The Big Sky Conference championship tournaments started in Boise, Idaho on Saturday, March 4, 2023. The women’s tournament began at 5:30 p.m. with No. 9 Northern Arizona posting an 87-76 win over No. 10 Idaho followed by No. 8 Northern Colorado outlasting Portland State, 84-80.
No. 9 Northern Arizona 87, No. 10 Idaho 76
Behind 25 points from Jalen Cone, Northern Arizona shook off its tough luck to earn a conference tournament victory over an Idaho squad playing under “acting” head coach Tim Marrion. UI fired Zac Claus immediately after the Vandals’ final regular-season loss.
NAU lost two overtime games, two more times on last-second buzzer-beaters and six more times by three points or less during a crazy season that saw the Lumberjacks take all the top teams in the Big Sky down to the wire. Northern Arizona snapped a 12-game Big Sky losing streak dating back to last season by beating Montana in overtime at the buzzer. The ‘Jacks went on to lose to Portland State TWICE at the horn, sandwiched around a missed buzzer-beater for NAU in a one-point loss at Montana State.
In the final game of the regular season, NAU took Weber State to overtime in Ogden before losing 90-89. Saturday in front of a crowd largely partisan to the Vandals, NAU finally broke through.
After the game, NAU head coach Shane Burcar continued to praise his team’s character and effort, at the same time expressing relief they were finally able to win a big game. Now the ‘Jacks move on to face Eastern Washington, the regular-season champion and the league’s top seed, at 5:30 p.m.
No. 8 Northern Colorado 84, No. 7 Portland State 80
A fast-paced, physical game ended in a free throw flurry as UNC’s Daylen Kountz hit nine of his 10 made free throws in the final two minutes of the game. Kountz finished with 18 points, senior Matt Johnson scored 22 points and senior Dalton Knecht chipped in 18 points and six rebounds as the Bears won for the third game in a row.
Cameron Parker finished his stellar senior season by rolling up 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds but Portland State finished their season 12-19.
