| Northern Arizona at Northern Colorado | Northern Arizona vs. Northern Colorado |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 27, 2021) – The opponent will remain the same, but the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will travel between conference games for the first time this season.
While the Big Sky adjusted the conference schedule this season to reduce travel, it still included two weeks with regional opponents facing off for a home-and-road series. Northern Colorado presents the first instance of the challenge this season, as NAU heads to Colorado on Wednesday before turning around and returning to Flagstaff Friday afternoon.
"Fortunately they have the little commuter flight from Flagstaff to Denver, so we don't have to bus down to Phoenix," said NAU head coach
Loree Payne. "It's interesting playing the same team back-to-back, but in two different locations, so we will see how things go."
Thursday's tipoff in Greeley, Colo. is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be available on Pluto TV Channel 1059. Saturday's rematch in Flagstaff is set for 12 p.m., with the game moving over to Pluto TV Channel 1058. The Lumberjacks will look to snap their five-game road skid in Greeley, with NAU previously sweeping the Eastern Washington Eagles to open the Big Sky schedule back on Dec. 5 and 6.
Both teams are halfway through their conference schedules, with the Bears (6-9, 5-5 Big Sky) among the jumble of three .500 teams in the conference. Entering the week tied for fifth, the Bears sit a game ahead of the Lumberjacks (6-8, 4-6) and the Portland State Vikings who are tied for eighth.
Northern Colorado put together its first conference sweep last week as the Bears snapped the Eagles' four-game win streak with a 58-55 win last Thursday followed by a 74-55 victory on Saturday. The Bears had split their last three conference sets, making up for three of the six splits in the first 21 two-game series under the Big Sky's new format.
Averaging 21.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 blocks against Eastern Washington, sophomore Alisha Davis earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors for Northern Colorado. The reigning Big Sky Freshman of the Year, Davis currently ranks seventh in scoring (14.5), first in rebounding (10.0), fifth in steals (2.0), second in blocks (2.2) and fourth in field-goal percentage (46.0).
Last season, Davis averaged 10.0 points per game against the Lumberjacks while hitting 75 percent from the field. As a freshman Davis played in just 12 minutes, scoring four points, of the first meeting with NAU before upping it to 19 minutes and scoring 16 points during the game in Greeley.
"I think she had a great freshman year. She was just really transitioning from high school to college and she picked up the pace of the game pretty quick and she is incredibly athletic," Payne said. "She's dominant on the boards, so we're definitely going to have to figure out how to box her out."
Davis is the only player on the Bears currently averaging double-digits, with freshman Hannah Simental and sophomore Jasmine Gayles both at 9.9 points per game. Simental tops the Big Sky at 55.3 percent shooting from three-point range, with 62 percent of her shots made from the field coming from behind the arc.
Averaging 2.0 threes per game, Simental topped out with a 5-for-8 game against Montana earlier this season.
"She's just smooth, I really, really like her game," Payne said. "I think she's a player who you watch and she's just out there and goes to work. She's not super flashy, she's just a really solid player and she's going to be really, really good in this league."
Northern Arizona swept the season series last year, doing so for the first time since the 2006-07 season, and is on a three-game win streak over Northern Colorado for the first time in program history.
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