FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Senior Raven Anderson scored 21 of her career-high 25 points in the second half, helping the Northern Arizona women's basketball team snap a seven-game losing streak to Idaho State with a 64-47 victory in the Skydome on Thursday night.
The Lumberjacks (10-12) improved to 6-5 in the Big Sky.
For the first time since the 2010-11 season, the 'Jacks have reached the double-digit win mark.
"It's nice to see what we're doing on the court at this time of year," said head coach Sue Darling.
"We still haven't played our best and we haven't peaked, but we're well on our way. This is the exact time of season you want to start peaking. This game meant a lot for a lot of reasons. We didn't like the way the game ended up (in Pocatello) and I personally had never beat them; none of the girls on this team had ever beat them. We did what we needed to do to win tonight."
In the teams' first meeting in Pocatello on Jan. 17, the Lumberjacks fell to the Bengals, 69-68, on a last-second shot. NAU led on the road for more than 38 minutes in that game.
On Thursday, Anderson powered her way through the Bengals, forcing three Idaho State forwards to foul out. Anderson finished with her fourth 20-point game of the season and eclipsed her previous career-high of 24 points, set last season vs. Weber State. She shot 9 of 16 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the line.
NAU took a 27-24 lead into halftime. Coming out of the half, Anderson scored the Lumberjacks' first nine points, allowing them to take their first double-digit lead, 36-26. The Bengals eventually closed the gap to 37-35 with 12 minutes left before four straight points from sophomore Brittani Lusain extended NAU's cushion back to six points.
Idaho State responded with a 3-pointer on the next possession, but the Lumberjacks went on a 15-4 run to put the game out of reach, capped by six straight points from Anderson.
"This game proved to ourselves that we can beat any team in this league," Lusain said. "We need to keep building on it and treat this win as any other win. We understood that this game was a game of runs and we needed to have the last, and best, run."
Senior Erikka Banks finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season, while moving into eighth on the school's career rebounding list with 558. Lusain had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Anderson added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks to her career scoring night.
