Women's Hoops Meets Northern Colorado, North Dakota This Week in the Dome

GAME NOTES (PDF)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - In the third-to-final week of the regular season, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team will finally face Northern Colorado and North Dakota this week in their return to the Walkup Skydome. Up first, the Lumberjacks will host Northern Colorado, the Big Sky's leader and preseason favorite, on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. NAU will then square off against North Dakota at 5 p.m. on Saturday following the National Girls and Women in Sports Day youth clinic.

The Lumberjacks are back in Flagstaff for the first time this month and will hit the hardwood following a convincing 72-55 victory over Southern Utah on the road last Saturday. NAU, who claimed victory in Cedar City for the second straight season, picked up its second Big Sky win and carries a 5-18 overall record and 2-10 Big Sky mark into the week.

In snapping its eight-game losing streak, NAU had four players score in double-figures against Southern Utah, led by redshirt senior Olivia Lucero who scored an efficient 24 points to up her season average to 16.3 per game - the highest it has been since Dec. 28. Lucero still ranks 10th in the conference in scoring and third in assists at 4.5 per game. Junior Tate Tsingine and sophomore Peyton Carroll both scored 10 points off the bench last Saturday to aid the Lumberjacks' cause. Behind their efforts, NAU recorded 26 bench points which marked its second-highest total in a game this season.

Junior Kaleigh Paplow was one of many 'Jacks to find their shooting stroke as she notched 13 points in addition to eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Paplow ranks third on the team in scoring (10.8), second in rebounding (7.2) and assists (3.2) and leads NAU with 1.5 steals per game.

NAU broke 70 points for the first time in eight games, coincidentally last doing so in its last win on Jan. 4. The Lumberjacks are 4-4 this season when scoring at least 70 points and 1-14 when they score less than 70. NAU is averaging 67.4 points per game. The 55 points allowed on Saturday to Southern Utah were the second-fewest this season by NAU.

At Thursday's contest, NAU students will have the opportunity to receive their "I'm a Lumberjack" t-shirt while all fans will receive compasses. Yowies will be handed out to all fans at Saturday's game.

This week's games will be televised by NAU-TV locally on Suddenlink Channel 4 and 104. In addition, Saturday's game can also be seen on CW6 in Phoenix. Both games will be streamed on the Pluto TV app or pluto.tv on Channel 239 as well as watchbigsky.com.

Lucero on the Loose: With the season winding down, Lucero has taken her performance to another level over her last six games. Since being held to six points against Idaho State on Jan. 6, Lucero has averaged averaged 18.8 points per game. She has been efficient, shooting 45.8 percent overall and 50 percent from three. Lucero has also hit the glass, averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. During this span, Lucero has recorded at least six rebounds in five of six games.

Streak Buster: Since defeating Weber State on Jan. 4, NAU had dropped eight straight games by an average margin of 15.7 points per game. Six of the eight defeats were by 15 points or more and three were by 20-plus points. Over that eight game stretch, the Lumberjacks' field goal percentage was .342 with a three-point percentage of .263. Conversely, NAU's opponents' field goal percentage is .421 and three-point percentage is .385. However, NAU busted its season-long losing streak on Feb. 10 at Southern Utah by busting its recent trends. The Lumberjacks shot 45.2 percent overall and 44.4 percent from behind the arc in the 72-55 win over the Thunderbirds. Defensively, NAU held Southern Utah to just 32.7 percent shooting and 16.7 percent on threes.

One Fact to Know Versus Northern Colorado and North Dakota: The Lumberjacks have lost their last seven home games to Northern Colorado. The last four meetings between NAU and North Dakota in Flagstaff have been decided by single digits with each team winning twice.

NAU Quick Hits: NAU has only led the Big Sky in rebounding in a season once before (1989-90)...NAU holds a slim lead for first in the Big Sky over North Dakota with 41.4 rebounds per game...Redshirt senior Kenna McDavis leads the charge with the second-highest rebounding average in the conference (8.7)...McDavis is also averaging 14.7 points per game...Freshman Lauren Orndoff is averaging 6.0 rebounds per game in her last five games...Over the last five games, freshman Khiarica Rasheed is averaging 3.6 offensive rebounds per game...NAU is 3-4 this season when recording 17 or more assists in a game.

About Northern Colorado: Northern Colorado has won four straight, including 75-52 and 71-69 victories over Idaho State and Weber State respectively last week at home, and currently resides in first place of the Big Sky at 10-3 in conference. The Bears, who were the preseason favorite in both the Big Sky Media and Coaches Preseason Polls, are 18-6 overall. Savannah Smith is one of two Bears ranked in the top eight of the conference in overall scoring with a team-leading 17.9 points per game. She is averaging 20.6 points per game in conference play, and is fifth in the league with 2.1 steals per game for the season. Savannah Scott is eighth in the conference with 17.1 points per game and sits in 10th with a .382 three-point percentage. Scott also owns the Big Sky's second-highest free throw percentage at .879. Northern Colorado is averaging 69.4 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Big Sky, while allowing the fourth-fewest points at 64.1 per game. The Bears rank second in the Big Sky in field goal percentage (.445) and are the only team shooting better than 80 percent at the line (.821).

About North Dakota: North Dakota started last week with an impressive 80-67 home win over Weber State before falling to Idaho State, 68-55, in its fourth loss in its last five games. The Fighting Hawks were the consensus No. 2 team in the Big Sky preseason polls, but are 4-9 in league play and 11-13 overall. Lexi Klabo is a force inside the paint, ranking seventh in the conference with 17.6 points per game in addition to a Big Sky-leading 9.1 rebounds per game. Klabo averages 2.2 blocks per game, second-most in the conference, and is shooting 50.4 percent from the field. Fallyn Freije also provides a presence inside with 14.0 points per game, which ranks second on the team behind Klabo. Freije is the Big Sky's fifth-leading rebounder at 8.2 boards per game. North Dakota is in the middle of the pack in both scoring offense (67.0) and scoring defense (68.3) while shooting 39.1 percent as a team. The Fighting Hawks rank second behind the 'Jacks in team rebounding at 41.0 per game and are also second in the Big Sky with only 34.4 rebounds per game allowed.