ST. PAUL, Minn. (December 3, 2025) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team couldn't hold off a furious fourth-quarter rally and fell to St. Thomas, 74-66 in the first of two games in the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on Wednesday morning inside the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
Layla Davis scored a career-high 21 points in the outing on 8-of-10 shooting, while
Naomi White contributed 19 and
J'Bionna Robinson produced ten points for her second straight game in double figures. Robinson also tied her career-high in steals with five, while White and
Audrey Taylor also tallied three takeaways for their second and third games of the season with three steals, respectively.
St. Thomas (3-6) held a slim edge in rebounding (40-37), while the NAU bench outscored the Tommies bench 30-8. The 'Jacks (1-8) allowed just 22 first-half points by St. Thomas, the fewest by an opponent this season.
NAU began the contest zeroed in defensively, holding the Tommies without a field goal until the 2:13 mark of the opening period for 9% (1-of-11) shooting in the first. The 'Jacks led the entire first half, by as a many as 11 thanks to ten points off 14 St. Thomas turnovers as the Tommies struggled from the floor and shot 25% for the first twenty ticks of the game.
St. Thomas would improve its shooting over the course of the contest, as it reached 56.7% in the second half, including 81.8% in the final period. The Tommies slowly chipped away at the lead in the third quarter, then tied it with just under six minutes to play at 53 as they caught fire from beyond the arc and built a seven-point lead with under a minute to play, while NAU went cold and shot just 29% (5-of-17) in the fourth.
NAU returns to Flagstaff and continues the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, welcoming South Dakota State on Saturday, December 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Mountain Standard time and will be streamed on ESPN+.
