by Cody Bashore, NAU Athletic Communications
BOISE, Idaho (March 8, 2021) – Scoring the first five points of the game, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks never trailed as they cruised to a victory in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho.
A three-pointer by JJ Nakai (Navajo), one of five for the senior in the game, capped off the opening quarter to put the Lumberjacks up by 10. The lead never fell below double-digits for the final 30 minutes of the night, as the No. 7-seeded Lumberjacks beat the No. 10 Weber State Wildcats 82-68 to advance to the Big Sky quarterfinals.
“We know we are a team that can score in transition, we know we are a team that can put up a bunch of points,” said NAU head coach Loree Payne. “Our defense has been average, I think, the last couple weekends of conference, so that was definitely our focus. Kind of went back to defensive boot camp, but I think it really paid off.”
Nakai finished with 19 points, but it was Miki’ala Maio who led the Lumberjacks with 23 points as she nearly matched her career high. Maio also connected on 3-of-4 from three-point range, setting a career best, as the Lumberjacks hit 12-of-26 from behind the arc against the Wildcats.
Four of the 12 threes came in the opening quarter, with the Lumberjacks wasting no time in creating some cushion between them and the Wildcats.
While Jadyn Matthews scored the first six points of the game for Weber State, it couldn’t match the offensive attack from NAU. Regan Schenck connected on NAU’s first three-pointer just 50 seconds into the night, after Maio put in a jumper for the first score of the game. A fastbreak layup for Khiarica Rasheed preceded back-to-back threes for Emily Rodabaugh and Maio, with Schenck assisting both baskets.
Though NAU opened up the night shooting well from outside, it was the Lumberjacks’ defense creating turnovers that led to a 22-12 lead heading into the second quarter. The Wildcats committed nine turnovers, the most in a single quarter against NAU this season, leading to 11 points for the Lumberjacks in the opening 10 minutes.
“The mindset right now is win or go home, so you’ve got to play like every game is your last,” Maio said. “I was just really proud of how we came out today. We took care of business early and set the tempo early.”
NAU’s scoring pace slowed in the second, with the Lumberjacks entering the break with a 39-26 lead, before another explosion throughout the third quarter.
Hitting a season high seven three-pointers in a quarter, three by Nakai and two by Maio, NAU put up 27 third-quarter points with all but six coming from outside.
“We never wanted it to go under 10 and we really wanted to push it to 20,” Payne said. “We had the conversation that we are supposed to win, we are the higher seed. It’s not good enough to just go and win by two or three.”
Weber State’s work in the paint and at the foul line allowed the Wildcats to keep pace, shooting 50 percent in the quarter and hitting 6-of-7 from the line. However, the strong shooting couldn’t draw the Wildcats any closer entering the final 10 minutes of the night.
A 7-0 run by NAU put the game out of reach right after Weber State had cut it down to 12. Rodabaugh and Maio combined for three free throws before the former connected on a jumper and Jacey Bailey dropped in a basket in the paint for the largest lead of the night.
Both Bailey and Schenck joined Maio and Nakai in double-digits, scoring 11 points apiece. Schenck finished with a team-best five assists, with Bailey’s seven rebounds also leading the Lumberjacks.
With the win, NAU faces the Idaho Vandals on Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the Big Sky quarterfinals
