FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 10, 2022) – A season ago,
Khiarica Rasheed needed just 1.3 seconds to put in a game-winning shot against the Sacramento State Hornets.
Thursday night in the Walkup Skydome, she did it with just 0.8 left on the clock.
Hitting a game-tying layup with 0.4 left on the clock and drawing the foul for the game-winning free-throw, Rasheed pushed the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (11-10, 8-5 Big Sky) to a 60-59 victory over the Montana Lady Griz (14-6, 7-5). Coming off an inbounds pass from
Nina Radford, Rasheed's basket capped off a crazed final four minutes as the Lumberjacks bounced back from a three-point deficit with 3:55 left.
"I felt like they weren't ready for it. Khia showed us her vertical tonight. She's one of the most prolific scorers in the Big Sky. Who made it last year? Khia. I think everyone in the whole arena knows who we are going to, we just put her in a little bit different of a situation."
Coming out of a timeout after Montana's Sophia Stiles put the Lady Griz ahead 59-57 on a floater with 0.5 left, Radford's pass right next to Northern Arizona's bench floated right over the crowd on the court and into Rasheed's hands. Fouled by Montana's Nyah Morris-Nelson, Rasheed pushed the ball up toward the basket through the contact for the tie before connecting on the ensuing free throw.
Northern Arizona held a five-point lead early in the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run by Montana flipped the script with 5:37 left in the game.
After Stiles put in a layup to cut it to three at 49-46, Haley Huard hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions and put the Lady Griz back in front 52-49. A three-point play for
Miki'ala Maio erased Montana's lead, and a Montana turnover pushed Northern Arizona back in front as Rasheed hit a pair of free throws.
With just one point coming for either side, a free throw by Maio, during a stretch of more than two minutes, the Lady Griz once again tied it up on a three-pointer by Carmen Gfeller. Even at 55-55 with just 2:25 left, the sides combined for just four field goals the remainder of the night.
Stiles and Maio traded baskets, leading to a 57-57 tie with 1:03 on the clock, before a missed three-pointer and a pair of missed free throws left the score deadlocked with just 10 seconds remaining.
Rebounding the second miss, the Lumberjacks came out of their timeout with a chance at the go-ahead basket. However, Radford's shot attempt through traffic in the paint fell short and Montana took over with three seconds.
Stiles connected on her shot after taking a quick handoff immediately after inbounding the ball. Curling around the three-point line, the guard pulled up near the free-throw line for what appeared to be the game-winning basket.
Montana shot 58.3 from the field in the final quarter, well ahead of their final percentage. Hitting just 12.5 percent in an opening quarter of just five points and 19.4 percent for the first half, Montana trailed Northern Arizona 27-22 at the break.
The Lumberjacks opened the game on a 12-2 run but needed to grind out the win through the remainder of the night.
"I challenged our starters that we had to start better. We can't give teams a 10-point lead and expect to win a whole bunch of conference games," Payne said. "If we can figure that out and we can continue to start better, we have the talent in here and the ability to make a big run this year."
Maio led the Lumberjacks with 12 points, putting up six in the fourth quarter, while Radford's 11 all came in the third quarter as she carried the team offensively over a four-and-a-half-minute stretch. Hitting a three-pointer and drawing a foul for a four-point play, Radford connected on another three a minute later to close out the quarter.
Northern Arizona never led by more than six in the second half, with Montana hitting its largest advantage on Huard's three with 5:37 left. The Lumberjacks matched the Lady Griz on the boards, 39-39, and effectively won the game at the free-throw line by hitting 17-of-21 to Montana's 12-of-19.
The win pushed the Lumberjacks ahead of the Lady Griz in the Big Sky Conference standings with just seven games remaining. Sacramento State's victory over Northern Colorado, further separating the top six in the conference and keeping pace with Northern Arizona to tie for fourth place.
The Lumberjacks host the Montana State Bobcats on Saturday at 12 p.m. for a Valentine's Day themed game. Formerly alone at the top of the Big Sky, the Bobcats fell to the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 70-60 in overtime Thursday night in Cedar City. The Bobcats, Thunderbirds and Idaho State Bengals all lead the conference with just three losses followed by the Lumberjacks and Hornets at 8-5.
Gallery: (2-10-2022) NAU WBB vs. Montana - 2/10/22
