GREELEY, Colo. (January 26, 2019) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team weathered a storm by the reigning Big Sky Most Valuable Player and pushed the defending conference champions to the brink, but Northern Colorado would prevail for a 63-53 victory Saturday afternoon. NAU's record now sits at 5-12 overall and 1-7 in the Big Sky.
"We played 32 good minutes," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We didn't start either half well – the first three minutes of the first quarter and the first three minutes of the third quarter – as well as the last two minutes of the game. The end of the game is what is incredibly frustrating right now."
Savannah Smith, last year's league MVP, erupted for 22 of her game-high 30 points in the momentum-shifting third quarter, helping Northern Colorado erase a 24-23 NAU halftime lead. Smith personally went on an 11-2 run less than two minutes into the second half to push the Bears In front, 34-26.
Northern Colorado shot 62.5 percent in the third quarter and stretched its lead out to as much as 12 with Smith scoring 22 of her team's 26 points in the period.
NAU would not be deterred though, chopping its way back into the game to get within a possession late. Trailing 54-43 with seven and a half minutes to play, junior
Peyton Carroll and sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed combined for an 8-0 run to help NAU close to 54-51. Freshman
Regan Schenck's jumper brought the 'Jacks to 55-53 with 4:46 left, but NAU missed its final six shots of the game.
During NAU's scoreless stretch to end the game, Northern Colorado scored the final eight points to avoid defeat.
"We got outworked for eight minutes," Payne said. "The 32 minutes we played well, we saw some resilience and great transition offense. At the end of the day though, we have to show up and work hard for 40 minutes and we didn't do that today."
Rasheed led the Lumberjacks with 14 points, marking her fifth straight double-digit scoring game, and senior
Kaleigh Paplow added 11 points. Both players registered a team-high seven rebounds. Carroll finished with 10 points.
In the second half, Northern Colorado shot 48.4 percent and also posted a 26-14 rebounding advantage. For the game, Northern Colorado held the field goal advantage (.365-.349) and rebounds (45-42). The Lumberjacks also turned the ball over 14 times for their lowest count in five games.
The Bears offset their slow start offensively with a 5-for-7 showing at the free throw line in taking a 13-6 first quarter lead. The Bears' free throw fortunes were the difference with both teams struggling to put the ball in the basket early. NAU misfired on its first seven field goal attempts, and made just 3-for-17, while Northern Colorado was just 4-for-16 from the floor in the first 10 minutes.
While the Bears' struggles continued in the second quarter, the Lumberjacks found their offensive flow particularly during a 10-0 run that flipped the scoreboard in their favor. NAU's push actually began earlier as a Schenck jumper forced a Northern Colorado timeout with the Bears' lead trimmed to 14-12 with 6:41 on the clock.
After a Bear basket – their only field goal in the first seven and a half minutes of the half – the 'Jacks started their push. NAU made five of its next six shots – two each coming from the post duo of Carroll and Rasheed – over a two-minute span to claim its largest lead of the first half, 22-16, with 3:14 left in the first half.
The Lumberjacks ultimately took a one-point halftime lead after shooting 57.1 percent in the second quarter. NAU held Northern Colorado to just 25 percent shooting and outrebounded the Bears, 28-19, in the first half. However, the tide quickly turned as Smith made her first seven shots and scored Northern Colorado's first 18 points of the third quarter to guide the Bears to a 41-29 lead they would not surrender.
NAU will try to snap its five-game losing streak Monday night at 6:30 p.m. on the road at Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds defeated the 'Jacks, 82-76, in overtime in Flagstaff on Jan. 12.
