FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 14, 2023) - Northern Arizona Women's Basketball (21-13, 13-5) is heading to Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos (20-12, 12-6) in the first round of the WNIT, after claiming the Big Sky regular season title and finishing the tournament as runner up.
For the first time in program history the Jacks will make their debut in the WNIT on Thursday night at 6 p.m. MST, you can watch the game here. Live stats will be available here.
Entering Thursday night's matchup, the Jacks are coming off a 13-point loss to Sacramento State in the Big Sky tournament championship game. Both the Lumberjacks and the Lobos will enter the game winning six of their last seven, as the Lobos fell to San Diego State in the Mountain West tournament quarterfinals in a one-point loss.
In the 29th matchup between the two teams, the Lobos will enter with the series edge as UNM leads the all-time series at 22-6, winning the last on Nov. 8, 2019 in 83-76 fashion in New Mexico, marking the eighth straight victory over the Lumberjacks for UNM.
NAU picked up two tournament victories in Boise last week to No. 9 Northern Colorado and No. 4 Eastern Washington before advancing to the championship game for the second consecutive season.
In a second quarter slump, NAU only scored four points with one field goal coming in the last minute of the half, putting Sacramento State up by fifteen with twenty minutes to play. The Jacks were able to bring the margin closer in the fourth quarter, but ultimately could not pull off the comeback, crowing Sacramento State as the tournament champions.
The Lumberjacks are led by senior Regan Schenck who has started in all 34 games for the Jacks this season. The senior leads the team in points, averaging 13.2 per game along with assists, averaging 6.7 per game. Schenck holds a 43.1 field goal percentage, while also leading the team in free throw percentage at 89.6.
Emily Rodabaugh claimed a team high 18 points in the championship game last week while picking up six rebounds. Rodabaugh leads NAU with an average of 1.7 steals per game and five rebounds per game.
The Lobos quarterfinal matchup with the Aztecs came down to the final possessions, as SDSU was able to capitalize and move on to the semifinals of the tournament. The two teams tied the game up four times in the final quarter, while the Aztecs put up a three-pointer with 1:29 left in the game bringing SDSU within one. A quick jumper with 47 seconds left on the clock secured the game for the Aztecs.
New Mexico is led by LaTascya Duff who is averaging 13.4 points per game in addition to 3.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Duff led the Lobos in minutes in their final matchup against San Diego State, while scoring 14 points and going 5-9 from the field.
The winner of this matchup will move on to play the winner of San Francisco and Washington, which will start at 7 p.m. MST on Thursday.
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