FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 22, 2025) – Following an exciting upset over No. 2 Arizona in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), the Northern Arizona women's basketball team is back to work preparing for its second round matchup at Belmont on Sunday, March 23. Tip-off is set for noon Mountain Standard time on ESPN+ from Nashville, Tenn.
The winner will go on to play the winner of James Madison and Marquette on Thursday, March 27 in the second round at a site yet to be determined. The WBIT is a newly created 32-team postseason single-elimination tournament owned and sponsored by the NCAA. Now in its second year, the WBIT is the main alternate postseason tournament for teams that did not advance to March Madness.
Belmont is 23-12 on the year and finished Missouri Valley Conference play at 15-5. The Bruins advanced to the MVC Championship game a week ago where they fell to Murray State. Belmont advanced to the second round of the WBIT after topping Middle Tennessee at home, 64-51.
This will be the first-ever meeting between Belmont and Northern Arizona. All-time against current MVC opponents, the Lumberjacks are 1-11 with the lone win coming over Murray State in 2001. The Lumberjacks have not played a current member of the MVC since 2012 in a loss against Bradley. NAU and Belmont have no like opponents this season.
NAU is 27-7 on the season and finished Big Sky Conference play 16-2, marking the most conference wins and overall wins in program history. The Lumberjacks finished second in the conference and were upset by Montana in the Big Sky semifinals on March 11. Northern Arizona has won nine out of its last 10 games and entered the tournament on a seven-game winning streak.
Northern Arizona advanced to the second round of the WBIT after upsetting No. 2 seeded Arizona in Tucson, 71-69, on March 20 in the first round – the second win over the Wildcats this season. Northern Arizona trailed 36-31 at the half, but came out and used a 9-0 run to pull ahead 42-40 with 6:38 to go in the third. Heading into the fourth, NAU led 56-54. There were two lead changes and five ties in the fourth quarter, and Arizona tied the game 69-69 with 1:44 to play. With a minute left,
Nyah Moran made a layup for the 71-69 advantage. With seconds on the clock, Arizona had a chance to win but did not attempt the final shot and NAU secured the win.
It's the first win in the McKale Center since 1978, just the second in program history.
Sophie Glancey earned her 19
th double-double of the year, finishing with 23 points and 14 rebounds.
Taylor Feldman scored 22 points and dished five assists.
Nyah Moran finished with 10 points and three steals and
Olivia Moran had eight rebounds and eight points.
This is the third-straight postseason appearance for the Lumberjacks and the fourth in the last five years. Northern Arizona has made back-to-back WNIT appearances, earning its first berth in program history in 2022-23 where it fell at New Mexico in the first round. In 2023-24, the Lumberjacks earned a first-round bye before falling at South Dakota in the second round. In 2020-21, NAU secured a third-place finish in the WBI.
Glancey, along with Feldman, earned a unanimous spot on the All-Big Sky first team. Glancey also earned All-Defensive team honors, and
Nyah Moran landed on the second team. Additionally,
Saniyah Neverson was named the league's Top Reserve of the Year.
The Lumberjacks are led by eighth-year head coach
Loree Payne who became NAU's all-time winningest coach this season, sitting at 136-114 during her time at the helm. As a team, NAU is fourth in the country in rebounds per game (43.41), seventh in defensive rebounds per game (29.9), 10th in three-point attempts per game (27.6), 15
th in scoring offense (79.3), 17
th in three-pointers per game (8.8), 19
th in free throws made per game (15.12) and 29
th in assist/turnover ratio (1.19).
Glancey is fifth in the country with 19 double-doubles on the year and leads the team with 18.4 points per game – scoring in double figures in 31 games this season. She also averages 9.7 rebounds per game and became NAU's single-season leader in rebounds with 330 on the season so far. Additionally, Glancey needs just 26 more points to break NAU's single season scoring record of 652.
Feldman averages 16.3 points per game while dishing team-high 3.8 assists per game. She ranks 16
th in the country with 163 made free throws this season.
Nyah Moran made six three-pointers in the semifinal against Montana and averages 11.9 points per game.
The Bruins are led offensively by Jailyn Banks who averages 12.4 points per game. Kendal Cheesman (12.2) and Kendall Holmes (10.7) also average double figures, while Cheesman leads the way with 8.7 rebounds per game. Tuti Jones averages 2.2 steals per game, as the Bruins force 15.0 turnovers per contest.
Belmont averages 70.7 points per game and limits opponents to 63.5. They shoot at a 42.5 percent clip and lock down opponents to 38.5 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from three-point range. The Bruins like to shoot from three-point range too, averaging 7.8 makes per game at a 32.9 percent clip. On the boards, Belmont averages 38.0 rebounds per game.
For more information on the
WBIT, click here.
