CEDAR CITY, Utah – This evening's (Feb. 27) Big Sky women's basketball matchup between Northern Arizona University and Southern Utah University had one common denominator: hungry for a win. With a final score of 73-68, the Lumberjacks fell to the Thunderbirds to give them their first conference win of the season. Southern Utah moves to 3-23 overall while Northern Arizona drops to 6-21 and 2-14 in conference play.

"There is not a whole lot to say," Head Coach Sue Darling said. "We have to be able to play great defense without fouling. I thought the way we took care of the ball was a bright spot, but I have to credit Southern Utah, they played really hard."

The first 10 minutes of play brought about four lead changes and two ties as freshman center Alyssa Rader hit her first of eight field goals to get things started for NAU. Southern Utah answered with a steal and a layup, but junior Taylor Leyva nailed her first three-pointer of the evening to take an early 5-2 lead. Six of Leyva's eight points came in the first quarter while Rader chipped in seven of her 20. At the period one, NAU held a one-point advantage, 15-14.

The Thunderbirds outscored NAU 17-13 in the second quarter to take a 31-28 lead at halftime. Senior guard Monique Mulder chipped in five points to lead all Lumberjacks in that 10 minute stretch, while Rader, junior Rene Coggins, junior Catelyn Preston and Leyva had one bucket apiece. Freshman Kaleigh Paplow, coming off a 36-point performance against Weber State, was just 1-5 from the field in the first half. However, it was not long until she exploded for 17 second half points to keep the 'Jacks within striking distance.

Although Northern Arizona finished well below its season average with eight turnovers, and reaped a stellar 22 points off of Southern Utah's errors, rebounding and shooting efficiency was enough for the Thunderbirds to walk away victorious. They finished 24-48 (50%) from the field to NAU's 25-69 (37.7%). As mentioned, Paplow came into the second half with a renewed sense of urgency and went off for eight and nine third and fourth quarter points respectively.

Despite Rader being charged with her fifth personal foul with roughly two minutes remaining in the game, she was another key component of the Lumberjack offense down the stretch. The freshman finished 8-21 from the field for 22 points- just three points shy of her career and season best. In the fourth quarter alone, Northern Arizona forced seven turnovers, and Mulder forced two of them in the back court to put the 'Jacks within arm's reach.

Southern Utah led by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter before Paplow, Rader and Coggins helped swing the momentum in NAU's favor. Coggins finished with just one made three-pointer to her name, but it certainly was a big one as she pulled the Lumberjacks within one with 2:08 to go. The Thunderbirds came up with an empty possession shortly after and Paplow capitalized off an assist from Preston With 35 seconds remaining, NAU found themselves tied with Southern Utah 68-68.

The Lumberjacks were forced to foul as the clock dwindled down and Southern Utah had answers. Northern Arizona had two opportunities to either tie the game or to go ahead, but came up short. Southern Utah went 5-6 from the charity stripe in the final 25 seconds to close the deal. NAU has just two regular season Big Sky games remaining before the conference tournament. The 'Jacks will face Portland State on March 2 and Sacramento State on March 4 in the Walkup Skydome.