For the second straight Thursday, Sophia Stiles appeared to hit a game-winning shot for the Lady Griz.
But with 0.8 seconds left, Northern Arizona got a bucket from Khiarica Rasheed with 0.4 seconds left after she caught the inbounds pass from Nina Radford and immediately put it up for the bucket to tie the game.
But a foul was whistled on Montana's Nyah Morris-Nelson who was defending the shot, so Rasheed went to the line and knocked down the and-one free throw and the Lumberjacks beat Montana 60-59 in a wild finish in Flagstaff, Arizona on Thursday night.
With just .8 on the clock @NAU_WBB gets the AND 1 and wins 60-59‼️🤯#ExperienceElevated pic.twitter.com/sFQI4InRMU
— Big Sky Conference (@BigSkyConf) February 11, 2022
Rasheed appeared to catch the ball while falling backwards and Morris-Nelson was whistled for the foul with her arm up attempting to block the shot.
The loss dropped UM to 14-7 overall and 7-5 in Big Sky Conference play. NAU improved to 11-10 and 8-5 as the two teams split the season series. NAU jumped to the fifth spot in the league standings while UM fell to sixth.
Stiles led the way for Montana with a game-high 18 points while freshman Dani Bartsch recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. UM was again without guard Sammy Fatkin who missed Monday's win over Southern Utah, and was dealing with an ankle injury sustained against Idaho State last Saturday.
UM shot 36.2% from the field and 5 for 24 from deep. NAU shot at a 34.5% rate from the field and went 3 for 11 from deep.
Montana's game on Saturday at Portland State was postponed, so UM will next take on Eastern Washington (5-16, 3-9) in Cheney on Monday.
