FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 1, 2018) – The 2017-18 Northern Arizona women's basketball season was a success in so many ways despite their win-loss record. In desperate need of a culture change, the 'Jacks turned over the reins to head coach
Loree Payne, who infused her energy and placed her stamp on the Lumberjack program.
With a new culture in place, as well as Payne's systems, the next step is for the Lumberjacks to improve on their 7-23 record, including a 4-14 mark in the Big Sky. The 'Jacks were picked 10th in both the Big Sky Preseason Coaches and Media Polls released in October.
"We're finally getting the pieces in place for us to continually build a successful program," Payne said. "This year, the players on the court will be more youthful than experienced, but I feel we have the right type of players in our program who have the ability to take us to the next level."
NAU will rely heavily on the leadership of senior
Kaleigh Paplow is NAU's returning statistical leader in points (11.0 per game), rebounds (7.4), assists (95) and steals (39). She begins the season 225 points away from becoming the 17th player in program history to join the 1,000 point club and needs just 15 rebounds to enter the Lumberjacks' top 10 all-time rebounding list.
Senior
Tate Tsingine and junior
Peyton Carroll will comprise the Lumberjacks' only other eligible upperclassmen – at least athletically – this season. Tsingine started the last six games of her debut season with the Lumberjacks a year ago and returns as NAU's top sharpshooter from behind the arc. Last season, Tsingine connected at a 35.7 percent clip on three-pointers last season. Meanwhile, Carroll, one of two players who appeared in all 30 games last season, averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
While a little young, the new 'Jacks will be deeper and more athletic than they have been. The tools are in place for Payne and the Lumberjacks to notch their first winning season in 12 years.
The 208-19 season tips off next Tuesday at home in the Rolle Activity Center versus Fresno State at 12:30 p.m.
NAU'S "JORDAN"…OR "RODMAN"
Like the player who made the No. 23 uniform a worldwide sensation, the Lumberjacks' No. 23 is known around the program simply by her initials.
If NAU is able to finally snap its drought of 11 consecutive losing seasons, "KP" will be a big reason why. The captain and only four-year Lumberjack on the roster will be at the forefront all season long and will be crucial to NAU's success.
Paplow's versatility fits right into Payne's preference for interchangeable players on the court. Her ability to handle the ball or play in the post makes the senior from Parker, Colo. invaluable to the 'Jacks.
Although she wears the famous No. 23 jersey, Payne likens Paplow more to Michael Jordan's teammate and do-it-all forward – minus the crazy antics.
"It's been great to see Kaleigh's growth and maturity into a leadership role," Payne said. "She embraces it and she's turned into a great leader for our program. A lot of people these days might not understand, but she's our Dennis Rodman. She does all the dirty work and she's a pretty dang good player."
Like the colorful Hall of Famer, Paplow can do it all on the court. Projecting her numbers out this season, Paplow could finish her career when it is all said and done ranked in NAU's top 10 in points, rebounds and assists. Should she accomplish the feat, she would be the only Lumberjack to hold a spot in all three categories.
"I expect her to score a lot more this year," Payne said. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's close to a triple-double most games because she is so multi-dimensional as a player. She works so hard, and I couldn't be happier of the player she's become over the last two years."
YOUNG, BUT NOT INEXPERIENCED
One look at the Lumberjacks' roster and it is apparent that the 'Jacks are young with just three seniors, although only two are eligible to play this season with
Molly Rohrer redshirting the season after transferring in from CSU-Pueblo, and one junior. However, NAU's underclassmen-laden roster is slightly misleading.
Three of NAU's seven sophomores are actually juniors academically having used a redshirt season. One –
Brianna Lehew – redshirted her true freshman season at NAU, while two others –
Jacey Bailey and
Caitlin Malvar – redshirted a year ago under the mandatory NCAA transfer rule.
Add in another transfer –
Ajai Simmons from Illinois State – and holdovers
Khiarica Rasheed and
Lauren Orndoff and the Lumberjacks may not quite be as youthful as it appears on the surface.
"Jacey and Caitlin both played at a different university and they got experience last year in our system despite sitting out," Payne said. "Lauren and Khia got a ton of minutes last year and Ajai has a year under her belt at another university. It's a little misleading, but there will still be a lot of growth early on."
Not to say that the 'Jacks are clear of the normal bumps in the road that comes with deploying a team with just three upperclassmen.
"With young teams, you get better and better every week, every game," Payne said. "The thing that I love is they are so coachable. They want to win so badly that they are willing to do whatever it takes."
Rasheed, along with Paplow and Malvar, was voted a team captain by her teammates. Having played in all 30 games with 23 starts last season, Rasheed is second to just Paplow among returners in scoring (7.4) and rebounds (5.3). Orndoff actually played the fourth-most minutes on the team last season and averaged 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per contest.
TRANSFER INFUSION
In building this team, Payne went heavy on transfers with hopes to infuse not only skillsets, but experience that would help bring NAU back to prominence.
Bailey, Malvar and Simmons are all expected to be key contributors this season, while NAU will also gain the services of sophomore
Nina Radford and Rohrer next season. Radford, a transfer from UC Santa Barbara, will join Rohrer on the bench this season due to the NCAA transfer rule.
While not part of Payne's initial plan, each of these players' previous schools' loss could be of the utmost gain to NAU as seen with Tsingine immediately last year out of Central Arizona College.
"We didn't anticipate (recruiting transfers) a lot when I first came here, but given the program we walked into, this was an obvious route for us," Payne said. "We had the opportunity to get a few more experienced players instead of bringing in a freshman class of nine. Looking at the future, we don't anticipate this being part of our recruiting philosophy unless a transfer who can impact us right away lands in our lap."
The Lumberjacks had to wait a year for Bailey and Malvar, but the reward could well be worth it. Bailey, originally a Florida Atlantic commit, started 15 games for the Owls as a true freshman. The versatile 6-0 wing averaged 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in just under 18 minutes per game, and in April competed with her home country of Canada at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Malvar, one of two players along with freshman
Regan Schenck who is projected to run the point, followed Payne to NAU from Puget Sound. As a freshman on the Loggers' Northwest Conference championship team in 2016-17, Malvar averaged 7.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. She was one of the best in Division III in terms of assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.04.
Fortunately, NAU will have Simmons available this season as a result of her waiver being approved by the NCAA. Although Simmons played sparingly last season at Illinois State, she will be another scoring option for the 'Jacks once she is a medically-cleared from offseason knee surgery. Simmons averaged nearly 19 points per game as a prep player in California.
CHANGING IDENTITY
Culture. A point of emphasis last year that Payne desperately needed to change in order to dig the Lumberjack women's basketball program out of the proverbial bottom of the conference. That was accomplished and it is something that the team continues to build on with each passing day.
"This team is a family; we are a much closer team," Payne said. "We are resilient and I think that comes with our youth. We're going to face adversity, but we're not going to back down from anyone. They're going to have fun, playing together and having fun being out there every day."
Payne envisions her team as one that will be relentless on both ends of the court. With more depth than she had last year, but still not as much as she would hope, Payne's Lumberjacks will push the tempo on offense and be aggressive on defense.
NAU was in the middle of the pack in terms of scoring last season at 69.1 points per game, but the Lumberjacks' defense lagged at an average of 76.1 points per game allowed which ranked second-to-last in the Big Sky.
Despite losing its top two scorers in
Olivia Lucero and
Kenna McDavis, NAU envisions an offense that can score more buckets across the board.
"On any given night, anyone within our starting five will be able to put up 15-20 (points)," Payne said. "We didn't have that depth last year. This year, we're going to be able to rotate more."
However, an explosive offense will not be enough unless NAU sees improvement on the defensive end. While NAU eclipsed 80 points in seven games last season – compared to to just nine such games the previous three seasons – the Lumberjacks allowed 80 or more points in a dozen contests.
That challenge is one that the Lumberjacks are embracing head on with a renewed attitude.
"You're going to see a lot of swag and a chip on our shoulder," Payne said. "We have something to prove. We're going to be a team that plays hard on both ends and we're going to have a different defensive look which was needed."
THE ROAD MAP TO BOISE
The Lumberjacks' march to March begins on Tuesday versus Fresno State, one of up to five potential postseason teams NAU will face during its non-conference schedule. The Bulldogs, a Women's Basketball Invitational qualifier a year ago, represent one of three home non-conference games for the 'Jacks – their fewest in five years.
Scheduling teams who experienced postseason basketball away from Flagstaff was intentional, as Payne saw it as necessary following her first season in the Big Sky Conference.
"We wanted to put together a challenging non-conference schedule," Payne said. "We only get nine games, so we want to play nine games that are going to push us to get ready for the Big Sky. We have five teams who played in the postseason and that is not including our two Pac-12 games. That means seven out of nine are programs that have had success."
"Six of nine games are on the road and I love that challenge," Payne added. "One of the things I learned in the Big Sky is that travel is challenging. It can be taxing so if we can learn how to take each game one-by-one. We'll be tested in order to teach us what we need to do to get ready for conference play."
Games against Seattle (NCAA Tournament), Colorado State (WNIT) and New Mexico (WNIT) are on the schedule as well as a potential matchup against Robert Morris (WNIT) at the LMU Thanksgiving tournament.
NAU will also go on the road to take on a pair of Pac-12 opponents in Washington and Arizona.
The 'Jacks will open conference play on the road at Montana on Dec. 29 and will close the regular season at home against Northern Colorado on March 9. NAU will then head to Boise, Idaho for the 2019 Big Sky Championship starting March 11.
