NAU defeats Lady Griz in Missoula for first time since 2007

THE MATCHUP

Both Northern Arizona and Montana were coming off splits in the opening weekend of Big Sky play when the Lumberjacks visited Missoula on Saturday. Last year, in Loree Payne’s fifth year at Idaho and Brian Holsinger’s first at Montana, the two hooked up for one of the games of the season, a 60-59 win by the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff. NAU then rolled the Lady Griz 75-57 in the conference tournament. The Lumberjacks returned several players from that team, including point guard Regan Schenck and stretch big Emily Rodabaugh, and also added former Idaho State sharpshooter Montana Oltrogge in the offseason.

THE RESULT

Things started out smoking hot for the Lady Griz, who scored the first 10 points of the game and led 22-11 after the first quarter and 26-11 early in the second. But as the Lady Griz started to substitute heavily, Northern Arizona put together a 12-0 run in the second quarter, keyed by four straight baskets by post Fatoumata Jaiteh, and turned things all the way around to lead 35-33 at halftime. In the fourth quarter, the Lumberjacks sealed a close game down the stretch with another run, putting together a 6-0 spurt to take a 76-72 lead with 30 seconds left and surviving a potential winning 3-point attempt by Montana’s Libby Stump to leave Missoula with a 76-74 win. The Lady Griz held NAU to 38.5% shooting, but the Lumberjacks scored 23 points off 15 Montana turnovers and held a 14-5 advantage in offensive rebounds.

THE STANDOUTS

In the high-stress environment of Dahlberg Arena – one NAU head coach Loree Payne called the toughest in the league – a freshman in her 16th college game made the biggest plays for the Lumberjacks. Sophie Glancey, a post player from Boise, scored NAU’s first points of the game to stop Montana’s 10-0 run to open the game, added on to Jaiteh’s big second quarter by scoring six straight herself, and also scored six of the Lumberjacks’ last eight points in the fourth quarter.

Glancey finished with 22 points, easily eclipsing her previous career-high of 17. Oltrogge added 15 points and Jaiteh 14 for the Lumberjacks, while Schenck nearly finished with a double-double despite a cold shooting night, posting 10 points and nine assists.

Keeli Burton-Oliver started off scorching for Montana, scoring the first six points of the game, and finished with 15. Carmen Gfeller attempted just one field goal in the first half but came on strong after halftime and also finished with 15 points. Gina Marxen had 13 points and Stump had 12 to give the Lady Griz four in double figures.

BOX SCORE

QUOTABLE

“Sophie Glancey came in off the bench and dominated on the block. She’s definitely going to be one you want to watch. But just to have that composure down the stretch in the toughest atmosphere in the Big Sky, just really proud of the growth of this team.” – NAU head coach Loree Payne

“We came in a little sped up. One of the things about this team, I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but our momentum is completely dictated off if we’re making shots. … Our transition offense is predicated on us getting stops, and we weren’t getting stops, and I think that put us in a little bit of a funk those first couple minutes. But once we settled in and knocked down a few shots and got a few stops, I feel like we never felt like it was too far gone, especially in the first quarter. With this team, we can score a lot of points very quickly.” – Payne on NAU’s slow start

“The beginning of the game is how we expected to play, and then you just relax. It’s just evident in those moments. Part of it is because we get in foul trouble. Foul trouble has been a massive issue for us. Really, in the second quarter, there was a stretch that was just horrible on our part. We just relax and don’t do the right things.” – Montana head coach Brian Holsinger

“We outplayed them in almost every statistical category except for taking care of the ball and rebounding. So they get 14 offensive rebounds and they get 15 extra possessions because of turnovers, they get 16 extra shots. That’s the game. To me, you score 74 points, you should win the game. We have not embraced the defensive identity like I want, and it’s disappointing.” – Holsinger

UP NEXT

Montana (5-9, 1-2) hosts Northern Colorado on Saturday, with tip-off at 2 p.m. Northern Arizona (8-8, 2-1) now travels to Montana State.

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