CHENEY, Wash. (February 23, 2019) – For the second consecutive game, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team was hurt by the three-point shot. Eastern Washington had four players hit three treys and knocked down 13 in all to aid the Eagles' winning efforts, 81-76, over the 'Jacks on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, NAU fell to 9-16 overall and 5-12 in the Big Sky Conference.
"Eastern Washington played well and hit some big shots," said head coach
Loree Payne. "At the end of the day when you have a game that comes down to a couple of possessions, you have to be sharp. I don't feel like we had a solid defensive effort for the entire game today."
There was no shortage of offense at Reese Court with the Lumberjacks shooting an even 50 percent while the Eagles converted at a 46.7 percent clip from the field. Eastern Washington's 13-of-30 (.433) performance from behind the arc was a pivotal different maker to negate NAU's second 50 percent field goal showing of the season.
Points were a plenty as were the turnovers with the two teams combining for 40 in the game. NAU forced Eastern Washington in 21 miscues – tied for most by an opponent this season – with 15 coming via the steal. NAU's 15 steals – led by a season-high five from senior
Kaleigh Paplow – are the most by the Lumberjacks since they tallied 15 against Idaho on Jan. 14, 2016 spanning 101 games.
Paplow recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds to go with her five thefts. Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed scored a team-best 23 points for her third 20-point performance in the last five games. NAU also received double-digit scoring efforts by freshman
Regan Schenck (15) and redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey (12).
Despite the narrow final margin, Eastern Washington led the entire way after breaking an initial 2-2 tie with a 6-0 run. The Eagles led by as much as eight in the first quarter, but the Lumberjacks managed to close within a point at 16-15 following two Paplow free throws. However, NAU would not get within a single point the rest of the game.
Eastern Washington connected on five of its 13 three-pointers in the first quarter in taking a 22-18 advantage into the second period. The Eagles then opened up an 11-point lead, 32-21, with a 10-3 run in the first three and a half minutes of the second quarter.
A three-pointer by Schenck – one of a season-high tying three – sparked a 7-0 Lumberjack run to cut their largest deficit of 12 down to five at 37-32 with 2:10 remaining in the first half. During the run, Schenck scored five of NAU's seven points. Eastern Washington would hold NAU scoreless the remainder of the half though and snagged a double-digit halftime lead, 42-32.
Another 7-0 run by NAU once again closed the gap in the third quarter with Bailey and Paplow forcing a timeout with consecutive layups. The two transition buckets sliced Eastern Washington's lead to 45-41 with 7:00 on the third quarter clock, but a four-minute scoring drought ensued and the Blue & Gold went into the final quarter down 59-50.
The Lumberjacks got a three-point play by Paplow and a Bailey layup in the first minute of the fourth period to seize momentum yet again with the Eagle lead trimmed to 59-55. NAU got within two on three occasions, the last coming at 1:48 on the clock at 75-73, but the 'Jacks could not ultimately get over the hump with a defensive stop.
Rasheed gave NAU a chance in the waning seconds of the game with a triple, which cut Eastern Washington's lead in half at 79-76 with 10.1 seconds. However, the Eagles knocked down a pair of at the charity stripe after a Lumberjack foul providing the final score.
"We were able to claw our way back, but it's still the same struggle with us," Payne said. "We're looking for consistency across the board. I don't feel like our team understands the urgency needed to not get outworked and we're going to need to do that to win games."
NAU shot 9-for-14 (.643) in the final quarter in its comeback effort. The Lumberjacks also made 3-of-5 from deep and all five of their free throws in the last 10 minutes.
The rebounding battle was tied at 30-30 as Paplow and Rasheed combined for 18 of NAU's 30 boards. Schenck led the team with third game of five assists in the last four while Bailey notched a season-best four steals.
The Lumberjacks will have a full week off before they host Montana State next Saturday, March 2 in the Walkup Skydome at 2 p.m. The game will be the first of three straight at home for NAU before the conference tournament.
