FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Jan. 2, 2024) – After opening Big Sky Conference play with a win over Northern Colorado, the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team takes a brief break from league action for the Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The Lumberjacks welcome South Dakota State to town for a 6 p.m. Mountain Standard time tip on Jan. 3 at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff.
This is the inaugural Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The two leagues will be playing for a combined trophy, taking both men's and women's results into consideration equally from 36 total games. Victories in the challenge will be weighted differently based on whether they occur at home or on the road. Teams will be awarded one (1) point for a victory on their home floor, while if a road team emerges with a win, it will be awarded one and one-half (1.5) points for the result. The conference with the most total points combined between men's and women's results will be declared the winner. If there is a tie in points following the conclusion of all contests, the first tiebreaker will be total margin of victory. If there is still a tie following the calculation of margin of victory, the two commissioners will compete in an arm-wrestling contest at the Final Four to determine the champion.
A LOOK AT THE LUMBERJACKS: The Lumberjacks are off to their best 12-game start in program history, sitting at 9-3 overall and 1-0 in conference action. Northern Arizona is second in the league standings behind Eastern Washington who is 10-3 (2-0). NAU was picked to finish first in the conference by the media and second by the coaches, while EWU was picked first by coaches and second by the media.
Northern Arizona is coming off 76-72 win over Northern Colorado on Dec. 30. The Lumberjacks have won five-straight overall, three-straight at home, six-straight away from Flagstaff, and nine out of their last 10 games.
Northern Arizona leads the Big Sky with 75.9 points per game and have scored over 80 points in four out of the last five games and five times overall this season. Since 2018-19, NAU is 42-3 when scoring 80 points or more including a perfect 5-0 this season and 27-0 at home.
Sophomore
Sophie Glancey continues to lead NAU with 12.9 points per game. She has scored in double figures in eight out of the last nine games and has earned a double-double in two out of the last four. Glancey ranks 77
th nationally and second in the conference in field goal percentage, draining 52 percent (65-125) of her attempts from the field. Glancey ranks eighth in the conference in scoring and ninth in rebounding with a team-high 6.6 per game. She is also third in the Big Sky with 1.1 blocks per game to lead NAU.
Fifth-year senior
Emily Rodabaugh moved up to ninth all-time on NAU's all-time scoring list with 1,113 points after a 10-point performance at Pepperdine. She broke Northern Arizona's all-time three-pointers made record on Dec. 9 at San Francisco and now has 203 in her career, the first Lumberjack in program history to record over 200 career three-pointers. Rodabaugh is sixth in the Big Sky in three-point percentage (28-72, 38.9%) and averages 2.3 makes per game which is second. On the year, she is averaging 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.
The other Lumberjack to average double figures is
Leia Beattie with 10.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a team-high 1.8 steals per game. Beattie has made a three-pointer in 10 out of the last 11 games and averages 1.6 triples per game.
As a team, NAU averages 7.8 three-pointers per game and make 42.6 percent of their attempts from the field. The Lumberjacks also force 17.7 turnovers per game while averaging 39.1 rebounds, 16.7 assists and 3.7 blocks per contest.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST SOUTH DAKOTA STATE: Wednesday night is the first-ever meeting between the Lumberjacks and Jackrabbits. Northern Arizona is 10-16 all-time against current members of The Summit League.
A LOOK AT THE JACKRABBITS: South Dakota State is 7-5 on the season with four of the five losses coming to ranked teams. The Jackrabbits are coming off a 74-53 victory at North Dakota on Sunday for its league opener.
SDSU is led by Brooklyn Meyer (15.3 ppg) and Paige Meyer (13.4 ppg). Brooklyn Meyer also adds a team-high 9.1 rebounds per game while leading The Summit League in blocks with 1.9 per contest.
The Jackrabbits have won at least a share of the regular season title four of the last five
seasons, finishing 18-0 in 2022-23 in league play for their third-straight regular season title.
UP NEXT: Northern Arizona plays its second game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge on Saturday, Jan. 6 at noon at North Dakota State.
