FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women's basketball finishes up the first leg of its seven-game road trip with a game against North Dakota State at 6 p.m. in the Bison Sports Arena on Monday. The Lumberjacks lost on Friday at North Dakota 69-55.

NAU (2-9) plays its third straight away game facing off against North Dakota State (6-5) whom is coming off a 64-56 win over Northern State. The Bison snapped a two-game losing streak with Friday's victory.

The Lumberjacks defeated San Diego on December 10 but have since dropped their last two games, a 46-41 loss to Denver and Friday's defeat at North Dakota. NAU is 0-7 away from Flagstaff this season.

The Lumberjacks are 2-0 all-time against North Dakota State with their most recent win coming during the 2007-08 season, a 75-68 win in Flagstaff.

NAU will take a one week hiatus over Christmas returning on December 29 with a game at UNLV. The match-up will be the final competition for NAU in 2009.

LAST GAME: NORTH DAKOTA
NAU basketball played a strong first half, but could not match North Dakota in the second as the Lumberjacks lost their second straight game 69-55 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center on Friday night. NAU was led by Amy Patton's game-high 23 points in 34 minutes. Patton finished 9-of-21 shooting and 4-of-12 on three-point attempts. The freshman guard from Tempe, Ariz., added two steals and a team-high six rebounds. NAU converted 21-of-58 for the game (36.2-percent) while North Dakota made 21-of-54 (38.9-percent). The Sioux were led by Kayla Bagaason's 20 points on 7-of-11 with four three pointers. The Lumberjacks were outrebounded 43-27 for the game and 14-9 on the offensive end.

UPCOMING GAME: NORTH DAKOTA STATE
North Dakota State, out of the Summit League, is 6-5 on the 2009-10 season. The Bison won their last game over Northern State on Friday (64-56) after two straight losses to New Mexico State (71-65) and Utah State (58-46). Prior to that stretch, North Dakota State had recorded four straight wins over Ball State, Denver, IUPUI, and Western Illinois. The Bison have four players who have earned starts this season and are led by Inger Hodgson who averages 11.5 points-per-game. Hodgson is the only North Dakota State player to average double figures. North Dakota State averages 59.5 points-per-game limiting its opponents to 59.1 points-per-game. The Bison are 3-1 at home this season.

MULTIMEDIA
North Dakota State will offer a live webcast and stats for Monday's game. The Bison webcast is available for a nominal fee. Live stats will be provided free of charge.

CLOSE CALLS
The Lumberjacks last three of four games have been decided by five points or less and five of 10 so far this season have been decided by five points or less. NAU is 1-4 in games decided by five or less points.

LINEUP SHUFFLE
The Lumberjacks have used five different starting lineups this fall with head coach Laurie Kelly looking for the right combination of starters on a game-to-game basis. After several lineup changes to open the season, NAU settled into a starting five of Vickie Toney, Caty Huntington, Amy Patton, Jenna Galloway and Lauren Hoisington using that lineup for four games. NAU has used two different lineups the last three games and recently started Hunington, Patton, Galloway, Hoisington, and Tiffany Amos.

DOUBLE DOUBLES
Freshman guard Amy Patton leads the Big Sky Conference in double-doubles with four through 10 games played. She moved ahead of Portland State's Claire Faulker with a 14 point and 13 rebound performance against Arkansas State on December 10. Jenna Galloway also made the Big Sky's double-double list with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Siena on November 27. Patton and Galloway are two of 15 players in the conference this year to record at least one double-double.

BIG TOTALS
Freshman guard Amy Patton is the only player in the Big Sky Conference to have four games with 10 or more rebounds and two games with 20 or more points. As of Dec. 20, Patton is ranked No. 100 in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in scoring (16.7 ppg).

PATTON ON TOP
Freshman guard Amy Patton is currently first in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (7.7 rebounds-per-game) and second in scoring (16.7 points-per-game) through Dec. 14. She is the only freshman in the top 10 in scoring and the best freshman rebounder. Patton has scored in double-figures in nine of 10 games this year with a season-high 29 points against UC Riverside and 26 points against Ball State. Her 29 points is the second highest total in the Big Sky this year. She has put up double-digits in rebounds four times.

HOISINGTON STAYING SHARP
Junior forward Lauren Hoisington is 10th in the Big Sky Conference in field-goal percentage this year shooting 41.8-percent from the field as of December 20 providing NAU with consistent scoring inside. She had a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field against UMKC earlier this year.

HUNTINGTON MOVING ON UP
As of December 20, sophomore guard Caty Huntington broke into the top 25 in scoring at 23rd in the Big Sky Conference with 9.0 points-per-game. She is second with 2.6 steals-per-game and third in free-throw percentage (78.6). The 2.6 steals-per-game places her No. 52 in the Division I women's basketball.

TONEY DEALING DIMES
Junior point guard Vickie Toney is fifth in the Big Sky Conference with 4.0 assists-per-game through December 20. Toney has turned in a season-high eight assists against Arkansas State and San Diego.

SEVEN IN SIXTEEN
The Lumberjacks played seven games in 16 days dating back to their season opener against Pepperdine on Nov. 13 and finishing with Oregon State on Nov. 28. NAU has been across the country in those 16 days playing at Malibu, Calif., Riverside, Calif., Kansas City, Mo., Muncie, Ind., Albuquerque, N. M., and Flagstaff, Ariz. The Lumberjacks will enjoy a six-day break from games prior to playing Arkansas State, its longest gap between games so far this year.

ROAD TRIPPIN'
The Lumberjacks are in the midst of a seven-game road swing.  NAU played their first five games away from Flagstaff with nine of their 13 non-conference games on the road. The challenging schedule includes matchups against Pepperdine (WAC), Ball State (MAC), New Mexico (Mountain West), Arkansas State (Sun Belt), UNLV (Mountain West), and Oregon State (Pac-10) at the NAU Thanksgiving Classic. Ball State received votes in the 2009 USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll.  NAU opens Big Sky Conference play with three straight away games.