MISSOULA — The Montana Lady Griz fell to Northern Arizona 96-76 on Saturday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena.
The 96 points scored by NAU was the most the Lady Griz had given up at home in Dahlberg in program history, according to UM sports information.
Montana started fast with a quick lead in the first quarter, but the high-powered Lumberjacks, coached by Havre's Loree Payne, showed why they are a force to be reckoned within the Big Sky Conference.
Despite trailing 16-9 with 4:16 left in the opening quarter, the Lumberjacks rallied back in a big way behind big performances from stars Taylor Feldman and Sophie Glancey.
Feldman finished the game with 21 points while added 18 and eight rebounds in the win as NAU improved to 19-6 overall and 10-2 in the league to remain in second-place behind Montana State, the only Big Sky team NAU has fallen to.
The Lumberjacks led 51-40 at halftime, but blew the game completely open in the third quarter by outscoring the Lady Griz 32-14 to put the game away early. Six players scored in double figures as Allie Cummins added 15, Leia Beattie poured in 12 and twin sisters Nyah and Olivia Moran each went for 11.
Nyah Moran, Beattie and Feldman all dished five assists each as NAU shot 50.7% from the field and 17 for 34 from deep.
Olivia Moran and Ava Schmidt each grabbed seven boards as the Lumberjacks out-rebounded the Lady Griz 41 to 26 and held UM to 48.4% shooting and a 7 for 17 mark from deep.
Tyler McCliment-Call and Avery Waddington led Montana with 17 points each. Izabella Zingaro added 12 and MJ Bruno added 11. Waddington also dished six assists.
UM dropped to 10-13 overall and 6-6 in league play and were swept by NAU in their regular-season meetings.
Montana is on the road for the next three contests as UM is at Idaho State on Thursday, at Weber State on Saturday and at Montana State on Feb. 22.
