REDDING, Calif. – In her official return to the floor after missing the final 18 games of last season, senior Center Emily Gray combined with her twin sister Elise to score 43 points as Northwest Christian knocked off Simpson University 73-67.

Emily Gray fueled the victory with 23 points, shooting 8-for-14 from the field including hitting a trio of three pointers on just three attempts. Elise Gray scored 20 and narrowly missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Katey Monteith had a strong night in her first career start, scoring 12 points with eight rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals.

“It was a pretty intense, hard fought game,” said Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton. “This was a good game for us to have coming off of the Oregon game because our intensity level was still up. Now it's a matter of keeping that going.”

The Beacons jumped out to the early lead by holding the Hawks to just 24% shooting in the first half, grabbing a 32-24 lead at the intermission. But Simpson would not relent, eventually outscoring the Beacons in the second half. The comeback attempt fell short for the Hawks as freshman Martha Taylor hit five late free-throws to ice the game. Coach Bolton said, “Martha came in and really helped ice the game for us tonight.”

Northwest Christian will return to action this weekend with a road-trip through Idaho. On Friday the Beacons take on Northwest Nazarene and then on Saturday will face The College of Idaho in a non-conference meeting.