FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 28, 2019) – As the season approaches March this weekend, the Northern Arizona women's basketball is gearing up for the postseason. The Lumberjacks' home stretch to the Big Sky Tournament begins on Saturday in the Walkup Skydome versus Montana State at 2 p.m. followed by Montana on Monday at 6:30 p.m. as NAU will close the regular season with a total of three straight games at home.
The NAU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is hosting a Set the Expectation game on Saturday and all fans are invited to join the Lumberjack Family in creating a healthy and safe culture. Lumberjack Family bracelets and t-shirts will be handed out to fans and there will be campus and community education and resources as organized by SAAC.
After two road losses last week to Idaho (90-72) and Eastern Washington (81-76), NAU remains in ninth place in the Big Sky standings. The Lumberjacks are 5-12 in league play and 9-17 overall. Montana State is attempting to hold on to the fifth and final bye in the conference tournament, residing in fifth place at 9-7 in conference play. The Bobcats are 14-12 overall and have won their last two games including a 75-71 victory over Montana last Saturday. Montana is currently in seventh place in the conference with 12-13 overall and 7-9 Big Sky marks. In addition to their loss to the Bobcats, the Lady Griz also lost to Northern Colorado, 79-61, on Monday.
The calendar had not flipped to 2019 yet the first time NAU faced both Montana State and Montana this season. The Bobcats handed the Lumberjacks an 80-70 defeat on Dec. 31 in Bozeman, marking NAU's sixth straight loss at the hands of Montana State. Two days earlier, the Lady Griz defeated the 'Jacks, 78-62, in Missoula for the 12th straight time dating back to 2012.
"It's new teams facing each other," said head coach Loree Payne. "The style of play that we're playing is different than we played in late December and it'll be a good test for us. We're playing well right now, and we're close to playing really well, so this week is important for us to get back to fundamentals and sharpening up some stuff."
Sophomore
Khiarica Rasheed has been on a roll the last three weeks, averaging 18.0 points on 46.7 percent shooting over the last six games. Rasheed is also shooting 84.1 percent at the charity stripe during this span. Rasheed's surge, which includes three 20-point performances in the last six games, has upped her season average to 12.7 points per game. She is also averaging 6.7 rebounds per game, while ranking ninth in the conference in field goal percentage (.449).
Senior
Kaleigh Paplow leads the team with 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Paplow also paces the Lumberjacks with 48 steals.
Redshirt sophomores
Caitlin Malvar and
Jacey Bailey are finishing out their first seasons as Lumberjacks strong. Malvar has a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio with 35 assists against just 12 turnovers over last nine games. Bailey is averaging 14.3 points over the last six games while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from behind the arc. Bailey has notched a pair of 20-point games in the last three weeks.
Although NAU's offense has fared well over the last eight games - averaging 70.6 points per game on 43.7 percent shooting and 37.7 percent behind the arc - each of the Lumberjacks' last eight opponents have shot better than 40 percent. Opponents are shooting 45.2 percent overall and averaging just under 10 three-pointers per game at a 41.6 percent clip. NAU has allowed 75.6 points per game in its last eight games.
"Our communication on defense is a big piece," Payne said. "We look at the Idaho game (last week) and we played pretty well defensively. We had nine or 10 possessions where we had defensive breakdowns and they capitalized on. I don't feel that we're playing bad defensively, but we have to sharpen up our communications and get matched up in transition and talking through our switches. We are looking to be more disciplined."
Fans can catch both Saturday and Monday's games on Pluto TV Channel 239
online and on the free mobile app in addition to
watchbigsky.com. Saturday's game will also be televised locally on NAU-TV and Your Phoenix CW.
About Montana State:
Record: 14-12, 9-7 Big Sky
2018-19 Big Sky Standing: Fifth
All-Time Series: MSU, 45-22
Last Meeting: MSU, 80-70 (Dec. 31, 2018)
About Montana:
Record: 12-13, 7-9 Big Sky
2018-19 Big Sky Standing: Seventh
All-Time Series: UM, 57-11
Last Meeting: UM, 78-62 (Dec. 29, 2018)
