FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 24, 2019) – As the halfway point of conference play approaches, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team begins their second straight week on the road on Saturday against Northern Colorado, one of the top teams in the Big Sky, at 2 p.m. The Lumberjacks will conclude their road swing Monday night at Southern Utah at 6:30 p.m. before finally returning home.
"We've spent this week sharpening things and dialing into the belief that we can win," said head coach Loree Payne. "We're resetting our mindset to understand what it's going to take to finish conference strong. We're challenging our young players to step up and play order than they are now that they have games under their belts."
The Lumberjacks have dropped four straight, and 10 of their last 11 overall. NAU (5-11 overall, 1-6 Big Sky) fell to Sacramento State, 65-61, and Portland State, 72-55, last week on its first leg of a four-game road swing. NAU is also looking to snap a seven-game losing streak away from home as the Lumberjacks have not won a road/neutral site game since they defeated Loyola Marymount, 63-62, on Nov. 23.
Last week, senior
Kaleigh Paplow became the 17th 1,000 point scorer in program history against Sacramento State last Thursday. Paplow, NAU's leader in scoring (14.9), rebounding (7.6), assists (3.6) and steals (1.8), is ranked in the top 12 of the Big Sky in all four categories. Paplow, already fourth all-time in NAU history in rebounds, is approaching the top 10 in program history in scoring, rebounding and assists.
Junior
Peyton Carroll posted a big game last Saturday against Portland State, scoring a career-high 21 points. Over her last six games, Carroll has reached double-figures in four of them and is averaging 11.3 points per game.
Northern Colorado is 6-2 in conference play, one game behind Portland State for first in the Big Sky standings, and 11-6 overall. The Bears, last season's Big Sky regular season and tournament champions, got back on the winning track with a 60-56 win over Idaho State last Saturday at home. The Bears had dropped two in a row prior to the victory.
Southern Utah was edged out by Sacramento State, 77-76, last Saturday and stands at 5-11 overall. The Thunderbirds, 2-5 in the Big Sky, got the best of the Lumberjacks, 82-76 in overtime, in their first meeting of the season in the Walkup Skydome on Jan. 12.
"We have two great opportunities this week," Payne said. "Northern Colorado is a very good team, but one that I feel we match up pretty well with. We feel Southern Utah stole one from us, so we're excited to go play them on the road where we had success last year. If we're able to work through our system, execute on offense and dial in on defense, we'll have a great opportunity to win this weekend."
NAU struggled from behind the arc last week, making just 4-of-31 three-pointers versus Sacramento State and Portland State. Conversely, the Hornets and Vikings shot 42.2 percent on threes to drop the Lumberjacks out of the top spot in the league in opponent three-point defense. NAU still ranks fourth in the Big Sky with a .294 three-point field goal defense.
Although the 'Jacks had struggles behind the arc, sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed did damage down low. Rasheed scored in double-figures in both games, and has reached double-figure scoring in four straight games after going more than a month without doing so. Rasheed has notched both of her double-doubles in the last three games and is averaging 11.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.
NAU currently ranks eighth in the conference in scoring offense (64.7) and scoring defense (72.4).
Both games will be available on Pluto TV Channel 241 (Saturday) and Channel 236 (Monday)
online and on the free mobile app in addition to
watchbigsky.com.
About Northern Colorado:
Record: 11-6, 6-2 Big Sky
2018-19 Preseason Big Sky Coaches/Media Polls: Fourth/Third
All-Time Series: UNC, 21-5
Last Meeting: UNC, 85-63 (Feb. 15, 2018)
About Southern Utah:
Record: 5-11, 2-5 Big Sky
2018-19 Big Sky Standing: Ninth
All-Time Series: NAU, 22-15
Last Meeting: SUU, 82-76 (Jan. 12, 2019)
