SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (December 10, 2022) – Holding the lead for nearly the first 34 minutes of the game, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks found themselves in a battle with the Cal Poly Mustangs on Saturday.
Four consecutive free throws, made by
Regan Schenck and
Sophie Glancey, in the final 39 seconds of regulation sent the Lumberjacks (5-6, 0-0 Big Sky) to overtime with the Mustangs (3-5, 0-0 Big West) where they connected on 9-of-10 from the free-throw line for a 79-76 victory. Early in the victory, Schenck quickly put in the five points needed to reach the mark as she scored six points in the game's opening six minutes.
Schenck joins 19 other Lumberjacks in the 1,000-point club including former teammates
Khiarica Rasheed, Kaleigh Paplow and Jacey Bailey who all achieved the milestone under head coach
Loree Payne. The senior also moved into seventh all-time in rebounds with 627, passing Karli Rikli, and to second all-time in minutes played with 3,929 by passing Rene Coggins' 3,909.
Led by six first-quarter points for both Schenck and
Montana Oltrogge, Northern Arizona quickly took a seven-point lead in the first quarter. Oltrogge's first three-pointer of the game started a brief 8-2 run, with Schenck cashing in
Olivia Moran's offensive rebound with a layup before finding
Nyah Moran wide open in the corner for another three-pointer.
Second-chance points would end up being a crucial piece of Northern Arizona's victory as the Lumberjacks outscored the Mustangs 23-8 in the category despite only outrebounded Cal Poly 18-16 on the offensive end. Seven different Lumberjacks scored at least two second-chance points, led by Glancey's eight and
Saniyah Neverson's five. Neverson's all came during a dominant second quarter where the freshman scored a career-high nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
With both Glancey and
Fatoumata Jaiteh in a bit of foul trouble during the quarter, as both were whistled for a pair of fouls within the first 2:12 of the second quarter, Neverson scored the final nine points of the half for the Lumberjacks on assists by
Mary McMorris,
Emily Rodabaugh and Schenck. Leading by eight going into halftime, Northern Arizona was led by Neverson and Oltrogge's nine points apiece.
Temporarily pushing the lead to a game-high of 11 late in the third, the Lumberjacks soon ran into their first stretch of adversity during the game.
Six turnovers and an 0-for-6 start from the field in the fourth quarter let the Mustangs quickly climb back into the game and take their first lead of the day. A three-pointer by Cal Poly's Nikola Kovacikova put the Mustangs in front for the first time with 5:34 remaining while Northern Arizona failed to score in the quarter until Jaiteh put in a layup two minutes later.
Trying to rally back from what became a five-point deficit, the Lumberjacks essentially traded baskets with the Mustangs until the final minute, when Glancey put in two free throws to cut the lead to 66-64. Looking for their first consecutive points since the 2:34 mark of the third quarter, the Lumberjacks came up with a steal by Oltrogge who drew a shooting foul with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
A pair of made free throws by Schenck and a missed layup by Cal Poly with just seconds left on the clock pushed Northern Arizona into overtime for the second time this year.
While the Lumberjacks fell behind by two on a three-pointer from Annika Shaw, another pair of free throws by Schenck tied the game back up before Glancey put the Lumberjacks ahead for good with a second-chance layup with just 1:30 remaining. The 73-71 advantage moved to 75-71 with Schenck at the line following a stop on the defensive end, and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line by Northern Arizona closed out the win.
Schenck led the Lumberjacks with 17 points on her historic night, adding eight rebounds and seven assists, while Oltrogge finished with a second consecutive double-double at 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Glancey added 11 points and seven rebounds, as Northern Arizona outrebounded Cal Poly 47-40, and
Olivia Moran scored 10 points off the bench.
Off for the next week, the Lumberjacks will head out on the road again for a Dec. 19 meeting with the UC Davis Aggies (3-4, 0-0 Big West) in Northern California before stopping in Las Vegas, Nev. to play the UNLV Lady Rebels (8-1, 0-0 Mountain West).
Make sure to follow the NAU women's basketball team on
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