were limited to 26% shooting in the period (7-27). NU would take a 15 point, 30-15 lead on the Saints with 4:57 left in the period. Two free throws by SMU's Brooke Paulson with 2:17 showing on the clock would make it 36-26. Sanda Milovic, the game's leading scorer, would hit two free throws with 27 seconds to increase the Eagles lead to 14, 43-29, but SMU's Jordyn Richardson would hit a three with a second left in the half to cut the NU lead to 9 (43-34) as the teams headed for the locker room.

St. Martin's would come out fast in the second half going on a 12-3 run to pull to within a single point, 46-45, a little over 5 minutes gone the period. The game would remain tight the remainder of the contest with NU barely holding the upper hand. With 1:58 left in the game SMU, would knot the score at 70-all with Angela Gelhar's driving layin. A single free throw by NU's Domi Mendezona with 1:48 to go would make it 76-74 with Northwest holding onto the lead. Gelhar would go 2 for 2 from the free throw line with 20 seconds on the clock and make both, tying the score at 76-76. NU would take possession and with the clock winding down, Asher would get to the basket and score with 7.6 seconds left on the clock. SMU would have one more chance and Angela Gelhar would miss a layin with 2 ticks left as Northwest would hold on for the win.

Sanda Milovic led Northwest U. (5-3) with a game high 23 points. Senior Alyssa Dario would score 15 points and Asher and Corinne Burke would each finish with 12 points for the Eagles who shot 42% for the game. NU converted 75% of their free throws hitting 18 of 24 from the charity stripe.

St. Martin's (3-2) was led by Chelsea Haskey's 20 points and 7 rebounds. Brooke Paulson added 17 points and 9 rebounds as the Saints would shoot 32% for the game and only manage 16% from the 3-point line (3-19).

Said Ken Crawford, Eagle coach after the game, "It was a great win for the team. It really shows the dedication we have as a team. To recover from such a tough loss to St. Martin's just a week ago, showed some mental toughness and resiliency. It was an exciting win for everyone on the team tonight."

Northwest U. resumes play tomorrow at 5 p.m. as they take on the tournament host, Western Washington, in an exhibition game for the Eagles.