MISSOULA, Mont. (December 29, 2018) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team pressured Montana defensively – tallying a season-best 11 steals – but the Lumberjacks fell to the Lady Griz, 78-62, in the Big Sky opener for both teams. The Lumberjacks dropped their fifth consecutive game and fell to 4-6 overall with Saturday's loss in the Dalhberg Arena.
"We played well in certain areas, but we've yet to put together a complete game," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We're getting there, but we need to get there pretty quick now that conference has started. There's not a lot of time to go back and change things. We have the potential, but we need to put together some complete games."
Senior
Kaleigh Paplow netted a game-high 19 points, including a career-best five three-pointers, and also paced the 'Jacks with nine boards and four assists. However, a number of NAU youngsters performed well in front of a maroon-clad crowd of 3,031 – the largest crowd NAU has played in front this season.
Sophomore
Lauren Orndoff notched a career-high 17 points and freshman
Morgan Gary came off the bench to record 10 points in just her second career outing. Orndoff shot 6-for-12 and hit a set of treys, while Gary was 4-for-6 in just 10 minutes of action.
NAU registered 11 thefts with freshman
Regan Schenck leading the way with five, her best total of her debut season. Paplow also recorded four steals.
"We want success right now, but we understand that it's going to take time to build," Payne said. "The majority of the time, we're playing one senior with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores on the floor, but we can't use that as an excuse for not having success. Players are stepping up, but we're raising the bar and asking them to step up even more."
Ultimately, Montana overcame NAU's defensive pressure to shoot an efficient 47.1 percent overall. Meanwhile, NAU shot 35.4 percent although the 'Jacks shot 37.5 percent from three. The Lumberjacks' nine three-pointers were their highest total since their school record performance of 15 threes in their season-opener.
A hot Lumberjack start faded in the second quarter leading to a double-digit 38-27 Lady Griz halftime lead that NAU was unable to overcome. After starting 5-of-6 from the field, spurred by eight points from Orndoff, the Lumberjacks made just four of their final 25 shots from the floor in the first half.
Orndoff knocked down a pair of triples to spark a 13-8 game-opening advantage by NAU through the first five and a half minutes. Junior
Peyton Carroll converted in the paint to retain NAU's five-point lead, 17-12, with 2:18 left in the opening quarter before Montana finished on an 8-2 run to take a slim 20-19 lead into the second period.
Orndoff drilled her third three from straightaway and sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed converted on a putback to put NAU back on top, 24-20, within the opening minute of the second period. However, Montana scored 18 of the next 21 points heading into halftime. Montana had runs of 8-0 and 10-0 around a Paplow three-pointer, which was NAU's only other field goal in the quarter.
NAU shot only 29 percent in the first half – compared to a 51.5 percent clip by Montana – but the 'Jacks managed to snag 10 offensive boards. The Lumberjacks struggled to turn those extra opportunities into points with just two second-chance points prior to the half.
For the second consecutive game, NAU hauled in 18 offensive rebounds. Paplow and Rasheed combined for 10 of them with Rasheed pulling down a season-best eight boards behind Paplow's team-leading nine. Montana held the rebounding advantage overall, 44-39.
An 11-4 Lady Griz run over a four-minute stretch in the third quarter extended Montana's lead out to 16 at 53-37. Trailing by as much as 18 early in the fourth quarter, NAU mounted a comeback, which got the Lumberjacks within eight with two and a half minutes to play.
Gary's three-pointer capped a 9-2 spurt by NAU that cut Montana's lead to 69-61 with 2:32 left on the clock. Gary accounted for seven of the nine points in the run. However, the Lady Griz immediately answered with a triple on their next trip down the court to push their lead back out to 11 and the Lumberjacks never got closer.
The 'Jacks will close out the 2018 calendar year in Bozeman on Monday versus Montana State at 4 p.m. The Bobcats defeated Southern Utah, 69-64, on Saturday in their Big Sky opener.
