GREELEY, Colo. – After nine straight losses to Northern Colorado the Northern Arizona women's basketball team got the best of the Bears for the second straight year in Greeley. NAU held off a hard charging Bears squad to come out on the winning end of a 51-49 slugfest on Thursday, prevailing in the final seconds and as a result earned their elusive first road victory of the season. With the win, the 'Jacks moved over .500 in conference play to 5-4.

The win also equaled the Lumberjacks' (9-11 overall) total from a season ago at the halfway point of the Big Sky season with nine regular season games remaining. The win was their third straight, a season-long win streak, and Thursday was also the fifth time this season in which NAU has held an opponent under 50 points.

"We absolutely did it with defense and rebounding tonight," said head coach Sue Darling. "We came up with some big stops at the end of the game and our defense really came through for us. Our defense has gotten to us where we are and we're figuring out ways to put the ball in the basket on the other end."

The Bears got off to a fast start scoring the first seven points of the game as NAU missed its first six shots before sophomore Brittani Lusain drained the Lumberjacks' first bucket five minutes into the contest. Lusain's make got NAU's offense going as it tied the game at 13-13. Lusain then scored four points during a 6-0 run that put the 'Jacks in front by a 21-15 score with 5:24 left in the half.

The 'Jacks would own their largest lead of the game, 26-16, with 2:13 remaining following a Lusain triple before heading into halftime with a 28-22 advantage.

Northern Colorado started the second half strong just as it did to begin the game, bringing the game even to 31-31 after a three-pointer four and a half minutes into the half. Sophomore Catelyn Preston then found senior Erikka Banks for a layup on the following possession putting the Lumberjacks in front for the final time. Banks' layup started a game-turning 8-0 run to give NAU a 39-31 lead with 12:23 play.

Another basket by Banks with 4:15 left maintained the Lumberjacks' edge at 51-44 with 4:15 remaining, but would be the last points for NAU. With their offense going cold, the Lumberjack defense needed to come up big, which is exactly what it did after the Bears clawed back within two with 1:08 remaining.

Despite struggling from the field, two offensive rebounds by junior Monique Mulder allowed the Lumberjacks to drain some clock until NAU was sent to the free throw line. After the 'Jacks missed the front end of a one-and-one at the charity stripe with 26 seconds left, the Bears had two last shots to tie the game but came up short on their final possession, clinching the hard-fought victory for NAU.

"We have so many pieces to the puzzle and everyone comes in and contributes," Preston said. "We linked arms at the end of the game and we were all in it together. This is a game of runs and we fought back. We've learned to overcome the runs (our opponents go on), focus and keep it together to win games."

Senior Raven Anderson shot 6-of-10 from the field for her team-high 14 points and was joined in double-figures by Banks and Lusain, who each had 13 points apiece. Banks grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players in the game for her ninth double-double of the season, while Lusain added seven rebounds and four assists to her line.

NAU shot under 40 percent – 39.6 percent – for the game but shot 41.7 percent in the second half and holding Northern Colorado to a 27.6 percent clip in the final 20 minutes. The Bears shot just 31.6 percent for the game from the floor in another strong defensive performance by the Lumberjacks.

"I'm extremely proud of our girls and not just because it was our first road win," Lusain said. "We need to keep building. Our team has come so far and it hasn't been quick either. It's been a grind and we've been working. To win games and championships, we know we need defense and we're going to keep working on it."

The Lumberjacks will take on the defending Big Sky champions North Dakota on Saturday in their bid to extend their win streak to four. Tipoff in Grand Forks, N.D. is 1 p.m. Flagstaff time.