FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 10, 2023) – Coming off a road sweep of the Montana programs, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff to host the Portland State Vikings and Sacramento State Hornets at Findlay Toyota Court.
Sitting third in the Big Sky Conference, Northern Arizona (9-8, 3-1 Big Sky) will host the undefeated Sacramento State Hornets (12-2, 3-0 Big Sky) on Saturday at 2 p.m. as well as the Portland State Vikings (6-7, 1-2 Big Sky) on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Vikings snapped a 22-game losing streak within Big Sky play last Saturday with a 53-43 victory at home over the Idaho Vandals. Meanwhile, the Hornets hold a 10.7-point average margin of victory in their wins over the Vikings, Vandals, and Eastern Washington Eagles.
Voted to finish fifth in conference this year, the Hornets entered last year's Big Sky Tournament as the No. 7 seed and were upset by the No. 10-seed Weber State Wildcats. The Vikings, voted 10th in October, fell to No. 6-seed Idaho as the No. 11-seed. The Lumberjacks last played both teams in February, with a 94-66 victory against the Vikings on Feb. 17 for a second straight win and a 76-62 loss to the Hornets on Feb. 3 snapping a seven-game winning streak against Sacramento State.
Averaging 6.8 assists per game with 115 total this season, Northern Arizona's
Regan Schenck ranks eighth and fourth in the NCAA this season. The senior is also producing the best season of her career at the free-throw line, hitting 90.5 percent to rank 20th in the nation. Meanwhile,
Emily Rodabaugh ranks 52nd in the nation and second in the Big Sky with 38 three-pointers made and is first in the Big Sky with 33 steals this season. Lastly,
Montana Oltrogge is third in the Big Sky with six double-doubles thanks to her 8.4 rebounds per game to tank fourth in the conference.
PORTLAND STATE
Holding Idaho to just 43 points and 28.6 percent shooting from the field, Portland State arrives in Flagstaff with some momentum after dropping its first two games of conference play.
The Vikings rank 322nd of the 361 Division I teams in possessions per 40 minutes with 67.2 much slower than the Lumberjacks' 78.3 that ranks ninth in the nation. Portland State enters the week second in the Big Sky at 58.8 points allowed per game, with opponents hitting 28.8 percent from three-point range and 39.8 overall from the field.
With an average opponent pace of 68.4, Portland State ranks 344th and allows the third-highest assisted shot rate in the nation at 69.8 percent. Led by Schenck, Northern Arizona does record an assist on 55.2% of their field goals with their 15.0 assists per game 83rd of 361 teams.
Esmeralda Morales ranks sixth in the Big Sky at 16.1 points per game and first at 2.38 steals per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 48.0 percent from three-point range to rank second and first in the conference respectively. Jada Lewis is fifth in the Big Sky at 36.8 percent from outside and third at 2.69 three-pointers made per game. Morales averaged 17.5 points against the Lumberjacks last season, including a 24-point game in Flagstaff while shooting 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Also averaging 17.5 points in the two meetings last season, Alaya Fitzgerald hit 61.9 percent from the field with 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game. Fitzgerald enters the game averaging 8.0 points and 2.5 assists per game.
SACRAMENTO STATE
One of the most efficient teams in the nation, the Hornets enter the week with a 53.7 effective field goal percentage to rank 14th of 361 teams. The efficiency comes while also playing at a slow pace, ranking 354th in possessions per 40 minutes (64.8) and 359th in opponents' average pace (68.8).
Ranked 98th in the NCAA's NET Ranking, Sacramento State leads the Big Sky and finished non-conference play with wins over Santa Clara (116), UC Santa Barbara (130) and UTEP (131) who would rank third in the Big Sky.
The reigning Big Sky Conference Player of the Week, guard Kahlaijah Dean ranks 20th in the nation at 20.1 points per game while averaging 4.8 assists per game to rank 44th. In her first season with the Hornets after transferring to Sacramento State from Oakland University, Dean has taken 27.2 percent of the team's shots this season.
In the frontcourt, center Isnelle Natabou is 17th in the nation at 10.5 rebounds per game and fourth in the nation at 66.0 percent shooting from the field. Averaging 16.6 points per game, Natabou ranks fourth in the Big Sky while also taking 20.1 percent of the team's shots this season. Along with teammate Katie Peneueta, Natabou is among the Big Sky's leaders in blocks per game. Entering at 1.21 per game, Natabou is fourth behind Peneueta's 1.86 that leads the Big Sky.
Thursday's game against Portland State will be available to watch
here on ESPN+ while live stats can be followed
here. Saturday's game against Sacramento State 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.
