LOS ANGELES, Calif. (November 24, 2018) – The LMU Thanksgiving Classic title slipped through the Northern Arizona women's basketball team's grasp with a scoreless fourth quarter as SMU defeated NAU, 55-48, to claim the tournament championship. The Lumberjacks led by as much as 16, but NAU missed all 13 of its fourth quarter field goal attempts to fall to 4-2 on the season.
"We didn't have any offensive flow and we just went cold in the fourth quarter offensively," said head coach
Loree Payne. "Defensively, we held them to 55 points and that's success for us. Our youth really showed tonight with our lack of composure. We got rattled and we weren't able to collectively settle down in the fourth quarter."
NAU shot 56.3 percent in the third quarter and led by 13, 48-35, at the end of three periods before the Lumberjacks' fourth quarter struggles hit.
Junior
Peyton Carroll, who came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points, connected on a jumper for NAU's final points of the game with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. At that point, NAU held a commanding lead, 48-33, before SMU scored on its final possession of the quarter.
The Mustangs wound up finishing the game on a 22-0 run. Yet, NAU still held strong leading all the way until SMU tied the score at 48-48 with four minutes left in the game.
Senior
Kaleigh Paplow was named to the All-Tournament team after putting up a line of 15 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two blocks and three steals on Saturday. Paplow scored 23 points in NAU's win over Loyola Marymount in the tournament opener.
Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed matched Paplow's 15 points and seven rebounds to tie for team-high honors. Rasheed shot 7-for-11 from the field and also added a block and two steals.
NAU shot 33.9 percent for the game, slightly edging out SMU's 31.3 percent field goal percentage. The Lumberjacks were also outrebounded 47-39, and were significantly outscored in the paint (36-22), off of turnovers (14-8) and in second-chance opportunities (10-2).
Still, in a first half marred by turnovers – 28 combined by both teams – the Lumberjacks emerged with a double-digit halftime lead, 26-16.
Khiarica Rasheed led all players with nine points at halftime as NAU's defensive intensity kept the Lumberjacks in the game as they struggled to find their shot early.
NAU opened the game by making just one of its first nine from the field, allowing SMU to jump out to an 8-2 lead. The Lumberjacks found an offensive rhythm though and struck fast with consecutive threes by freshman
Regan Schenck and Paplow putting NAU on top, 10-9, with two minutes left in the opening quarter. Rasheed followed with a three-point play as NAU finished the first period on a 9-0 run.
The Lumberjacks' 13-9 advantage quickly grew to double-digits with redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey drilling a three from the top of the key midway through the second quarter. Bailey's triple was ultimately part of an 11-0 NAU run that gave the 'Jacks a 26-11 advantage two minutes prior to halftime. SMU endured a pair of six-minute scoring droughts over the course of the first half and shot just 21.2 percent in the first 20 minutes.
NAU found its best offensive flow in the third quarter when it hit 9-of-16 from the field. The Lumberjacks cut down their turnovers from a halftime total of 15 to just two in the period. A Paplow jumper with 2:36 on the third quarter clock gave the 'Jacks their largest lead of the game, 43-27.
Despite their lowest point total of the season, NAU did record 18 assists on its 20 made field goals with six players registering multiple assists.
NAU will have more than a week off before its next game on the road versus Colorado State on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Tip-off in Fort Collins, Colo. is slated for 11:30 a.m.
