FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Junior Amy Patton recorded her second double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds and NAU got 13 points from junior Tyler Stephens-Jenkins in her season debut to record a 73-59 win over Utah Valley on Wednesday night in the first game of the Hilton Garden Inn Thanksgiving Classic. Junior Aubrey Davis added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Lumberjacks, who evened their season record at 3-3 while Utah Valley dropped to 1-2.

"I thought we came out strong on defense and that allowed us to get some points in transition," said NAU head coach Laurie Kelly. "Amy's line was about as good as you could probably get and getting Tyler back is obviously huge for us. Our inside play from Aubrey Davis and Shay May was great as well, and we just played good team basketball to get the win."

Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, with NAU shooting 47% and Utah Valley finishing at 45%. NAU jumped to an early lead before Utah Valley went up by 3 at the 14:54 mark in what would be their biggest lead of the game. A 7-0 Lumberjack run put the home team up 15-11, with NAU building its lead up to eight points with 4:54 left in the opening period. The Wolverines closed on a 10-5 run to cut their deficit to just three points at the intermission.

Utah Valley got within one point of NAU on two occasions in the opening four minutes of the second half, but up 41-40 NAU went on an 11-0 spurt over the ensuing five minutes to open a 52-40 advantage. The Lumberjacks maintained a double-digit cushion for the remainder of the contest, with their lead growing to as many as 18 points on a layup by Patton with just over two minutes remaining. The last-two baskets of the contest went to the visitors as NAU closed out a 73-59 win.

In addition to her 17 points and 12 rebounds, Patton added four assists and three steals without committing a single turnover in 32 minutes on the floor. Her scoring line brought her career total to 1,102, moving her past Lacey Tolbert into sixth place on the NAU all-time scoring list. She needs just nine more points to surpass Sade Cunningham and move to fifth on the all-time list.

Davis scored her 10 points on just nine field goal attempts, as NAU shot 45% for the game while limiting Utah Valley to 39% shooting. The Lumberjacks also had a dominant 44-30 advantage on the glass, collecting 18 offense rebounds which led to 18 second chance points. NAU also totaled 22 assists compared to just 14 turnovers while forcing 17 giveaways by the Wolverines.

The Lumberjacks will return to action in the Hilton Garden Inn Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday when they will host Kent State at 2:05 p.m. Utah Valley will play Kent State in a neutral site game at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Rolle Activity Center.