FRESNO, Calif. (December 8, 2022) – A five-point opening quarter proved to be too much to overcome for the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Thursday night against the Fresno State Bulldogs.
Trimming an 18-point deficit down to as few as four late in the first quarter, the Lumberjacks (4-6, 0-0 Big Sky) never could take control of the game away from the Bulldogs (4-5, 0-0 Mountain West). A 14-0 run by Fresno State closed out the first quarter, with a quick jumper making it 16 straight points and a 23-5 advantage. From there, the Lumberjacks faced an uphill climb back into the game.
A three-pointer for
Mary McMorris opened the scoring in the second for Northern Arizona, which finished the quarter with a 17-8 advantage.
Montana Oltrogge and
Emily Rodabaugh connected from outside in the quarter as well, while
Sophie Glancey added four points in the quarter.
After committing nine turnovers in the first quarter, while hitting just 2-of-10 shots from the field, Northern Arizona's offense regained its footing in the second. Hitting 41.2 percent from the field, the Lumberjacks only improved as the game went along, finishing the third quarter 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) and the fourth 9-of-13 (69.2 percent), while committing 15 more turnovers in the final 30 minutes.
Having cut into more than half of Fresno State's lead during the second quarter, Northern Arizona upped the pace in the third but only managed to come within six points. Effectively trading baskets, neither the Lumberjacks and Bulldogs scored more than four consecutive points until the final seconds of the third. Down by 11 after Fresno State's Amiee Book connected on a pair of threes in 45 seconds, Northern Arizona put in five quick points ahead of the fourth.
With
Olivia Moran cashing in a pair of free throws, McMorris converted a Bulldogs turnover into a three-pointer just 15 seconds before the quarter came to an end.
However, Fresno State again fought off Northern Arizona's rally as the Bulldogs extended the lead back to 12 with an 8-2 run across the first four minutes of the fourth quarter. Rodabaugh answered with a three-pointer, and Glancey put in back-to-back baskets in the paint. With the lead down to 54-49, Fresno State kept Northern Arizona off the scoreboard for nearly two minutes while scoring five straight points to lead by double-digits once again.
The back-and-forth stretch continued with Oltrogge snapping the short run with a layup off an assist from Schenck, and
Olivia Moran coming up with a steal and layup on the ensuing inbounds pass. A pair of free throws by Moran 40 seconds later pulled the Lumberjacks within four at 59-55, but an offensive rebound on a missed free throw by the Bulldogs allowed the hosts to kill 50 seconds off the clock and add in a layup.
Northern Arizona came within four points twice, on three-pointers by Oltrogge and Rodabaugh, but time ran out before the Lumberjacks could come any closer.
Scoring all of her team-high 15 points in the second half,
Olivia Moran finished 5-of-7 from the field. Grabbing 13 of her team's 33 rebounds, Oltrogge set a new career high while finishing with her second double-double of the season by scoring 14 points. Rodabaugh added nine points on a trio of three pointers and Glancey finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
The Lumberjacks head south to San Luis Obispo for Saturday's game against the Cal Poly Mustangs. The stream will be available on ESPN+
here with live stats
here.
Make sure to follow the NAU women's basketball team on
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Facebook for updates throughout the season.
