GAME NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The season the hardwood gets under way in the Rolle Activity Center on Friday when the Northern Arizona women's basketball team opens their 2017-18 season versus UC Santa Barbara at 6:30 p.m. The Lumberjacks' opening weekend continues on Sunday back in Rolle versus Rice at 1 p.m.

"We're obviously excited to get out there and show our fans, our supporters and this community what we've been working on over the last six months," said head coach Loree Payne. "The first game is always a great gauge to see where we're at. We play two really tough opponents right off the bat and it's definitely not an easy weekend by any means. It's going to be a challenge for us."

NAU will be guided by Payne, who will coach her first official game at the helm of the Lumberjacks following seven successful seasons at Puget Sound. She will lead the Lumberjacks into action with six returners, headlined by returning All-Big Sky Third Team selection, redshirt senior Olivia Lucero. Lucero led the Lumberjacks in scoring last season with 14.8 points per game. Redshirt senior Kenna McDavis and junior Kaleigh Paplow are the only two other players on the roster with significant playing experience.

Of NAU's 10 newcomers, only six are eligible to play this season which will challenge the Lumberjacks' depth. Three newcomers will redshirt this season under NCAA rules after transferring to the Mountain Campus, while the Lumberjacks also lost a player to a season-ending injury over the summer.

Opposite them, NAU will face a pair of teams who will be ripe with experience in UC Santa Barbara and Rice, making for all the more exciting - albeit challenging - first weekend of play.

"UCSB has a very experienced coach and are the opposite of us in that they have a lot of returners and a lot of depth," Payne said. "That will present a challenge for us on the first day. Then we turn around and play a team who won more than 20 games last year in Rice. They're a team that has a some transfers who sat out last year, but will be playing, so they have a lot of talent. Both games will be a challenge, but we're going to focus on putting the work in and executing what we've been working on the past few months."

Both of this weekend's games will be available for free at pluto.tv or the Pluto TV app on Channel 239. Catch all NAU home games this season on Channel 239, the Lumberjacks' dedicated Pluto TV channel.

Counting on the Captains: NAU will be short on depth and experience to start the season, making the trio of Lucero, McDavis and Paplow all the more important. The three team captains are the only three players who played significant minutes last season, combining for 1,978 minutes played and 59 games started between them. Lucero led the Lumberjacks, and ranked ninth in the conference, in scoring at 14.8 points per game. She logged five 20-point scoring games among her 21 double-digit efforts, while shooting nearly 35 percent from three-point range. Paplow's 202 rebounds were tops on the team last season as she averaged 6.7 boards per game. She was a force on the offensive glass, pulling down 2.4 offensive rebounds per game in addition to averaging 8.6 points per game. McDavis was a deadly three-point shooter until she got injured and missed nearly all of the Big Sky slate. She missed 13 games in total and wound up averaging 6.6 points per game on 33.3 percent shooting on three-point attempts. 

Hello, My Name Is...: The Lumberjacks will sport an unfamiliar cast to say the least this season with just six returners on their roster of 16. The team has 10 newcomers, half of whom are true freshmen. A sixth is a sophomore walk-on and four are transfers. Even half of the team's returners will be unfamiliar to many fans as senior Chelena Betoney, sophomore Peyton Carroll and redshirt freshman Brianna Lehew - logged only 40 combined minutes last season. 

Season-Opening Struggles: The Lumberjacks have won just two of their last nine season openers, and overall are just 4-18 in their last 21 season openers. Both of their season opening victories since 2007 though have come in the last three years. NAU defeated UC Irvine, 66-35, to open the 2014-15 campaign along with last season's 65-51 victory on the road at UTEP.

We Believe in Us: The Big Sky Preseason Polls were not kind to the Lumberjacks, but all that matters is the belief that they have in themselves. NAU was voted 11th out of 12 teams in both the Coaches and Media polls coming off a 9-21 season that included a 5-13 conference record. The Lumberjacks finished in 10th in the Big Sky last season.

NAU Quick Hits: NAU ranked sixth in the Big Sky last season in scoring at 69.6 points per game, but were ninth in points allowed at 71.1...The Lumberjacks committed the fewest turnovers last season (423) and were second in turnovers per game (14.1) in the 12-team league...NAU finished last season by winning three of its last six games...Six of the Lumberjacks' nine wins last season came at home...NAU posted a 2-1 record in Rolle last season.

About UC Santa Barbara: UC Santa Barbara tied for fourth last season in the Big West after finishing with a 9-7 conference record. The Gauchos, who were 16-16 overall, were picked third by both the Big West media and coaches in the preseason conference polls. The Gauchos return four of five starters led by Drew Edelman. Edelman, a transfer from USC, paced the team last season in both scoring at 11.7 points and rebounding at 7.7 rebounds per game earning her All-Big West Second Team honors. In all, UC Santa Barbara returns its top four scorers. Drea Toler ranked second with 10.2 points per game, while also leading the Gauchos with 148 assists and tying for the team-lead with 52 steals. The Gauchos averaged 62.6 points per game last season and shot 41.4 percent from the field as a team. UC Santa Barbara allowed 62.1 points per game defensively.

About Rice: Rice was voted fifth in the Conference USA Preseason Poll coming off a 22-13 season a year ago. The Owls compiled an 8-10 conference record and tied for eighth, but finished the season by winning the WBI. The Owls return two double-digit scorers led by Nicole Iademarco, who finished second on the team in scoring last season. Iademarco averaged 12.0 points per game and drained a team-high 70 three-pointers. Shani Rainey is also among three returning starters and was third on the Owls with 11.7 points per game. Rainey converted at a 54.9 percent rate from the field, including a 39 percent clip from behind the arc. Rice shot 44.4 percent from the field as a team and averaged 68.2 points per game. The Owls allowed only 62.4 points per game.