FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 27, 2019) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team will spend their Thanksgiving weekend in Houston, Texas with a pair of games with hopes of ending their two-game losing streak. NAU will face Rice on Saturday and Houston Baptist on Sunday with both games starting at 1 p.m. MST.
The Lumberjacks head to the Lone Star State following a pair of road losses to California Baptist, 98-79, and Fresno State, 83-66, last week. NAU is 1-3 overall this season and is in the midst of a stretch of seven straight games away from Flagstaff before the start of conference play.
The 'Jacks have been scoring the ball effectively as they lead the Big Sky Conference in scoring at 77.2 points per game. NAU is also second in field goal percentage, shooting the ball at a 42.9 percent clip. Redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford is the Big Sky's leading scorer with 17.8 points per game and is the only Lumberjack to score in double-figures in all four games and is tied with redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey with a team-high eight three-pointers made.
Bailey and junior
Khiarica Rasheed are averaging 13.5 points and 13.0 points per game respectively, while junior
Lauren Orndoff is averaging 11.8 points per game. All four of NAU's double-digit scorers rank in the top 15 of the conference. Orndoff (.517) and Rasheed (.486) also rank in the top 10 of the league in field goal percentage.
Although NAU leads the Big Sky in scoring, the Lumberjacks are 10th in scoring defense allowing 86.0 points per game. Turnovers have hurt the 'Jacks with opponents outscoring them on average by nearly 10 points per game.
Saturday's meeting with Rice will be the second all-time between the two schools. The Owls narrowly defeated the Lumberjacks, 88-83, in the Rolle Activity Center two seasons ago in head coach
Loree Payne's second game at the helm of the program. In just 22 minutes of action, senior
Peyton Carroll posted a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in the game as only four current Lumberjacks on the roster appeared in the teams' meeting two years ago.
Rice – the heavy preseason favorite to repeat as Conference USA champions – is 3-3 this season following an 81-50 road win at McNeese State on Wednesday. The Owls had dropped three straight, including losses to No. 5 Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, following a 2-0 start to the season. Last season, Rice posted a 28-4 record and were undefeated in C-USA play at 16-0 on its way to an NCAA Tournament appearance.
NAU and Houston Baptist will be meeting for the first time in program history. The Huskies are also 3-3 this season and are coming off a 59-42 loss on the road at Wichita State on Monday. Houston Baptist, picked 12th in the preseason Southland Conference poll, returns home where it has won both of its home games following a four-game road trip which included a stop at No. 2 Baylor.
Both of this week's games will be streamed for free. All video and live stats links are available
here.
About Rice:
Record: 3-3, 0-0 Conference USA
All-Time Series: Rice, 1-0
Last Meeting: Rice, 88-83 (Nov. 12, 2017)
About Houston Baptist:
Record: 3-3, 0-0 Southland
All-Time Series: First Meeting
