FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 10, 2022) – The Northern Arizona Lumberjacks wasted no time jumping right back into the win column, bouncing back from Saturday's loss with a second consecutive road victory in Big Sky Conference play.
Led by
Olivia Moran and
Nyah Moran, and with 38 points in total scored by freshmen, the Lumberjacks (7-6, 4-1 Big Sky) beat the Sacramento State Hornets (4-9, 0-3) 68-57 Monday night at the Nest.
"It was a big win for us. Anytime you can get a road win in the Big Sky is something you don't take for granted," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne. "I was just really proud of the kids, they bounced back. We had a tough game against Southern Utah, we didn't shoot the ball well and were just kind of out of sync."
While Northern Arizona may have been off on Saturday, it proved the team quickly moved past the weekend result as the Lumberjacks shot 63.6 percent from the field in the opening quarter. Building up a 10-point lead in the game's first 10 minutes, Northern Arizona led wire-to-wire for the victory.
The Hornets cut the deficit down to three in the second quarter, but four straight points from freshman
Fatoumata Jaiteh helped push the Lumberjacks' lead back to eight. A buzzer-beating layup by
Nyah Moran pushed the advantage back to nine entering halftime, with Northern Arizona effectively leading by double-digits for the remainder of the night.
After struggling from the free-throw line and losing the rebounding battle on Saturday, Northern Arizona bounced back with a 37-29 advantage on the boards and connected on 14-of-17 from the line.
Already in control coming out of the break, Northern Arizona dominated the third quarter with a 24-13 advantage as the Moran sisters took over.
Combining for 12 of the team's 24 points in the quarter, the twins picked up where they left off in the first half. After
Emily Rodabaugh hit a three-pointer with 4:16 left in the quarter to give the Lumberjacks a 48-33 lead, Nyah and Olivia scored four points apiece with Northern Arizona closing the quarter on a 10-2 run.
"Being able to get them some experience together, you can definitely see a little bit of a connection," Payne said. "They are just getting more and more confidence the more experience they get and it is really great for us to rotate such different lineups."
Olivia Moran led the Lumberjacks with 17 points, adding five rebounds and two steals while Nyah added 13 points, two assists and two steals. Jaiteh was one of three Lumberjacks to land at eight points, adding four assists and two steals of her own, with
Khiarica Rasheed and
Lauren Orndoff also scoring eight.
Emily Rodabaugh added seven points and seven rebounds while
Regan Schenck led the Lumberjacks with nine rebounds and seven assists.
A jumper from Rasheed pushed Northern Arizona's lead to a high of 22 points, though Sacramento State cut into the lead during the fourth quarter. However, the Lumberjacks held onto their double-digit lead for the final 10 minutes to win their second straight game on the road.
Now 4-1 in the Big Sky, the Lumberjacks return home to face the Northern Colorado Bears (4-6, 0-2), who have been idle since Dec. 28 due to multiple postponements and reschedulings in response to COVID-19 protocols. The Bears opened Big Sky play back on Dec. 2 and 4 with losses on the road to Montana State and Montana, and have had three conference games rescheduled in the past two weeks.
Saturday's tipoff against Northern Colorado is schedule for 2 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome. The game will be Northern Arizona's Pride and Inclusion Night, with NAU Pride Flags handed out to those in attendance.
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