PORTLAND, Ore. (January 19, 2019) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team methodically sliced its largest deficit in half, but despite a career-high 21 points from junior
Peyton Carroll, the Lumberjacks suffered a 72-55 loss to Portland State on Saturday. Carroll, playing less than 20 miles away from her hometown of Damascus, Ore., did the bulk of her work at the free throw line where she shot 11-for-13.
"I thought we had a great second half; it's a three-point game in the second half," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We played with intensity, we worked hard and we communicated. We took care of the ball with only six turnovers in the second half, but I didn't feel like we came ready to play."
The Lumberjacks (5-11, 1-6 Big Sky) trailed by as many as 25 points in the third quarter, but scrapped their way back to get within 13 with four minutes remaining in the game. NAU used its ability to get to the charity stripe to chop away at Portland State's lead in the fourth quarter with Carroll knocking down eight of NAU's 11 free throw makes.
Carroll posted her first career 20-point game in a career-high 32 minutes. She also matched a season-high with seven rebounds, tying senior
Kaleigh Paplow for team-high honors. Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed, a Portland native herself, joined Carroll in double-figure scoring with 10.
The Lumberjacks found themselves in a 49-24 hole midway through the third quarter on the heels of a 11-0 Viking run. NAU started its march back with a 14-6 run, capped by a three-pointer by redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey, that shaved eight points off the lead.
Down 57-38 to begin the fourth quarter, NAU got within striking range with under four minutes to play following two technical foul free throws by Carroll. Rasheed preceded Carroll's freebies with two baskets, which was part of a 6-0 spurt that closed Portland State's lead down to 61-48 with 3:57 on the clock.
However, Portland State quickly responded with six straight of its own in less than a minute to keep NAU at bay.
Outside of 19 free throws, NAU's second-highest total of the season, the Lumberjacks struggled offensively shooting only 31.5 percent. The 'Jacks also hit just two three-pointers for the second consecutive game. Meanwhile, Portland State shot 47.4 percent and made 10 three-pointers. The 10 threes allowed were a season-high by NAU.
Turnovers hampered NAU in the first half as Portland State held a 32-18 halftime lead. NAU's 11 miscues led directly to a decisive 16-2 points off turnover advantage for Portland State. The Lumberjacks only committed six turnovers in the second half, and although NAU was just minus-one in the turnover column for the game, Portland State was plus-12 in points off turnovers.
Outside of a quick burst by the Vikings, the 'Jacks held the Vikings in check in the first quarter. However, NAU could not capitalize on Portland State's offensive woes as it endured its own set of struggles.
Portland State raced out to a 13-4 lead behind a hot 5-for-8 start from the floor, including three three-pointers, and buoyed by five NAU turnovers. After falling behind, NAU settled in and held Portland State scoreless for the final five minutes of the opening quarter. But in that stretch, the Lumberjacks made just 1-for-10 from the field themselves.
"We were prepared, but we came out and were incredibly timid offensively and that really hurt us," Payne said. "I think we had five turnovers in the first three minutes of the game. We need to be able to put together 40 minutes and we can't have big gaps where we're not clicking, especially in the first five minutes."
The 'Jacks went into the second quarter trailing 13-7, but received a quick bucket by Carroll. Portland State followed with an 8-2 run that gave the home team its first double-digit lead of the game before Paplow connected on a three-pointer to cut the Vikings' lead to 21-14 with 4:21 left in the half.
The score held through the media timeout after which Portland State immediately drained three consecutive treys to push its lead out to 30-14 and NAU never got within single digits the rest of the way.
Bailey finished with nine points and five rebounds, while Paplow scored seven points and added a season-high tying four steals. Redshirt sophomore
Caitlin Malvar, another Portland product, dished out a team-best four assists.
The Lumberjacks are right back on the road for two next week starting with Northern Colorado on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Greeley.
