But with the chance to host the Big Sky tournament in their grasp, they knew what to do: Get the basketball to Mandy Morales and get out of the way. The sophomore All-America candidate scored 10 of UM's final 18 points, and set up two other baskets, as the Lady Griz held off the third-place Lumberjacks 61-50.
NAU summoned 5-11 Laura Dinkins, its best defender, to pick up Morales fullcourt and shadow her every move. But while Dinkins prevented Morales from hitting a single shot outside the key, the 5-9 All-America candidate drove relentlessly to the basket and finished with 27 points - her highest total in Big Sky play. Morales made 10-of-17 shots and 7-of-11 free throws as UM clinched its third Big Sky title in four years.
Her teammates expected nothing less from Morales, one of 11 candidates for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's top point guard. She's the only player who ranks in the top 15 in both scoring (20.2) and assists (6.9).
“She hit some clutch shots, some baskets when we really needed them,” said junior forward Johanna Closson, who made some clutch baskets of her own en route to 16 points. “She's a good leader that way. We all know she can do it, we all have confidence in her, so we just clear out and let her do her thing.”
Morales finished with 10 rebounds, six steals and five assists, but also committed nine of UM's season-high 22 turnovers.
“I know she had an uncharacteristic number of turnovers,” said UM coach Robin Selvig. “A lot of those we were just out of sync; sometimes it was her fault, sometimes it was 50-50, and sometimes they were playing some dang good defense.”
In the end, however, it added up to a performance that surely locked up the conference's MVP award.
“She's a very good one-on-one player,” said NAU coach Laurie Kelly. “If you overplay, she'll come back the other direction. If you don't stop her, she'll lean in. She's not the quickest player in the world, but she's very, very smart.”
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