FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 8, 2020) – Frustrated after letting a significant lead slip away two nights ago, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team never let up on Saturday en route to a 92-61 victory over Weber State. The Lumberjacks posted their largest margin of victory of the season and in the process moved up to second-place in the Big Sky standings.
"Obviously it was a very tough loss on Thursday and it was a big wake up call for our players in terms of understanding that we need to be sharp for 40 minutes every night," said head coach
Loree Payne. "They executed tonight. We needed to make a statement and tonight was a statement win for us."
With seven games remaining in the regular season, NAU is 12-10 overall and 9-4 in conference play. The Lumberjacks leapt Idaho, who fell to Montana on Saturday, in the standings dropping the Vandals' Big Sky mark to 8-4 having played one fewer game than the 'Jacks.
The Lumberjacks had four players score in double-figures and in all had 13 of 14 players who saw the court record a digit in the scoring column. Junior
Khiarica Rasheed led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds in her fourth double-double of the season.
"All of us have just stayed the course," Rasheed said. "We learned against Idaho State that a 20-point lead doesn't matter."
NAU dominated the box score in just about every category notably in rebounds (47-35), points in the paint (42-24), second chance points (24-7) and bench points (40-23). However, the most noteworthy stat was NAU's single turnover with the Lumberjacks setting a new program record with just one turnover in the game. That allowed NAU to hold a 16-2 advantage in points off turnovers as well.
With the Lumberjacks making the most of their possessions, NAU set a new season-high for points in regulation in its second-highest scoring game of the season only trailing the school record 114 points the 'Jacks scored in their double overtime win over Sacramento State on Jan. 9.
Despite the final score, the game was close though with NAU only leading 10-9 at the first quarter media timeout before redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey drained back-to-back three-pointers to ignite a 12-2 quarter closing run.
The Lumberjacks led 22-11 at the end of the first quarter and NAU outscored Weber State by 10 in the second quarter to take a 45-24 advantage into halftime.
Unlike on Thursday when Idaho State erased a 24-point NAU lead, the Lumberjacks continued to put the pressure on the Wildcats as they maintained a 20-point lead throughout the entirety of the second half.
"Thursday was a big learning lesson," sophomore
Regan Schenck said. "We were all getting comfortable and that loss was good for us because we come to practice and we're working hard. We know any team can beat any team. It was a big turning point and we all realize that if we really want it, we can get it but we're going to have to work for it."
NAU's advantage grew to 27 in the third quarter and to as much as 33 in the final minute of the game. The Lumberjacks' new mentality was evident in the fourth quarter as they made 9-of-13 attempts from the field (69.2 percent) and outscored the Wildcats by seven after being outscored by the Bengals on Thursday by 15 in the final 10 minutes.
Bailey tied a season-high with four treys as she recorded 14 points, second on the team behind Rasheed's 17. Redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford chipped in 12 points – and also posted game-highs of five assists and three steals – while Schenck added 10 points off the bench.
The 'Jacks shot 43.2 percent for the game and had 21 assists with just the one turnover.
The Lumberjacks will travel to Northern Colorado next Thursday and Southern Utah next Saturday on their upcoming road trip.
