OMAHA, Neb. – Playing hard the entire 40 minutes hasn't been an issue for the College of Saint Mary basketball team recently.

Now it's a matter of tightening up some things in order to find the victory circle again.

Northwestern College broke away from CSM in the third quarter on Saturday and went on to beat the Flames 76-58 in Great Plains Athletic Conference play at the Lied Fitness Center.

"It's good to see our girls consistently fight,'' CSM Coach Natalie Miller said. "I'm very proud that we're playing hard. Our girls were fighting so hard, you wouldn't even think there was only a minute left and we were down 20.''

The game's decisive run came early in the third quarter. CSM pulled to within 39-32 with 9:21 left in the third on Jai'La Porter's jumper. However, the hosts went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought from there. The Red Raiders (9-8 overall, 5-6 GPAC) went on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 17 with 5:31 left in the third.

CSM (3-15, 2-10) fell behind by as many as 25 before getting it back under 20 late in the game.

Jai'La Porter led the Flames with 20 points and four assists, hitting 7 of 14 from the field and 6 of 7 from the line. Madelyn Gaughen added 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting. Haley Debuse pitched in 12 points and four rebounds.

"G (Madelyn Gaugen) had a great game. Jai'La had a great game,'' Miller said. "Haley is being more aggressive.''

Kathryn Gaughen made 2 of 3 from 3-point range and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

CSM was outrebounded 45-30, including 16-9 in offensive rebounds.

"That continues to bite us,'' Miller said.

The Flames are back in action on Jan. 17 in Sioux City, Iowa, against Morningside University, with a 2 p.m. start in the GPAC matchup.