SACRAMENTO, Calif. (January 27, 2020) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team needed two overtimes to dispatch Sacramento State less than three weeks ago. On Monday night, junior Khiarica Rasheed, redshirt junior Jacey Bailey and sophomore Nina Radford made sure the Lumberjacks did not require any extra periods in a convincing 85-65 win.
Rasheed, Bailey and Radford combined for 77 of the Lumberjacks' 85 points – and outscored Sacramento State by themselves – as NAU improved to 9-9 overall and 6-3 in conference play.
Rasheed paced all players with 27 points, while Bailey and Radford each totaled 25. Bailey's 25 points were a new season-high. The trio's 20-point outings also marked the first time NAU had three 20-point scorers since March 2, 2016 against Portland State.
"I'm super proud of the team and their resiliency to bounce back from a tough loss," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We were much more comfortable tonight with our shooting and Nina, Khia and Jacey really put the team on their backs. They were knocking down big time shots in big time moments."
Not only did NAU outshoot Sacramento State, 43.8 percent to 32 percent, but the Lumberjacks pummeled the Hornets on the glass. NAU outrebounded Sacramento State, 60-38, and raked in 23 boards on the offensive end. Bailey led the charge with a career-high 13 rebounds and Rasheed grabbed a dozen boards as both players recorded their second consecutive double-doubles.
Redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar tallied seven assists with just one turnover and Radford also had an efficient game dishing the ball with five assists against only one turnover.
A 7-0 Sacramento State run provided the Hornets with an eight-point lead, 16-8, six minutes into the game, but NAU closed to just three at 20-17 by the end of the first quarter.
Neither team was very effective offensively in the second quarter as the squads went scoreless for the first three minutes. Radford eventually tied the game at 25-25 with 4:51 left in the first half, which started a 10-2 run heading into the locker room. Radford's buzzer beating three gave the 'Jacks a 33-27 halftime lead despite both teams combining for just four field goals in the period.
Bailey and junior
Lauren Orndoff combined for 11 of NAU's first 13 second half points as the Lumberjacks quickly opened up a 46-31 advantage at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter. NAU found its stroke in the quarter, shooting 57.1 percent, and led by as much as 19 on two separate occasions.
"We came out of halftime ready to put them away," Payne said. "We started a little slow but every time you play Sacramento State, you have to get used to the pace of the game. It's challenging to play because it's chaotic. It took us a little to settle in, but once we did, we were able to execute sharply."
After the Hornets got within 13 with 6:49 to play, the Lumberjacks went on an 8-0 run on four consecutive possessions all in the paint – NAU outscored Sacramento State, 44-28, in the paint – in a two-minute span to put away the Hornets.
"We never let them get back in it," Payne said. "Every time they went on a run, our team had the toughness to get a stop and then get a score. They have some really great players and they had potential opportunities to get back in it, but our team's maturity and resilience really shined through."
Rasheed, Radford and Bailey each traded turns at leading the offense with Rasheed scoring 10 points in the first quarter and Radford netting 10 in the second. Bailey scored 15 of her season-high total in the third before all three players combined for all 21 of NAU's fourth quarter points.
The Lumberjacks will be back out on the road on Saturday versus Idaho at 3 p.m. MST. NAU's four-game stretch of road games will then conclude next Monday at Eastern Washington.
