FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 13, 2022) – Another season brought another victorious home opener for the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks and head coach
Loree Payne Sunday afternoon in Rolle Activity Center.
For the fifth consecutive season, the Lumberjacks produced their magic number of 80 points in their first game in Flagstaff en-route to an 87-54 win against the UC San Diego Tritons. Producing a 7-0 run to take a 9-3 lead in the game's opening two minutes, Northern Arizona never looked back as it produced its first 30-point victory since last December in Rolle against Grand Canyon.
"To bounce back after two tough losses to Arizona State and Arizona, and just to be able to put out a statement win for our home opener is something I am very impressed with," Payne said. "We never let down at all, we just kept building and building, and I felt like it was overall a really great team win."
UC San Diego came within three points twice in the opening quarter, but Northern Arizona needed just 15 minutes to build and hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the afternoon.
The first three-pointer of
Fatoumata Jaiteh's career, followed by a jumper from
Regan Schenck ended the first quarter at a 25-17 advantage before five straight points by
Olivia Moran cracked double-digits for the first time at 30-20. Moran's pair of layups with a free throw started what went on to be a 16-4 stretch spanning nearly seven minutes of the second quarter.
With their offense in a groove, hitting 62.5 percent in the first quarter and 45.9 percent in the first half, the Lumberjacks caused havoc for the Tritons playing at 7,000 feet.
Committing six turnovers in the first quarter before upping it to eight in the second, UC San Diego's miscues led to 14 points for Northern Arizona through the first 20 minutes. The struggles didn't stop after halftime as the Tritons committed another 13 turnovers in the second half, leading to another 17 points for the Lumberjacks.
UC San Diego's 27 turnovers were the most by a Northern Arizona opponent since Idaho State committed 28 on February 1, 2018, while the team's 14 steals matched last year's high set against Portland State on February 17.
Entering halftime with a 46-30 advantage, Northern Arizona answered UC San Diego's last minor run with a 14-2 run to effectively put the game away.
After layups by Schenck and
Nyah Moran were answered by one from the Tritons, the latter connected on her first three-pointer of the day to begin a 10-0 stretch in less than two minutes of play. Jaiteh, with two three pointers on her stat line, blew past a defender looking to close out on a third for a layup with
Emily Rodabaugh and Schenck dropping threes of their own for a 64-40 lead.
Schenck wound up as Northern Arizona's leading scorer at 16, one of five to reach double-digits and one of nine to score overall. Jaiteh finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, while
Nyah Moran added 11 and
Sophie Glancey finished with 10.
Montana Oltrogge continued an impressive start to her Lumberjack career, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Hitting 2-of-5 from outside, Oltrogge has connected on multiple three-pointers in all three games with the Lumberjacks so far while averaging a team-high 7.0 rebounds per game.
"Montana is an incredible player. She's one of the best three-point shooters in the league, but I think what people don't see from the outside is her leadership ability," Payne said. "She came in and I think her maturity and her personality, she's kind of the mother hen of our team, so they look to her to lean on and talk to. She's a coach's dream when it comes to work ethic and coachability."
Northern Arizona's batch of five true freshmen combined for 19 points in the game, led by Glancey's 10 and
Audrey Taylor's six as she scored her first career points as a Lumberjack. Combining for 45 total minutes on the court, Glancey, Taylor,
Taylor Feldman,
Saniyah Neverson and
Mary McMorris have continued to work their way into Northern Arizona's system through the first week of the season.
"We're still in a very young stage as a team," Payne said. "We have a lot of young players that are getting big minutes and we are still trying to create our brand and our style. I know what style we want to play, but we are still trying to figure out who we are as a team offensively and defensively."
Northern Arizona heads back out on the road, traveling out of the state of Arizona for the first time as they take on the California Baptist Lancers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. MST in Riverside. The Lancers defeated the Tritons 84-76 in Riverside on Monday before falling to St. Mary's 88-81 at home on Saturday.
Wednesday's game against California Baptist can be streamed
here while live stats are available
here.
Make sure to follow the NAU women's basketball team on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook for updates throughout the season.
