FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- The Northern Arizona women's basketball started the second half fast, but Pepperdine rallied and held on for a 66-63 victory to spoil NAU's second annual Field Trip Day in the Skydome.
In front of a season-best crowd of 803 boosted by hundreds of local schoolchildren, the Lumberjacks' late effort was stymied by the Waves as they fell to 4-5 this season.
"We ended up with 38 points in the paint which was fantastic, but we took a few more outside shots and against a team like that you need to be in attack mode and we didn't do it as much as we needed to," said head coach Sue Darling. "We won the battle of the boards but the difference in the game was they took advantage of their free throws and we turned the ball over 15 times and they turned it over only eight times."
NAU won the battle inside, outscoring Pepperdine by a 38-18 margin in the paint and winning the rebounding battle at 38-33, spearheaded by the play of seniors Erikka Banks and Raven Anderson. Banks finished the game with a team-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Anderson tallied her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds and making all five of her attempts from the field.
Neither team led by more than four points in the first half of a closely contested game throughout. Juniors Monique Mulder and Mariah Willadsen converted on consecutive baskets to give NAU a 24-20 lead with 6:28 before the half. Pepperdine managed to take a 28-27 lead three minutes later and took a three-point advantage into the break at 32-29.
The Lumberjacks responded quickly out of halftime with a 10-0 run as each of their five starters made a field goal. NAU kept Pepperdine off the scoreboard for nearly the first four minutes and following a layup by Banks with 15:48 left, the 'Jacks held a 41-34 lead. Facing their largest deficit of the game, the Waves answered with the next dozen points to reclaim the edge at 46-41 at the 10:28 mark.
A pair of Anderson free throws and a triple by sophomore Brittani Lusain evened the game at 46-46 and Banks' three-point play put NAU in front, 49-47 with eight minutes remaining. Pepperdine retook the lead for good moments later at 54-51, but the game would come down to the wire.
Down six, 64-58, with less than a minute remaining, Lusain knocked down her second three of the game to slice the Pepperdine lead in half. Mulder followed with a steal and a layup to bring NAU within one, 64-63, with 10 seconds left. After the Waves made both of their free throws on the ensuing possession, Banks' last second attempt to tie the game missed the mark allowing Pepperdine to prevail.
NAU's starting five combined for 61 of the team's 63 points on the day as Lusain also wound up in double-figures with 12 points. Willadsen finished with nine and Mulder, making her first start as a Lumberjack in place of sophomore Rene Coggins, recorded eight points and a team-high four assists.
"Mo stepped in and did a really quality job at the point in a starting role," Darling said. "Raven and Erikka were incredible, Brittani did a great job on the boards and Mariah has had a number of phenomenal defensive games. The starting five gave us really quality minutes and I was proud of their effort."
NAU outshot Pepperdine, 45.8 percent to 42.4 percent, and shot 50 percent in the second half. However, Pepperdine made six more free throws than NAU and capitalized on opportunities by posting a 23-6 advantage on points off turnovers, which proved to be the difference in a game that was tied on nine occasions and featured nine lead changes.
