FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 31, 2022) – Battling through a foul-filled New Year's Eve matinee, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks came away with their first Big Sky Conference victory of the season, 82-68, against the Weber State Wildcats.
An 11-0 run late in the third quarter against the Wildcats (4-10, 0-2 Big Sky) put the Lumberjacks (7-8, 1-1 Big Sky) back in control after the visitors trimmed what had been a 10-point advantage down to just one point. The Wildcats cut the lead in half with five straight points to end the second quarter before building it into a 16-7 stretch through the first half of the third quarter.
However,
Montana Oltrogge put the Lumberjacks back in front by three with a jumper off a pass from
Fatoumata Jaiteh before
Emily Rodabaugh connected on a pair of threes with assists by
Nyah Moran and forced a Weber State timeout.
"It was just a physical game, and we knew that it was going to be physical," said head coach
Loree Payne. "For us, it was really about us getting into our style and getting back to our transition. We knew if we were able to run in transition, we would have an advantage offensively."
The Wildcats never recovered from Oltrogge and Rodabaugh's eight points in less than two minutes of play, as
Regan Schenck and
Nyah Moran extended the lead back to 12 at the free-throw line. Hitting 14-of-15 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, the Lumberjacks pushed the lead up to as much as 17 points while Schenck hit six from the line in the final minute despite Northern Arizona having already put the game away.
Averaging 22.3 fouls committed per game entering the week, 353rd in the nation, Weber State sent Northern Arizona to the line 35 times, the most free-throw attempts in a game since taking 41 last February at Weber State. The 28 fouls were the most drawn by Northern Arizona in a regulation game since Weber State committed 30 last February and second-most this season behind the 33 in double overtime against California Baptist.
On the other end, free throws were the Wildcats' go-to offensive plan as they finished 29-of-36 from the line to account for 42.6 percent of their scoring with the Lumberjacks allowing just 39 points on 18-of-50 shooting from the field. Entering the day with 21.9 free-throw attempts per game and 16.2 free throws made per game, 27th and 17th in the nation respectively, the Wildcats hit their season average by the end of the third quarter.
Daryn Hickok accounted for 16-of-19 from the line for Weber State, scoring nearly 60 percent of her game-high 28 points at the line while shooting just 6-of-13 from the field. Almost half of Hickok's points came in the fourth as Weber State trailed by double-digits for all but 25 seconds of the quarter, with the senior awarded 11 free throws in the final 10 minutes of play to score 13 points in the fourth.
Hickok was quite early on while Weber State pulled out to an 8-2 lead and maintained control through the opening quarter, as Emma Torbert's 13 points led the Wildcats at halftime while the Lumberjacks held Weber State's leading scorers, Hickok and Jadyn Matthews to a combined 10 points.
Down by six early and trailing throughout the first quarter, Northern Arizona picked up its pressure and took its first lead of the game on a layup by
Saniyah Neverson 47 seconds into the second quarter. Answering back with a pair of free throws by Hickok, Weber State briefly led by one before
Olivia Moran put down her first of three three-pointers in the second quarter.
A three by Torbert put Weber State ahead 21-20 with 6:46 remaining before halftime, but a three by
Nyah Moran and a jumper in transition by Oltrogge put Northern Arizona in front for the final 26:33 of the game.
"Really proud of the team with how they bounced back," Payne said following Thursday's loss to Idaho State. "I felt like we played pretty solid on Thursday except for making shots and making free throws. We just couldn't knock down shots. It was good to see the ball go through the hoop and have five players in double-digits, any time we can have five players in double-digits we have a really great shot at winning."
Oltrogge led the way for the Lumberjacks with 19 points while adding 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
Regan Schenck added 15 points and seven assists, followed by
Olivia Moran's 13 points off the bench, Rodabaugh's 12 and
Nyah Moran's 11.
The Lumberjacks hit 10-of-25 from three-point range, the fourth game this season with the exact total at 40 percent, and matched their season high of 85.7 percent from the free-throw line against a Division-I opponent. Northern Arizona's 43-30 rebounding set a new season-high in rebounding margin against a Division-I team.
Now one of four 1-1 teams through the opening week of conference play, the Lumberjacks will head out to Montana and Montana State for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday and a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. With the Lady Griz voted second and the Bobcats first, the opening road trip will be one of the toughest in Big Sky play. Montana (5-8, 1-1 Big Sky) beat Eastern Washington on Thursday before falling to Idaho 79-71 on Saturday. Montana State (8-6, 1-1 Big Sky) did the same, beating Eastern Washington to complete the week after falling to Idaho 72-53 on the road.
Make sure to follow the NAU women's basketball team on
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