The Northern Arizona women’s basketball team has been one of the top teams in the Big Sky Conference all season.
The Lumberjacks also have been one of the best offenses nationally. They showed it Saturday evening, beating Northern Colorado 80-70 in a Big Sky game at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley.
NAU used a 14-0 run late in the second quarter to take control of the game on UNC’s senior night. UNC after the game honored April Rummery-Lamb, Diana Saleh and Silvia Nativi who played their only season with the Bears this year as transfer players.
The Lumberjacks built their cushion by outscoring UNC 29-12 in the second quarter including the 14-point run over about 3 minutes.
NAU shot a game-best 52.4% from the field in the quarter. The team made 50% of its shots from the floor in the first half including 10 of 19 on 3-point shots (52.6%).
NAU started the day ranked 15th nationally in scoring offense at 80.2 points per game with two of the leading scorers in the Big Sky this season in forward Sophie Glancey and guard Taylor Feldman.
“There were some moments we didn’t execute from our side either,” UNC coach Kristen Mattio said of the NAU run in the second quarter. “They were literally scorching hot. They did an excellent job. Their shooters were taking the right shots, and they were shooting it right in our faces too.”
Mattio said UNC lost its way during that stretch of the game and hurt itself with missed baskets on easy shots throughout the game.
“Things that we typically make or things that we overcomplicated around the rim, that we just needed to keep things simple,” Mattio said.
NAU, which won its ninth ninth straight against the Bears and fourth in a row in Greeley, led by as many as 26 points early in the third quarter.
UNC outscored the Lumberjacks 43-32 in the second half, and cut the lead to 10 points in the final minute.
Northern Colorado guard Gabi Fields goes to the basket in front of Northern Arizona’s Ava Schmidt, left, and Leia Beattie, right, during a Big Sky Conference game Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Bank of Colorado Arena in Greeley. Fields scored 12 points in UNC’s 80-70 loss to the Lumberjacks. (Jesus Ayala/UNC Athletics)Northern Arizona’s win was its sixth straight, which is currently the longest winning streak in the conference. The second-place Lumberjacks (15-2 Big Sky, 24-6 overall) earned that distinction with Montana State’s first conference loss of the year earlier in the day to Sacramento State.
Sacramento State’s 73-69 win in Bozeman snapped Montana State’s 19-game winning streak dating to Dec. 16. The Bobcats, 16-1 in the Big Sky and 26-3 overall, already clinched the top seed for the conference tournament next week.
Nativi led UNC with 13 points. Point guard Gabi Fields scored 12 points and London Gamble added 11. Tatum West scored six points ad grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
UNC (6-11 Big Sky, 13-15 overall) has one final regular-season game. The Bears host Weber State at 6 p.m. Monday at Bank of Colorado Arena. The teams met in their first game of the conference season Jan. 2 in Greeley. Weber State won 65-52.
“Now, we’ve had a lot of games go by and it’s two completely different teams,” guard Gabi Fields said. “I’m excited for that match up. I really want to end conference (season) on a win going into this tournament (the Big Sky Conference tournament). Just some momentum, put us in a good place.”
The Big Sky Conference Tournament is March 8-12 in Boise, Idaho.
The Lumberjacks led only 19-15 at the end of the first quarter. UNC continued to hang with the Lumberjacks early in the second quarter.
NAU leading scorers Sophie Glancey and Taylor Feldman hit back-to-back 3s for NAU for a 29-19 lead. West cut the lead to six for UNC at 29-23. Glancey is averaging a 17.9 points per game and Feldman averages 16.4, putting them 1-2 in the Big Sky according to conference statistics.
Ava Schmidt started the NAU 14-point run with a jumper for a 34-25 lead with 3:33 left in the second quarter. A Feldman layup took the lead back to double digits at 36-25.
Schmidt hit a 3 to extend the lead 14 points, and she followed with a layup to continue the run at 41-25.
Feldman led Northern Arizona with 21 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the field including 4 of 5 on 3s and 7 of 8 at the free throw line. Leia Beattie scored 16 points, Nyah Moran scored 13 and Glancey added 12 points.
“We really don’t have any excuse,” Nativi said of the NAU run. “We weren’t as disciplined as we were supposed to be defensively. We did not execute the defensive side of it.”
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