FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 12, 2020) – Back at home for the week following a trip to Idaho, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team is looking to snap its three-game losing skid as it faces the Montana Lady Griz this week in Flagstaff.
Dropping three straight games to a pair of Big Sky Conference favorites, NAU enters Thursday night's game at 5-5 overall, 3-3 in the Big Sky. Meanwhile, Montana is coming off of a 61-33 victory over the College of Idaho during its bye week from Big Sky play and sits at 4-3 overall, 1-1 in conference. Both games are available on Pluto TV Channel 1058, starting with Thursday's 6 p.m. tipoff followed by Saturday morning's 10 a.m. start.
"We obviously have had a challenging last couple weeks. The biggest thing is us getting healthy, we have yet to have a game where we have been firing on all cylinders health-wise," said NAU head coach
Loree Payne. "Obviously Montana is a good team, they went and took one on the road from Northern Colorado. They are always a tough team to face and for us, the thing that we learned through the past couple games are just being a little more consistent."
Montana's only Big Sky weekend this season finished in a split against the Northern Colorado Bears as the Lady Griz held on for a 60-56 victory on Jan. 1 followed by a 77-76 overtime loss on Jan. 3.
Trailing by as much as 19 with just 1:24 left in the third quarter, Montana rallied back from the 52-33 deficit to take its first lead since the opening minutes with just 36 seconds left on the clock. Madi Schoening and Carmen Gfeller connected on three-pointers a minute apart to tie the score at 56-56 before Kyndall Keller scored the final four points of the game.
Northern Colorado hit just 5 of 31 in the second half, including 1 of 17 in the fourth quarter, as Montana's defense clamped down late. Currently second in the Big Sky with 61.7 points allowed per game, the Lady Griz are holding opponents to 34.2 percent from the field and 27.6 percent from three-point range. Both totals rank among the top two in the conference so far this season.
The second meeting between the two schools provided a similar start, with the Bears leading by as much as 24 late in the second quarter. Once again, the Lady Griz chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 64 on Hannah Thurmon's three-pointer with five seconds remaining.
However, Montana fell behind by six in the first minute of overtime and never took the lead on the way to the one-point loss.
"We were down 20 at Idaho State and almost came back," Payne said. "The game is 40 minutes for a reason and teams are going to have big runs. They are going to have really efficient quarters and so for us, we just need to really hone in to the fact that 40 minutes is what we need to play on both ends of the floor."
Gfeller, the sister of former Montana basketball player Brandon Gfeller, leads the team at 14.3 points per game this season. Sophia Stiles sits second at 11.6 points per game, followed by Abby Anderson at 9.2 points.
"Stiles has given them a lot of great things, she's a really fast guard and can score pretty much anywhere on the court," Payne said. "So for us, the biggest thing is containing their penetration and making sure we are contesting on outside shots."
A total of 11 players have played in at least six of Montana's seven games this season, with 11 also averaging at least 11 minutes per game and seven with at least 5.0 points per game. Gfeller, Stiles, Thurmon and Schoening have all started all seven games this season while Anderson missed the second game against the Bears with Kylie Frohlich stepping into the starting lineup.
Finishing 1-2 against Montana last season, NAU won the final meeting of the season in the Big Sky quarterfinals last March. Coming away with a 68-65 victory in Boise, the Lumberjacks bounced back after falling to the Lady Griz 79-71 in Flagstaff and 70-57 in Missoula, just 12 days before the postseason meeting.
Anderson fared the best against NAU among Montana's returners, averaging 15.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in the three games, including a career-best seven blocks during the meeting in Missoula.
"She's a very efficient post player and effective for them," Payne said. "I think us being a little thin in the post in our last few games has presented a challenge with teams who do have effective post players.
For the Lumberjacks,
Emily Rodabaugh produced the best game of her freshman campaign against Montana, scoring 19 points while hitting 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-7 from three.
Khiarica Rasheed also posted double-digit scoring efforts in all three meetings, averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while hitting 50 percent from the field.
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