by By Cody Bashore, NAU Athletic Communications
LAS VEGAS, Nev. (November 25, 2020) — Thanks to career highs for Emily Rodabaugh, Regan Schenck and JJ Nakai (Navajo), the Northern Arizona University women’s basketball team held off UNLV for a 79-75 victory in Wednesday’s season opener.
Leading by as much as 19 points during the game, the Lumberjacks jumped out to an early lead against the Lady Rebels. NAU put together a 10-0 run with six points by Rodabaugh and four from Nakai, taking a 13-5 lead that it never relinquished.
The Lumberjacks shot 64.7 percent from the field in the opening quarter, pushing out to a 28-16 lead heading into the second quarter.
“I was super proud of the kids, they came out and settled in pretty quickly,” said NAU head coach Loree Payne. “We didn’t rotate a ton of kids, so I expected them to lose their legs a little bit come that third and fourth quarter. They did, but they were able to just sustain it. They fought, hit some big free throws down the stretch and we are very, very happy, considering all the circumstances that went into it, with the way this game played out.”
Hitting a trio of three-pointers in the first four minutes of the season, Rodabaugh matched her previous career high of 19 points at the half. With a layup to open NAU’s second-half scoring, Rodabaugh broke the mark and added a bit more to complete her day, finishing the day with 27 points.
The sophomore added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks while hitting 11-of-17 from the field, including 4-of-6 from outside.
“It wasn’t a surprise to us. Emily has been, and anyone who has seen our practice stats, has seen that Emily has been producing very consistently since we started official practice,” Payne said. “You always wonder how is that going to transfer from practice… everyone was just kind of curious on how that was going to go and we are very, very pleased with how it went.”
When it wasn’t Rodabaugh hitting from all over the court, Nakai found space to work. Playing in her first career game as a Lumberjack, the Flagstaff native finished the game with 22 points, three assists and a pair of steals in her 40 minutes on the court.
After UNLV closed within three points in the final seconds of the game, Nakai drew a foul and connected on both free throws. Putting the Lumberjacks ahead 77-72, the senior effectively closed out the victory as she played a starring role in the Lumberjacks’ up-tempo offense after her waiver to play this season was granted by the NCAA.
“From day one, she has been a big factor in our offense. I mean her game fits our style very, very well,” Payne said. “We are super excited to get the go on her being able to play this year, because that means we get her for two years. She just gives us such an offensive threat.”
Jacey Bailey nearly joined the duo at the 20-point mark, as the senior finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Though the trio scored nearly 85% of NAU’s points in the contest, it was Schenck that started off her junior season with an incredible feat.
Finishing the game with 18 rebounds, Schenck smashed her previous career high of 12 and became the first Lumberjack with at least 15 rebounds since Kaleigh Paplow reached the total in 2019.
Just 10 Lumberjacks have brought down 19 or more rebounds in a game, leaving Schenck tied for 11th all-time in single-game boards. Also playing 40 minutes in the opener, the junior finished the game with seven points and six assists in addition to her rebounding total.
“Regan is tough and the thing that I don’t know if you could see is that kid’s defense was fire in the second half,” Payne said. “She was picking up their point guard and putting a lot of pressure on them, and she was able to sustain that even after not getting a sub. Her toughness off the charts. We have asked her to step up in many ways, and she has absolutely stepped up and is continuing to exceed our expectations.”
Freshmen Nyah and Olivia Moran also made their debuts against UNLV, with the former earning a start in her first career collegiate game. Nyah finished with four points, three assists and two rebounds while Olivia added one point and five rebounds
The Lumberjacks head back out on the road on Sunday, as they face off against the No. 7/7 Arizona Wildcats in Tucson. Set for a noon tip, the game will be NAU’s final non-conference test before opening up Big Sky Conference play next Thursday at Eastern Washington.
