MOSCOW, Idaho (Feb. 20, 2025) – In a back-and-forth Big Sky Conference battle on Thursday night in Moscow, Idaho, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team prevailed and earned a hard-fought comeback win over the Vandals, 70-65.
The Lumberjacks win their fourth-straight and the eighth-straight over the Vandals, improving to 22-6 on the year and 13-2 in Big Sky Conference play. Idaho drops to 16-9 and 8-6 in conference action.
There were five lead changes and five ties in the battle. Idaho outscored NAU 34-28 in the first half, forcing nine turnovers and holding the Lumberjacks to eight field goals. The script flipped in the second half, and NAU outscored the Vandals 42-31 by shooting 40.6 percent (13-32) and holding UI to 30.6 percent.
Leia Beattie led all players with a season-high 21 points on 6-of-9 from the field, 5-of-6 from three-point range and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Eighteen of her points came in the second half, and she also pulled down seven rebounds.
Sophie Glancey earned her 15
th double-double of the season and third-straight, scoring 13 points and 10 rebounds while leading the team with three assists.
Nyah Moran scored 13 points, making a perfect 6-for-6 at the free throw line and added two blocks.
Taylor Feldman rounded out the scoring with 11 points.
Ava Schmidt led the team with three blocks,
Saniyah Neverson led the team with 11 rebounds, and
Olivia Moran led the way with two steals.
"I'm proud of the team for their resilience tonight. Idaho came out ready to play and it took us a few minutes to settle in, but once we did, we were able to execute on both ends," said head coach
Loree Payne. "Any win is a great win at this time in the season."
Idaho used an 18-5 run in the first quarter, leading by as many as 13 points. Northern Arizona started to find its footing at the end, closing the frame on a 5-0 run, but trailed 22-14 heading into the second.
The run stretched to 9-0, allowing Northern Arizona to cut the lead to 22-18 behind four points from
Nyah Moran. Idaho would pull back ahead by 10 points and led 34-28 at the half.
Northern Arizona regrouped and cut the deficit down to one point within the first 45 seconds of the first half behind a Feldman layup and a Beattie three-pointer. It would be back-and-forth from there, as the third quarter saw five lead changes and three ties alone. With the game locked 43-43,
Olivia Moran used a three-point play to retake the lead. Idaho would jump back ahead, but Glancey then used a three-point play to help NAU lead 49-47 at the end of the third. Northern Arizona outscored the Vandals 21-13 in the third quarter, limiting them to four field goals.
Idaho pulled ahead 51-50 at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter. Beattie nailed a three-pointer that would put Northern Arizona back up for good as the 'Jacks continued to work to pull ahead by five points. In the final moments, NAU used an 8-5 run to try and put the Vandals away.
Leading 67-60 with a minute and a half to play, Feldman made a free throw to go up by eight with 40 seconds left. The Vandals refused to quit, making it a four-point game with 10 seconds left. Beattie went to the line and made two clutch free throws, securing the comeback 70-65 win over Idaho.
Northern Arizona looks to go for the season sweep over Eastern Washington on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. Mountain Standard time.
