SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team shot 63.2 percent from the field – the second highest field goal percentage in school history – but fell to Sacramento State in their regular season finale, 105-81, on Saturday. The Lumberjacks concluded the regular season with a 13-16 record, 9-9 in conference play heading into next week's Big Sky Championships.

"I like that we shot 63 percent; Sac State plays a different style and allows you to shoot a lot of layups," said head coach Sue Darling. "Raven (Anderson) scored a boatload of points and finished her layups and once Mariah (Willadsen) got things figured out, she did a great job going to the hoop as well."

Senior Raven Anderson fell one point shy of career-high, finishing with a game-high 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting along with eight rebounds. Junior Mariah Willadsen had her best scoring game of the season, reaching the 20-point plateau for the first time as a Lumberjack notching 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

Anderson was a force early scoring nine of the team's first 15 points during a 15-8 game-opening run for the Lumberjacks. Anderson then jumpstarted an 8-0 run for the Lumberjacks which gave NAU its biggest lead of the game, 23-12, with 10:28 left in the fist half.

Sacramento State immediately answered with eight points of its own, only for NAU to counter with a spurt capped by layups from sophomores Taylor Leyva and Catelyn Preston. That put NAU in front by eight, 29-21, with 7:19 remaining before half before the Hornets turned the tide once more. After giving up its lead, NAU regained it at 34-33 following a layup from junior Madi Austin at the 3:42 mark of the first half, until seconds later when Sacramento State hit a three-pointer to take the lead for good.

The Hornets went into halftime with a 48-43 lead despite shooting only 33.3 percent in the first half. The three-point shooting squad found its stroke after halftime though, shooting 55.3 percent including a 9-for-14 performance from behind the arc. That allowed the Hornets to maintain – and build – on their halftime advantage throughout the remaining of the game.

NAU kept in relative striking range throughout the first eight minutes of the second half and brought its deficit back to single digits after consecutive layups from freshman Tori Lloyd and Willadsen. Yet the Hornets would not be denied on their Senior Day, keeping the Lumberjacks at bay during the duration of the second half.

The biggest differences in the game came from long distance and at the free throw line. Sacramento State made 15 three-pointers, on 40 attempts, compared to zero for NAU on two attempts and also outscored the Lumberjacks by seven at the charity stripe. NAU outscored Sacramento State by 28 points on two-point field goals.

NAU was also hurt by Sacramento State's relentless pressure turning the ball over a season-high 34 times, which led to 38 points for the Hornets. In the end, the nation's leaders in three-pointers made, steals and turnover margin played as advertised denying the Lumberjacks of a weekend road sweep to end the regular season.

Behind Anderson and Willadsen, the Lumberjacks did not have another player in double-figure scoring. Senior Erikka Banks led all players with 10 rebounds, helping NAU to a 43-33 advantage on the glass, while junior Monique Mulder posted team-highs of four assists and five steals with the thefts being a season-high.

At 9-9 in conference play, the Lumberjacks finished in a three-way tie for fifth place with North Dakota and Montana State. NAU claimed the tiebreaking edge over both teams so it will enter the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed Eastern Washington in Missoula, Mont.

"We have a lot of fight left in us and that's a good thing to have at this time of year," Darling said. "Our focus is good. I don't mind the way we are playing right now. Our defense has stayed steady and our offense has come along, and we've settled into our rotation. It's not a bad way to head into our one-game season coming up."

NAU and Eastern Washington will play in the third of four quarterfinal games on Wednesday, March 11 at 4:30 p.m. Flagstaff time.