VERMILLION, S.D. (March 26, 2024) – The Northern Arizona University women's basketball team's season came to an end tonight in the second round of the WNIT, falling to South Dakota 79-65 at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center in Vermillion, S.D.
NAU's record-setting season ends at 25-10, while the Coyotes move on to play at Wyoming in the Super 16, sitting at 23-12 on the year.
Northern Arizona led 37-31 at the half, but were outscored 48-28 in the second half.
Leia Beattie led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds, making 5-of-12 from three-point range and 6-of-13 from the field overall.
Sophie Glancey had 13 points and a career-high four blocks to go with six rebounds and four assists.
Grace Beasley added four assists and seven rebounds.
Free throws were the biggest discrepancy, as NAU was called for 23 fouls that allowed South Dakota to make a 27-of-28 from the free throw line. Additionally, the Yotes forced 18 turnovers and scored 19 points off them. Northern Arizona shot 32.5 percent from the field with 10 three-pointers and the bench outscored USD's, 16-3.
"It was a phenomenal season. It's tough, because postseason sometimes comes down to a quarter and we went cold while they hit big shots," said head coach
Loree Payne. "I am just proud of our group, we put together an amazing season and this one stings a little bit. We're really embracing the future of this program because we're continually getting better and better and the players we have coming back next year, we're excited to continue to build on the success we had this year."
It was a close game from the start as both sides settled in, finding themselves locked at 7-7 in the early goings. From there, Northern Arizona built a 12-9 lead before the game moved back into a 14-14 tie. South Dakota took a 17-14 lead, but Beattie's three-pointer with seconds left on the clock made it a 17-17 game after the first.
Northern Arizona heated up first, going on a 12-0 run all from three-pointers. Beattie contributed with two, while
Grace Beasley and
Ava Schmidt added one to give the 'Jacks their largest lead of the night, 31-21. The Coyotes responded quickly with an 8-2 run that trimmed the lead down 31-26. At the half, Northern Arizona led 37-31.
The Lumberjacks had a 29-17 edge on the boards at the half, making 7-of-19 from three-point range and 14-of-38 from the field. South Dakota was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line compared to 2-for-2 for NAU but were 10-of-34 from the field with four three-pointers. Northern Arizona committed 11 first half miscues, forcing six, but had seven blocks.
The momentum swung to South Dakota in the third quarter, as a 9-2 cut into NAU's lead, 46-42. An
Emily Rodabaugh triple extended the lead back out to 51-44, but the Yotes would wind up outscoring NAU 20-16 during the quarter while shooting 50 percent from the field and making 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. At the end of the third, NAU held onto a 53-51 lead.
With 8:09 to play, South Dakota tied the game 55-55 and took a 57-55 lead less than a minute later. In all, the Coyotes strung together a 15-3 run to start the quarter, pulling ahead 68-58 with four minutes to go. USD outscored NAU 28-12 in the fourth quarter en route to the 79-65 comeback victory.
