Lumberjacks outscore Lady Griz 89-76

Saturday, January 16

Flagstaff, Ariz.

10 AM

Montana

5-4, 2-2BSC

Northern Arizona

6-6, 4-4BSC

Montana

Northern Arizona

Photos: Katie Rapp (NAU Athletics)

1/16/2021 1:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

If you had told Montana women's basketball coach Mike Petrino on Saturday morning that his team was going to shoot 50 percent from the field, go 16 for 17 from the free throw line and score 76 points, he would have felt good about his team's fortunes as it prepared to face Northern Arizona.

But on this day the Lumberjacks were even better. They hit 13 of their first 15 shots, went 9 for 19 from the arc and shot 56.9 percent while turning the ball over just 10 times.

In other words, they were true to form.

The Big Sky Conference's top scoring team led the final 22 minutes and pulled away late in the fourth quarter to post an 89-76 victory at Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff.

Jacqulynn Nakai, who leads the Big Sky in scoring, and Regan Schenck combined to score 50 points on 17-of-26 shooting, and Northern Arizona's five starters put up 79 points on 63 percent shooting.

"They were leading the league in scoring coming into this series, and they showed what they can do today," Petrino said. "They are a high-powered offensive team, and they played like it.

"We got beat in transition too many times, then we lost their scorers. You can't have multiple breakdowns like that against a good, high-powered team."

Carmen Gfeller led Montana with 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting. For the two-game road trip -- Montana won 83-74 on Thursday night -- she took 23 shots and made 18 of them, or 78.3 percent.

Abby Anderson added 17 points, going 5 for 8 from the field, a perfect 7 for 7 at the line, Madi Schoening 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting.

Montana, which had held its previous seven opponents to sub-40-percent shooting, did enough offensively to win the game.

"When you score 76 points and shoot 50 percent, you should have a better chance of being in the game, and we weren't," said Petrino. "Defensively we had too many breakdowns."

Neither team was sluggish despite the early 10 a.m. tip time.

Northern Arizona missed just two its first 15 shots, which normally would spell disaster for the visiting team, but Montana was nearly as good.

The Lady Griz opened 7 for 9 and trailed by six after the first quarter, 29-23.

"They threw an extended first punch I'd call it," said Petrino. "They were on fire. They shot the ball extremely well, especially early. I thought we came out offensively and did well too."

After falling behind by eight early in the second quarter, Montana finally paired up made shots with defensive stops and took a 36-35 lead on a basket in the paint by Anderson.

Willa Albrecht scored on a twisting shot inside a minute later to put the Lady Griz, who scored a season-high 46 points in the paint, ahead by three, 38-35.

Regan Schenck and Jacey Bailey answered with back-to-back 3-pointers just 23 seconds apart, and Northern Arizona, which led 44-40 at the half, would hold the lead the rest of the game.

"We kept going with them and came back. That was a positive. It was two teams putting up points right away. They were just more consistent," said Petrino.

Northern Arizona scored the opening 10 points of the third quarter to go up 54-40.

Gfeller answered with a 3-pointer and a basket inside to get the lead back to single digits, and Sophia Stiles and Schoening scored late to pull the Lady Griz within six, 61-55, going into the fourth.

The game was there for the taking in the final period.

Gfeller cut it to four early in the fourth and made it 71-66 when she converted a three-point play with 5:03 to go. Stiles made it 74-69 with 4:09 left.

Montana got the looks from the arc that it wanted, but the Lady Griz went 2 for 12 from the 3-point line in the second half, 4 for 19 for the game.

"They were all good looks. I can't think of one that wasn't a good look," said Petrino, whose team went 8 for 18 from deep on Thursday. "All the kids who took threes, we have the utmost confidence in.

"They were good looks, good shots. They just didn't go down. That's when you need more stops."

In a game with more than 60 made field goals, it's hard to say any one of them is more important than the rest, but Northern Arizona's with 3:35 remaining probably sealed it for the Lumberjacks.

With the lead at six, NAU missed a free throw but grabbed the offensive rebound. That led to an Emily Rodabaugh basket and sparked an 8-0 run that put the game out of reach.

"Giving up that offensive rebound was huge," said Petrino. "It gave them an extended possession, then they scored off it. That was a huge play for us. We had some breakdowns at some key moments."

Montana hadn't lost a game by more than seven points this season before falling by 13 on Saturday.

The Lady Griz (5-4, 2-2 BSC) will host Sacramento State (0-8, 0-5 BSC) next week at Dahlberg Arena. The Hornets are facing Big Sky-leading Idaho State in Sacramento on Saturday afternoon.