FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 17, 2021) – Stuck in an early hole following a 15-0 run by the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks found themselves trying to catch up throughout Friday afternoon's game in the Walkup Skydome.
However, a 21-point deficit in the first quarter became 29 in the second and 36 in the fourth quarter before the Lumberjacks (5-5, 2-0 Big Sky) closed out the game with a 9-0 run. Falling 82-55 to Arizona (10-0), Northern Arizona's six-game homestand comes to a close and now prepares to play its next three on the road.
Committing 10 in the first quarter, turnovers plagued the Lumberjacks across the opening 10 minutes of the game. Three came before Northern Arizona took its first shot, with Arizona pulling ahead 8-0 before
Emily Rodabaugh snapped the run with a layup.
Unfortunately, the next seven turnovers came as the Wildcats pieced together their 15-0 run across a nearly five-minute stretch. While
Miki'ala Maio ended the run with a three and
Lauren Orndoff added a layup to close out the quarter down 23-7, a 15-3 run by Arizona to open the second quarter effectively put the game out of reach.
The Lumberjacks went into the break on an 8-0 run of their own after trading baskets with the Wildcats across the final five minutes of the first half. Freshman
Fatoumata Jaiteh played a key role in the improved performance, scoring six of Northern Arizona's 14 points across the final 5:31 of the half, as well as grabbing two rebounds, coming up with a steal and assisting a layup by
Khiarica Rasheed.
"I've been telling you since day one, this is a special kid. She's going to be really, really good. We just have to give her an opportunity to get experience," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne of Jaiteh. "We do Jack of the Day in practice, and she's collected quite a few of them in the last couple weeks. So, we just really see her coming out of that learning curve and making huge strides."
Jaiteh finished with seven points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks in 14 minutes, with one of the two defensive stops coming as Northern Arizona cut the deficit under 20 midway through the third quarter.
"Just been working hard in practice. My teammates have been challenging me a lot because it's definitely a huge difference from high school to college," Jaiteh said. "Everyone is bigger and stronger, but in practice we have been pushing hard and getting better every time."
A jumper by
Nina Radford and a three from Rodabaugh left the Lumberjacks trailing 54-35, but six consecutive points for the Wildcats halted Northern Arizona's push.
Two more threes by Rodabaugh in the fourth quarter pushed her to a team-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Finishing with a pair of steals and assists, Rodabaugh helped Northern Arizona finish the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run.
JJ Nakai added nine points, hitting a pair of threes in the final quarter, as the Lumberjacks connected on 8-of-12 from outside in the game.
Bouncing back from the 10 first-quarter turnovers, the Lumberjacks committed just 12 across the final three quarters. While it came partially against the Wildcats' reserves, Northern Arizona also matched Arizona on the boards in the second half.
Rasheed led the way for the Lumberjacks with six rebounds, adding six points in 20 minutes, as the graduate student played her 124th career game to set a new program record.
Currently third on the all-time scoring list, and second in rebounds with just 39 more to tie the all-time record, Rasheed's within reach of multiple program bests.
"Being able to come back and finish it out, I'm appreciative of that," Rasheed said, who took the extra year allowed by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "Because it could have all ended last year on a very interesting note."
Rasheed is now just 11 away from matching the Big Sky Conference record of 135 help by Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce of Idaho.
Northern Arizona concludes its non-conference schedule before the holidays, as it takes on UC San Diego in California on Tuesday at 5 p.m. MT. The Tritons (3-5) faced off with the San Diego State Aztecs Friday evening before hosting the Lumberjacks.
Stay connected with NAU Women's Basketball on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook for updates on the Lumberjacks as they continue the 2021-22 season.
