PORTLAND, Ore. (January 25, 2020) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team jumped on Portland State early, but an 18-1 Viking run to close the first half proved too much to overcome in a 66-54 loss on Saturday in the Viking Pavilion. The Lumberjacks' five-game winning streak was snapped at the hands of the defending Big Sky tournament champions, dropping NAU's record to 8-9 overall and 5-3 in Big Sky action.
"It's frustrating because we didn't play the way we're capable," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We allowed their zone to get to us and we were really passive, which isn't indicative of who we are as a team. We need to play our style of basketball no matter who our opponent is. We stopped attacking them in transition and that hurt us."
Junior
Khiarica Rasheed and redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey each posted double-doubles on Saturday. Rasheed led all scorers with 18 points and hauled in 12 rebounds, while doing most of her damage at the free throw line where she was 8-for-10, in her second double-double of the season. Bailey notched her first double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high tying 12 boards.
The Lumberjacks started out fast with redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford forcing a quick timeout by the Vikings following a three that put NAU ahead 7-0. Junior
Lauren Orndoff's jumper gave NAU a 13-2 lead with just under four minutes left in the first quarter, but the Vikings managed to trim the Lumberjacks' advantage to 16-12 by the end of the period.
NAU's offense struggled in the second quarter as the 'Jacks made just 3-of-19 from the field. Still, back-to-back baskets by Radford and Rasheed had NAU's lead sitting at 22-15 with 6:44 to play in the half even after NAU missed seven consecutive shots.
However, the Lumberjacks missed their final 12 shots of the half and only managed to get on the board with a single free throw following Rasheed's jumper. In this span, Portland State surged ahead with an 18-1 run that provided the home team with a 10-point lead, 33-23, going into the intermission. The Vikings never trailed again, leading for the final 24 minutes of the game.
The Lumberjacks' tough second quarter, in which they were outscored by a 21-7 margin, resulted in NAU's lowest field goal percentage of the season (.339). While Portland State only shot 37.3 percent, the Vikings made eight threes to just three by the 'Jacks – tying NAU's season-low in a game this season. The 54 points also marked a season-low for the Lumberjacks.
"This was definitely a little bit of a wake-up call," Payne said. "We got content in the fact that we were rolling and with a team that hasn't won a ton, we'll learn that we need to show up every night or this happens. As easily as we can win five in a row, we can lose five in a row. I don't feel we handled the adversity very well tonight, but we have a great opportunity to bounce back on Monday."
Senior
Peyton Carroll got the Lumberjacks within six with 2:15 left in the third quarter before the Vikings closed the period on an 8-0 run to take a 51-37 lead into the final quarter.
NAU once again got as close as six with 4:20 to play on consecutive buckets by Bailey and Radford, but NAU never got closer than 55-49 after Portland State immediately knocked down back-to-back threes during an 8-0 run that turned away any NAU comeback.
With Rasheed and Bailey leading the way, NAU did outrebound Portland State narrowly, 42-40. The Lumberjacks also recorded 16 assists on their 21 made baskets with redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar totaling a team-high four helpers.
The Lumberjacks will look to get back in the win column on Monday at Sacramento State where the two teams will tip-off at 8 p.m. MST.
