FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (December 17, 2022) – Wrapping up their non-conference schedule with two games in three days, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will face another pair of familiar opponents.
Heading back to California, the Lumberjacks will play the UC Davis Aggies on Monday at 6 p.m. MST in Davis, Calif. Northern Arizona will then stop in Las Vegas, Nev. to face the UNLV Lady Rebels on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. MST. The Lumberjacks last played UC Davis in 2019, hosting the Aggies in Prescott Valley, and faced the Lady Rebels in each of the past two seasons.
The pair of games wraps up the Lumberjacks' 13-game non-conference schedule with a second consecutive road trip that mirrors conference play. After falling to Fresno State last Thursday, Northern Arizona bounced back with a victory at Cal Poly two days later. The Lumberjacks loss to the Bulldogs was the first against a mid-major this season, but Northern Arizona still holds a 9-2 record against mid-majors since the end of last February. Ranked No. 149 in the NCAA's NET Rankings, Northern Arizona will face the No. 235 UC Davis Aggies (4-5, 0-0 Big West) before facing one of its toughest tests of the season against No. 75 UNLV (9-1, 0-0 Mountain West).
Regan Schenck is the lone Lumberjack remaining that played in Northern Arizona's 71-61 loss to UC Davis in 2019, finishing with two points, four rebounds and one assist. Northern Arizona and UC Davis were scheduled to play in 2020, but the game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols in Yolo County during the season.
The Lumberjacks have beaten the Lady Rebels in each of the past two seasons, beating UNLV 79-75 in Las Vegas to open the 2020-21 season and 84-62 in Flagstaff during the 2021-22 season.
Emily Rodabaugh set a career high with 27 points in the 2020 victory against the Lady Rebels while Schenck finished with a career-best 18 rebounds. Rodabaugh added five rebounds and five three-pointers made in the victory.
Northern Arizona took a 29-17 lead in the first quarter while winning every quarter of last year's 22-point victory. Rodabaugh added 17 points and nine rebounds while Schenck finished with 11 assists, two points and two rebounds.
During last week's pair of games at Fresno State and Cal Poly, Schenck reached 1,000 career points to become the 20th player in program history to reach the mark. The senior is now just 70 points away from the Top 10 all-time and 96 assists to take over the top spot in program history. Schenck is also 87 rebounds away from tying for fifth all-time, as well as 11 games played and 232 minutes away from matching the program records.
Montana Oltrogge set a career high with 13 rebounds against Fresno State while producing a double-double in both games. Averaging 14.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two games, Oltrogge and
Olivia Moran were the two Lumberjacks to finish with double-digit scoring in both games last week.
UC Davis enters Monday's game coming off a 76-30 victory against NAIA William Jessup on Thursday. Turner leads the Aggies with 17.3 points per game this season, while ranking third on the team with 3.9 rebounds per game and third with 1.7 assists. Turner is the only Aggie to average more than 25 minutes or 7.0 points per game. Six other players average between 5.0 and 6.9 points per game with eight players at 12.6 to 24.4 minutes per game.
The Aggies were picked to finish fifth in the 2022-23 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Poll, just one point behind fourth and two points behind third. Additionally, Evanne Turner earned a spot on the 2022-23 All-Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches' Team.
Through 10 games, Desi-Rae Young leads UNLV with 18.5 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the field. Last season, Young finished with 10 points and two rebounds in 19 minutes against Northern Arizona before eventually earning Mountain West Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year. Coming off the bench in 2020, Young scored 11 points and added six rebounds in 12 minutes on the court.
Nneka Obiazor and Essence Booker average 12.4 and 12.1 points respectively, with the latter the team leader in assists at 3.6 per game. Obiazor was named Mountain West Conference Sixth Player of the Year last season after arriving from Youngstown State and Booker won the Mountain West Championship MVP as the Lady Rebels won the conference tournament to reach the NCAA tournament.
Young ranks 13th in the NCAA with five double-doubles, 22th in field goal percentage and 40th in rebounds per game. As a team, UNLV is 17th in rebounding margin and 37th in scoring with 78.1 points per game.
The Lady Rebels were a near unanimous pick to win the Mountain West, receiving 26 or 28 first-place votes in the preseason poll after reaching the NCAA Tournament last March. Earning two spots on the 2022-23 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team, the only program to do so, UNLV had both Young and Booker honored. Additionally, Young was named the Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year.
Monday's game will be available to watch
here on ESPN+ while live stats can be followed
here. Wednesday's game at UNLV will be available
here with live stats
here.
Make sure to follow the NAU women's basketball team on
Twitter,
Instagram and
Facebook for updates throughout the season.
