MOSCOW, Idaho (February 21, 2019) – The temperatures outside Memorial Gym were low, but points were a plenty inside Thursday night. Unfortunately, despite shooting their fourth-highest field goal percentage of the season (.467), the Northern Arizona women's basketball team was outpaced by an even hotter shooting Idaho squad, 90-72, on the front end of their final regular season road trip. The Lumberjacks fell to 9-16 overall and 5-11 in conference play.
"Idaho shot the heck out of the ball and it's tough to defend when they have two of the best scorers in the league," said head coach
Loree Payne. "They were on fire tonight and that was challenging for us to match up. We were facing one of the top teams in the conference and we had to put together a solid 40 minutes. I felt we had a great second half, but we weren't on point for all 40 minutes."
The Lumberjacks were led offensively by redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey, who shot a season-best 9-for-12 from the field on her way to 22 points – her third 20-point game of the season. Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed (16) and redshirt sophomore
Brianna Lehew (10) also finished in double-figures with Lehew logging her first double-digit scoring game of the season.
NAU shot 45 percent or better in both halves and also recorded only 10 turnovers. However, the Lumberjacks could not keep up with the Vandals, who shot 47 percent or better in every quarter and 56.5 percent for the game. Idaho also made 12-of-25 three-pointers at a 48 percent clip, while NAU only made four threes albeit on only 10 attempts.
NAU trailed by as much as 30 in the third quarter, but managed to make a significant dent in its deficit in the fourth by opening on an 18-5 run to get as close as 80-67 with 4:24 left in the game. The Lumberjacks missed their next four attempts from the field though and the Vandals capitalized with seven straight points to reopen a 20-point lead.
"Our defense was on point during our run in the fourth quarter," Payne said. "We knocked down some shots, but they countered with some daggers to put it away. That's what great teams do. They make plays down the stretch when they need to. They were one of the best teams we faced all year.
Bailey and Rasheed combined for all nine of NAU's points during a fourth quarter opening 9-0 run that immediately cut the Lumberjacks' deficit to 75-58. Although the 'Jacks were able to get within striking distance with under five minutes to play, they ultimately were unable to overcome the most points they have allowed in the first half all season. Idaho led 51-32 at the break after drilling seven three-pointers in the second quarter, and nine in total in the first half.
Bailey had her shot going from the start, scoring seven first quarter points and leading an efficient NAU offense in the first 10 minutes. However, the Lumberjacks' 50 percent field goal output lagged behind the Vandals' 68.8 percent field goal clip as the home team went into the second quarter ahead 24-18.
Mikayla Ferenz, the Big Sky's leading scorer, made six of her first eight shots and scored 14 of her 39 points in the first quarter. Taylor Pierce, the leading three-point shooter in the league, drained six of Idaho's 12 threes and finished with 20 points.
Although NAU committed just 10 turnovers, half of them came in the second quarter in which Idaho surged forward. Idaho turned NAU's five miscues into an 8-0 edge in points off turnovers and used the long ball (7-for-11) to outscore the 'Jacks, 27-14, in the period. The Vandals made more three-pointers than the Lumberjacks made field goals (five).
Halftime did nothing to cool down Idaho with the Vandals scoring the first seven points during a 13-4 second half opening run. In all, Idaho led by double-figures for the last 26 minutes of the game.
Junior
Peyton Carroll pulled down a team-high five boards off the bench, but was the only player to notch more than three rebounds. With both teams shooting so well, NAU recorded a season-low 27 rebounds.
NAU faces Eastern Washington on Saturday at 3 p.m. MST in Cheney, Wash. The Lumberjacks will aim to avenge a 64-62 loss to the Eagles three weeks ago at home.
