NAU outscored Sacramento State, 31-19, in the fourth quarter and did so without senior Kaleigh Paplow, who left the game with an injury with 6:35 remaining. At the time of Paplow's injury, the Lumberjacks trailed 51-49. However, NAU proceeded to go on a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to seize a 61-54 advantage that it would not relinquish.

Redshirt sophomore Brianna Lehew scored five points during the decisive run and tallied all eight of her points in the fourth quarter. Rasheed scored 10 of her 18 points in the final period as well, powering NAU to victory despite Paplow's absence.

"Bri has been playing really solid as of late and we asked her to step up," Payne said. "Morgan Gary came in and played some big minutes. Everyone stepped up when a player goes down and that's what you want to see out of a family. That fourth quarter was a big-time step for our program moving forward to rally together and have each other's backs."

"We did this for Kaleigh," Bailey added. "She couldn't play, so we all needed to do what we needed to do for her."

Despite leading 19-14 heading into the second quarter, NAU trailed most of the way until reclaiming the lead for good in the final five minutes of the game.