OGDEN, Utah (January 4, 2020) – Junior
Khiarica Rasheed and redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford scored at will on Saturday, combining for 57 points, to lift the Northern Arizona women's basketball team to an 88-82 road victory at Weber State. The pair punished the Wildcats and helped the Lumberjacks earn their first conference win of the season and improve to 4-8 overall and 1-2 in league play.
"Khia came out and played really strong in the first half and made some big buckets before Nina really picked up in the second half," said head coach
Loree Payne. "I felt that our offense finally started to get some flow. Defensively, we still have to figure some things out. Weber State played well offensively and are playing a lot better as a team. We need to figure out how to hold teams to fewer points than 80-plus."
Rasheed dominated the Wildcats for the second consecutive year on Weber State's home court in the Dee Events Center. After posting 22 points in Ogden last season, Rasheed erupted for a career-high 31 points on Saturday, shooting 11-for-16 from the field and 8-for-10 at the charity stripe.
Meanwhile, Radford went to work both inside and outside – hitting 3-of-5 behind the arc – on her way to 26 points. Radford was 10-of-18 overall and also tied redshirt junior
Brianna Lehew for team-high honors with seven boards.
The former high school teammates at Portland's Grant High School helped NAU equal its highest scoring game of the season. NAU shot 44.9 percent overall and shot over 80 percent (20-of-24) at the free throw line for the second consecutive game.
NAU's offensive exploits helped the 'Jacks overcome a 56 percent field goal performance by the Wildcats. Weber State shot 58 percent or higher in the final three quarters, but were plagued by turnovers. Weber State, the league's worst turnover team, committed 22 turnovers to NAU's 14 which led to a plus-11 point margin off miscues (25-14) for the 'Jacks. NAU also attempted 19 more shots than Weber State behind 12 offensive rebounds.
Both teams struggled offensively off the opening tip with NAU connecting on just two of its first 10 shots while Weber State hit on just two of its first eight from the floor. Rasheed kept the Lumberjacks afloat though with nine points in the opening quarter to help NAU trail by just one, 14-13, at the end of the period despite shooting 29.4 percent in the first 10 minutes.
The last four minutes of the second quarter proved to be the difference as NAU went into halftime on a 15-2 run that provided the 'Jacks with a 40-33 advantage.
After Weber State opened with the first five points of the period, junior
Lauren Orndoff tied the game at 23-23 with a triple. The Wildcats immediately responded with a 6-0 run and they held a 31-25 lead with 4:23 left in the first half. From there, Rasheed and Radford combined for all 15 points in the half-closing run as the duo combined to hit NAU's last six shots from the field.
NAU was aided by seven Weber State turnovers in that span. The Lumberjacks outscored the Wildcats, 19-8, in points off turnovers in the first half and Rasheed scored 21 of her 31 points before halftime.
Redshirt junior Jacey Bailed scored all seven of her points in the first three minutes of the second half, sparking the Lumberjacks' to a game-high lead of 53-41 with 7:15 on the third quarter clock. However, Weber State kept pace with NAU and managed to cut its deficit to two on two occasions.
The Lumberjacks took a 63-57 lead into the fourth quarter, but once again saw their lead trimmed to two at 66-64 with 6:28 to play. With the Wildcats within a single possession, Radford – who scored nine points in the fourth quarter alone and 16 in the second half – single-handedly was responsible for the first six points of a game-clinching 12-1 run.
The extended run pushed NAU's lead out to 76-65 with 3:21 remaining and the Lumberjacks were successful on eight of their 10 free throw attempts in the final minute to seal up the road win.
"We talk about our playmakers needing to knock down shots and they did tonight," Payne said. "Jacey started a little slow but hit some big shots in the second half. Caitlin (Malvar) kept us calm and hit some big shots as well. We got some critical stops at the end and hit some free throws to close it out."
Redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar helped NAU ice the game with seven of her 11 points in the final period. She also tallied six assists and recorded three steals, a number matched by sophomore
Regan Schenck. NAU tied a season-high with 11 thefts and also outrebounded Weber State, 30-26.
The 'Jacks will make a quick stop at home in the Walkup Skydome versus Sacramento State at 6:30 p.m. next Thursday before heading back out on the road to Idaho State next Saturday.
