BOISE, Idaho (March 7, 2023) – For the second-straight season, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team will be playing for a Big Sky Tournament Championship, advancing to tomorrow's championship game after defeating No. 4 seeded Eastern Washington by a score of 74-57 in Boise, Idaho, at the Idaho Central Arena.
The Lumberjacks, who are the No. 1 seed and regular season tri-champions, will play No. 3 Sacramento State tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. Mountain Standard time on ESPN+ and ESPNU. Northern Arizona will look to win its first championship since 2005-06 and punch the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. NAU swept Sacramento State during the regular season.
Northern Arizona improves to 21-12 overall, just one win shy from tying the program record for wins in a single season. Eastern Washington ends the year 19-11.
Three players scored in double figures today for NAU, led by
Regan Schenck with a game-high 22 points, six assists, and five rebounds. She was 8-of-13 from the field with four three-pointers. In her hometown,
Sophie Glancey earned the first double-double of her career with 13 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-10 from the field.
Nyah Moran rounded out the scoring with 16 points, making 6-of-10 from the field with four triples.
Emily Rodabaugh scored eight points and moved to fourth all-time on NAU's career three-pointers list.
Although the Lumberjacks shot their lowest free throw percentage of the year (45.8%), they shot 47.5 percent from the field and limited the Eagles to 28.4 percent (19-67). NAU was plus-ten in the rebounding category and outscored EWU in the paint, 46-to-36.
"I'm really, really, proud of our team. I felt like we executed our game plan to near perfection. We knew we were going up against a really good Eastern Washington team with some great players. I felt like our team was so dialed in defensively that we disrupted them," said head coach
Loree Payne. "Our keys coming in were to take care of the ball and out-rebound. I felt like in the second half we did both of those things at a very elite level. I'm just proud of our team and excited to be playing in the championship for a second-straight year."
Two three-pointers by
Nyah Moran got the Lumberjacks out to a 9-3 lead.
Olivia Moran followed with a triple of her own to put NAU ahead 12-5. After the Eagles cut it to a possession with four-straight points, true freshman
Sophie Glancey replied with four-straight of her own to rebuild a 16-9 lead. At the end of the first, Northern Arizona led 19-15 and shot 53.8 percent from the field with four three-pointers, limiting EWU to just 33.3 percent from the field.
Eastern Washington used a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the game, 22-21, but a three-pointer by
Regan Schenck gave NAU its lead back before the game moved into a 24-24 tie. A Glancey layup and a
Nyah Moran floater moved the lead to 28-26 before the Eagles retook the 31-30 lead. The Lumberjacks scored the final four points of the half and took a 34-31 lead into the locker room.
NAU shot 48.3 percent from the field in a first half that saw eight lead changes and four ties.
Schenck opened up the scoring with a three-pointer and extended the lead out to 37-31. Defensively, the Lumberjacks held the Eagles without a field goal until the 5:30 mark. Northern Arizona started to find its stride, hitting four-straight field goal attempts to build its largest lead of 49-38. Glancey, a true freshman playing in her hometown, completed a three-point play to a cap a 7-0 NAU run that grew the advantage out to 52-38.
Another three-pointer by
Nyah Moran, her fourth, made it a 10-2 run for NAU who went on to lead 55-40 heading into the fourth quarter. The Lumberjacks outscored the Eagles 21-to-9 in the fourth quarter and limited EWU to just 31.8 percent from the field.
The Eagles were able to cut NAU's lead down to 10 points with four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The Lumberjacks responded with three-straight three pointers, two from Rodabaugh and one from Schenck, to help NAU pull away. A layup by
Fatoumata Jaiteh gave the Lumberjacks a 74-54 lead with under a minute to go to seal the victory. The Lumberjacks shot 53.3 percent during the frame and outscored EWU 19-17.
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