BOISE, Idaho (March 13, 2024) – The Northern Arizona University women's basketball team lost in the Big Sky Conference Championship game today to No. 1 Eastern Washington, 73-64, in Boise, Idaho at the Idaho Central Arena.
The No. 2 Lumberjacks fall to 25-9 on the year while the Eagles improve to 29-5 and earn the Big Sky's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Three players scored in double figures for Northern Arizona, led by
Sophie Glancey with 15 points and three blocks on 7-11 from the field.
Nyah Moran scored 14 points, leading the team with a career-high nine rebounds and three steals.
Grace Beasley rounded out the scoring with 12 points on 5-of-10 from the field.
Northern Arizona led 22-12 after the first quarter, but the Eagles would slowly chip away and make it a one-point game at the half, 33-32. Both teams were tied at 48-48 heading into the fourth, and Eastern Washington took its first lead of the game with 9:21 left to play and never gave it back.
Turnovers troubled the Lumberjacks, who committed the second most of the season with 20, which EWU turned into 15 points. The Lumberjacks also committed 19 fouls compared to 11 for Eastern Washington. NAU made just 13-of-15 at the line while EWU made 14-of-20. The Eagles also had 72 field goal attempts, shooting 37.5 percent from the field while Northern Arizona shot 42.1 percent (24-57). Northern Arizona had the slight 42-38 edge on the boards.
"I'm obviously disappointed in the outcome. This team has faced a lot of adversity this year, and unfortunately, we were a player short today, a big player for us," said head coach
Loree Payne, on
Olivia Moran who was out unexpectedly with an illness. "Hats off to Eastern Washington, they had a heck of a game, they had a heck of a tournament, and they had an incredible conference season and I know they're going to represent us well in the NCAA Tournament. My concern right now is our players and making sure right now that they understand what they have accomplished themselves as well. We're going to have an opportunity in a postseason tournament and I'm excited for them to be able to regroup and get healthy and come back and see what we can do in the postseason."
Nyah Moran set the tone early, as a layup six seconds in sparked a 4-0 run for Northern Arizona. The defense forced three early turnovers and held EWU to 3-of-8 from the field in the early goings. A
Nyah Moran triple extended the lead out to 11-4, as NAU made 5-of-8 from the field in the first five minutes.
Eastern Washington cut the lead to two points before Beattie and Beasley each contributed four points in an 8-0 run to lead 20-10. At the end of the first, Northern Arizona led 22-12. NAU held the Eagles to 5-of-14 from the field in the first while shooting 55.6 percent (10-18) themselves.
A layup by Glancey gave NAU its largest lead of the day thus far at 24-12 to start the second quarter. Eastern Washington started to settle in, using a 5-0 run to pull within six points. Midway through the quarter, Northern Arizona led 30-22. The Lumberjacks committed nine turnovers in the second quarter and did not score for 3:18 while Eastern Washington used an 8-0 run to tie the game 30-30.
After Northern Arizona called timeout, Glancey put the lead back in NAU's hands 33-30 with a triple. At the half, the Lumberjacks led 33-32.
The Lumberjacks had a 23-to-16 advantage on the boards at the half and were shooting 45.5 percent (15-33) from the field compared to 40 percent (14-35) for EWU. NAU had 10 first half turnovers which turned into nine points off miscues for the Eagles.
NAU came out hot once again, as a 5-0 run from
Nyah Moran and Beasley made it a 38-32 game. With three minutes remaining the third quarter, the game moved into a 44-44 tie after a 5-0 Eastern Washington run. After three quarters, both sides went into the fourth tied 48-48.
With 9:21 left to go, Eastern Washington took its first lead of the game, 50-48. Eastern Washington then did not score for over two minutes, while a pair of
Emily Rodabaugh free throws retied the game 50-50. With 6:15 to go, EWU held its largest lead of 55-52 and by 3:40 left to play the Eagles pulled ahead by six points.
Eastern Washington would never relinquish its lead, outscoring NAU 22-16 in the fourth quarter.
