FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 17, 2021) – Building up a 14-point lead in the game's opening 10 minutes, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks cruised to a victory in Wednesday's home debut against the UNLV Lady Rebels.
Lauren Orndoff laid in a pair of baskets before
Khiarica Rasheed and
Regan Schenck connected on a pair of jumpers, with Northern Arizona (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky) never trailing against UNLV (2-1, 0-0 Mountain West). Building the lead up to as much as 28 in the four quarter, the Lumberjacks closed out the 84-62 win thanks to double-digit performances by Orndoff, Rasheed and
Emily Rodabaugh while earning assists on two-thirds of their baskets.
Shooting 58.1 percent from the field, Northern Arizona produced its best shooting night in head coach
Loree Payne's tenure and the best mark since February 2016 at Weber State. Rasheed led the way, hitting 10-of-15 from the field for 24 points, moving her past Jess LeBlanc into third in program history with 1,472.
Rodabaugh added 17 points, hitting 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range, and finished with a double-double thanks to her game-high 10 rebounds. Orndoff 15 points came on 7-of-11 shooting, while adding five rebounds and three assists.
Meanwhile, UNLV shot just 34.3 percent from the field which was aided by a 42.9 percent performance in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
"Defense has always kind of been our struggle the last few years and I feel like we have made a complete 180 with our defensive effort, intensity and system," Payne said. "They are bought in to what we were doing and I feel like we caused UNLV to be disrupted a little bit and that really helped our offense."
After an 8-0 lead to open the game, the Lumberjacks closed out the quarter with a 29-17 lead as Rodabaugh drilled a trio of three-pointers in a one-minute stretch.
A 12-0 run for the Lady Rebels put the visitors right back into the game, but a pair of jumpers by Rasheed, sandwiched around a charge taken by the Lumberjacks, put the streak to a halt. UNLV hit just two free throws for the final 4:32 of the quarter, and Orndoff's halftime buzzer-beater put Northern Arizona ahead 42-29 at the break.
"That second quarter was a little challenging, especially out of the gate," Payne said. "We came out so strong having a 29-point quarter, and then to turn around and have a 13-point quarter, we have to be a little more consistent with that. I felt like we just didn't have a lot of flow in that first fourish minutes of that second quarter."
Yet another Lumberjack run, this time 15-2, came in the middle of the third quarter. Field goals by Rasheed,
Miki'ala Maio and Orndoff put Northern Arizona in control at 54-35 before Rodabaugh drilled a three off a pass from
Regan Schenck to answer UNLV's lone score to interrupt the run.
Orndoff followed with her own three, once again assisted by Schenck, to push the Lumberjacks lead to 23. UNLV came within 20 briefly during the final 14 minutes of the game, as Northern Arizona closed out its largest home win since last season's 24-point win against Sacramento State.
The 22-point victory was also Northern Arizona's largest Division I non-conference win since a 66-35 win against UC Irvine in November 2014.
The Lumberjacks head back out on the road this weekend as they take on the UTEP Miners in El Paso, Texas, Saturday at 7 p.m. The Miners, who the Lumberjacks beat 83-75 in Flagstaff last season, enter the weekend 3-0 after home victories over Incarnate Word, North Dakota and New Mexico State to start the season.
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