FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Sophomore guard Caty Huntington scored 21 points for Northern Arizona women's basketball during its 71-62 win over Siena on Friday at the NAU Thanksgiving Classic. The Lumberjacks picked up their first win of the season and will face Oregon State at 4:35 p.m. in the tournament final at Rolle Activity Center on Saturday.

NAU (1-5) and Siena (0-4) played even in the first half after both teams proved capable of scoring in bunches. The Saints put up a 10-0 run midway through the period while the Lumberjacks answered with a 9-0 run to close the half tying the score 25-25.

“We started to feel good about the game,” Huntington said going into halftime and coming out strong in the second. “We were ready to make adjustments and get that first win.”

The score remained close early in the second half but Huntington and freshman guard Amy Patton combined for 14 of the 17 points NAU would score unanswered after trailing 36-33 with 15:32 left.  The Lumberjacks took a comfortable 50-36 lead during the 17-0 run which lasted just under four minutes.

Siena cut the lead to five late in the game, but NAU managed to hold the Saints off down the stretch.

After five consecutive road games, the Lumberjacks turned in a bounce-back performance after suffering a 32-point loss to New Mexico on Tuesday.

“We felt so happy to be back at home,” Huntington said. “Even though the students were not here we had all of our family here. They really helped support us. We tried to play our best for them. We played more as a team tonight and showed up playing hard together.”

Huntington led all scorers on 7-of-11 shooting and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. Patton recorded her second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Jenna Galloway chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the year.

Siena was led by Merrick Volpe's 14 points and Allie Lindemann's 12 rounding out the game's double-digit scorers.

The Lumberjacks shot just 34.4-percent from the field in the first half but rebounded in the final 20 minutes shooting 48.1-percent. NAU finished at 40.7-percent for the game, its fifth game in six tries shooting over 40-percent.

The NAU Thanksgiving Classic concludes on Saturday with Belmont (3-1) and Siena playing in the consolation game at 2:05 p.m. and NAU taking on Oregon State (3-1) at 4:35 p.m.

“We watched them a little bit,” said Huntington of Oregon State who defeated Belmont 76-52 in the early game on Friday. “They look like a very good team, but we have confidence in ourselves. This is our tournament and we are going to be ready to play.”