The Sacramento State women’s basketball team held off a late second half comeback attempt  by Northern Arizona to secure the victory Thursday evening in Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Hornets outscored the Lumberjacks 51-33 in the first half, but NAU’s charge made it a close affair as Sac State escaped with a 99-91 victory.

Sac State held a 19 point lead at 83-64 with 9:45 left in the game, but nearly saw it slip away after a 21-6 run by NAU that brought the Lumberjacks within four with 3:53 left.

Hornets head coach Bunky Harkleroad expressed his thoughts on his team’s play and the rally by the Lumberjacks.

“We got off to a hot start and that always helps, but NAU has a lot of offensive firepower and they became more aggressive,” Harkleroad said. “We had a letdown defensively but fortunately we rode it out and hung in there.”

Sac State had five players in double digit scoring led by Moreno with 18 points on 6-11 shooting. Senior forward Sadie Clements scored 12 points off the bench on 4-7 shooting, with all four of her makes coming from 3-point range.

Harkleroad said he was pleased with his team’s balanced attack on the offensive end.

“Our scoring was balanced and as a staff we were excited about that,” Harkleroad said. “That’s what we’ve got to have down the stretch.”

As a team, the Hornets shot 42 percent from the floor, including 34 percent from 3-point distance. Sac State made 18 3-pointers against NAU, the same amount the Hornets made against Weber State last Saturday.

NAU was led by a 30 point, 11 rebound effort from junior forward Erikka Banks. The Lumberjacks’ season scoring leader, senior guard Amanda Frost, recorded 19 points on 7-17 shooting.

The Lumberjacks (6-14, 3-8) collectively shot 51.4 percent from the floor, converting on 20 percent of its 3-point attempts.

The Hornets (15-5, 7-4) will finish its road trip Saturday afternoon against Southern Utah. Tip-off is at 1 p.m.