FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women's basketball made it two in a row on Saturday beating Idaho State, 59-55, at the Rolle Activity Center.  The women came back from a 10-point deficit in the second half and picked up their fourth win in the Big Sky Conference this season.

"It was a great game with two quality teams working hard out there," said head coach Laurie Kelly.  "I think the difference was our defense.  On offense, we played better team basketball and believed more in what we were doing.  But the defense really played great tonight."

NAU (9-15, 4-7 BSC) jumped ahead early and lead 14-4 midway through the first half.  The women have found themselves on the opposite end of early runs this year but came out strong on Saturday.

"We had a lot of energy tonight," said freshman guard Khyra Conerly.  "We have started slow in some games and we tried to really focus on doing more at the start of games.  I think we just wanted it more this time."

Idaho State responded after only one made field goal in the first 10 minutes and came back to tie the game at 16-16 after a 12-2 run.  The score stayed within five points for the remainder of the first half and the Lumberjacks entered the break down, 26-24.

The Lumberjacks were down by as many as 10 points in the second half but slowly chipped away at the Idaho State lead.  NAU twice came within a point and finally took the lead back with a three-point basket from sophomore Amy Patton at the seven minute mark.

Idaho State tied the game at 49-49 with five minutes to play on Kara Jenkin's layup but Tyler Stephens-Jenkins responded down the stretch.  The sophomore guard scored eight of the Lumberjacks final 10 points to pull out the victory.

"I like taking shots late in the game," said Stephens-Jenkins.  "I want to think of myself as a clutch player and someone my teammates can count on.  I have made some late second shots this season so it feels great to make these shots for my teammates.  We came out and won tonight with hard work."

The Lumberjacks shot 38 percent for the game but limited Idaho State to 37 percent from the field.  Patton finished with a team-high 14 points followed by Stephens-Jenkins with 13.  NAU outrebounded Idaho State, 37-34, for the game and outscored the Bengals, 21-2, off the bench.

The women got it done this week at home but will need to pick up some road wins to have a shot at the Big Sky Tournament this season.  NAU plays at Eastern Washington and Portland State next week.  The Lumberjacks lost to both teams at home early this year.

"We are doing what we need to do and playing hard," Kelly said.  We had a good week of practice this week and need to continue that.  We know how important these two games are." 

DID YOU KNOW…Junior All-American David McNeill finished second and fellow junior Jordan Chipangama placed fifth to lead the Northern Arizona men's cross country team to its second fourth-place finish in three years and third consecutive Top 10 finish at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships.