| Northern Arizona vs. Idaho | vs. Eastern Washington |
GAME NOTES (PDF)
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Northern Arizona women's basketball team hosts Idaho on Wednesday and Eastern Washington on Friday in the Walkup Skydome in their final two regular season games before heading off to Reno, Nev. for the Big Sky Conference Championships. Both games will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. NAU is 7-20 overall and 4-12 in conference play.
The Lumberjacks defeated Sacramento State, 95-90, in a wild overtime game last Thursday, and then fell short to Portland State in a 68-59 loss on Saturday. NAU has won three of its last five games and could possibly move up to the conference tourney's No. 9 seed, trailing North Dakota by a game going into the final week.
Redshirt senior Olivia Lucero ranks eighth in the conference in scoring, leading the 'Jacks with 16.9 points per game. Lucero has nine 20-point games this season. With 11 points on Wednesday versus Idaho, Lucero would move into the top 10 in NAU's single season scoring list. Redshirt senior Kenna McDavis could break the single season three-point record on Wednesday, needing two to tie and three to break the mark. Averaging 15.1 points per game, McDavis' three-point count is at 74 this season.
Lucero and McDavis will play their final two home games of their career this week concluding with Senior Night on Friday. The two in-state products, who both are in their second years at NAU after transferring in, will be honored along with senior Chelena Betoney prior to the Eastern Washington game.
The Lumberjacks rank seventh in the league with 68.4 points per game and lead the Big Sky with 42.1 rebounds per game. In last week's two games, NAU averaged 59.5 rebounds per game. The Lumberjacks are allowing 74.6 points per game, which ranks 11 out of 12 teams in the league.
Wednesday's game will Play4Kay night promoting breast cancer awareness. All fans are encouraged to wear pink on Wednesday and will receive pink promotional items upon entry to the game. In addition to Friday being Senior Night, the Lumberjacks will also host their Sixth Annual Wine Down event starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Skydome. Pre-registration is required and can be completed at this link.
This week's games will be televised by NAU-TV and shown locally on Suddenlink Channel 4 and 104. Online streaming will be available on the Pluto TV app or pluto.tv on Channel 239 as well as watchbigsky.com.
Seeding Information: With two games remaining, NAU is tied with Sacramento State for 10th in the conference standings with a 4-12 league record. The Lumberjacks, however, would be the No. 10 seed if the tournament began this week due to the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Hornets. Both NAU and Sacramento State are two games ahead of Southern Utah (2-14), who is currently in 12th. North Dakota is one game ahead of NAU and Sacramento State with a 5-11 Big Sky record. Should the Lumberjacks and Fighting Hawks have identical records at the end of the week, NAU would receive the higher seed due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. These four teams are guaranteed to be the No. 9-12 seeds in some order.
70 Boards: The Lumberjacks have secured at least 70 or more rebounds in two games this season. NAU pulled down 71 against Sacramento State on Feb. 22 and 70 against Antelope Valley on Nov. 27. There have only been six such occurrences in the NCAA this season, with NAU accounting for two of them. Prior to this season, the Lumberjacks had only recorded 70 or more rebounds in a game on two occasions in 1981 and 1982.
One Fact to Know Versus Idaho and Eastern Washington: Since rejoining the Big Sky for the 2014-15 season, Idaho has defeated NAU in Flagstaff both times the teams have met. Prior to that, the Lumberjacks had posted four consecutive home victories against the Vandals. On the flip side, NAU has bested Eastern Washington on its home floor in three of the last four meetings including a 56-47 victory last season in the Skydome.
NAU Quick Hits: Junior Kaleigh Paplow averaged 12.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in last week's two contests...McDavis ranks second in the Big Sky with 8.5 rebounds per game...McDavis needs just six rebounds to slide into 10th and eight rebounds to move up to ninth all-time for rebounds in a single season in school history...The starting lineup of Lucero, Paplow, McDavis, junior Tate Tsingine and freshman Khiarica Rasheed has compiled a 2-1 record in the last three games...Rasheed is averaging 10.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game over the last nine games.
About Idaho: Idaho was swept at home last week by Idaho State (62-52) and Weber State (105-88), but still begins the final week of the regular season in sole possession of second place in the Big Sky standings with an 11-5 league record. The Vandals had won nine in a row prior to last week and are 15-12 overall. Mikayla Ferenz is the Big Sky's leading scorer and eighth-leading scorer in the country with 22.8 points per game. She ranks fourth in the country with 108 three-pointers made and is averaging 4.0 three-pointers made per game. Taylor Pierce can also light it up from behind the arc, averaging 14.4 points per game. Her 103 three-pointers made ranks her eighth nationally. She is averaging 3.8 threes made per game, which is second in the conference to Ferenz. Idaho is the second-highest scoring team in the conference at 74.1 points per game largely due to a Big Sky leading 10.6 three-pointers made per game. The Vandals have the fifth-most threes made (285) in the country. They are allowing 73.4 points per game though overall, which is third-most in the conference.
About Eastern Washington: Eastern Washington defeated both Weber State, 77-68, and Idaho State, 66-64, at home last week to move into a four-way tie for third place in the Big Sky standings. The Eagles are 15-13 overall and 10-6 in conference play having won five of their last seven. Delaney Hodgins leads the Eagles in scoring, and ranks second in the Big Sky, with 21.2 points per game. Hodgins also leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 per game and blocks with 43 total. Violet Kapri Morrow is the second-leading scorer on the team with 14.6 points per game. Morrow also sits behind Hodgins in rebounding with 4.7 per game. Eastern Washington is averaging 66.3 points per game overall and allowing 67.3 points to its opponents. In league play though, the Eagles are the fifth-best scoring team in the conference with 71.5 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent as a team.
