OGDEN, Utah (Jan. 4, 2025) – Continuing on its Big Sky Conference road trip, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team picked up a 92-78 victory at Weber State this afternoon in Ogden, Utah at the Dee Events Center.
Northern Arizona improves to 11-4 on the season and are 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2020-21 season. It marks the 14
th-straight victory over the Wildcats, who drop to 4-8 and 1-1 in Big Sky action.
Olivia Moran led all players with a career-high 22 points. She was 9-of-13 from the field with three triples.
Sophie Glancey earned her ninth double-double of the season with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds on 9-of-14 from the field.
Three other Lumberjacks in
Leia Beattie (17 points),
Taylor Feldman (11 points) and
Saniyah Neverson (11 points) also scored in double figures. Beattie did not miss, making 6-of-6 from the field, 4-of-4 from three-point range and 1-for-1 at the free throw line while leading the team with five assists. It marked the first time since 2021 that a Lumberjack had shot 1.000 from the field with at least five field goal attempts and no misses.
The Lumberjacks turned in their best shooting performance of the season, shooting at a 52.9 percent clip after making 36-of-68 from the field, 8-for-24 from three-point range and 80 percent at the free throw line (12-15). NAU had a 39-to-31 advantage on the boards and forced 11 turnovers while only committing nine.
"I'm proud of the team for figuring out a way to win against a Weber State team who never backed down," said head coach
Loree Payne, who earned her 250th career victory and 120th at NAU. "We had really balanced production and our bench came in ready to play. We're excited to be home this coming weekend."
Both sides shot over 50 percent in the first quarter to start the contest. By the 4:34 mark, NAU held a 13-9 lead behind
Olivia Moran's early seven points. Beattie was nearly unstoppable in the first, scoring nine of her 11 points behind three triples. With a minute to play in the first, Northern Arizona held its largest lead of the night, 30-15. The Lumberjacks led 30-17 after the first, shooting 66.7 percent (12-18) from the field with five three-pointers.
NAU used a 7-0 run in the second quarter to help outscore the Wildcats, 23-20. Feldman would score seven points during the frame, including all five of her free throws as she was a perfect 5-for-5 on the day. Northern Arizona shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second for another hot-offensive quarter that allowed a 53-37 lead at the half.
The Wildcats made up ground in the third quarter, outscoring NAU 21-15. Northern Arizona shot 42.9 percent behind seven points from
Olivia Moran and held WSU to 36.8 percent to lead 68-to-58 heading into the fourth.
Glancey and
Olivia Moran helped put the game away in the fourth, as Glancey added 10 points, and five rebounds and Moran scored eight points. The Lumberjacks forced three turnovers and held the Wildcats to 42 percent from the field en route to the 92-78 victory, outscoring the Wildcats 24-20 in the fourth.
Northern Arizona returns home to host Montana on Jan. 9 and Montana State on Jan. 11 for its Big Sky home openers in the Skydome.
