MOSCOW, Idaho (January 19, 2023) – Winning for a third straight time in Moscow, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks cruised to a third consecutive road victory in Big Sky Conference play on Thursday night.
Taking their first lead less than two minutes into the game, the Lumberjacks led for the final 38:14 thanks to a 12-0 first-quarter run. Finishing with a 90-67 victory, the 23-point margin was Northern Arizona's largest on the road since Dec. 5, 2020 in Cheney, Wash. against the Eastern Washington Eagles.
Northern Arizona dominated in the paint, scoring 50 points to Idaho's 20 inside, while also outrebounding the Vandals 46-29. With Idaho shooting just 35.7 percent from the field, Northern Arizona took advantage off the defensive boards to score in transition.
"Our goal was to have 40-plus points in the paint," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne. "We had conversations once we were like four games through conference that we were giving up way too many points. So, we really changed our mentality in practice and have spent a lot more time on being more solid defensively."
After allowing 76 or more points in their final three non-conference games, the Lumberjacks have held their opponents four of their seven conference opponents under 70 including 67 in their past two victories against Sacramento State and Idaho.
"I feel like we've put together a couple of really solid defensive games and that really ignites our offense," Payne said. "Our transition offense is super-efficient right now, so when we are able to get stops, we are able to run and score in transition which is one of our biggest strengths."
Northern Arizona's transition attack allowed
Regan Schenck to score 17 first-half points. Hitting her only two attempts from the field in the second half, Schenck finished with 21 points while shooting 9-of-13 from the field. Adding seven points and seven rebounds, Schenck played just 28 minutes with the Lumberjacks leading by as much as 24 points in the third quarter.
"I feel like Regan is just playing at an incredibly elite level right now," Payne said. "She has been all year. She is our leader, and we go as she goes, and she is playing at a player of the year type of level right now."
Hitting 8-of-14 from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range,
Montana Oltrogge took advantage of the Lumberjacks' advantage inside as well to score 19 points. Assisting with Northern Arizona's defensive game plan against Beyonce Bea, Oltrogge came down with 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.
Bea, who averaged 22.2 points per game while shooting nearly 47 percent from the field this season, finished with 17 points and just six rebounds while hitting 6-of-17 from the field.
"Coach (TJ) Harris has put together some really good game plans and collectively our staff has really keyed in on scouts, and our team has really bought into our game plan our last couple games," Payne said. "Montana and Fatou primarily were on Beyonce today, and I think they did a really good job of making her shots difficult."
In addition to Schenck and Oltrogge's scoring, Northern Arizona got 18 points from freshman
Sophie Glancey as she hit 8-of-11 from the field and grabbed five rebounds. Returning from a four-game absence,
Nyah Moran returned to the rotation and scored 14 points while hitting 4-of-6 from three-point range.
The 90 points as a team marked a season-high in regulation against a Division-I opponent while the team's 52.1 percent shooting from the field is the best against a D-I team since hitting 53.8 percent against Weber State last February.
Northern Arizona heads to Cheney, Wash. to face the Eastern Washington Eagles (11-6, 4-3 Big Sky) who have won three straight games against Northern Colorado, Montana, and Idaho. During the streak, the Eagles have held their opponents to 59, 60 and 36 points, respectively. The Bears hit just 14-of-51 from the field and scored 12 points in the second half against the Eagles.
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