NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 23, 2025) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team had a heartbreaking loss in Nashville, Tenn., in the second round of the WBIT at No. 3 Belmont by a final score of 81-80 at the buzzer.
NAU ends its historic season at 27-8 and Belmont will move onto the quarterfinals to face James Madison or Marquette, improving to 24-12.
Three players scored in double figures led by
Leia Beattie with 18 points on 4-of-4 from three-point range and 7-of-8 from the field.
Taylor Feldman finished with 15 points and five assists, while
Ava Schmidt rounded things out with 11 points on 3-of-6 from three-point range plus two blocks.
Saniyah Neverson grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the way, while
Nyah Moran stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.
Northern Arizona led 61-49 going into the fourth, but Belmont used a 17-2 run in the fourth to make it a one point game with 16.2 to go. With 11 seconds left, Belmont took a 79-78 lead but with four seconds left, the Lumberjacks countered and Neverson made a layup to put NAU up 80-79. With 2.5 seconds on the clock, Belmont advanced the ball and scored off an in-bounds play to pull ahead 81-80 as time expired.
At the free throw line, Northern Arizona was 2-for-4 while the Bruins were 22-for-34.
"I'm really proud of the team and how we battled as a team all way through. We came out and were on fire for the first half and all the shots were going in. We knew that Belmont was going to come back, they're an incredible team and all the credit for them in the second half to turn things around," said head coach
Loree Payne. "They were knocking down their shots and it was tough. We ran into adversity into the second half and I'm proud of the players and how they responded to that. They battled all the way until the end."
With the game locked 2-2 early, both teams entered scoring lulls while they settled in, with NAU not scoring for 3:52 and Belmont not making a field goal for 3:18 of the first quarter. The Bruins used a 6-0 run for a 6-2 lead, but the Lumberjacks tied it up 6-6 by the media timeout. Out of the break, the Lumberjacks held the Bruins from making a field goal for 3:55 while they cruised on a 10-0 run behind two triples from Beattie.
The run would extend to 13-2 over 1:38, giving NAU a 19-11 lead at the end of the first. NAU made its final four field goal attempts from the field.
Beattie picked up where she left off to start the second quarter, making her third triple of the game to extend the lead to 22-11. It sparked an 8-0 run to start the frame, as Feldman made a layup and
Nyah Moran hit NAU's fifth triple of the game. Belmont called for an early timeout as the lead extended out to 27-11. Northern Arizona would use a 12-1 run in all to open the frame.
At the half, the Lumberjacks led 45-28. Defensively, they held the Bruins to 0-of-10 from behind the arc to start the game and without a second quarter field goal until the 3:48 mark. NAU made seven three-pointers in the first half and had a 31-8 advantage on the boards. At the free throw line in the first half, NAU was 2-of-2 while the Bruins were 8-of-14. NAU shot 45 percent (18-40) from the field behind 11 points from Beattie, who was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. The Bruins shot just 26 percent (9-34) in the first half.
The momentum shifted a bit to start the second half, with the Bruins using a 6-0 run to trim the deficit to 47-34, forcing NAU to call for a timeout. With under a minute to play in the third, the Bruins cut the lead to single digits. Belmont would wind up outscoring the Lumberjacks 21-16 in the third quarter, but a Schmidt three-pointer extended the lead back out to 61-49 heading into the fourth.
To start the fourth, the Lumberjacks used a 6-0 run behind triples from
Nyah Moran and Beattie to jump back out to a 74-58 lead. Belmont used a 7-0 run over 17 seconds to cut the deficit down to 76-69 with 2:16 left to play. With a minute left, NAU was holding onto a 78-73 lead. With 25.9 to go, the Bruins hit a triple to make it a two-point game on another 7-0 run. With 11 seconds left, Belmont took a 79-78 lead but with four seconds left, the Lumberjacks countered and Neverson made a layup to put NAU up 80-79. With 2.5 seconds on the clock, Belmont advanced the ball and scored off an in-bounds play to pull ahead 81-80 as time expired.
NAU shot 45 percent (33-73) from the field compared to 36 percent (27-74). From three-point range, the Lumberjacks made 12-of-23 compared to 5-of-26 for Belmont. NAU won the rebounding battle 36-to-28. The Lumberjacks had 20 turnovers compared to nine for Belmont.
