Olivia Moran’s Career-High 21 Points Leads NAU to 67-56 Victory

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 25, 2021) – Coming off two of her best games as a Lumberjack, freshman Olivia Moran took another massive leap forward in Thursday's home finale against Southern Utah.
 
Scoring a career-high 21 points, Moran put up nine in the fourth quarter, including a pair of three-pointers in less than a minute of play, as Northern Arizona held off the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in the second half for a 67-56 victory.
 
"Coach was saying that people needed to step up and I just took the shots that were there. I wasn't really trying to force anything," Moran said. 
 
Moran wrapped up the first quarter with a jumper before putting up seven in the second quarter to tie her career high across the game's first 20 minutes. A crucial three-pointer came in the middle of an 11-3 run by the Thunderbirds (9-7, 4-4 Big Sky) during a rough third quarter, before knocking down two more as she scored nine straight points for the Lumberjacks (12-11, 10-9).
 
The infusion of scoring came at a crucial time for the Lumberjacks, as JJ Nakai missed the contest and both Miki'ala Maio and Emily Rodabaugh ended up in foul trouble during the second half.
 
"They figured out a way, and Liv definitely contributed to that. She was a huge reason why we ended up pulling out this game," said NAU head coach Loree Payne. 
 
With the victory, NAU moved a half-game ahead of Southern Utah and into sixth-place in the Big Sky. With the two so closely matched in the conference standing entering the night, the first eight minutes of the night looked every bit as you'd expect.
 
Neither side could pull ahead by more than one possession for much of the opening quarter until the Lumberjacks came up with an 11-0 run spanning the end of the first into the start of the second.
 
Trailing 15-14 after a jumper by Madelyn Eaton with 2:33 remaining in the opening quarter Maio drilled her first three-pointer of the game to kick off the impressive stretch on the offensive end.
 
Regan Schenck and Moran followed up with jumpers to wrap up the scoring in the first, with the former then opening the scoring in the second on a pair of free throws. Maio capped off the run with a wide open layup under the basket thanks to a perfect pass by Rodabaugh, giving NAU its first double-digit lead of the night.
 
A 7-3 stretch for the Thunderbirds across three minutes of play trimmed the lead back down, but another push on the offensive end, again spurred in part by Moran's strong play, sent the Lumberjacks to their largest lead of the night.
 
Completing a three-point play with 5:27 before halftime, Moran gave NAU a 33-22 advantage with it soon ballooning up to 14 after she came up with a left-handed layup and Maio drilled another shot from behind the arc.
 
The lead remained at 14 entering the break after Maio and Schenck put up a quick five points in the final 37 seconds of the half. Maio finished the fist half with 16 points, finishing with 20 points for the game.
 
Schenck produced yet another strong night, scoring 16 points with seven assists, four rebounds and four steals while playing 40 minutes for the Lumberjacks. 
 
Each side struggled to score early on in the third, with the halftime score of 45-31 holding for the first three minutes until Jacey Bailey snapped the skid with a free throw. Though they would only lose the second half by three points, thanks to the Thunderbirds hitting just 22.6 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, the Lumberjacks were beaten by 14 on the boards after halftime.
 
"We have to figure out how to be a little more consistent across the board scoring, but at the end of the day the biggest stat that stands out is rebounding," Payne said. "They absolutely demolished us on the boards in the second half."
 
NAU connected on just two field goals during the quarter, a three for Moran and a jumper by Maio, while Southern Utah hit just three shots from the field as well. Seven fouls in the third quarter by the Lumberjacks sent the Thunderbirds to the line eight times, converting six free throws, as the visitors trimmed the deficit back down to 51-44 to enter the fourth.
 
Slipping a pass right through the lane, Schenck found Moran in the paint for the first points of the fourth quarter, the start of her dominant run to effectively lock up the victory for NAU. Though they hit just 21.4 percent in the second half, the Lumberjacks hit 5-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final quarter.
 
Both schools will head to Cedar City on Friday as they wrap up the week with a meeting on Saturday at 2 p.m.