NAU SPORTS INFORMATION
Falling behind by nine in the game’s opening three minutes, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks’ early deficit left them chasing the Northern Colorado Bears in their return to Flagstaff on Monday.
Playing in the Walkup Skydome for the first time in 23 days, the Lumberjacks (9-9, 6-4 Big Sky) shot 29% from the field, allowing the Bears (7-10, 3-6) to bounce back from a Saturday loss for a 61-49 victory.
The 49 points scored was the lowest for Northern Arizona since December 2018 against Arizona and the first time being held under 30% from the field since a December 2018 game against New Mexico.
After shooting 0 of 7 to open the game, the Lumberjacks recovered to put together a 6-0 run midway through the first quarter. After Khiarica Rasheed put in a layup off an assist by Olivia Moran, Emily Rodabaugh stepped in the way of a pass by Northern Colorado’s Allie Downing and broke toward the basket for a layup.
Another layup, this time by Lauren Orndoff, cut the Bears’ lead down to 11-8 but a brief burst for Northern Colorado, highlighted by a Hannah Simental 3-pointer, pushed the visitors back in control. Five points for Fatoumata Jaiteh at the end of the first quarter, coupled with a 3-pointer for Emily Rodabaugh and a free throw by Regan Schenck, once again put the Lumberjacks down by only three at 22-19.
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However, another run by the Bears put the Lumberjacks back down into their original nine-point hole. With six combined free throws from Sabine Lipe and Simental, the Bears entered halftime in control and eventually grew the lead to 17 in the fourth quarter.
A 3 from Schenck, layup by Orndoff and a pair of makes from outside for Nyah Moran pushed the lead back down to 12, but a pair of quarters with the Lumberjacks hitting 21% from the field was too much to overcome.
Kurstyn Harden led the way for the Bears, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. The junior’s totals accounted for 41% and 32.5% of their team’s scoring and rebounds, respectively, while playing 28 minutes. Harden finished the opening quarter with six points and seven rebounds, paving the way for one of the best nights of her career.
Nyah Moran led the Lumberjacks with 11 points, followed by 10 points and six rebounds for Rasheed. Schenck added eight points, five rebounds and two assists, and Orndoff finished with six points and season highs for rebounds, at seven, and assists with five.
Northern Arizona returns to the Skydome on Thursday to take on the Sacramento State Hornets (9-10, 5-5) at 6 pm The Lumberjacks defeated the Hornets 68-57 in Sacramento on Jan. 10, though Sacramento State has won five of six since the loss.
Thursday night’s game will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day and include a “Wings” poster giveaway.
The Star’s Alec White and Justin Spears analyze Arizona’s 67-56 win over ASU and how concerning the team’s shooting slump is going forward.
Men’s basketball
Monday night’s contest in the America First Event Center was a tale of two halves as Southern Utah took advantage of the Northern Arizona men’s basketball team’s cold second-half shooting in a 78-66 victory. The Lumberjacks shot just 26.7% from the floor post-halftime, falling to 7-13 overall and 3-6 in conference play with the loss.
“I think our offensive execution was there, and defensively we had a couple of breakdowns on out-of-bound plays,” said coach Shane Burcar. “We were right there with four minutes to go, and if we make a couple of shots, we’re right there at the end. They shoot 52% in the second half and unfortunately we shoot 26%, and it’s near impossible to win that game.”
Two teams combined to shoot 50% from long distance in the first 20 minutes. Both teams drilled nine 3s, with redshirt sophomore Keith Haymon playing a huge role in the Lumberjacks’ offensive display, making all five of his 3-point attempts for 15 first-half points.
After shooting 51.6% in the first half, the Lumberjacks went just 8 for 30 from the deck in the second half, including 4 of 17 from 3-point range. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds (13-6, 7-2 Big Sky) converted at a 52% clip after halftime to erase what was a 41-38 NAU halftime lead.
Sophomore Jalen Cone and Haymon accounted for all of Northern Arizona’s initial 14 points, with each player connecting on a pair of 3s, in a high scoring first five minutes. At the first media timeout, the Lumberjacks led 14-12 as the two teams already combined for eight triples.
Later, consecutive treys by Haymon and Cone provided Northern Arizona with a 34-27 lead and another 3, this time by redshirt junior Nik Mains, gave the Lumberjacks their largest lead of the game, 37-29, with 5:49 left in the first helped. Southern Utah answered with a 9-0 run to retake the lead momentarily, but redshirt freshman Carson Towt and Cone scored the half’s final points to send their team into the locker room with the one-possession edge.
Cone and Haymon both scored 15 first-half points, combining for 30 of the team’s 41, but the duo only totaled 14 points between them in the second half.
Cone still finished with his 10th 20-point game of the season, leading all players with 26 points, while recording team-highs of four assists and three steals with the latter tying a career high. Haymon knocked down a career-high 6 of 8 shots from behind the arc, finishing with 18 points to go with five rebounds. Mains scored eight of his 13 points after halftime, putting three ‘Jacks in double-figures.
The Thunderbirds, the reigning Big Sky regular season champion, opened up a four-point second-half lead. Two possessions later, Cone went coast-to-coast following a steal by freshman Jayden Jackson to put NAU back on top, 52-51, with 13:25 to play, but that would be the Lumberjacks’ final lead of the game.
Towt snapped a three-minute Northern Arizona scoring drought with a dunk, but the Thunderbirds responded with consecutive buckets to take the first double-digit lead by either team, 65-54, with 8:50 left, and the Lumberjacks only managed three field goals following the Towt dunk in the last 10 minutes.
“I was pleased with how we moved the ball in the second half,” Burcar said. “I think we took great shots and we just didn’t make them. We’ve done a great job moving the ball all season. We also only had seven turnovers, so it’s not like we got beat because we were reckless with the ball .”
NAU outscored Southern Utah, 12-6, off turnovers as the Lumberjacks committed just seven turnovers, tying a season-low. Southern Utah won the rebounding battle, 39-33, and held a significant 24-3 advantage in bench points.
Northern Arizona plays next on Thursday when it has a road game at Sacramento State at 8 pm
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