JackCentral

With a 70-68 overtime win at Weber State last Thursday, the NAU women’s basketball team moved one step closer to securing the sixth and final spot in the Big Sky conference tournament. After a season sweep of the Wildcats, The Lumberjacks hold the tiebreaker and a one-game lead for sixth place in the conference standings.
“With only a few games left we have to get it done,” senior forward Laura Dinkins said.
The Lady Jacks trailed the Wildcats for most of the first half. Down 30-23 at halftime, junior guard Sadé Cunningham made a free throw to tie the game at 34 with a little over 14 minutes to go in the game.  The two teams exchanged leads for the rest of half until Weber State guard Ahkiah Hunter made a layup with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 59.
In overtime, the Lady Jacks started off slow hitting just one of their first five attempts. Down by three with a minute and a half to go, freshman forward Jenna Galloway hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 66. In the last seconds of overtime, Cunningham grabbed her own rebound and threw up a fade-away jumper that rattled around the rim before dropping in to beat the Wildcats.
“The play was designed for her,” said head coach Laurie Kelly. “We held the ball for almost 30 seconds. We knew they couldn’t keep Sadé in front of them.”
Cunningham finished the game with eight points and five assists. In only her third year, Cunningham has tied the all-time assist record at NAU with 441. The record was set last year by Kim Wakefield who graduated last year.
“I told Kim to enjoy it one more day,” Kelly said. “Sadé is the best point guard ever at NAU. She can do it all.”
Closing in on a record of her own, junior center Ashley Ingle blocked seven shots to go along with her 15 points and eight rebounds. Ingle had seven blocks compared to Weber State’s one. Ingle needs seven more blocks to tie the single season conference record of 100. Ingle already holds the school single-game record with eight blocks and is still adding to her single-season record of 93 at NAU.
Dinkins also had a big night. Dinkins shot 12-24, scoring 25 points and tying her career high in rebounds with 15. Dinkins recorded her third double-double in the last five games and her ninth of the season.
“She has the ability to score 25 a night,” Ingle said.  “She goes harder than anyone out there.”
The Lumberjacks struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 30 percent including 1-6 from 3-point range.  The Lady Jacks stepped up in the second half, shooting 50 percent, including 3-8 from 3-point range. Both teams made half of their baskets in overtime.
After picking up their second road win of the season, the Lumberjacks will need to win one of their remaining two games on the road against Idaho State or Northern Colorado to ensure they make the conference tournament.
“At this point there are no surprises,” Kelly said. “I won’t have to say anything to get the girls motivated. They know what is at stake.”
The NAU women’s basketball team controlled their own fate on March 1 as they traveled to play Idaho State.  The Lumberjacks were unable to guarantee the final spot in the six-team Big Sky Conference tournament, as they lost to the Bengals 85-70.
“It felt more like a playoff game,” senior forward Laura Dinkins said. “It was a must-win against good competition.”
The Lumberjacks started off strong taking a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes, but were unable to maintain their offensive success. The Bengals went on a 14-4 run, tying the game at 21 with 12 minutes to go in the first half.
“Their subs outplayed both teams starters,” said junior center Ashley Ingle.
The two teams exchanged baskets until Idaho State began to pull away with seven minutes remaining in the first half.  Two minutes later the Lady Jacks were down double digits, where the score would remain for most of the game.
“Credit the Idaho State coaching staff,” said head coach Laurie Kelly. “They knew we played a lot of minutes the other night. They started to run on us and we stopped being aggressive on offense.”
In two games against Idaho State this year, the Lady Jacks have been outrebounded and outshot at the free-throw line. NAU finished the game with 11 fewer rebounds and made nine fewer free-throws.
Four Lady Jacks scored in double figures. Dinkins recorded a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. She has lead the Lady Jacks in scoring and rebounding in six of their last eight games.
“I’ve put a lot of pressure on her and she has embraced it,” Kelly said. “I can’t ask any more of her. She is our go-to player on offense and defense.”
Freshman forwards Jenna Galloway and Tiffany Amos each had 12 points, while Cunningham scored 13 and dished out six assists. Tied to start the game, Cunningham now holds the NAU all-time assist record, with 447 and counting.
“I owe it all to my teammates,” Cunningham said.  “Without their shot-making, I wouldn’t have any assists.”
Ingle led the team in blocks with three and now needs only four to tie the Big Sky single season blocks record. The record is 100, set by Brenda Souther from Eastern Washington in 1983-84. Ingle is currently ranked fourth in NCAA Division I blocks per game with 3.4.
With only two road wins all season, the Lumberjacks have no choice but to win as visitors in the last game of the season. NAU will travel to Northern Colorado for the final game of the season, tonight at 7:05 p.m.
“It makes it easier only having to prepare for one road game,” Kelly said. “Practice this week is about resting and fine-tuning. We aren’t going to change anything, but we need to continue to work on getting better at rebounding and defending.”
The Lumberjacks still have a chance to be as high as the five seed in the tournament if they defeat the Bears and if Northern Colorado also loses its other remaining game against Sacramento State.         If the Lumberjacks do not win their final game at Northern Colorado, they need Weber State to lose at Idaho State on senior night Mar.  8 to secure a berth. The Lady Jacks are tied for sixth in the conference at 6-9 with the Wildcats of Weber State.
“We are starting to play better on the road,” Kelly said.  “A big win on the road before traveling for the tournament would really help our confidence.”
The Lady Jacks have made the Big Sky championship game the past two years, winning one conference championship.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.