Lumberjacks Ready for Las Vegas Holiday Classic

Northern Arizona Women's Basketball

GAME 5	Las Vegas Holiday Classic | Northern Arizona vs. Portland (Friday, Nov. 24 | 1 p.m. MST)
FOLLOW	No Video | Statbroadcast
LOCATION	Las Vegas, Nev. | Orleans Hotel & Casino
GAME 6	Las Vegas Holiday Classic | Northern Arizona vs. Youngstown State (Saturday, Nov. 25 | 3:30 p.m. MST)
FOLLOW	No Video | Live Stats
LOCATION	Las Vegas, Nev. | Orleans Hotel & Casino

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 22, 2023) – Riding a two-game win streak, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team looks to make it four-in-a-row this week when it takes on Portland and Youngstown State in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.
 
The Lumberjacks will take on two opponents in consecutive days, beginning with a matchup against Portland on Friday, Nov. 24 at 1 p.m. Mountain Standard time. On Saturday, Nov. 25, Northern Arizona faces Youngstown State at 3:30 p.m. MST. The games will not be streamed.
 
LAST TIME OUT: Northern Arizona is now 2-2 (0-0 Big Sky) on the season after a home victory over Benedictine Mesa and a 74-69 road win at UC San Diego on Sunday. In the victory over the Tritons, the Lumberjacks had a big second quarter to help seal the win. Leia Beattie led all scorers with an NAU career-high of 20 points, going 5-for-10 from the field with three triples and also adding four steals, three assists and a block.
 
Fifth-year senior Emily Rodabaugh was right behind her with a season-high 17 points. Rodabaugh pulled down a game-high seven rebounds and drained five three-pointers. She now has 184 made three-pointers in her career and needs just 10 more to break NAU's all-time record.
 
Grace Beasley (15 pts) and Sophie Glancey (10 pts, 7 rebs) rounded out the scoring for the Lumberjacks while Nyah Moran added six points and dished a team-high four assists.
 
The Lumberjacks forced 19 turnovers that they turned into 21 points, but UCSD shot 46.6 percent (27-58) from the field while holding NAU to 39 percent (23-59). Northern Arizona relied heavily on their three-point shooting as NAU made 10 on the night.
 
Northern Arizona led by 10 points at the half after a 26-point second quarter but were outscored 19-15 in the third quarter. In the fourth, UCSD got within a point, 58-57, erasing a 17-point deficit. The Lumberjacks needed a veteran presence to put the game back out of reach, and they got it following two free throws from Beasley and a big three-pointer from Rodabaugh to make it a six-point contest. From there, the game would not get closer than four points the rest of the way as NAU held on to the 74-69 victory for its first road win of the year.
 
A LOOK AT THE LUMBERJACKS: Northern Arizona is averaging 27.8 three-point attempts per game which ranks 16^th nationally, while making 7.8 per game.
 
The Lumberjack defense has held strong this season, forcing 19.5 turnovers per game with 10.5 steals per contest. NAU is also holding opponents to just 23.3 percent from three-point range while adding 4.2 blocks per game, all of which rank in the top-100 nationally as a team.
Rodabaugh paces NAU with a team-high 10.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, followed by Beattie who is averaging 9.8 points per game. Beasley is leading the Lumberjacks with 2.8 points and 2.0 steals per game while contributing with 8.3 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH PORTLAND: Friday marks the third all-time meeting between the Lumberjacks and the Pilots, with NAU trailing 0-2. The first matchup took place on Jan. 16, 1986, with the most recent meeting coming on March 20, 2021, in the postseason when both teams met at the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI). Northern Arizona suffered an 80-65 loss in Frankfurt, Ky.
 
A LOOK AT THE PILOTS: The Pilots are 3-1 on the season and compete in the West Coast Conference. Portland will play at Cal Baptist on Wednesday night before taking on NAU on Friday. The Pilots are riding a two-game win streak with victories over Seattle U and Warner Pacific. Last season, UP won the WCC tournament title and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, finishing the year 23-9 overall.
 
Portland ranks 11^th in the nation with 6.5 blocks per game, led by Lucy Cochrane who ranks seventh nationally with 3.5 swats per contest. The Pilots also average 14.2 steals per game which is the ninth best in the country and allow their opponents to score just 58.0 points per game.
 
A trio of Pilots average double figures, led by Maisie Burnham and Dyani Ananiev with 11.3 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH YOUNGSTOWN STATE: Youngstown State competes in the Horizon League and Saturday will also mark the third meeting between the two foes. The squads met consecutively in 2016-17 and 2017-18, alternating between home and away with the home team picking up the victory each time. NAU won 70-49 on Nov. 28, 2016 in Flagstaff before being edged 69-67 in Ohio the next year.
 
A LOOK AT THE PENGUINS: Youngstown State is 2-2 on the season and are coming off consecutive losses to Western Michigan and West Virginia after starting the year 2-0. The Penguins will take on Rhode Island in their opening game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic on Friday night before taking on NAU.
 
The Penguins boast one of the best shooters in the nation in Emily Saunders who is shooting 71.8 (28-39) percent from field goal range to rank ninth nationally. Saunders leads the team with 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The other double-digit scorer is Dena Jarrells with 10.0 points per contest.
 
As a team, YSU averages 56.3 points per game, making 41.4 percent of its field goal attempts, and limits opponents to 55.3 points.
 
NEXT UP: Northern Arizona returns home to host UNLV on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. MST at the Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff for Native American Heritage night.