FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Northern Arizona women's basketball will host the Hilton Garden Inn Thanksgiving Tournament this weekend at the Rolle Activity Center.  The Lumberjacks play Binghamton on Friday, Nov. 26 at 6:35 p.m. before Central Michigan and Drake at 4:35 p.m.  The consolation and championship games will be played on Saturday.

NAU (2-2) won its last two games after coming off a touch stretch to open the year at Arizona State and Arizona.  The Lumberjacks got back on track with a win over North Dakota State, 76-69, on Saturday, Nov. 19, then followed up with another impressive win against Queens College on Monday, Nov. 22.

Binghamton (2-1) enters this weekend's action on a two-game win streak after defeating Canisius, 66-50, and Rider, 66-53.  The Bearcats are one overtime loss away from being undefeated this season.  The team lost to St. Bonaventure 62-59 in bonus time to open the year.

"This is a tournament the team gets excited for every year," said head coach Laurie Kelly.  "We try to bring in some opponents that we don't typically face.  It is a pleasure to have Binghamton, Central Michigan, and Drake in this season."

Kelly coached five successful years at Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y.  She guided Binghamton to a 75-13 mark in its final three years on the NCAA Division II level and made the most of the Bearcats' first season of Division I basketball in 2001-02. She led her squad to a 19-9 record, including a 10-6 record in the America East Conference.

This will be the first opportunity Kelly has to coach against her former team.

In the early game on Friday, Central Michigan and Drake will face off with the winner set to play the winner of NAU and Binghamton.  On Saturday, the NAU Thanksgiving Tournament consolation game will begin at 2:35 p.m. and the championship game set to start at 4:35 p.m. 

Friday's game can be heard live on 105.1 The Big Talker and will also serve as a canned food drive.

DID YOU KNOW…Northern Arizona senior David McNeill was selected as the Male Academic All-America® of the Year in the University division for the 2009-10 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men's Track and Field and Cross Country Teams, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). He is one of 12 student-athletes in the country to earn the title of Academic All-America of the Year in the university division, joining the likes of Florida's Tim Tebow in football, Kansas' Cole Aldrich in men's basketball and Connecticut's Maya Moore in women's basketball among the individual sport winners.