The holiday season was unkind to the NAU women’s basketball team as they played seven straight road games in less than four weeks, dropping six of those seven games. The Jacks also split two home games in December, giving the team a 2-7 record during that span despite playing in five games decided by five or less points.

“I would rather be in a close game and lose than get blown out by 20 points,” said senior forward Liana Boer. “Obviously a loss is a loss, but if we were going into every game and coming away with 20-point losses, we’d be getting nothing out of that. Being in a close game is going to prepare us better for conference games because those games are always close. I think it will help us in the long run.”

NAU guard Vickie Toney runs past a San Diego player during a Dec. 10 home game. NAU won 62-58. Jennifer Hilderbrand / The Lumberjack

Following a two-game split in their annual NAU Thanksgiving Classic, the Jacks wrapped up a four-game homestand with a narrow overtime loss to Arkansas State 65-62 Dec. 5 but rallied back to claim their second victory of the season against San Diego 62-58 Dec. 10. In their victory over the Toreros, the Jacks used an 11-0 run to close the game and cap off a comeback in which they were down by seven with less than three minutes to play.

“[The win] means a lot,” saidsophomore guard Caty Huntington. “We had that urgency where we felt we needed a win since we have those seven road games coming up. We feel more confident than ever now.”

But the Jacks were not able to carry that momentum into their seven-game road trip as they opened with six straight losses. The Jacks’ first stop was a meeting with Denver Dec. 16. In a defensive struggle, the Jacks opened the second half with an 11-3 run to tie the score at 33-33 with 13:24 remaining in the game, before eventually losing 46-41.

Later that week, the Jacks made a visit to the state of North Dakota for a pair of matches. But unlike their previous game, the Jacks were hit hard in a 69-55 defeat to North Dakota Dec. 18 and a 66-56 loss to North Dakota State Dec. 21.

In their final non-conference game of the season, the Jacks headed to Las Vegas to take on UNLV, but a valiant comeback came up short in a 60-58 loss to the Rebels.

The Jacks, who were down by as many as 21 in the second half, were led by junior forward Lauren Hoisington, a Las Vegas native, who had a team-high 13 points. With this loss, the Jacks finished the non-conference season at 2-11, but they played only four home games and lost five games by five points or less.

“We don’t feel like our record shows how much better we’re getting,” said head coach Laurie Kelly. “Last year we had Sade Cunningham, who was running the point guard position and was our floor leader, and she had a lot of experience. I think we’re a more talented team than we were a year ago, but we have less experience for sure.”

Aside from losing several close games, the Jacks have shown the ability to push opposing teams until the end by making up several double-digit deficits with second-half comebacks. But in other games, they have played close to their opponents in the first half and faded in the second half.

“We need to figure out how to put a whole game together,” Hoisington said. “I think rallying back is good for us, and that will help us in the future. We just have to finish those games. It’s great to get back within a few points, but we need to come out on top now.”

But conference play would prove to be more of the same for the Jacks. After a loss at Northern Colorado 66-56 on Jan. 2 in their conference opener, the Jacks dropped their second conference game Jan. 8 at Idaho State. The Jacks were down by as many as 18 points in the second half to the Bengals but were able to cut the deficit to five with under three minutes to play before losing 67-60.

The Jacks would snap their six-game losing streak the following day at Weber State. Freshman guard Amy Patton hit a buzzer beater following two missed Wildcat free throws to give the Jacks their first conference victory, 63-62.

Patton, who has posted two consecutive double-doubles, leads the team with 17.6 points and 7.6 rebounds a game. But according to Kelly, the team needs consistent play from the rest of the team.

“Amy Patton is definitely our go-to kid,” Kelly said. “She’s been scoring in a lot of different ways, but we need to have more than her stepping up.”