FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (February 7, 2023) - Northern Arizona Women's Basketball will continue its three game road stretch this weekend, taking on the Sacramento State Hornets and the Portland State Vikings on Thursday night at 8 p.m. MST and Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. MST, respectively.
NAU is coming off a ten point victory at Idaho State to start off the road streak, as freshman Mary McMorris stepped up to earn her career high in scoring, putting up 12 points and three steals in 22 minutes on the court last night.
The Lumberjacks improved to 8-4 in Big Sky conference play, while 14-11 overall this season, moving into the No. 2 slot in conference standings after the Monday night victory. The Jacks have the toughest offense in the Big Sky right now, sitting in first place, and averaging 77.2 points per game. NAU leads the conference in combined team rebounds, averaging 40.7 per game.
After breaking NAU's all-time assists record, Regan Schenck has kept the ball rolling as the senior totals 176 assists through 26 games, while marking 648 career assists. Schenck also broke the record for most games played in program history, with 144 against Montana State.
Sacramento State (16-6, 7-4) will enter Thursday night's match looking to pick up a second consecutive win after defeating Idaho on Feb. 4, 77-70. Before the Hornets matchup in Moscow, the team was on a three-game losing streak on the road. Returning to 'The Nest' for the first time since Jan. 21, Sacramento State will look to leading scorer Kahlaijah Dean to pick up the Hornets first victory of the season to the Jacks.
Dean has found herself amongst the top of the Big Sky leaderboards all season as the senior guard ranks second in the conference, averaging 21.5 points per game while tallying four Big Sky player of the week accolades since Nov. 22.
The team's last met in Flagstaff on Jan. 14, where NAU grabbed a ten point victory (77-67). NAU was able to hold the lead for the final three quarters of the game, snapping Sacramento's seven-game win streak at the time. The Jacks were led by impressive shooting, going 56.3 percent from the field in the fourth quarter alone. Schenck led the team with 21 points, adding eight assists, followed by Montana Oltrogge's 18 points and Olivia Moran's 12.
The Portland State (10-11, 5-6) Vikings are coming off a 80-71 victory at Eastern Washington on Feb. 4, snapping a three game losing streak to Montana State, Montana, and Idaho. The Vikings will host Northern Colorado on Thursday ahead of the NAU matchup Saturday afternoon. PSU is led by Esmeralda Morales, the sophomore out of Washington. Morales leads the Viks 348 points and a 45.8 field goal percentage, adding 64 assists on the season.
Sophomore Rhema Ogele leads the team in rebounds with 107 total. Ogele has a total of 11 blocks this season, along with a 43.4 field goal percentage. The Vikings are returning to play off of the team's best shooting performance in 15 years, shooting 60.4 percent from the field on Saturday. The team's offensive success was led by four players in double-digits with Jada Lewis 20 points.
The Lumberjacks dropped the first matchup to the Vikings on Jan. 12 as PSU found a 16-point advantage in the third quarter. Hitting just 41 percent from the field, including a 25-percent first quarter, Northern Arizona was outshot by Portland State's 52 percent. The 17 Lumberjack turnovers led to 21 points by the Vikings, while Northern Arizona only put in five points off 12 turnovers.
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