FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Northern Arizona women's basketball team heads into the 2015-16 season as a program that continues to be on the rise. Coming off their most wins since 2007 and their first conference tournament appearance since 2009, the Lumberjacks look to build on their success last season with full intentions to make an even bigger leap up the Big Sky Conference.
Head coach Sue Darling, entering her fourth season at the helm of the Lumberjacks, guided her team to a 13-17 season in 2014-15, marking a four-win increase from the year before. With a 9-9 record in conference play, NAU finished in a three-way tie for fifth in the regular season and earned the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament. Despite seeing their season end in the first round of the Big Sky Championships, the Lumberjacks made strides and proved a lot of doubters wrong by besting their preseason prediction by five spots.
If NAU is to continue its ascent in the Big Sky and wind up hoisting the conference trophy in March, Darling's squad will first need to make up for the losses of Erikka Banks and Raven Anderson, their two all-conference senior performers. Fortunately for the Lumberjacks, they are in good hands with a veteran roster headed by returning starters, senior Mariah Willadsen and juniors Brittani Lusain and Rene Coggins, to fill the void of losing the team's top two scorers and rebounders.
"We're excited about this season and we want to build upon what we did last year," Darling said. "We lost Raven (Anderson) and Erikka (Banks), but we're excited about our core group returning as well as our freshmen. Our senior class is going to provide a lot of leadership for us, and our junior class has been getting better and better since they arrived as freshmen. We'll look to all of our seniors and juniors for leadership and they have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders."
Willadsen, Lusain and Coggins are three of eight returning letterwinners for an upperclassmen-heavy squad. Of the 13 players on this year's roster, 10 are seniors and juniors.
However, despite a veteran laden team, there are those who have questions about the Lumberjacks yet again. Picked by the league's head coaches to finish eighth and by the league's media to finish ninth in the 2015-16 Big Sky Preseason Polls, NAU will have to prove that last season was no fluke.
Outside questions exist, but confidence within the team is abundant. That makes for a dangerous team, and this season the Lumberjacks plan to make even louder noise than they did a year ago.
Backcourt
In her first season as a Lumberjack, Willadsen had the task of filling All-American Amanda Frost's spot in the starting lineup. While the Mesa Community College transfer did not fill up the bucket like the 2013-14 Big Sky scoring leader, Willadsen was an integral part of the Lumberjacks' success last season. The senior averaged 7.6 points per game for the season, but upped her game a notch during conference play averaging 9.0 points per game. She also led the team in free throw shooting at 87.3 percent, and an outstanding 91.4 percent in conference play. However, Willadsen's biggest impact came on the defensive end. She established herself as one of the conference's top perimeter defenders as she drew the matchup with the opponent's top scorer night in and night out.
"The only difference from last year and the year before was Mariah," Darling said. "It speaks volumes to what she gave our team and so much of it was intangibles. Her defense, rebounding and her ability to key shots were so important and we're expecting more of the same from her. We're excited to have her leading the charge."
Joining Willadsen in the backcourt as returning starters are Lusain and Coggins, a pair of juniors whose playing styles complement each other on the court. It was only two years ago that Lusain and Coggins were part of an eight-player freshman class. The tandem was thrown right into the mix and now entering their third season at NAU, Lusain and Coggins have a combined 90 starts between them.
Lusain is the team's top returning scorer, finishing last season with an average of 10.2 points per game only behind Banks and Anderson. Lusain, the 2013-14 Big Sky Outstanding Freshman, also led the team with 123 assists at 4.1 per game and 6.0 rebounds per game as she once again showcased herself as one of the conference's top all-around players. On the defensive end, she averaged 1.2 steals per game, second on the team last season, and was one of two players to start all 30 games.
While Lusain can slice and dice her way to the basket on any given possession, Coggins provides a steady counter to her at the point guard position. Coggins, one of the team's best spot up shooters, tied for the team-lead with Lusain with 22 three-pointers made. She averaged 6.7 points per game, shooting 85.7 percent at the charity stripe and ranked behind Lusain with 58 assists. She fought her way back from a shoulder injury right before conference play to start the final seven games of the season and was the only player to play all 40 minutes in NAU's Big Sky quarterfinal loss to Eastern Washington.
"Brittani and Rene have come in starting with this summer with a real maturity," Darling said. "They have a real hunger and desire to keep striding forward. They've done a great job of setting the tone for practices for our freshmen. It's been neat to see them mature as players and young women."
Also returning in the backcourt are senior Monique Mulder and junior Taylor Leyva. While Coggins was recovering from her injury, Mulder excelled as the starting point guard earning the starting lineup call in 15 games last season. The New Mexico Junior College transfer averaged 3.9 points per game and was third on the team in assists with 42. Leyva shot 43.5 percent from the field, the best percentage among the team's guards, and could be in for a breakout season after scoring at least 15 points in two of the team's three games during their Dominican Republic foreign trip in August.
Rounding out NAU's backcourt are a pair of newcomers in junior transfer Olivia Lucero and freshman Passionate Amukamara. Lucero comes to NAU after two seasons at Loyola Marymount where she averaged 3.7 points per game in limited playing time last season. Lucero, who will have to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules, was LMU's second-leading free throw shooter at 83 percent. Amukamara could make an immediate impact as an on-ball defender after she averaged nearly three steals per game as a senior at Millennium High School. Amukamara was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in high school, but she also averaged 9.0 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the floor during her final season.
Frontcourt
Replacing the production of Banks, a second team All-Big Sky selection, and Anderson, an All-Big Sky honorable mention awardee, will not be an easy task, but the Lumberjacks have a trio of returning upperclassmen who could shine with extended playing time. Juniors Bradlee Cotton and Catelyn Preston and redshirt junior Shay Young could all see an expanded role this season with Banks' 13.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and Anderson's 12.1 points and 7.5 rebounds per game out of the picture.
Cotton, Preston and Young all bring a different skill set to the four and five positions, which will ease the transition process for Anderson and Banks' successors. Cotton started five games last season and provides muscle and a knack for hitting the offensive glass. Preston is one of the team's most gifted passers and plays above her size with an ability to defend bigger players than herself. Young might be the strongest scorer of the three and her intensity on the court is tangible.
It is always hard to count on a true freshman, but Alyssa Rader could also shoulder a heavy load in the paint for NAU this season and she has shown early signs that she is up for the challenge. In the team's three games in the Dominican Republic, Rader scored in double-figures all three games including 29 against the Dominican Republic National Team. Rader, a top 150 national recruit in her graduating class out of Horizon High School in Colorado, averaged 17.6 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.1 points per game as a senior, earning All-State Third Team honors.
"Every year we've been here, we've lost our leading scorer and we've done better," Darling said. "While Raven and Erikka's departures will leave a hole, we have players who are capable of building on the void they left. We're excited about Alyssa Rader as a highly touted recruit, but our core group of players at the forward position are capable and their production will be by committee."
Another freshman from Colorado, Kaleigh Paplow, also has the potential to fill multiple roles due to her athleticism. Paplow, who will contribute on the wing, was an All-State First Team selection as a senior at Lutheran High School where she averaged 14.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game.
Junior Kenna McDavis, like Lucero, will not be eligible to play this season as a two-year transfer from Boise State, but will be a factor for the Lumberjacks starting next season. McDavis averaged 3.9 points in just under 10 minutes per game last season with the Broncos. She was a key member of Boise State's Mountain West champion and NCAA Tournament team shooting over 35 percent from long distance and 92 percent from the free throw line.
Schedule
The Lumberjacks will play a challenging schedule in 2015-16 featuring four teams who finished last season in the top 100 of the RPI and two additional teams who ranked in the top 115. Four teams – Hawai'i, Long Beach State, New Mexico State and Nebraska – won more than 20 games last season. NAU will face five teams during the non-conference schedule who appeared in national postseason tournaments including NCAA Tournament participants Iowa State, Nebraska and New Mexico State and WNIT participants Hawai'i and Long Beach State.
NAU opens the season versus Hawai'i on Sunday, Nov. 15 in the first of four home non-conference games. The Lumberjacks also host Lamar, New Mexico Highlands and Dixie State before hitting conference play.
On the road, NAU's marquee games away from Flagstaff include trips to Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa State in December as well as a Thanksgiving tournament in Las Cruces, N.M. where it will take on Long Beach State and the host New Mexico State.
"It's a challenging schedule and we have our work cut out for us," Darling said. "We're focused on being strong at the end of the season and our goal is to win the Big Sky Championship. In order to finish strong, we need to start strong. When you look at the RPI standings from last year, our non-conference schedule mirrors the Big Sky and that says a lot about the Big Sky because we had some fabulous teams in the conference. It's absolutely going to prepare us for the Big Sky and more so it's going to help us take the next step in becoming the best program we can be."
The Lumberjacks' challenging non-conference schedule sets the team up perfectly for their conference opener on New Year's Eve in Missoula, Mont. against Montana, the defending Big Sky Champions. NAU closes the first weekend of conference play at Montana State before its home conference opener on Jan. 9 versus Southern Utah.
As part of the unbalanced 18-game Big Sky slate, the Lumberjacks will play all teams twice in a home-and-home with the exception of North Dakota, Northern Colorado, Portland State and Sacramento State. NAU will play each of those teams just once with road games at North Dakota and Northern Colorado and home games to close out the regular season versus Portland State and Sacramento State.
After wrapping up the regular season on March 4 versus Sacramento State at home, NAU will head to Reno, Nev. for this year's Big Sky Championships to be held from March 7-12.
