CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team rediscovered their offensive rhythm to snap their eight-game losing streak on Saturday, defeating Southern Utah, 72-55, in the First America Event Center. The Lumberjacks also picked up their first true road win of the season, snapping an 11-game road skid as well dating back to last season.
"The biggest stat that stands out to me is 17 assists on 28 makes," said head coach
Loree Payne. "That was a struggle for us last week. For us to have more assists in this one game than we did all of last weekend, that's a huge step for us. We're talking about trusting the process and that was a huge improvement. We also wanted to win the rebounding battle, and that also put us in a good position to be successful."
NAU, now 5-18 overall and 2-10 in the Big Sky, shot 45.2 percent overall and 44.4 percent from behind the arc to avenge a 60-57 loss to Southern Utah in the Walkup Skydome last month. Both the Lumberjacks' field goal percentage and three-point percentage were their best shooting performances in league play. NAU made 28-of-62 from the field and 8-for-18 from three.
After totaling just 15 assists in two games last week, NAU recorded 17 assists against just 10 turnovers in notching its second straight victory in Cedar City. Redshirt senior
Olivia Lucero led the way with five assists, while junior
Kaleigh Paplow, junior
Tate Tsingine and freshman
Lauren Orndoff all recorded at least three.
Lucero also paced the Lumberjacks with 24 points on 8-for-14 shooting overall. She drained three triples in her seventh 20-point game of the season. Lucero was one of four Lumberjacks in double-figures.
NAU missed its first five shots of the game, but soon after found its groove. After Lucero found sophomore
Peyton Carroll to break the seal, the floodgates opened as NAU led 19-8 at the end of the first quarter. In all, the 'Jacks made eight of their last 12 shots after opening with five misses from the field.
Carroll came off the bench to total six points, five rebounds and three blocks in the first quarter to spearhead NAU's fast start as NAU shot 47 percent in the first 10 minutes.
An 8-0 NAU run provided the Lumberjacks with their largest lead of the first half, 35-19, with two minutes remaining before halftime. Lucero, Paplow and Carroll combined for 27 of NAU's 35 first half points as the Lumberjacks went into the break with a 35-23 lead. The halftime lead was the Lumberjacks' first since their Big Sky opener at Montana on Dec. 28 spanning 10 games.
The Lumberjacks' offense reached their peak immediately out of the locker room as they shot 60 percent (12-for-20) in the third quarter. Lucero was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in scoring 11 of her game-high 24 points in the third, helping NAU match its most field goals made in a quarter this season. NAU also had eight assists without committing a turnover, with the eight assists equaling its most in a quarter this season as well.
Although NAU made eight straight field goals to close the third quarter, the 'Jacks only hit three baskets in the final 10 minutes. Two of those were big three-pointers by Tsingine on successive possessions after Southern Utah trimmed a 20-point lead to 14. Tsingine halted a 6-0 Thunderbird run with her three-point spree and gave NAU a 69-51 lead with four minutes left.
Behind Lucero's 24 points, Paplow scored 13 points with Carroll and Tsingine both chipping in 10 points apiece in reserve. Carroll and Tsingine notched their fifth and third double-digit scoring games of the season respectively, and helped NAU hold a 26-0 bench points advantage.
"Olivia and Kaleigh came out and started really strong," Payne said. "Peyton, off the bench, did a lot of good things and hit some critical shots. Tate, down the stretch, hit a couple of daggers. That's how you get team wins. Players step up and make big shots to put a game away."
The 'Jacks outrebounded the Thunderbirds, 42-37, with Carroll and Paplow each grabbing a team-high eight boards. NAU held Southern Utah to 32.7 percent shooting and totaled nine steals. Paplow recorded four thefts with freshman
Kaprice Boston nabbing a season-high tying three steals. Carroll also totaled a career-best four blocks.
The Lumberjacks are home in the Skydome for the first time in the month of February this upcoming week. NAU hosts Northern Colorado next Thursday at 6:30 p.m. before hosting North Dakota next Saturday at 5 p.m.
NAU's game versus North Dakota will be part of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Fans are encouraged to register their kids for the free youth clinic prior to the game with more info available at this
link.
