FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 17, 2021) – No matter the results throughout the weekend, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will see a trio of opponents they rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to play.
Opening the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational against the FIU Panthers (13-12) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. MST, the Lumberjacks (13-13) will take on a program they have never faced in their nearly 50-year history. All three games will be streamed at this
link, with a single game available for $10 and access to the entire tournament for $25. Live stats will also be available
here.
"My staff watched a lot of film last night, we all said we had dates with FIU," said NAU head coach
Loree Payne on Tuesday, a day after the WBI bracket was released. "They are a solid team. When you look at them on the stat sheet compared to ours, we are actually very similar. They have very balanced scoring; they push the ball really, really well. They run in transition and they run a couple similar actions to us offensively. Defensively, they are trying to put pressure on."
NAU and FIU shared one opponent during the season, as the Lumberjacks faced the UTEP Miners during their non-conference schedule in December. The Panthers, meanwhile, played a pair of games against the Miners on back-to-back days in Miami during the Conference USA schedule.
The Lumberjacks came away with an 83-75 victory against the Miners, with all five starters finishing in double-digits, while the Panthers dropped both of their games, 76-64 in the first game and then 73-57 in the second. Both of FIU's games with UTEP shared a common theme, as the Panthers committed 21 turnovers in the first meeting and then 20 the following afternoon.
Turnovers, both forced and committed, were a common occurrence for the Panthers during the season. Averaging 17.3 committed per game, FIU ranked 256 of 336 Division I programs, and had 10 games with 20 or more turnovers this season.
Impressively, the Panthers managed to finish 4-6 in those games, while the Lumberjacks ended up 1-2 in their three games with 20 or more turnovers. NAU's 12.9 turnovers committed per game easily outpaces FIU, but will face a challenge against the Panthers' defense, which ranks 33rd in the nation this season with its average of 16.8 forced per game.
On the offensive end, four Panthers average double-digits as the team ranks 38th in the nation at 74.3 points per game. Jiselle Thomas leads the way with 16.9 points per game, followed by Kyla Nelson's 13.9, Emerald Ekpiteta's 12.0 and Fujika Nimmo's 11.7 per game average.
Thomas, an All-Conference USA Second Team honoree, scored a career-high 34 points against Southern Miss in FIU's opening game of the Conference USA Tournament. The junior reached double-digits in 21 of FIU's 25 games this season, and the 34-point performance was the highest scoring game for a Panther since 2014.
Ekpiteta, a 5-11 grad transfer from Niagara, led the team on the boards with 9.4 per game during her first year in the program. Recording nine double-doubles this season, Ekpiteta finished with double-digit rebounds 12 times this season and hit a season-high of 18 against Middle Tennessee on Jan. 8
With the WBI guaranteeing all eight participants three games during the tournament, NAU will face one of Abilene Christian or Portland in the semifinals of either the championship or consolation brackets.
Similar to FIU, NAU has never faced Abilene Christian and last played Portland in 1987. The four schools on the other half of the WBI bracket, Cleveland State, Loyola Chicago, Manhattan and Stetson, which stepped in for Longwood since the bracket was announced, have combined for just one game against NAU. Manhattan faced NAU in the finals of the Lumberjacks' Thanksgiving Tournament in November 2005.
"It's fun for the kids to have the experience of playing someone who they aren't as familiar with and isn't as familiar with us," Payne said. "When you're in the Big Sky, teams know you inside and out. They are able to scout pretty well against some of the most impactful actions you have offensively and defensively. To be able to go and face a handful of teams that have never played us, I think it will be fun and the kids will experience a lot of success."
While on-court experience against all of their potential opponents is vastly limited, NAU and Portland do have one small connection. Pilots head coach Michael Meek faced off with Payne when the two were together in the D-III Northwest Conference.
"He was the head coach at George Fox when I was the head coach at Puget Sound, so we have been playing against each other at the D-III level for many, many years," Payne said. "We battled every year to win our conference championship. It's just really neat, with me now being at NAU and him being at Portland, to potentially be able to reconvene and get to match up with different teams."
A victory against FIU would set up NAU for another 4:30 tipoff on Saturday while a loss would put them in the 2 p.m. game. Sunday's tipoff will be determined by Saturday's result.
