FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 6, 2019) – After four consecutive games on the road, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team will take its second and final "home" game of the non-conference schedule 90 miles south to Prescott Valley on Sunday for a 12 p.m. MST tip-off versus UC Davis. The game at the Findlay Toyota Center will mark the Lumberjacks' first-ever contest in Prescott Valley.
"Anytime we can get our program exposure throughout the state of Arizona is positive thing for us," said head coach
Loree Payne. "I think we'll draw some fans from the Valley and we'll get to play in a really nice arena. The Findlay Toyota Center is a great facility. We're excited about the opportunity."
The 'Jacks will play their first game in the state of Arizona since defeating Seattle, 88-80, on Nov. 16 in the second game of the 2019-20 season. NAU is 2-4 overall after splitting its road trip to Houston, Texas. The Lumberjacks fell to Rice, 71-57, but managed to rebound for a 79-62 victory over Houston Baptist to snap their three-game skid.
Dating back to last season, NAU has won five consecutive home games. With a win on Sunday, NAU would match its longest home winning streak since winning six straight from Jan. 11-Feb. 3, 2007.
The Lumberjacks – the Big Sky's third-highest scoring team at 74.2 points per game – are led by redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey, who is third individually in the league with a scoring average of 15.0. Along with redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford (14.3) and junior
Khiarica Rasheed (13.7), the 'Jacks have three of the top seven scorers in the Big Sky. Radford and Rasheed rank fifth and seventh respectively.
NAU also ranks third in the conference in rebounding with 41.0 per game. Bailey, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game, is one of four 'Jacks who average at least five rebounds per game.
Redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar paces the conference in assists at 5.7 per game, which places her 22nd nationally. Malvar is leading the way for a Lumberjack squad that is recording assists on 56.1 percent of their field goal makes.
NAU and UC Davis will be meeting for just the second time in program history with the Aggies claiming a 68-52 win at Hawaii's Rainbow Wahine Tournament on Nov. 16, 2007. The Aggies are the three-time defending Big West Conference regular season champions and they are coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance last season after also claiming the conference tournament title. After opening the season with four consecutive losses, UC Davis has won three of its last four games, including a 75-68 win over Boston University, on Thursday at home to improve to 3-5 overall.
UC Davis has already played three Big Sky opponents this season having suffered losses to Montana State (77-65) and Portland State (76-70) and coming away with a 77-75 double overtime win over Sacramento State.
"They're very comparable to the teams we'll play in conference," Payne said. "It'll be a good test for us to see where we're at with a similar type of opponent."
Sunday's game will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 539 at this
link and on the free mobile app. Tickets can be purchased at this
link.
Ticket Packages for the 2019-20 NAU women's basketball season are on sale. Fans can purchase tickets online at
nauathletics.com/tickets or by calling the Lumberjack Ticket Office at 928-523-0639.
About UC Davis:
Record: 3-5, 0-0 Big West
All-Time Series: UCD, 1-0
Last Meeting: UCD, 68-52 (Nov. 16, 2007)
