HOUSTON, Texas (November 30, 2019) – Redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey led the Northern Arizona women's basketball team with 22 points on the road against the defending Conference USA champions, but the Lumberjacks suffered a 71-57 loss to Rice on Saturday. NAU's third straight loss dropped the Lumberjacks' record to 1-4 this season.
The 'Jacks shot 51.9 percent from the field in the first half in building a 33-22 lead in the intermission. However, the Lumberjacks shot just 27.3 percent in the second half while the Owls shot 51.5 percent as the home team outscored the 'Jacks, 49-24, to overcome their halftime deficit.
"Our non-conference schedule is no joke when it comes to how good our opponents are, but we had an opportunity to win the game." said head coach
Loree Payne. "We came out and played really well in the first half and then we went cold in the second half. The tables turned and they got the momentum when they needed it and we ran out of gas."
For the game, Rice outshot NAU, 43.1 percent to 38.3 percent. The Owls also outrebounded the Lumberjacks by a 41-36 margin and made nine threes compared to only NAU's five.
Redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar beat the first quarter buzzer with a layup to give NAU a 14-13 lead at the end of the first period. Malvar's layup ignited a 13-3 second quarter opening run by the Lumberjacks that saw five different players score to help NAU open up a 27-16 advantage.
Rice was held to just one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second quarter and the Owls made just three buckets in the entire quarter. Meanwhile, graduate student
Molly Rohrer and sophomore
Regan Schenck combined for NAU's final 10 points of the half to cap a strong opening 20 minutes by the Lumberjacks.
NAU continued its impressive showing well into the third quarter with junior
Lauren Orndoff putting the 'Jacks ahead, 42-30, with a layup with 4:34 left in the period. However, that would be NAU's final field goal of the quarter as Rice proceeded to go on a 16-0 run that was only snapped by a pair of free throws by redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford.
After the Owls took a slim 46-44 edge into the fourth quarter, the 'Jacks regained the lead briefly on a Bailey three before the Owls pulled away for good with a corresponding 11-0 run. Bailey's fourth trey of the game halted the run to pull NAU within 57-50 with 4:17 on the clock, but Rice scored the next nine points to cap a 20-6 run in the first seven and a half minutes of the final period.
"Rice is a super athletic and disciplined team who is really solid defensively as a unit," Payne said. "They turned up the pressure a little and got us on our heels in the second half. A couple of players who normally shoot a higher percentage had an off-night and that's the tough part when you're playing a really good team."
Bailey was the lone Lumberjack in double-figures with Radford being NAU's next leading scorer with seven points. Rohrer scored a season-best six points off the bench. Junior
Khiarica Rasheed led the team with six boards and Malvar posted a career-high four steals.
The Lumberjacks will play their first back-to-back of the season on Sunday, turning right around to face Houston Baptist at 1 p.m. MST.
