FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women's basketball suffered a 66-56 defeat to Northern Colorado in the Walkup Skydome on Saturday. With the loss, the Lumberjacks fall to 3-6 in the Big Sky Conference.

NAU (5-17, 3-6 BSC) was outshot 51.2-percent to 38.9-percent for the game and allowed Northern Colorado to shot 62.5-percent in the first half. The Lumberjacks trailed 39-24 at the break and were unable to recover from their first half performance.

“We played everybody,” said head coach Laurie Kelly. “They got such easy shots inside the lane. We played man. We played zone. We tried to switch things up and they did a good job picking apart the defense no matter what we ran.”

We did a better job in the second half. We held them to 27 points so defensively I thought we had a good second half. The first half they shot the ball wherever they wanted. This is a game we need to break down and really look at.”

The Bears had three players in double figures including Lauren Oosdyke who turned in a game-high 24 points. NAU was led by Amy Patton who recorded 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting. She also converted 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

The Lumberjacks endured a significant loss in the first half when junior point guard Vickie Toney went down with a leg injury. She did not return to the game.

“Vickie going out was a huge thing for us,” Kelly said. “She gets us into our offense and dictates that floor leadership. We lose that when we don't have her. She is such a spark for us. It really showed not having her tonight.”

Prior to the game, NAU was positioned in seventh place in the conference standings. With Saturday's defeat, the Lumberjacks slip into a tie with Northern Colorado for that seventh spot; however, the Bears hold the series edge over the Lumberjacks beating NAU 66-56 in Greeley, Colo., on January 2.

The women will play a pair of home games next week with a matchup against Weber State on Thursday, February 11 and Idaho State on Saturday, February 13. Both games are scheduled for 6:35 p.m. tip-offs in the Walkup Skydome.