FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 4, 2020) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team returns to the Walkup Skydome for the first time in nearly three weeks on Thursday when the Lumberjacks host Idaho State at 6:30 p.m. The 'Jacks will also face Weber State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Lumberjacks are back home following their recent four-game road swing through four different states over the last two weeks. After winning three of four games on the road, NAU is 11-9 overall and 8-3 in conference play. This past week, NAU defeated Idaho, 71-70, and Eastern Washington, 70-62, on Saturday and Monday to extend its winning streak to three games.
Although NAU faces a quick turnaround this week in the midst of its only stretch of four games in eight days this season, the 'Jacks carry a lot of momentum having won eight of their last nine games overall. NAU last won eight of nine games during its Big Sky Championship season in 2005-06.
Four Lumberjack starters – junior
Khiarica Rasheed, redshirt sophomore
Nina Radford, redshirt junior
Jacey Bailey and junior
Lauren Orndoff – scored in double-figures in NAU's most recent game against Eastern Washington on Monday. Rasheed and Bailey have recorded double-digit scoring performances in 11 and eight consecutive games respectively.
Rasheed leads the conference in scoring in league games with 19.1 points per game. In conference play, Radford and Bailey are also averaging 14.1 and 13.2 points per game respectively.
Meanwhile, redshirt junior
Caitlin Malvar is 26th in the country with a Big Sky leading 5.3 assists per game. As a team, NAU is 34th nationally with 16.2 assists per game.
The Lumberjacks will be looking for their third straight win over the Bengals going back to last season. NAU posted a 70-59 road victory over Idaho State on Jan. 11 with Rasheed leading the way with a game-high 25 points.
Idaho State is on a two-game winning streak after besting Northern Colorado, 59-39, and Southern Utah, 73-54, last week at home. With the pair of wins, the Bengals evened their overall record to 10-10 overall and improved to 6-5 in Big Sky play.
On Saturday, NAU will host Weber State – a team the Lumberjacks have defeated on three straight occasions. Rasheed posted 31 points – the most by any Big Sky player this season – in NAU's 88-82 victory against the Wildcats on Jan. 4. Radford also scored 26 points versus Weber State last month.
Weber State, who plays at Sacramento State on Thursday, has dropped seven games in a row to fall to 3-17 overall and 1-10 in conference play. Last week, the Wildcats fell to Southern Utah, 87-71, and Northern Colorado, 69-65.
Both games this week will be streamed on Pluto TV Channel 539
online and on the Pluto TV app. Live stats will be available at this
link.
Fans can purchase tickets for the 2019-20 NAU women's basketball season online at
nauathletics.com/tickets or by calling the Lumberjack Ticket Office at 928-523-0639.
About Idaho State:
Record: 10-10, 6-5 Big Sky
All-Time Series: ISU, 43-28
Last Meeting: NAU, 70-59 (Jan. 11, 2020)
About Weber State:
Record: 3-17, 1-10 Big Sky
All-Time Series: WSU, 47-37
Last Meeting: NAU, 88-82 (Jan. 4, 2020)
