BOZEMAN, Mont. (December 31, 2018) – If the Northern Arizona women's basketball team's final quarter of 2018 is any indication, the Lumberjacks are in for brighter days in 2019. On New Year's Eve, the 'Jacks (4-7, 0-2 Big Sky) chopped away at a 17-point deficit to get as close as seven, but fell short in an 80-70 loss to Montana State to close the first weekend of conference play.
"I feel like we have a lot of momentum going home," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We've been struggling to score so 32 points in the fourth quarter is huge. The difference in the game was really our early turnovers. We have to take care of the ball better, but I feel like we're taking steps forward. I'm glad we got this road trip out of the way because it's a tough one, and we're looking forward to playing in front of our home fans."
In defeat, NAU had four player double-digit scorers, led by 14 from sophomore
Lauren Orndoff, and both outshot and outrebounded Montana State. The Lumberjacks shot 43.5 percent for the game, compared to 41.7 percent by the Bobcats, and held a 41-39 advantage on the glass.
The Lumberjacks also outscored the Bobcats in the paint, 40-32, to win the points in the paint battle for just the second time this season. However, Montana State held a sizeable advantage at the free throw line where it shot 22-of-27. NAU was just 5-for-13 at the charity stripe, and also were minus-five in turnovers committing 19 Monday afternoon.
Behind Orndoff's 14, redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey scored 13 points followed by 12 from senior
Kaleigh Paplow and 11 from junior
Peyton Carroll. Bailey and Carroll's season-best scoring outputs helped NAU outpace Montana State, 27-16, in bench points.
NAU strung together its fourth-quarter rally facing its largest deficit of the game at 57-40 with 8:22 on the clock. Paplow hit the first of three consecutive treys, preceding triples by Orndoff and redshirt sophomore
Caitlin Malvar, before finishing an and-1 opportunity to cap a 12-2 run. The Lumberjacks' surge in less than two minutes sliced the Bobcat advantage to 59-52 with 6:33 remaining.
The Lumberjacks got within seven once more with less than three minutes left, but would not get any closer, on a Bailey layup to bring the score to 68-61. Still, NAU shot 56.5 percent in the final 10 minutes while posting its highest scoring quarter of the season (32). The 'Jacks connected on four of their five threes in the fourth quarter as well.
Unfortunately, the Bobcats parlayed a second quarter Lumberjack scoring drought and 13 NAU first half turnovers into a 36-26 halftime lead they would not lose. NAU went scoreless in the last four minutes of the half and was minus-nine in points off turnovers.
The Lumberjacks went into the paint often and early with Carroll doing the bulk of the damage in the first quarter. With Carroll posting six points in the opening period, NAU's inside work helped the 'Jacks shoot 8-for-13 in the first 10 minutes.
After Montana State jumped out to an 11-2 advantage, NAU managed to climb back to just 15-14 on an Orndoff jumper with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Bobcat lead stood at 20-16 by the end of the period, largely due to seven early Lumberjack turnovers that offset NAU's efficient shooting start.
Paplow knocked down a tough shot in traffic to bring NAU within 25-23 two and a half minutes into the second quarter. However, NAU's lengthy scoring drought followed as the 'Jacks made just one of their next 14 shots in the final 7:38 of the first half during which the Bobcats outscored the Lumberjacks, 11-3.
NAU, courtesy of a three-point play by freshman
Morgan Gary, closed the Montana State lead to 42-34 with 3:42 remaining in the third quarter. But Montana State immediately responded with an 8-0 run to push its advantage out to 16 and eventually took a 53-38 lead into the fourth where the home team held off NAU's comeback efforts.
Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed paced the Lumberjacks with a season-high 12 rebounds, which was one off her career-high. She also narrowly missed a double-double with nine points. Orndoff dished out six assists to set a new career-high in addition to leading NAU in scoring column.
"We're still trying to figure out our identity with a young team," Payne said. "We're a little inconsistent in playing a good half and then struggling. Once we find five players in the rotation who can bring it consistently, I think we'll hit our stride."
The Lumberjacks face a quick turnaround, but will return to the Walkup Skydome on Thursday versus Weber State at 6:30 p.m. The game will be the first of three straight at home with NAU also hosting Idaho State on Saturday at 2 p.m. this week.
