FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 5, 2022) – Tying the game up after erasing deficits of 11, eight and 10 points, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks finally broke through in the waning moments of Saturday's rematch with the Northern Colorado Bears.
A block by
Emily Rodabaugh with 3:50 remaining led to a layup by
Khiarica Rasheed, putting the Lumberjacks in front for the first time. After the sides traded baskets over the next minute, Rasheed put Northern Arizona in front for the final time as she fouled out Northern Colorado's Kurstyn Harden for a three-point play.
Completing a 24-7 run as a part of a 30-point fourth quarter, the Lumberjacks (10-10, 7-5 Big Sky) split the season series with the Bears (8-11, 4-7) as they closed out a 77-71 victory. The win extended Northern Arizona's road win streak to three straight games and snapped a short two-game losing streak.
"We've just been kind of going through a slump, a little bit of up and down," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne. "For us to come out and score 30 points in the fourth quarter is huge. I think it really is going to help us get some momentum."
Finding themselves behind early once again, the Lumberjacks erased the Bears' 11-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter before falling behind 31-23 less than four minutes before halftime.
Sparked by the play of
Teionni McDaniel, the Lumberjacks made their second comeback of the day and entered halftime even at 34.
After assisting Rasheed on a layup, McDaniel scored eight of Northern Arizona's final nine points in the half. With Northern Arizona picking up its pressure, the Bears turned the ball over twice leading to two quick layups for the Lumberjacks.
McDaniel finished with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, a new career-high for the freshman guard.
"She was huge, she was a difference maker for us in the first half," Payne said of McDaniel. "She came in and she was really poised on offense. She finished with a couple good buckets, helped get some steals and really increased our defensive energy. She really was a huge part of our win."
While the sides traded three-pointers right out of the break, keeping the score tied at 37-37, Northern Colorado built up another 10-point lead 8:35 left in the game. Needing one last comeback to return to Flagstaff with a win, the rally began with a putback by Rodabaugh followed by the junior driving the length of the floor for a layup after a defensive rebound.
Nina Radford came up with seven straight points of her own to tie the score at 58-58, setting the stage for the Lumberjacks' final run with eight straight points by Rasheed.
Rodabaugh's block came with the score tied 60-60, with Rasheed scoring inside off a pass from Radford. While the Bears momentarily tied the score again, Rasheed put the Lumberjacks in front for good just seconds after fouling out Harden.
Harden, who scored 25 points with 13 rebounds against the Lumberjacks on Monday, finished with just 14 points and three rebounds on Saturday.
Hitting a layup with 2:06 left off a pass from
Regan Schenck, Rasheed completed the three-point play to take a 67-64 lead. Northern Arizona's final 10 points came at the free-throw line, hitting 10-of-12 in the final minutes to close out the win.
"Khia had a lot of success when No. 24 was out of the game," Payne said. "We continued to really try to pound it inside when she was in to try to get her in a little bit of foul trouble and once she got out, it opened it up for Khia to really be able to score."
The Lumberjacks outrebounded the Bears 40-21, a stark contrast to Monday's 40-34 advantage for the Bears and Northern Colorado's average of 37.6 rebounds and 6.1 rebounding margin.
"We watched a ton of film over this past week just really showing us areas we can improve, especially in rebounding," Payne said. "They just dug in and played a little bit tougher today. They took it to heart and committed to rebounding at both ends."
Rasheed finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, followed by 13 points and three assists for Radford. Rodabaugh added eight points and eight rebounds in the win.
The Lumberjacks return home next week, hosting the Montana Lady Griz (13-6, 6-4) on Thursday at 6 p.m. and the Montana State Bobcats (14-8, 9-2) at 12 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday night's game will be Northern Arizona's Play 4 Kay Game while Saturday will be Valentine's Day themed.
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