Murphy grad evolves into prolific perimeter threat at Northern Arizona

Emily Rodabaugh had no idea she had just become the leading 3-point shooter in Northern Arizona University women’s basketball history.

It was December 9 and the Lumberjacks were on the road against the University of San Francisco. Midway through the third quarter Rodabaugh spotted up at the left wing and swished her second 3-pointer of the game, giving her 194 in her career to break the record held jointly by Kim Winkfield and Amy Patton.

But she didn’t realize she’d achieved the milestone until her teammates told her.

“I remember being subbed off in the San Francisco game and people were saying, ‘You did it!’” Rodabaugh recalled. “I didn’t even realize it.”

And there it is!

NAU’s all-time three-point record now belongs to @emily_rodabaugh with 194!#RaiseTheFlag | #BigSkyWBB pic.twitter.com/OtXrR3XiWT— NAU Women's Basketball (@NAUWomensHoops) December 9, 2023

The surprise wasn’t just in the moment. The 3-point record is also the type Rodabaugh never could have conceived holding when she was starring on the court for Archbishop Murphy High School.

Rodabaugh’s game has undergone a dramatic transformation in college, as she went from having to do it all at Archbishop Murphy to being a perimeter markswoman at Northern Arizona. Now she and the Lumberjacks are hoping her 3-point shooting leads Northern Arizona into the NCAA Tournament.

Northern Arizona is in the midst of perhaps the greatest season in the program’s 42 years as an NCAA Division I team. With 23 wins the Lumberjacks broke the school record for victories in a season. They finished 15-3 in Big Sky Conference play, earning the No. 2 seed to the conference tournament, which begins Saturday in Boise, Idaho.

And Rodabaugh has been right at the center of it. The fifth-year senior ranks third on the team in scoring (11.5), second in rebounding (5.5) and first in minutes (31.5). On Thursday she was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention, the first all-conference honor of her career. And as the only player who’s been a part of the program for the past five years, she’s the team’s undeniable leader both on and off the court.

But Rodabaugh’s most visible contribution is as a 3-point shooter. So far this season she’s knocked down 68 3s, good for 2.3 per game. She’s hit as many as seven in a game, which she did in an 88-73 victory over Montana State on Jan. 11, and she’s knocking them down at an efficient 37%. Rodabaugh’s stretched her career total to 243 as she makes future pursuers’ jobs that much more difficult.

“Emily is having a great season,” Northern Arizona coach Loree Payne said. “She’s been such a foundational piece in turning this program around. In her freshman season we’d just taken over and the program hadn’t had a ton of success. She’s been such a pivotal piece in changing the culture into a winning culture.”

But if you watched Rodabaugh play in high school, you might be surprised to discover she’s made her mark in college as a 3-point shooter.

At Archbishop Murphy Rodabaugh was the do-it-all player, a 6-foot point guard who was able to dominate at the smaller Class 2A level due to her physical gifts. Frankly, she didn’t need to score from outside.

“Looking back at the type of player I was before college, I never would have thought I’d be close to a 3-point record,” Rodabaugh said. “I feel like I scored in a lot of different ways at Murphy, and I wasn’t known for being an outstanding shooter. I was just someone who could score the ball.”

But Payne, a prolific outside shooter herself during a decorated career at the University of Washington, recognized that Rodabaugh had the potential to be a lethal outside threat.

“That was one of the reasons why we recruited her,” Payne said. “She was a taller guard who was long, lanky and could play different positions. I love 6-foot guards, and shooting was one of the big skills that attracted us to her as a recruit.”

However, Rodabaugh didn’t recognize it herself until midway through her first year at Northern Arizona. Rodabaugh was a deep reserve struggling to figure out her role through her first seven collegiate games, and she took just four 3-pointers over that span. But on Dec. 28, 2019, in a home game against Montana, Rodabaugh went 4-for-7 from 3-point range en route to 19 points in just 14 minutes.

“In that game it really clicked,” Rodabaugh said. “I was like, ‘OK, this could be my thing, this could be what I’m good at.’ So I took it and ran with it.”

While Rodabaugh is now known for her 3-point shooting, the versatility she developed from having to do everything at Archbishop Murphy has also come in handy. Rodabaugh spent most of this season playing as a stretch four, opening up opposing defenses by being a power forward who plays on the perimeter, thus drawing one of the opponents’ bigger defenders away from the paint. But she spent past seasons playing more of a wing role. She’s even reprised her role as a point guard a few times this season because of injuries to teammates.

“This has been such a fun five years,” Rodabaugh said. “I worked so hard when I was younger to get an opportunity like I’ve had at NAU. When I look back at my career and how far I’ve come since my freshman year, look back at how far the program has come in that time and see the huge impact I’ve had on that, it’s really exciting and something to be proud of.”

But Rodabaugh’s career isn’t done yet. As the No. 2 seed Northern Arizona earned a bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. The Lumberjacks face the winner between No. 7 Idaho State and No. 8 Sacramento State at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday. Northern Arizona has been so close to earning the school’s second-ever NCAA tournament berth the past two years, losing in the conference championship game both times — Rodabaugh scored 16 and 18 points in those games.

So what would it mean to Rodabaugh to conclude her college career in the NCAA Tournament?

”It would be mean everything,” Rodabaugh answered. “Ever since I was a little girl watching the UW and other Power Five schools play in (the NCAA tournament), it’s something I’ve hoped for. Playing in a conference that only gets a single bid is tough, you know you need to be the best team at the end of the tournament to make it. If we make it I think it will be a full-circle moment, and to get to experience such a big tournament would be awesome.”