BOISE, Idaho (March 10, 2020) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team had four starters score in double-figures, led by 17 from junior
Lauren Orndoff, in a 68-65 victory over Montana on Tuesday, propelling the Lumberjacks in the Big Sky semifinals for the first time since 2007. NAU moved to 16-14 overall with the quarterfinal victory over the Lady Griz.
"I'm super proud of this team and the biggest thing that stands out is our rebounding," said head coach
Loree Payne. "It was one of our goals to commit to rebounding both offensively and defensively and we took care of business. Our team was poised, composed and mature down the stretch. They were dialed in on our defensive switches, our offensive execution and we hit free throws at the end. That's what wins games."
The Lumberjacks will play top-seeded Montana State in the semifinals on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Arizona time. Montana State survived a scare against eighth-seeded Northern Colorado, 67-62, in its quarterfinal game on Tuesday.
NAU outshot Montana behind the three-point arc by six three-pointers – 18 points – and by five at the free throw line. Those two advantages were key in NAU overcoming a minus-10 turnover differential with the Lumberjacks committing 16 total turnovers.
Orndoff was an efficient 5-for-9 from the field and was 3-for-6 behind the arc and 4-for-5 at the free throw line in her first career game in Boise. Orndoff's 17 points was her highest game total in over a month since she scored a career-high 21 versus Idaho State on Feb. 6.
"We were prepared and we stayed super composed," said Orndoff, who missed last season's conference tournament in Boise due to her season-ending medical condition. "We have one goal in mind and that's to make it to the championship."
Backing Orndoff's team-high 17 points was junior
Khiarica Rasheed, who posted her seventh double-double of the season. She did most of her damage at the free throw line, where she was 8-for-10, on her way to a 14 point, 10 rebound performance.
The game started slowly for the Lumberjacks, who made just four of their 19 field goal attempts in the opening quarter. NAU quickly fell behind 10-4 and trailed by as much as eight points before ending the quarter behind, 19-14.
Montana's lead was 27-20 midway through the second quarter before NAU locked down defensively. The Lady Griz missed its final seven shots from the field and went scoreless in the final 5:05 of the first half.
Meanwhile, sophomore
Regan Schenck was the catalyst of a half-closing 8-0 Lumberjack run that pushed the 'Jacks in front, 28-27, at the intermission. Schenck scored all six of her points during the run.
As important as the 8-0 run to close the half was, NAU opened the second half on an 8-0 run to increase its surge to 16 consecutive points. The Lumberjacks' 16-0 run over a seven-plus minute stretch between the two halves provided NAU with its largest lead of the game, 36-27, with 7:48 left in the third quarter.
Redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford hit back-to-back threes late in the third quarter, helping NAU maintain its advantage at 45-37, but Montana finished the period with consecutive buckets to trim its deficit to 45-41 entering the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was a battle with both teams trading buckets and the NAU lead was just two at 55-53 with four minutes to play before redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey, who finished 13 points, hit her third three of the game. That started an 8-3 spurt that helped NAU reopen a seven-point lead.
An and-1 by Orndoff put the 'Jacks ahead, 64-56, with two minutes on the clock but the Lady Griz were not done. They cut their deficit down to 65-63 with 36 seconds remaining before redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game.
Down three with 11 seconds on the clock, Montana's game-tying corner three drew iron and sent NAU into the semifinals.
Radford rounded out NAU's double-digit scorers with 11 points. She also tallied a team-high three assists without committing a turnover.
NAU shot 38.6 percent for the game while Montana shot 37.7 percent. The Lady Griz were just 2-of-14 behind the arc, where the Lumberjacks were 8-for-22 themselves.
The Lumberjacks dominated the Lady Griz on the glass, 45-36. All five NAU starters grabbed at least four boards.
Wednesday's semifinal between NAU and Montana State will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 531 and will be broadcast in Flagstaff on 93.5 FM/AM 930 KAFF Country Legends. The radio broadcast can be heard at
nauathletics.com/listen.
