FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 26, 2023) – Tied for third in the Big Sky Conference to open the week, the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks will wrap up the first half of conference play Saturday in Greeley, Colo.
Taking on the Northern Colorado Bears (10-9, 3-5 Big Sky), the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (11-10, 5-3 Big Sky) will look to bounce back from a 96-89 overtime loss to the Eastern Washington Eagles. Erasing a 15-point deficit in the second half, the Lumberjacks forced overtime thanks to
Montana Oltrogge's 19-point fourth quarter. The loss followed last Thursday's 90-67 victory in Moscow against the Idaho Vandals as the Lumberjacks split their pair of road games.
Alternating wins and losses over their past four games, the Bears beat the Vandals 63-58 last Saturday after falling to the Eagles 49-36. In the eight Big Sky games this season, Northern Colorado has had just one game decided by less than 13 points. Beating Weber State by 28 and Portland State by 19, Northern Colorado's win against Idaho came by just five points, 63-58. The Bears' five conference losses came by an average of 21.8 points, including a four-game losing streak to Idaho State, Montana State, Montana and Sacramento State.
With both teams idle on Thursday, Saturday's tip off in Greeley, Colo. is set for 4 p.m. MST.
Voted to finish seventh by the media and ninth by the coaches, Northern Colorado reached the Big Sky Conference semifinals last March where the Bears fell to the Lumberjacks, 72-67. Led by Preseason All-Big Sky honoree Hannah Simental, the Bears finished non-conference play 7-4 and are 7-2 at home this season.
Northern Colorado's best victory this season came at the end of November when the Bears outlasted the Colorado State Rams in triple overtime. Ranked No. 65 in the NCAA's NET Rankings, the Rams are currently tied for second in the Mountain West Conference. Gabi Fields led Colorado State with 36 points while hitting 12-of-17 from the field, including 7-of-9 from three-point range.
Simental leads the Bears at 14.0 points per game along with 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists this season. The junior is hitting 41.9 percent from three-point range and 94.3 percent from the free-throw line, ranking 32nd and third in the nation. Last season, Simental averaged 19.7 points per game in the three meetings with the Lumberjacks, hitting 10-of-26 from outside and 15-of-17 at the free-throw line.
Second on the team with 13.0 points per game and a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game, Delaynie Byrne is in her first season on the court for Northern Colorado. A transfer from UNLV, Byrne did face the Lumberjacks as a member of the Lady Rebels in 2020, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while shooting 6-of-14 from the field and 4-of-12 from three-point range.
The Bears average just 65.1 possessions per 40 minutes to rank 349th in the nation, well below the Lumberjacks 77.6 possessions that ranks 13th in the NCAA. Ranked in the bottom 10 percent of the nation in field goal attempts per game, nearly 38 percent of the team's shot attempts come from Simental or Byrne. Adding in Averee Kleinhans and Fields attempts, Northern Colorado's top four scorers have attempted more than 70 percent of the team's shots and scored 71.6 percent of the team's points this season.
While Oltrogge and
Regan Schenck have combined to attempt 33 percent of Northern Arizona's shots this season, the Lumberjacks have spread their scoring out to wider than the Bears. Northern Arizona's top four leaders in field goal attempts account for 59 percent of the team's shots and 56 percent of the team's scoring.
Averaging 22.5 points in last week's games against Idaho and Eastern Washington, Oltrogge moved up to seventh in the Big Sky with 14.0 points per game this season. Ranked third with 8.4 rebounds per game, Oltrogge is one of just three players in the Big Sky to rank within the top seven in both categories this season and is second in the conference with eight double-doubles.
Meanwhile, recording 17 assists in the two games last week kept Schenck among the nation's leaders as she closes in on Northern Arizona's all-time assists record as well as her own single-season record. Averaging 7.1 per game with 149 total, seventh and fourth in the nation respectively, Schenck is just 16 assists from tying Sade Cunningham's all-time record of 637 and is 33 away from tying the single-season mark she set last season.
Oltrogge also ranks seventh in three-point percentage (34.8 percent) and third in three-pointers made (47) among Big Sky players.
Emily Rodabaugh is just behind Oltrogge, ranking ninth in percentage (32.6) and sixth in threes made (43) while also sitting third in steals per game (1.9).
After their trip to Greeley, the Lumberjacks return to Flagstaff to face the Montana State Bobcats on Feb. 2 and the Montana Lady Griz on Feb. 4 to start off the second half of conference play.
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