PORTLAND, Ore. – After a strong start, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team's offense went cold in an eventual 68-59 loss to Portland State, snapping the Lumberjacks' two-game win streak. The 'Jacks (7-20, 4-12 Big Sky) made just 11 field goals after the first quarter and committed 19 total turnovers in the defeat.
"Portland State does a really good job of packing it in and forcing you to attack their zone," said head coach
Loree Payne. "I felt like we did a good job initially and then we got really stagnant on offense. That forced us into 19 turnovers. Taking care of the ball has been one of our challenges all year. Out of our 19 turnovers, most of them weren't forced. We didn't value the ball."
The first quarter would not have suggested such an ending as NAU came out blistering, shooting 62.5 percent and successfully navigating Portland State's 2-3 zone. However, NAU shot just 23.4 percent (11-for-47) the rest of the game as an 11-point first quarter lead gradually became a nine-point loss.
The Lumberjacks recorded eight assists on 10 made baskets in the opening period, racing out to a 7-2 advantage following consecutive baskets by freshman
Khiarica Rasheed, a local Portland product. A 12-2 run later provided the Lumberjacks with their largest lead at 19-8 before taking a 23-16 lead into the second quarter.
NAU's offensive struggles started right there as the Lumberjacks went more than four minutes without a field goal before a three by redshirt senior
Kenna McDavis snapped the drought. McDavis' triple made it a 27-23 NAU advantage – after Portland State had tied the score at 23 apiece – and the Lumberjacks were able to extend their edge back out to seven points.
Despite making just four field goals in the period, NAU led 34-29 at halftime with balanced scoring guiding the team. Five players scored at least five points in the first half with the Lumberjacks' field goal percentage still standing at a 46.7 percent clip.
However, a critical 12-0 run by Portland State over a four-minute stretch in the third quarter shifted the momentum squarely in the Vikings' favor. After redshirt senior
Olivia Lucero connected on a three making it a 39-33 lead for the 'Jacks with 4:57 left in the third, the Vikings scored the next 12 points before junior
Kaleigh Paplow halted the run with the quarter's final points.
While the 45-41 Viking lead to start the fourth quarter did not seem insurmountable, the Vikings used an 8-1 run to open up a nine-point advantage with six and a half minutes left. The Lumberjacks managed to get as close as five, but the Vikings kept them at arm's length by making 7-of-8 free throws in the final minute.
Turnovers were also an issue as NAU turned it over 19 times compared to just nine by Portland State over the course of the game. Portland State used that to its advantage as the Vikings were plus-14 in points off turnovers. That helped the Vikings overcome a poor shooting performance themselves as they both teams finished with identical 33.3 field goal percentages.
NAU controlled the rebounding margin, 48-36, and the Lumberjacks did manage 17 assists on their 21 field goals.
McDavis paced the Lumberjacks with 14 points and made another three triples to move into second all-time in school history in three-pointers made in a season with 74. Lucero scored 12 points and Rasheed totaled 11 before fouling out. Paplow tallied nine points and matched Rasheed with team-bests of seven rebounds.
NAU will play its final two regular season games at home in the Walkup Skydome this upcoming week. The Lumberjacks host Idaho on Wednesday, Feb. 28 with Senior Night versus Eastern Washington to follow on Friday, March 2. Both games will tip-off at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday's contest will be NAU's Play4Kay game. The
Sixth Annual Wine Down event will be held prior to Friday's regular season finale.
