FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 28, 2021) – While half of their first Big Sky Conference road trip is off this week, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will head north to Moscow, Idaho for their first game in nearly two weeks on Thursday.
Facing the Vandals (1-9, 0-1 Big Sky), the Lumberjacks (5-5, 2-0 Big Sky) return to the court after more than 10 days off from an 82-55 loss to the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats in Flagstaff. Pauses due to COVID-19 protocols for first the Wildcats and then the Lumberjacks followed, with Northern Arizona forced to cancel a trip to face the UC San Diego Tritons. Meanwhile, the Vandals have been idle since a 75-64 loss to Northern Iowa at the Maui Jim Maui Classic in Hawaii on Dec. 18.
Thursday's game is available on
ESPN+, as well as
Hulu with the Disney Bundle.
Idaho has dropped nine straight games since opening the regular season with a 95-46 victory over Lewis-Clark State College on Nov. 9. During the stretch, Idaho has fallen to Nevada, Washington State, Oregon State and No. 11 Texas with all of its Division I opponents holding a combined record of 62-32 before the holiday break.
Beyonce Bea, the Big Sky Conference Preseason MVP and unanimous 2020-21 All-Big Sky First Team selection, is averaging 8.6 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season. Hitting 32.1 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three-point range, Bea is one of five Vandals to start at least nine games this season. Allison Kirby and Tiana Johnson have started all 10 games while averaging 9.2 and 8.0 points per game respectively. Kirby is first on the team with 3.2 assists and second on the team with 7.0 rebounds per game while Johnson, a transfer from Sacramento State, leads the Vandals at 46.5 percent from three-point range.
Louise Forsyth and Sydney Gandy are the two other Vandals to start at least nine games. Forsyth, a graduate transfer from Gonzaga, leads the team with 12.2 points per game on 34.0 percent shooting from the field. Gandy, an All-Big Sky Conference Tournament player as a freshman last season, is second on the team at 9.8 points, 3.0 assists and 2.9 rebounds.
Gandy tied a career high with 23 points against Northern Arizona in last year's Big Sky quarterfinals while Johnson averaged 18.0 points and 9.5 rebounds while hitting 66.7 percent from the field in two meetings with the Lumberjacks as a Hornet last season.
In last season's split with the Vandals,
Khiarica Rasheed averaged 16.0 points and 4.5 rebounds while hitting 70.6 percent from the field.
Emily Rodabaugh added 12.5 points in the two regular season games and hit 5-of-11 from outside.
Rodabaugh's 47.2 percent shooting from three-point range and
Nina Radford's 55.0 percent, with 17 and 22 made threes respectively, have helped push the Lumberjacks to rank second in the NCAA at 42.5 percent. Northern Arizona, which is 5-0 this season when scoring 80 points and 24-1 since the 2018-19 season, are also eighth in the nation at 47.5 percent from the field.
During Idaho's challenging first third of the season, the Vandals have hit just 33.4 percent from the field to rank 329th of the 348 ranked. Defensively, Idaho's 72.8 points allowed per game ranks 316th with opponents hitting 42.4 percent from the field.
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