TEMPE, Ariz. (November 7, 2022) – Regan Schenck and the rest of the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks wasted no time proving just how dangerous they will be when operating at their best this season.
Erasing an 11-point first-half deficit Monday night in Tempe, the Lumberjacks took a four-point lead against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the final three minutes of their 2022-23 season opener before falling just short of the upset. An untimely cold spell from the field by the Lumberjacks and a pair of late free throws by Arizona State allowed the Sun Devils to escape with a 69-68 victory.
While Schenck proved how dangerous she can be, finishing with 18 points while adding 13 assists, newcomer
Montana Oltrogge added 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-6 night from behind the three-point line.
Northern Arizona's cold spell on the offensive end almost lined up with Oltrogge's exit, as the fifth year senior fouled out with 4:06 remaining in the game as the Lumberjacks led 63-62.
After a pair of free throws by Arizona State's Jaddan Simmons put the Sun Devils in front 64-63, Schenck answered with a step-back three-pointer to regain the lead.
Fatoumata Jaiteh put in the Lumberjacks final basket 45 seconds later, off Schenck's 13th and final assist, to give Northern Arizona its largest lead of the evening at 68-64.
Having dropped five straight meetings against Arizona State, Northern Arizona was seeking its first win over the Sun Devils since 1995 and its first victory over a Pac-12 opponent since an 84-66 victory in Flagstaff over the Arizona Wildcats in 2017.
Struggling from outside early on, with just one of their first 10 three-pointers connecting, the Lumberjacks grinded through the final four minutes of the opening half to draw within three points.
Down 33-22 after going 3:30 without a basket, Schenck ended the stretch with a three-pointer to trigger a 15-7 stretch leading into halftime. Oltrogge connected on a jumper off a pass from Schenck and a steal by
Emily Rodabaugh led to a fastbreak layup for
Nyah Moran. Freshman
Sophie Glancey then traded scores with Arizona State, hitting a layup off an assist from Schenck and drilling a three as the Northern Arizona point guard collapsed the defense in the paint before finding Glancey open in the corner.
Having cut the Sun Devils' lead to 40-36, Schenck handed off another assist as
Nyah Moran buried a three just 26 seconds before halftime.
Nyah Moran joined Schenck and Oltrogge in double-digits, scoring 11 points as eight different Lumberjacks scored in the game.
Schenck's assist total ranks third for a single game in school history, trailing the school record of 14 set by Stephanie Smith against Kansas State in 1988 and matched by Schenck herself last December against Grand Canyon. Adding Schenck's 18 points to the 31 coming off her 13 assists, and the senior had a hand in 49 of Northern Arizona's 68 points. Meanwhile, Glancey came down with 13 rebounds, eight points and three blocks in her Lumberjack debut.
Oltrogge set the tone for a back-and-forth second half, drilling a three 10 seconds into the third quarter to tie the game at 40.
From there, neither side led by more than five while Northern Arizona's 8-0 run, after facing that lone five-point deficit, was the longest by either team in the game. A 21-15 third quarter in favor of the Lumberjacks gave way for a much slower 14-10 fourth quarter in favor of the Sun Devils, as the teams shot a combined 7-of-34 across the final 10 minutes.
While the Lumberjacks missed their final seven shots from the field, the Sun Devils missed 10 consecutive shots from the field over a nearly five-minute stretch. Scoring five of their final seven points from the free-throw line in the game's closing 4:06, Arizona State escaped as Northern Arizona hit just 7-of-15 from the line in the game.
Northern Arizona heads south again this week as it heads to Tucson to face the No. 19 Arizona Wildcats on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Wildcats will open their regular season with the Lumberjacks after defeating West Texas A&M and Cal State Los Angeles in a pair of exhibitions last week.
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