FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 28, 2019) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team strung together a late charge in their conference opener before ultimately falling 79-71 to Montana in the Walkup Skydome on Saturday. The Lumberjacks (3-7, 0-1 Big Sky) trimmed a game-high deficit of 24 down to as little as six in the fourth quarter behind their highest scoring period of the season.
"I really liked how we came out in the fourth quarter, but basketball is a four-quarter game," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We were rusty coming out of Christmas and I was disappointed in our effort in the first half and then the third quarter. We have momentum to build on from the fourth quarter to face a really tough team on Monday."
NAU's 31-point fourth quarter – their most in a quarter this season – helped the 'Jacks make a push in the final 10 minutes. Freshman
Emily Rodabaugh sparked NAU with 14 of her season-high 19 points in the final period. Rodabaugh, who previously scored just 11 points all season, was 7-for-11 from the field and connected on four triples.
Rodabaugh was one of three 'Jacks in double-figures followed by 15 from junior
Khiarica Rasheed and 11 from redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar. Malvar and Rasheed both totaled six rebounds apiece and Malvar led all players with four assists.
NAU nearly matched its offensive output from the first three quarters in the fourth quarter alone as the 'Jacks entered the last period trailing 60-40. After making just 16 shots from the floor and four threes in the first 30 minutes, NAU shot 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) in the final 10 minutes, including 6-of-9 from behind the arc.
The 'Jacks shot 45.0 percent for the game and matched their season-high with 10 threes. Although the Lady Griz had an identical field goal percentage, Montana made 13 more free throws than NAU in the game.
Montana led wire-to-wire in the win, jumping out to a 9-2 lead and the Lady Griz never trailed. Montana led by as much as 12 in the first quarter, but NAU managed to cut the deficit in half at 26-20 with 6:43 remaining in the first half following a three-pointer by sophomore
Morgan Gary. The Lumberjacks got as close as five in the second quarter before heading into halftime trailing 37-28.
After redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford opened the second half with a bucket, the Lady Griz broke the game open with a 15-0 run that put the Lumberjacks behind, 52-30, midway through the third quarter.
NAU missed seven straight shots during the Montana run before Rodabaugh started an 8-0 Lumberjack run. She hit a three, then knocked down a turnaround jumper following a steal and sophomore
Regan Schenck proceeded to drill a trey of her own to bring NAU within 52-38 with three minutes to go in the period.
The Lady Griz opened the fourth quarter with consecutive baskets to take a game-high 64-40 advantage. The Lumberjacks went on a 10-0 run to close to 64-50 with six minutes to go and Rodabaugh converted on a basket to make it a 68-58 game with 4:24 on the clock. Although Montana went the final 5:16 without a field goal, NAU missed five consecutive shots itself following the Rodabaugh basket.
The Lumberjacks hit three triples in the final minute to slice the Lady Griz advantage to single digits, but Montana hit 11 of its final 14 attempts at the line to keep NAU from completing the comeback.
Montana outrebounded NAU, 41-31, and committed three fewer turnovers, 15-12. While NAU outshot Montana from behind the arc by 15 points, the Lady Griz posted a plus-10 margin in the paint.
NAU returns to the Walkup Skydome on Monday versus Montana State at 6:30 p.m.
