POCATELLO, Idaho (February 7, 2019) – Staring the Big Sky Conference's leader right in the eye on the road, the Northern Arizona women's basketball did not blink. Redshirt sophomore
Jacey Bailey and freshman
Regan Schenck lit up Idaho State for 48 combined points and guided the Lumberjacks to an 81-77 road victory over the Bengals Thursday night.
With the win, NAU (7-14 overall, 3-9 Big Sky) triumphed in Reed Gym for the first time since Jan. 22, 2009 and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bengals in Pocatello.
"Obviously she started the game shooting the ball really well; Jacey made some huge threes," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We showed some growth over the past week coming together as a team with our team chemistry, and just playing better together. That showed tonight."
What made the win even more impressive was in the way NAU did so. Idaho State – allowing a Big Sky low 54.2 points per game in league play – had not allowed more than 60 points in its previous seven games, but NAU picked apart Idaho State's defense. The Lumberjacks' 81 points were the second-highest total given up by the Bengals this season, while NAU's 46.3 percent field goal percentage was significantly higher than Idaho State's field goal defense mark of 35.6 percent.
NAU drilled daggers from behind the arc, knocking down 13-of-20 three-pointers in its second-best showing of the season. Bailey punished the Bengals, connecting on seven three-pointers and coming up just one shy of tying the single-game program record of eight. Bailey finished with a season-best 25 points.
With Bailey carrying the Lumberjacks early – netting 15 points in the first half – Schenck served as the team's closer scoring 17 of her season-high 23 points in the second half. Schenck scored 11 points in the fourth quarter alone, helping NAU overcome a four-point deficit, and was 9-for-15 overall from the field. Schenck also made all three of her three-point attempts.
"Going into the game, our goal was to stay together and work hard because on any given night, anyone can win in the Big Sky," Schenck said. "Tonight, we all worked hard for all four quarters and that was probably the first time we've done that all season and it paid off."
Bailey had it going from the opening tip-off, finding the bottom of the net on her first three attempts beyond the arc to push NAU to a 12-6 advantage. By the end of the first period, Bailey already had 12 points on four treys as the 'Jacks made 6-of-7 from deep in taking a 25-18 lead.
Redshirt sophomore
Caitlin Malvar opened the second quarter with a three and sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed converted on a three-point play to extend NAU's lead out to 31-18. However, Idaho State quickly got back into the game with an 8-0 run. The Bengals would close the first half on a 13-3 run and actually went into the break ahead 41-40.
Despite the 'Jacks shooting 53.8 percent, the Bengals stayed in the game by shooting 54.5 percent themselves in the first half.
Halftime temporarily cooled down the Lumberjacks with NAU making just five of its 17 field goal attempts in the third quarter as they saw the home team make its move. The Bengals capitalized and held its largest lead of the game, 58-52, before Schenck beat the quarter buzzer with a reverse layup.
Schenck's bucket foreshadowed her fourth quarter performance as the first-year Lumberjack nearly equaled her previous season-high of 12 points in the final quarter. She made all four of her shots from the field in scoring 11 of NAU's 27 points in the last 10 minutes.
Idaho State still led 65-63 with 5:38 left to play, but senior
Kaleigh Paplow's only three-pointer of the game put NAU ahead for good. Paplow's trey ignited a 10-0 Lumberjack run as the Bengals went on a two and a half minute scoring drought. To hold off Idaho State, NAU made 8-of-11 at the charity stripe in the final two minutes of the game with all eight free throws coming from underclassmen.
"Our freshmen and sophomores showed a lot of composure at the end," Payne said. "We had Regan at the line, Caitlin at the line, Jacey at the line and they sealed the game for us. We handled the (end-of-game) situation better than we have been and that was a big growth piece for us. We've lost games by not having composure, but we took a step forward tonight."
Bailey and Schenck's 20-point efforts marked the first game this season that a Lumberjack duo both scored 20 or more points. They were just two of four 'Jacks in double-figures with Rasheed and Malvar each totaling 11 points. Malvar also recorded five assists without committing a turnover.
Paplow's eight boards paced NAU's 33-28 advantage on the glass. While Paplow only finished with seven points – all coming in the final period – she matched her season-high with four steals.
The Lumberjacks will look to sweep their weekend road trip Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. versus Weber State.
