by By Cody Bashore, NAU Athletic Communications
POCATELLO, Idaho (January 7, 2021) – After fighting back-and-forth with the Big Sky Conference co-favorite throughout the night, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks fell just short in Thursday’s battle with the Idaho State Bengals.
Falling 70-66 in the first of two games against the Bengals in Pocatello, Idaho, the Lumberjacks held a two-point lead with just 3:30 left on the clock before the hosts put together what would be a deciding 7-0 run.
A three-pointer by Diaba Konate pushed the Bengals ahead 58-57 following a Regan Schenck layup, with a pair of jumpers across the next 90 seconds leaving the Lumberjacks down five. A trio of three-pointers, the first by Miki’ala Maio and two across a 30-second stretch from JJ Nakai, brought NAU within one.
However, a trio of free throws and a missed jumper by the Lumberjacks sealed the final result as Idaho State improved to 7-1 this season, 5-0 in the Big Sky. NAU fell to 5-4, 3-2 in conference play.
“We have that firepower, I feel like we were just really out of sync offensively,” said NAU head coach Loree Payne, as the Lumberjacks shot just 33 percent in the first half. “I think it’s challenging, we have been so in and out with our lineups and our players who are healthy and who is not.”
Nakai (Navajo) returned to the starting lineup after missing both games against the Idaho Vandals last week, scoring 16 points while adding three rebounds and two assists. The senior moved back into the lineup as Khiarica Rasheed moved back out, missing the game after playing in NAU’s last three and sitting out the first five of the year.”
“You have JJ who hasn’t really played since the 17th and was fighting an injury there, she didn’t even really have a practice before this game,” Payne said. “Obviously not having Khia is a big piece of just our offensive flow. That was really challenging and we didn’t really get that flow until late in the second half. By that time it was too late.”
The Lumberjacks hit 47.2 percent in the second half, fighting back from a 10-point deficit with less than three minutes before halftime.
Four straight points from Nyah Moran cut Idaho State’s lead to six, with a pair of free throws for Jacey Bailey and a Nakai jumper making it 29-27 at the break.
Miki’ala Maio, who led the Lumberjacks with 17 points, tied the game with a layup to open the third quarter and the sides traded baskets for much of the final 20 minutes. Separated by three points or less for all but seconds of the final half, NAU and Idaho State failed to pull away from one another.
A three-pointer by Bailey off an inbounds pass with 7:28 remaining gave NAU its first lead since the start of the second quarter, but a pair off offensive rebounds for Idaho State allowed the Bengals to put in four second-chance points before their crucial run.
“We got punished around a little bit, the physicality of the game, we didn’t match it,” Payne said. “We need to be tougher. Every 50-50 ball they got. There were tie ups and they were ripping them from our hands instead of us being a little tougher.”
Though the Lumberjacks hit 5-of-9 from three-point range in the fourth quarter, the team started out 0-of-10 from outside in the first three quarters. A 6-0 lead to open the game soon became a 13-12 advantage for the Bengals before Emily Rodabaugh put in seven consecutive points for the Lumberjacks between the first and second quarters.
Rodabaugh, who recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in addition to a career-best four blocks, put NAU back in front at 17-16 before Idaho State gained control across the next 20 minutes of play.
While struggling to shoot from outside early on, NAU also hit just 7-of-14 from the line in the first half and did not attempt a second-half free throw.
“They are just super fundamental. they are a very, very good defensive team and I felt like we weren’t getting as open of shots as I think we could have,” Payne said. “We also can’t shoot 50 percent from the free-throw line. We missed seven free throws, that’s absolutely unacceptable for a team of our caliber to not be able to go up and knock down free throws.”
