BOISE, Idaho (March 8, 2023) – The Northern Arizona University women's basketball team took on the No. 3 seeded Sacramento State Hornets in this afternoon's Big Sky Championship game, falling 76-63. The Lumberjacks were outscored 15-4 in the second quarter, but battled back to outscore the Hornets 41-39 in the second half before falling short.
The Hornets improve to 25-7 overall and advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Lumberjacks, who earned a tri-regular season championship, will await a WNIT bid after dropping to 21-13.
Emily Rodabaugh led the Lumberjacks with 18 points after making three triples.
Olivia Moran nearly had a double-double of 10 points and eight rebounds, and
Regan Schenck added 12 points. Northern Arizona was held to 36.2 percent from the field and the Hornets shot 45.5 percent.
"First of all, I want to congratulate Sacramento State. They played a phenomenal game. We had a game plan of coming in and trying to shutdown Kahlaijah Dean and Isnelle Natabou, but they had other players step up and play phenomenal games. They put together a 40-minute game plan that really worked for them, and unfortunately, we didn't have our best stuff tonight," said head coach
Loree Payne. "This is a very good team and I'm so proud of everything they accomplished this season. We're very hopeful that our season isn't done and that we'll be able to go on and finish well in a postseason tournament."
The Hornets came out and made their first three shots from the field for an 8-0 run that eventually built to 12-4. A three-pointer by Rodabaugh trimmed the lead down to 12-7 by the first media timeout. Coming out of the break, Rodabaugh hit another three from the corner to put NAU within a possession, but Sacramento State replied with a 6-0 run to pull ahead by eight.
After the hot start, the NAU defense held the Hornets without a field goal for 3:42 of the first quarter and cut the deficit down to two points after an
Olivia Moran layup and two
Regan Schenck free throws. At the buzzer, Sacramento State hit a jumper and the Lumberjacks trailed 22-18 after the first 10 minutes.
Neither team made a field goal until the 5:46 mark of the second quarter when the Hornets made a layup and followed up with a three-pointer to pull ahead 29-18. The Lumberjacks just couldn't get the shots to fall, missing their first 13 attempts from the field during the quarter. NAU's lone field goal during the frame came with 45 seconds left on Rodabaugh's third three-pointer. Sacramento State outscored Northern Arizona 15-4 during the second quarter, NAU's lowest points scored in a single quarter all season. At the half, the Lumberjacks trailed 37-22.
The shooting woes continued into the third quarter as NAU went just 7-of-18 from the field. The Lumberjacks were able to end the quarter on a 7-0 run, five of which came from
Olivia Moran, and force three key Hornet turnovers. Heading into the fourth, NAU was behind 52-39.
Northern Arizona refused to quit and saved its best quarter for last, scoring 24 points and shooting 50 percent from the field on 10-of-20. With four minutes left, the Hornets went on a 6-0 run to build a lead of 17 points after hitting six of their next eight shots. Still fighting, the Lumberjacks made 5-of-7 from the field and went on a 5-0 run. With less than two minutes to play, four quick points from Schenck and
Olivia Moran cut the lead to single digits and NAU held the Hornets with a field goal for the final 3:43. However, Sacramento State made nine free throws during that span to keep the 'Jacks away, going on to win 76-63.
