For head coach Laurie Kelly and the NAU seniors, the Lumberjacks were looking at Thursday night's Big Sky Conference game against Montana as a chance to do something they hadn't done in almost nine years: beat the Grizzlies in Flagstaff.

By switching from a cold-shooting perimeter look to a lane-driving, paint-pounding inside attack, the Lumberjacks (6-3, 2-1 BSC) were able to muscle their way to a 64-60 win.

"Over the last three years we hadn't beaten them, home or away, so it's good," Kelly said. "These seniors have never beaten Montana."

The Lumberjacks' last home win over Montana was a 76-74 overtime win on Feb. 23, 2002.

Though NAU's sophomore guards Amy Patton and Tyler Stephens-Jenkins each buried two 3-point shots, the Lumberjacks were a dismal 8 of 24 overall shooting, and just 4 of 9 from behind the arc in the first half.

"We had very little movement against (Montana's) zone (defense) and were making some bad decisions with the ball, so we made some adjustments with our offense to get really focused on getting the ball to the middle," Kelly said.

The switch paid off, and in a big way.

NAU went from just eight points in the paint in the first half to 26 by the end of the game.

Patton, who led the team with 24 points -- Stephens-Jenkins followed with 10 points -- said the team definitely took a lot of outside shots in the first half, and made the change because those shots just weren't falling.

"We wanted to get some more movement on the inside in the second half," Patton said. "They have a different 2-3 (zone) than most teams, and we just had to find the openings and get to the basket."

A big part of the Jacks' ability to get to the hole in the second half, according to Kelly, was having someone in the middle running the show.

"Melissa Spaich was great in that situation because she understands the zone and she can read what the defense is doing," Kelly said. "The zone is a team defense, and it really takes a focused team offense to counter that, and we did a better job distributing the ball in the second half."

Montana (5-5, 1-2 BSC) held a 29-28 halftime lead behind 11 points from senior forward Sarah Ena, and a pair of threes from freshman guard Torry Hill. However, NAU's defense clamped down and held Ena to four second-half points, and Hill to just two.

"I think we did pretty good (defensively), but I think we can do a lot better," Patton said.

Montana head coach Robin Selvig said he was pleased with his team's defense, but added that his Grizzlies can't expect to win if they don't shoot the ball better.

"We just don't shoot very well; that's our nemesis," Selvig said. "We shot 33 percent again against a good team on the road, and we need to make more shots if we're going to win."

The 33-year coach added he was happy with his team's rebounding effort -- Montana finished with 35 while the Jacks pulled down 49 -- but said that NAU's ability to finish down the stretch was the big difference.

"We battled, but they just made more shots than we did at the end."

Spaich had a team-high nine rebounds, while Katie Baker pulled down eight to lead the Grizzlies.

The Lumberjacks shot 21 of 53 from the floor for 39.6 percent, while Montana was 21 of 65 for 32.3 percent, but it was the number of trips to the free-throw line that might have helped NAU over the hump.

The Lumberjacks cashed in on 16 of 26 free throws -- 8-for-13 in the first half -- while Montana made 13 of 15. The Grizzlies were 1-for-1 in the first 20 minutes.

"Free throws are a problem for us in general, we're just a poor free throw shooting team."

Kelly added the Lumberjacks don't want to get in a free throw battle with teams.

"We're foul prone," Kelly said, "and we put them in the bonus early (in each half), but I think we did a great job in the last 12 minutes of not putting them at the line with stupid fouls."

It was Patton's trips to the stripe in the game's final seconds that left a bright mark on the Jacks night at the line. Patton -- after missing a pair of shots with 6 seconds to go -- was fouled and drained both shots with 2 seconds left to seal the win.

"Amy is who you want at the line, and she stepped up and finished the game," Kelly said.

Kelly added Patton's switch from being cold behind the arc to hot in the lane was another key to the Jacks' win.

"Amy is phenomenal at getting to the rim ... but it really takes her struggling from the perimeter to make that adjustment," Kelly said. "She knew she was struggling, and she started getting to the rim and she started getting fouled."

Kelly said she'll need Patton and the rest of the Lumberjacks to be aggressive if NAU wants to beat another BSC rival, Montana State, at home Saturday.

"They've been sitting all week preparing for us, and we have one day to turn around and get ready for them," she said. "Our goal is to win the league, and to do it we can't drop games at home. We can't afford to lose to Montana State at home."

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. Saturday against the league-leading Bobcats.

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.