All-Big Sky Returners Hope to Push NAU Women's Basketball Forward

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (November 18, 2020) - As the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team looks to take another step forward in head coach Loree Payne's fourth season, it will do so with some of the Big Sky Conference's top returning talent.

An All-Big Sky Conference First Teamer, Khiarica Rasheed returns after ranking second in the conference in scoring (16.5), second in field-goal percentage (48.9%) and sixth in rebounding (7.2). Senior Jacey Bailey, who landed on the Big Sky's second team, just trailed Rasheed with 14.0 points per game, fourth in the conference, while ranking 10th with 6.5 rebounds.

With 12.2 points, finishing tied for 14th, and 3.1 assists, tying for 13th, junior Nina Radford earned the Big Sky Conference's Newcomer of the Year award and gives the Lumberjacks the largest contingent of Big Sky honorees in the conference.

"Obviously we've been building toward something over three years and we've had a significant increase in talent and just players that really fit our system and our style," Payne said. "I feel like we have a nice mix of young kids who will impact us this year, but also returners who will kind of bring that steady composure and a heck of a lot of talent."

CHASING RECORDS

Rasheed enters the 2020-21 season looking to continue moving up many of NAU's all-time lists. After three years with the Lumberjacks, Rasheed enters the 2020-21 season seventh on NAU's scoring list after becoming the 18th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points.

Entering the year at 1,130 points, Rasheed is just 320 points behind third place and has scored more than that total in each of her past two seasons. Rasheed also ranks 10th in field goals made (401) and fourth in free-throws made (306), with the latter total just 120 off of Mindy Sherred's record set in 1987. 

Currently 10th on NAU's rebounding list, Rasheed is also in reach of the top five given her performances over the past three seasons.

STEPPING INTO NEW ROLES

While the Lumberjacks return a number of key contributors to last season's success, junior Regan Schenck and sophomore Emily Rodabaugh enter the season in position to see their roles expand from a season ago.

Having started 22 games as a freshman while playing in all 31, Schenck averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 28.6 minutes per game. After moving into a bench role with Caitlin Malvar returning from a redshirt season, Schenck now projects to return to the starting lineup after serving as the team's top reserve in 2019-20. 

"Regan finished really, really strong last year and her potential is still limitless. She has one of the most athletic physiques that we have had here. She can get up and down the floor, she's one of the fastest players in the Big Sky, pushing tempo, but also defensively," Payne said.

Playing in 30 games off of the bench and averaging 21.2 minutes, Schenck averaged 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds while adjusting to a vastly different situation compared to her freshman season.

However, Schenck closed out her sophomore season with a pair of strong performances in the Big Sky tournament. Scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting and grabbing seven rebounds in 41 minutes combined against Montana and Montana State, Schenck offered Payne and the rest of NAU's staff a glimpse of what they hope will be a consistent performance in 2020-21.

"We're very, very excited for her to really get that consistency within the point guard position," Payne said. "And she's excited about it, she's ready to really take over those reins. We are looking forward to seeing what she can do at the head of our offense."

Meanwhile, Rodabaugh played sporadically during her freshman season with the highlight coming early on in the schedule.

Averaging 5.0 points per game across 22 games, Rodabaugh finished her first season out of Archbishop Murphy High School in Washington with 41 points and 19 rebounds while shooting 42.1% from the field.

"I think she was not happy with her performance last year as a freshman," Payne said. "She anticipated being a little bit more impactful for us and just had a little bit of a challenging transition from high school to college."

After playing 38 minutes through NAU's first seven games of the season, Rodabaugh scored 19 of her points in the Big Sky opener against Montana on Dec. 28. All 19 came in the second half, with Rodabaugh putting up 14 of NAU's 31 fourth-quarter points. 

Hitting 7-of-11 from the field and 4-of-7 from behind the arc against Montana, Rodabaugh produced nearly half of her made field goals and two-thirds of her made 3s in the game alone.

With Schenck moving to the starting lineup and the Lumberjacks losing about 14% of last season's minutes off of the bench from last season's roster, Rodabaugh now enters her sophomore season with a new opportunity. Looking to step into a similar position to that of Schenck from a year ago, Rodabaugh's work during the offseason has her a position of trust for Payne and NAU's staff.

"We definitely anticipate her stepping into more of an impactful role for us and getting a lot more minutes and being a scorer for us," Payne said. "(Emily) can play the wing, can play the trail, she can even go down and post up a little bit. She has put in a lot of work in this offseason and is really dedicated to being an impact player for us."

NEW FACES ON THE ROSTER

The Lumberjacks added five players to the roster during the offseason, three fresh out of high school and two arriving as transfers from Nevada.

Twins Olivia and Nyah Moran arrived at NAU from California, where they played at King High School in Riverside. Three-time winners of the Big VIII League, the Morans helped lead King to a runner-up appearance in the CIF Southern Section and a berth in the California State Tournament.

Joining the twins as a freshman is Shira Patton, who played at Cypruss Ranch High School in Texas. A district champion at Cyprus Ranch, Patton earned all-district honors twice in her career.

Wrapping up the newcomers are Miki'ala Maio and JJ Nakai who transferred into NAU from Reno. Both primarily played roles off the bench in 2019-20, with Maio playing in 28 games, starting 12. Prior to landing at Nevada, Maio spent two years at Salt Lake Community College where she became an NJCAA All-American and was named a region MVP.

Nakai, a name familiar to many in Flagstaff, returns to town after spending two years at Pima Community College and this past season at Nevada. Nakai finished her Pima career as the program's all-time scorer and assists leader before moving up to the Division I level.

Having played at Coconino High School for four years, Nakai joined the Lumberjacks after she played in 21 games for the Wolf Pack last season, averaging 3.8 points in her 14.3 minutes per game.