FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Junior guard Amy Patton scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore guard Amanda Frost scored 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting in her NAU debut to lead the Lumberjacks to a 79-66 exhibition victory over defending NAIA national champion Azusa Pacific. The Lumberjacks went 9 for 20 from three-point range, with Patton, Frost, and junior Tyler Stephens-Jenkins each hitting three shots from long range in the victory.

"I give credit to Azusa for fighting hard and capitalizing on our mistakes to make it close at the end," said NAU head coach Laurie Kelly. "We won and we did some good things, but when you step back from the game we see what we can learn from it to get better. I feel like the new players are bringing a lot of energy to our team and challenging for minutes at every position, so this was a good first step in the process of seeing where our strengths are."

The Lumberjacks opened their lone exhibition game strong, with a three-pointer from Frost pushing NAU's lead to 20-6 at the 8:40 mark of the opening half. NAU would hold Azusa Pacific to just 21 points in the first half, forcing 14 turnovers with eight NAU steals. Patton would score the last-four points of the half, knocking down two free throws and hitting a jumper at the buzzer to give NAU a 36-21 lead at the intermission.

NAU maintained its comfortable advantage in the second half, ballooning its lead to 24 on a three-pointer by Stephens-Jenkins midway through the second stanza. The Cougars would fight back, however, craving their deficit to as few as 11 points in the final minutes of the contest. With Azusa Pacific fouling late, NAU hit 7 of 8 free throws in the final 1:31 to hold on for a 79-66 victory.

Patton narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine rebounds as well as six assists and two steals to go with her game-high 22 points. Senior Katie Pratt also finished with nine rebounds to go with eight points, while Stephens-Jenkins and sophomore Khyra Conerly each totaled 11 points. NAU recorded 13 steals in the contest, with Frost recording a game-high five thefts and Stephens-Jenkins adding three.

The Lumberjacks will open their regular season next Friday, Nov. 11, when they will play at Colorado at 5:30 p.m.