FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Trailing by just three at halftime, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team was hit by a 17-0 Montana run to start the third quarter and they were never able to recover. As a result, the Lumberjacks suffered their sixth straight loss in a 69-52 decision to the Lady Griz on Saturday, dropping their record to 4-16 overall. NAU is 1-8 in the Big Sky.
Montana blitzed NAU with three triples right out of the locker room, prompting a quick NAU timeout with the Lady Griz's 30-27 halftime lead ballooning to 39-27 a little more than a minute into the third quarter. The run kept escalating until junior
Kaleigh Paplow put a halt to it with a free throw with 4:42 left in the quarter, at which point Montana's lead stood at 47-27.
The Lumberjacks scored just five points in the third – matching their lowest scoring quarter set just two nights ago versus Montana State – and did not hit from the field. NAU misfired on all 13 third quarter field goal attempts, and in total missed 17 consecutive shots until Paplow cut your way to the rim for a layup two minutes into the fourth.
NAU did manage to trim a 21-point deficit entering the fourth to 11 with 5:24 remaining in the game. Back-to-back three-pointers by freshman
Khiarica Rasheed and junior
Tate Tsingine capped an 8-0 Lumberjack spurt that put NAU within striking range at 55-44, but they were only able to get as close as 10 the rest of the way.
Redshirt senior
Kenna McDavis posted her seventh double-double of the season, leading the team with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She also tallied four blocks marking her fourth game this season with as many rejections. Freshman
Lauren Orndoff totaled 12 points and a team-high three steals while Rasheed finished with 10 points.
Although NAU struggled from the field, shooting just 27.5 percent for the game, the Lumberjacks made the most of their free throws going 19-for-23 (82.6 percent) at the charity stripe. McDavis made all eight of her attempts and Rasheed was 5-for-6.
Montana scored nine unanswered points to break an early 5-5 tie before taking a 17-13 lead after the first quarter. The nine-point Montana lead was completely erased when McDavis connected on a three and Orndoff made two at the line to tie the game at 27-27 with two minutes left in the first half. However, the Lady Griz hit a three two possessions later for the half's final points and they maintained that lead throughout the second half.
The Big Sky leading Lady Griz shot 42.6 percent in Saturday's contest in the Walkup Skydome and was an effective 46.2 percent from behind the arc. NAU was outrebounded 42-34 and despite turning the ball over just twice more than Montana, the 'Jacks were outscored in points off turnovers by 10. The Lumberjacks committed just 13 turnovers – their fourth-lowest total this season.
NAU is on the road for three straight games over the next two weeks. The Lumberjacks' road trip next week starts at Idaho State for a Thursday night tilt at 7 p.m. MST. NAU will also visit Weber State next Saturday.
