MISSOULA, Mont. – Montana utilized a 16-4 run in the third quarter to break open a close game, and flexed its muscles to hand the Northern Arizona women's basketball team a 81-58 defeat in the Big Sky opener for both teams. The Lumberjacks received 19 points from junior Rene Coggins, but it was not enough as they fell to 4-8 overall while dropping their first conference game of the season.

"We can't give up 81 points and expect to win," said head coach Sue Darling. "Our job defensively first and foremost to make things tough for our opponents and we need to get better at it. Credit Montana because they were fantastic and they have two fantastic players. The Big Sky is a new starting point for us and now we'll turn our focus to Montana State and move forward."

Coggins matched her season-high of 19 points and tied her career-high with seven made field goals. Five of her field goals were from behind the arc, which set a new career-best. Combined with her perfect 5-for-5 outing from three-point range on Thursday night, Coggins has now hit her last nine three-pointers over the last two games. Furthermore, not only did Coggins set a new career-high, but she set a school record for most three-pointers made in a game without a miss surpassing five previous players who were 4-for-4 in a contest.

She opened the game's scoring with her first triple on NAU's opening possession, only for Montana to follow with a 9-0 run. The Lady Griz took a 15-9 lead into the second quarter, where both teams traded blows. Consecutive three-pointers by junior Catelyn Preston and Coggins trimmed Montana's lead to a single point, 29-28, with 1:42 left before half, but the home team scored the final five points of the half.

NAU got off to a quick start in the third quarter with consecutive buckets by Coggins and freshman Alyssa Rader, which put NAU down three at 36-33 with 8:44 remaining in the third quarter. The game would turn there in favor of the defending Big Sky champions with Montana scoring 16 of the next 20 points over the next six minutes to hold a 52-37 lead.

By the end of the third quarter, Montana led by 17 and its lead grew to as much as 25 in the final period. In the second half, NAU was outscored 47-30 as Montana pushed its win streak over the Lumberjacks to six games.

"We didn't play well against Dixie State (on Dec. 12) and we still eked out a win," Darling said. "We wanted to play well at Nebraska and Iowa State and we did. Now the next step up the ladder is to play well and win. It's not good enough to play well for three quarters, and we have to figure out how to play well for four quarters."

Montana shot 51.7 percent in the victory including a 55.2 percent clip in the second half. The 'Jacks only shot 38.2 percent for the game, but did manage to outshoot the conference's top three-point shooting team with a 46.7 percent mark (7-for-15) in large part due to Coggins' excellence.

The Lady Griz did their damage in the paint, outscoring the Lumberjacks 38-24, and on points off turnovers where they converted 20 NAU miscues into 16 points.

The Lumberjacks' bench provided important production, outscoring the Lady Griz by seven, 24-17, led by the performances of redshirt junior Shay Young and junior Taylor Leyva. Young scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds, while Leyva scored seven points and set a new career-best with four steals. Preston also scored five points and recorded three rebounds, three assists and two blocks in reserve.

NAU will turn the page with a fresh start at Montana State on Saturday to close the first weekend of conference play. In the Lumberjacks' first game of the 2016 calendar year, they will face the Bobcats – who won their conference opener on Thursday versus Southern Utah – in Bozeman, Mont. at 2 p.m.