Photo by Rick Johnson

GAME NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The NAU women's basketball team (0-6) will play its final nonconference road games of the season this weekend, taking on Cal State Fullerton (2-4) at 8 p.m. Friday and UC Riverside (4-2) at 3 p.m. Sunday. The Lumberjacks defeated both Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside in Flagstaff last season and have a combined 8-2 all-time record against the schools.

"I think we're in a great position to learn and improve," NAU head coach Sue Darling said. "We gave up 95 points in our last game and everybody knows you aren't going to win a lot of games when you give up 95 points. We definitely need to get our defense and rebounding under control and get our ability to take care of the ball on offense under control."

The Lumberjacks have the second leading scorer in all of NCAA Division-I women's basketball this season in senior Amy Patton, who is averaging a Big Sky-best 25.0 points per game. Patton recorded the highest scoring game in the country so far this season as she tied the Big Sky record with 41 points against Bradley last Saturday. She shot 14-of-29 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line for the second 40-point game in program history.

Ironically, Patton and the Lumberjacks will face the leading scorer in the country on Sunday when Patton goes head-to-head with UC Riverside senior guard Tre'Shonti Nottingham, who leads the nation with 25.3 points per game and has scored 20 or more points in five of six games this season.

Patton also added 10 steals against Bradley to break the program record and record the first double-digit steal game in program history. For the week Patton averaged 30.5 points per game while adding 14 rebounds, 11 steals, and five assists to earn Big Sky Co-Player of the Week Honors. Patton leads the Big Sky in both scoring and steals (4.2 per game), is second in playing 37.5 minutes per game, and is third with 2.5 three-pointers per game. She is also now just 90 points away from breaking Alyssa Wahl's NAU career scoring record.

Scoring has certainly not been a problem for Patton and the Lumberjacks so far this season as the team is shooting 42.7% from the field and 31.7% from three-point range to lead the Big Sky in both categories. The team has shot 40% or better in all six of its games including a 47.3% clip against CSU Bakersfield. NAU has five players shooting 40% or better this season including guards Patton and Paige Haynes while center Aubrey Davis is shooting 51.2%. NAU is also shooting 75.0% from the free throw line so far this season after shooting 61% on free throws last year.

After totaling 37 assists in two games last week NAU also now leads the Big Sky with 15.5 assists per game. Haynes leads the team and ranks second in the Big Sky with 4.50 assists per game while sophomore Jasmine Sneed is eighth in the conference with 3.2 assists per game. Seniors Patton and Tyler Stephens-Jenkins both average more than 2.3 assists per game as NAU has recorded double-digit assists in all but one game this season with a top total of 24 assists at Nebraska Omaha.

Cal State Fullerton has already played two other Big Sky teams this season, defeating Sacramento State, 94-75, at home and losing to Eastern Washington, 50-45, last weekend in Berkeley, Calif. Sophomore Chante Miles is leading the Titans in scoring this season with 14.5 points per game and 4.0 assists per game while the team is shooting just 34.2% from the field but is +2 in rebounding margin. NAU and Cal State Fullerton are meeting for the second consecutive season after the Lumberjacks scored a 64-54 win in Flagstaff last year. Davis was the star for the Lumberjacks in that game as she totaled 12 points and career-highs of 18 rebounds and four blocks while Patton chipped in 21 points and seven boards. NAU is 4-0 all-time against CSF with one win coming at Fullerton in 2004.

UC Riverside is 4-2 after scoring a 71-65 home win over Pac-12 Washington State on Wednesday night. The Highlanders also have a 75-63 win this season over CSU Bakersfield - a team NAU lost to 71-68 on Nov. 12 - as well as victories over Utah State and Pepperdine. As a team UC Riverside is averaging 73.3 points per game this season and shooting .412 as they are +3.2 in scoring margin and +2.8 in rebounding margin. The Highlanders are off to a strong start this season after finishing 5-24 last year and totaling a 3-13 mark in the Big West. Among UCR's losses was a 67-59 setback at NAU last November as the Lumberjacks buried seven 3-pointers and outscored the Highlanders 20-10 at the free-throw line. NAU has a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series though the Lumberjacks have gone 1-2 in Riverside.