Comeback Comes Up Short as Lumberjacks Fall 83-77 to Montana State

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 12, 2022) – Trailing by 14 at halftime, and as many as 17 in the second half, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks fell just shy of an impressive comeback against one of the Big Sky Conference leaders.

Holding on for the 83-77 victory, the Montana State Bobcats (16-9, 11-3 Big Sky) swept the season series against the Lumberjacks (11-11, 8-6) but needed just about every point to do so Saturday afternoon.

A 9-0 Northern Arizona run early in the fourth quarter, led by six points for Fatoumata Jaiteh and a three-pointer from Lauren Orndoff, put the pressure on Montana State through the final six minutes of play. Hitting 11-of-13 free throws after the Lumberjacks cut their lead to 67-63, the Bobcats once again beat Northern Arizona thanks to their prowess at the line. Holding a 20-of-25 advantage to Lumberjacks' 10-of-12, Montana State's repeated their January win in Bozeman where it connected on 20-of-24 to Northern Arizona's 7-of-9.

"A lot of good things can come out of this," said Lumberjacks head coach Loree Payne. "Obviously we would have liked to get the win, but hopefully moving forward we will be healthy and we will get a chance to work on somethings this week and go with the final stretch."

Northern Arizona played without Khiarica Rasheed, who missed the game due to an illness, leading to an impressive second-half performance for Jaiteh. Finishing with 12 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes, all career highs for the freshman, Jaiteh specifically made her mark on the late run.

Scoring eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line in the fourth, Jaiteh scored the six on Northern Arizona's 9-0 run in the span of just 1:29 and added another two just 30 seconds later.

"She's someone I look up to on this team, so just playing for her honestly is what it was," said Jaiteh, citing Rasheed's influence as a motivator through the game. "In the locker room, we came in going into the second half and Coach (Payne) was like someone needs to step up."

The Lumberjacks trailed 39-25 at halftime after a nine-point second quarter spoiled an early advantage.

Jumping out to a 13-4 lead in the first five minutes of the game, Northern Arizona held Montana State to just 2-of-11 from the field to start the game. However, after hitting seven of their first 12 shots, the Lumberjacks went cold and connected on just four of their next 20 while the Bobcats took control.

Even at 16 following the first quarter, Montana State went on a 14-4 run capped off by consecutive three-pointers for Leia Beattie to force a Northern Arizona timeout.

While Olivia Moran answered with her own three seconds later, Montana State continued to build up the advantage. A 39-25 lead at halftime became a 17-point lead with Katelynn Limardo's three-pointer to open the half.

A pair of threes for Nina Radford ignited the Lumberjacks' offense, with Orndoff aggressively driving to the basket and scoring 10 third-quarter points. A three-point play for Olivia Moran and Jaiteh's first two baskets of the game cut Montana State's lead back down to single digits, with Northern Arizona entering the third quarter trailing 61-52.

Northern Arizona hit 53.3 percent from the field in the fourth, but simply ran out of time with Montana State working efficiently at the free-throw line. The Bobcats attempted just seven field goals in the game's final 10 minutes, but withstood three-pointers by Orndoff and Radford, as well as a trio of free throws by the latter after being fouled behind the arc.

After baskets from Jaiteh pulled the Lumberjacks within four at the 6:01 and 5:26 marks, Radford's three did so with 4:12 left. Having eaten up the shot clock, Montana State answered with a layup by Kola Bad Bear and turned a missed three-pointer from Miki'ala Maio into a pair of free throws with 2:14 remaining.

Radford made it 79-76 with her trio of free throws, but just 13 seconds remained on the clock as the Bobcats continued to hit from the line.

Orndoff led the Lumberjacks with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting while Radford added 16 points, hitting 4-of-8 from the three-point line and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line. Regan Schenck added eight points, six assists and four steals.

The Lumberjacks play one more game in Flagstaff next week before embarking on their final road stretch of the season. After hosting Portland State on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m., Northern Arizona will head to Southern Utah, Idaho State and Weber State for three games in six days.

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