FLAGSTAFF (September 30, 2020) – With its season less than two months away from beginning based on the NCAA's announced start date, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team finally sees itself working toward a goal.
Working out initially in small groups once the NCAA allowed programs to do so in July, the Lumberjacks progressed to slightly larger groups before now working together as a team.
"This is unprecedented where there's no playbook for how to manage and navigate a program through a pandemic," said Lumberjacks head coach
Loree Payne. "You look at the last time we were on the court as a team, it was back in March and then there was about a four-month gap. Returners may pick it up a little quicker, but you are still really reteaching everything."
With
Peyton Carroll and
Brianna Lehew departing the program during the offseason, NAU's frontcourt opened up roughly 17 minutes per game. Payne and her staff's plan to fill that role might play out in a variety of ways.
With three true freshmen joining the team and
Sentia Bryant returning from injury, Payne believes the team has a variety of options to fill the minutes relatively seamlessly. However, NAU's head coach also said it may be an opportunity to adjust the program's approach as a whole.
"Rather than sometimes having a true post in, we have the opportunity to run a little bit more spread, uptempo, 5-out," Payne said. "I I feel like you will see a lot more guard-heavy offense. In some different games and different layouts, we might be a little more spread out team this year which I think makes us a little quicker up and down the floor, makes us a little bit faster defensively and it also makes us hard to guard on the flip side."
Payne added that she and her staff are excited to create some different offensive opportunities for the team given the personnel they now have entering her fourth year at the helm of the team. The potential changes also made possible by some of the returners who would see additional minutes in the frontcourt.
Northern Arizona finished third in the Big Sky Conference with 40.4 rebounds per game, a total that also landed 47th in the nation. With 29.3 rebounds coming on the defensive end, the Lumberjacks led the conference and finished 15th nationally.
Senior
Jacey Bailey grabbed 169 of the team's 909 defensive rebounds, leading the team in the category while finishing second with 6.5 rebounds per game. Noting Bailey's versatility, Payne also hoped another returner would fit a similar mold this season.
"Jacey, she's super versatile. She can play the 5 for us, she can play the 4, she can play a wing, she can push the ball up the floor," Payne said. "Emily (Rodabaugh) is in a very similar situation. You didn't get to see a ton of minutes out of her last year, but her game has elevated to a different level, so she's very similar to Jacey in that way."
During her three years with NAU, Payne's team has consistently ranked as one of the conference's best rebounders regardless of who is on the floor. During the 2018-19 season, the Lumberjacks led the Big Sky with 39.7 rebounds per game to match their rank in Payne's first season as 41.7 rebounds per game topped the conference in 2017-18.
Holding a positive rebounding margin in all three seasons, the Lumberjacks reached a new high of +2.5 this past season.
"I think rebounding is such a mentality," Payne said. "Even our freshmen guards, they are starting to understand being a little more aggressive on the boards, so I feel like rebounding will not be our downfall this year by any means. I think we will be able to rebound and push the ball pretty effectively."
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