FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Jan. 23, 2025) – In what served as a rematch of last year's Big Sky Championship game, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team handled Eastern Washington 75-63 at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff, Ariz., tonight.
The Lumberjacks win their third-straight game and improve to 15-5 on the season and 6-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Eagles drop to 6-13 (2-5) and lost their fifth-straight in Flagstaff as NAU snaps a two-game losing streak to EWU.
Northern Arizona led by just a point at the half. In the third quarter, the Eagles pulled ahead 43-39 for their largest lead of the night. NAU then went on a 13-0 run to lead 52-47 heading into the fourth and never looked back. After EWU took the lead with 6:03 left in the third, it only made five more field goals for the rest of regulation.
NAU outscored the Eagles 40-29 in the second half, limiting EWU to 7-of-31 (22.5%) from the field.
Four players scored in double figures, led by
Taylor Feldman with 18 points. Fourteen of her points came from the free throw line, making 14-of-16. She also added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Sophie Glancey added 17 points on 8-of-18 from the field. Both
Nyah Moran and
Olivia Moran scored 10 points, while
Saniyah Neverson led the team with nine rebounds and three steals.
"I'm super proud of the team. We're figuring out to put teams away, and this is the second game in a row where we've had a strong second half and fourth quarter. It's great to see us being able to close out games with maturity and veteran leadership shining through late in the game," said head coach
Loree Payne.
Northern Arizona led 9-7 by the first media timeout before entering a brief scoring drought of over two minutes. However, the Lumberjack defense held the Eagles without a point for four minutes during the first quarter and forced five turnovers. At the end of the first, NAU led 17-11 behind six points and four rebounds from Feldman.
Eastern Washington used a 6-0 run early in the second quarter to cut the lead down to 19-17, forcing four Lumberjack turnovers during that span as NAU entered another scoring drought for three minutes.
Allie Cummins came in off the bench and hit a crucial three, helping NAU pull back ahead by five, 25-20. The Eagles threatened again by cutting the lead down to two points before Cummins once again hit a triple to put the Lumberjacks back up 33-28. With 45 seconds to go in the half, the Eagles tied the game 34-34. Feldman made 1-of-2 at the line in the final seconds to make it a 35-34 game in favor of NAU at the half.
The Eagles outscored NAU 23-to-18 during the second quarter and shot 50 percent compared to 35.3 percent for the Lumberjacks.
There were six lead changes and four ties in the first five minutes of the third quarter. After Eastern Washington pulled ahead 43-39, the Lumberjacks used a 5-0 run that consisted of a triple from Glancey and two free throws from Feldman to put NAU back ahead 44-43 heading into the media timeout. Out of the break,
Olivia Moran joined in with a 5-0 run of her own to make it a 10-0 run for the Lumberjacks to pull back ahead 49-43 and force an Eagle timeout. NAU didn't stop there, as
Ava Schmidt drained a triple to make it a 13-0 run. At the end of the third, the Lumberjacks led 52-47.
In the third, the Lumberjacks limited EWU to 18.8 percent (3-16) from the field.
Northern Arizona didn't slow down to start the fourth, entering the quarter on a 7-0 run behind four points from Glancey to lead 59-47 with 8:17 to play.
Leia Beattie scored five points during a 6-0 run, but then the Lumberjacks didn't make a field goal for the final 5:24 of the fourth quarter. During that span, they were able to stay alive at the free throw line, making 8-of-10 to end the quarter and hold onto the victory.
The Lumberjacks shot 50 percent from the field during the final frame, limiting the Eagles to 26.7 percent.
On the night, the Lumberjacks had the 46-to-44 edge on the boards and a 28-to-24 advantage in the paint. Each team scored 15 points off turnovers, with NAU forcing 17 and committing 15. The Eagles were 21-for-65 from the field, 6-of-20 from three-point range and 15-for-19 from the free throw line compared to Northern Arizona who made 24-for-64 from the field, 8-for-26 from three-point range and 19-for-25 at the charity stripe.
Northern Arizona is in the midst of a four-game homestand and will welcome Idaho to town on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 12 p.m. Mountain Standard time. The Vandals are tied with NAU with a 6-1 record in Big Sky Conference play after beating Northern Colorado on the road tonight, bringing a six-game winning streak with them to Flagstaff.
