FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 28, 2018) – Head coach
Loree Payne's first season was full of progress. Despite the Northern Arizona women's basketball team's win-loss record, the 2017-18 campaign was an important one for the program in a season of transition.
Stepping into a program in flux, Payne took major strides towards her top priority. A shift in culture was tangible, which was the first step in changing the course of the Lumberjack women's basketball program.
"We stayed true to our goals coming in when it comes to changing the culture here," Payne said. "When we took over the program, it was a challenging situation but we made progress every day. We laid the groundwork for the future."
"The one word that sums up this season for me is perspective," Payne added. "We knew the challenges and struggles that we were going to encounter in year one. It doesn't make it any easier or less frustrating, but there was a lot of silver lining. There are a lot of great things that came out of this year."
The Lumberjacks finished the season with a 7-23 overall record. Although NAU's season came to an end in the first round of the Big Sky Championships to Portland State, the Lumberjacks righted the ship heading into March with three of their four conference victories in the final month of the season.
With just three returning players with significant Division I experience, Payne relied on her captains – redshirt seniors
Olivia Lucero and
Kenna McDavis and junior
Kaleigh Paplow – heavily throughout the season. With each playing more than 33 minutes a game, including Lucero's Big Sky leading 37.4 minutes per game average, NAU's Big Three carried the 'Jacks.
Lucero, an All-Big Sky Third Team selection for the second consecutive season, ranked seventh in the conference with a team-leading 17.2 points per game. Playing primarily at the point guard position due to the team's lack of depth, she thrived averaging 4.6 assists per game which placed her third in the conference.
McDavis made the most of her final collegiate season, setting a new single season school record with 87 three-pointers made. She was the second-leading scorer on the team with 15.5 points per game, while ranking third in the Big Sky in rebounding with an average of 8.2.
Paplow, like her captain counterparts, posted career-highs across the board with 11.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game – the latter which ranked eighth in the conference. She was the Big Sky's second-best offensive rebounder and also proved to be a valuable playmaker with 3.3 assists per game.
Led by that trio, the Lumberjacks showed at times that they were not only a more entertaining team to watch than in years past, but also that they were a team capable of winning on any given night. However, the team lacked consistency, which will be a point of emphasis heading into next fall.
"Having more depth and experience will help," Payne said. "Any freshman walking into a college program is not going to be consistent. However the fact was we had to put a lot of minutes and responsibilities on our freshmen given the situation we were in. They're not going to make the same mistakes next year. We put a lot of minutes on our Big Three this year, and we didn't really have the answer for that."
Depth or not, the buzz around the team was palpable from the get-go and the opening weekend of the season had everything minus victories. NAU averaged 88 points per game in its first two games of the season – losses to UC Santa Barbara and Rice – and it was clear that the 'Jacks under Payne would play a style of basketball that fans were not accustomed to seeing.
The non-conference schedule was highlighted by a pair of victories that showed the potential the Lumberjacks had in them. First came a dramatic 62-60 victory against Boise State in Hawaii on Nov. 19. Facing a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter, Lucero, McDavis and Paplow put the team on their shoulders by scoring 20 of NAU's last 23 points to secure Payne's first win as head coach – over the Mountain West champions and NCAA Tournament qualifier nonetheless.
The Lumberjacks then posted a monumental win on Dec. 7 in maybe the most anticipated game of the season. Hosting their in-state rival from Tucson for the first time in two decades, NAU defeated Arizona handily, 84-66. The win was NAU's first over a Pac-12 opponent since 1995 and its first win over the Wildcats in almost 29 years. Although Lucero led the team in scoring that night, she was one of five players to score in double-figures with freshman
Lauren Orndoff right behind with 16 points, which would stand as her best total of her first season.
After rallying for a 76-75 win against Weber State – one of four teams to earn a bye in the conference tournament – on Jan. 4, the Lumberjacks endured their longest losing streak of the season of eight games.
However, NAU flipped a switch starting with a road win at Southern Utah over a month later on Feb. 10 and proceeded to also pick up wins versus North Dakota at home and a thrilling overtime win at Sacramento State. The Lumberjacks' late season resurgence coincided with freshman
Khiarica Rasheed and junior
Tate Tsingine having the best stretches of their respective seasons.
All told, the 'Jacks compiled a 4-14 record in the Big Sky Conference in a year in which six teams won at least 11 games and eight had a Big Sky winning percentage of .500 or better.
"I learned that on any given night, you have to bring your best game regardless of who you are playing," Payne said. "This is a talented conference top-to-bottom, but it is also a winnable conference. Being at 7,000 feet is a competitive advantage that we weren't able to take full advantage of this year, but in the future that is the plan."
Offensively, NAU finished in the middle of the pack in the conference with an average of 69.1 points per game although that took a hit with the Lumberjacks' struggles through most of conference play. Heading into next season, NAU will look to improve defensively from the standpoint that it allowed 76.1 points per game.
The numbers and the wins will take care of themselves given the positive direction that the program is headed. Although NAU loses Lucero and McDavis, along with senior
Chelena Betoney who saw a significant increase in playing time in her second season off the bench, the Lumberjacks are well-stocked for a big step towards Big Sky contention.
Paplow enters her last season just 225 points shy of becoming the 17th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points. She is also on pace to finish in the top five all-time in school history in rebounding. Tsingine will be the Lumberjacks' only other senior coming off a season in which she started the last six games and shot 35.7 percent from behind the arc.
Orndoff, Rasheed and freshman
Kaprice Boston all picked up valuable minutes in their first seasons at NAU with Rasheed and Orndoff each starting over 20 games. Sophomore
Peyton Carroll and redshirt freshman
Brianna Lehew also completed their first full season after playing sparingly last year.
Adding to this core will be sophomores
Jacey Bailey and
Caitlin Malvar, who redshirted this season as transfers, along with a class of three freshmen who were signed in the fall.
"Recruiting has been very successful for us and we're excited about our incoming freshmen," Payne said. "We're excited about the transfers being eligible; they're excited about finally being eligible. The learning curve that took place with our returners; we're in a pretty good place moving forward."
