FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women's basketball was defeated by Idaho State, 71-64, on Saturday in the Walkup Skydome in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) annual Pink Zone game. Caty Huntington and Amy Patton combined for 37 points but the Lumberjacks were undone at the free-throw line shooting 5-of-15 for the game.

“We lost the game from the free-throw line,” said head coach Laurie Kelly. “If you look at the percentage we shot from the last game it was the same thing. That is something we have to correct if we want to go to the [Big Sky] tournament.”

NAU (5-19, 3-8 BSC) trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but a late surge by the Lumberjacks cut the Idaho State (11-14, 6-6 BSC) lead to four at the half, 32-28.

NAU would go on a 19-3 run over the final five minutes of the first half and first two minutes of the second half. The Bengals responded though with a three-pointer from Morgan Wohltman to take a one-point lead at 35-34 and held its lead for the remainder of the game.

The Lumberjacks once again played without freshman guard Tyler Stephens-Jenkins and fell into early foul trouble with junior point guard Vickie Toney picking up two fouls in the first minute of the game.

“Tyler did not play again tonight which limited our guard substitutions,” Kelly said. “Vickie Toney got into early foul trouble and that really hurt us. We really did not have a guard sub at that point.”

NAU out shot Idaho State for the game 45.6-percent to 40.7-percent, but the Lumberjacks struggled at the free-throw line shooting 33.3-percent and were out-rebounded 43-31.

“From a coaching perspective after you lose it is easy to analyze what you should have done or should not have done,” Kelly said. “Rebounding is the difference in a lot of basketball games. That is obviously an area we did not do well in tonight. That aside, you still win the game if you make some free throws.”

Huntington shot 6-of-11 from the field and made a career-high five three-point field goals. Patton pushed her streak of double-digit scoring to seven games with 17 points on 8-of-22 shooting. Idaho State totaled three players in double figures with Oana Iacovita turning in a game-high 22 points.

“To be where we are in the league right now with five to go is a tough position,” Kelly said. “We are going to play the top five teams with two on the road and the next three at home. We really need to pull something out. At this point, you just have to try and do what you can do. Looking at next week, there is enough parity in our league where anyone can come out and win.”

The Lumberjacks will play at Portland State on Friday, February 19 and at Eastern Washington on Saturday, February 20. Both games are scheduled for 8:05 p.m. start times.

The Pink Zone initiative is an effort for the WBCA's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. The WBCA began the WBCA Pink Zone, formerly known as "Think Pink", in 2007 as an initiative to raise breast cancer awareness in women's basketball, on campuses and in communities.

DID YOU KNOW …. The Lumberjacks' 3.16 cumulative GPA was the highest since department grades have been tracked starting in 1997 and marked the 11th semester in the last 12 overall the NAU student-athletes have recorded a 3.0 cumulative GPA. Since 1998, NAU student-athletes have recorded a 3.0 cumulative GPA or higher in 21 of 23 semesters.