Greeley, Colo. (January 24, 2026) – In a battle featuring two of the top-scoring offenses in the conference, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team came up short against Northern Colorado, 72-59, on Saturday afternoon inside Bank of Colorado Arena.
Naomi White paced NAU (7-14, 3-5 Big Sky) with 26 points for her 10th game this season scoring 25 or more.
Madison Watts produced 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with five boards and two assists.
J'Bionna Robinson recorded four points and four steals in her fifth start of the season and also her fifth outing of the year with three or more takeaways.
Four Bears scored in double figures to charge Northern Colorado (15-6, 6-2 Big Sky), led by Heather Baymon with 17. The Bears entered the contest second in the league in offense rebounds and pulled down 20 offensive boards for 20 second-chance points to outrebound NAU for the game 44-33. The Bears were also able to slow down NAU's fast pace, limiting it to just two fast-break points.
The first 20 minutes included seven ties and eight lead changes, with the largest lead of the half coming from UNC up 27-19 midway through the second quarter. An
Audrey Taylor floater there would spark an 11-7 run from the 'Jacks to close the period, allowing NAU to trail by just four at halftime, 34-30.
Although the Lumberjacks outshot the Bears 45.5-37.1% in the second half,12 of NAU's 18 turnovers for the game arrived in the second 20 minutes. The 'Jacks got as close as 34-32 early in the third period but could not close the gap and saw the UNC lead grow to double-digits late in the final quarter.
The loss also snaps a nine-game win streak over Northern Colorado.
NAU returns to Flagstaff next week to welcome Eastern Washington on Thursday, Jan. 29 for a doubleheader with the Lumberjack men's basketball team. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+, with the men's game following at 6 p.m. MST.
