FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 8, 2022) – Trailing by a few possessions for most of the afternoon, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks never could wrestle control away from the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in Saturday's meeting of the Big Sky Conference's final two unbeatens.
Five consecutive points by
Emily Rodabaugh, coming on a three-pointer and a driving layup, cut Northern Arizona's deficit to just two with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter. However, an 8-0 run for the Thunderbirds (8-5, 4-0 Big Sky) to cap off the quarter effectively put the game out of reach for the Lumberjacks (6-6, 3-1), as they fell 70-61 in the Walkup Skydome.
"I think we just had a poor offensive shooting night," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne as Northern Arizona finished 35 percent from the field, the lowest for the team this season. "Our big scorers weren't scoring, and I felt like we just couldn't quite find that flow."
In addition to hitting just 21-of-60 from the floor, the Lumberjacks struggled at the free-throw line and made just 14-of-21.
"I am at a loss for words with our free-throw shooting," Payne added. "We shoot a ton in practice, so I need to figure that out and figure out how we can be better free throw shooters because we have been leaving a lot of points at the line and it is costing us games."
Southern Utah jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening five minutes of the game, leaving Northern Arizona playing catch-up throughout the afternoon.
A layup by
Olivia Moran, coupled with a three-point play for
Sierra Mich'l, cut Southern Utah's advantage to one just a minute and a half later, but the Thunderbirds closed out the opening quarter with a three-point advantage.
Another five-point run pushed Southern Utah's lead to eight, with the two sides effectively trading runs for the remainder of the day. An 8-2 run by the Lumberjacks was answered by a 7-2 stretch for the Thunderbirds. Northern Arizona came within one possession on a pair of
Lauren Orndoff free throws with 49 seconds left in the half, but Southern Utah's Cherita Daugherty connected on a late three-pointer to extend the Thunderbirds' advantage to six.
While Southern Utah held a shooting advantage, more impactful was the result on the boards.
The top rebounding team in the conference, and 23rd-best team in the NCAA, Southern Utah controlled the boards with a 45-33 advantage. While the Thunderbirds finished with just eight second-chance points to the Lumberjacks' five, four of Southern Utah's came in the fourth quarter.
A pair of offensive rebounds off a missed free throw allowed Southern Utah to return to the free-throw line. Two more offensive boards on the next possession led to a jumper and a 10-point lead for the Thunderbirds with 5:53 left in the game. In total, seven offensive rebounds during a four-minute stretch allowed Southern Utah to turn a 56-50 lead into a game-high 62-52 advantage with just 3:22 remaining.
"I think that really exposes a toughness issue. They were a little bit tougher than us," Payne said. "In the fourth quarter alone, they got multiple O-boards in really critical situations including one off of a free throw."
Rodabaugh led the Lumberjacks with 13 points, followed by 10 points for Orndoff and
Olivia Moran. Playing extended minutes for the second consecutive game, Moran also finished with five steals, the most by a Lumberjack this season while
Regan Schenck's seven assists led all players.
Northern Arizona now heads out on the road to face the Sacramento State Hornets (4-8, 0-3), who have been idle since a Dec. 30 loss to Southern Utah. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT on Monday at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif.
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