EUGENE, Ore. (Nov. 6, 2023) – Taking to the floor for the first time since mid-March, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team opened the season with a challenge at Pac-12 Oregon, falling to the Ducks 81-48 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.
The Lumberjacks start the year 0-1 while the Ducks won their 11
th-straight season opener to start 1-0. Oregon shot 45 percent from the field and held NAU to 29 percent in the victory.
Sophomore
Sophie Glancey led the Lumberjacks with nine points and added four rebounds, while
Grace Beasley stuffed the stat sheet with six points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in her debut. Sophomore
Taylor Feldman also drained two three pointers to add eight points.
In addition to Beasley, fellow Montana State transfer
Leia Beattie made her Lumberjack debut with six points, three rebounds and a steal. A trio of true freshman in
Allie Cummins,
Ava Schmidt and
Reilly Clark also donned the Blue and Gold for the first time.
"I am really proud of the team tonight. We faced a very good, athletic, Oregon team that wore us down with their size," said head coach
Loree Payne. "We battled all the way until the end and I'm looking forward to seeing how we can bounce back for another touch matchup Friday at Arizona."
Northern Arizona battled foul trouble and turnovers in the early goings, as the Ducks went on a 6-0 run to take the early lead with four points coming from the free throw line. A Glancey triple, just the fourth of her career, cut the lead down to 8-7 to put NAU back in the game. However, Oregon then went on a 7-0 run in 55 seconds to pull ahead 20-11. The run would stretch to 12-2 overall and UO took a 25-13 lead going into the second.
The Lumberjacks found composer and outscored the Ducks 11-10 in the second, shooting 31.3 percent from the field compared to 27.8 percent for Oregon – a stark contrast to the 50 percent the Ducks shot in the first. A quick 4-0 run that included layups from Glancey and Beasley trimmed the lead down to single digits, but NAU did not score in the final 2:57 of the half and Oregon held a 35-24 lead going into the locker room.
NAU hit a bit of a cold spell in the third, as it was held to 5-of-17 from the field. Feldman provided the spark off the bench, hitting a triple and a pullup jumper to lead all Lumberjacks in the third.
Emily Rodabaugh reached a personal milestone as well, scoring her 1,000
th career point from the free throw line late in the third frame, solidifying herself as Northern Arizona's 21
st member of the club. At the end of the third, Oregon led by 17 points.
The Ducks used a 13-3 run in the fourth to put the game away, outscoring the Lumberjacks 26-10 in the final 10 minutes to secure the victory.
Northern Arizona committed 22 turnovers in the loss, but they forced 19 and turned them in to 20 points. The Lumberjacks were out-rebounded 49-to-29 and were outscored in the paint, 38-to-24.
Nine of NAU's 20 field goals were assisted, as NAU also shot 5-for-29 (17.2%) from three-point range and 3-for-5 (60%) from the charity stripe. The Ducks shot 19-for-24 from the free throw line (79.2%) and were held to 6-for-21 from three-point range.
On Friday, the Lumberjacks return to action at another Pac-12 opponent in Arizona with a 6:30 p.m. tip in Tucson. The broadcast will be available on the Arizona Livestream.
