| Northern Arizona Women's Basketball |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Jan. 5, 2024) – The Northern Arizona University women's basketball team closes non-conference play this weekend with its second and final game of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, taking on North Dakota State on Saturday, Jan. 6 in Fargo, N.D.
Tip-off is set for noon Mountain Standard time on Midco Sports Plus.
The Lumberjacks are coming off a double-overtime, 110-102, loss to South Dakota State at home on Wednesday evening and currently sit at 9-4 overall (1-0 Big Sky) and have won five out of their last six games, plus six-straight away from Flagstaff.
The Bison are 6-7 (1-0 Summit) on the year and are also coming off a Wednesday night loss to Montana State on the road, 65-45, and are a perfect 4-0 at home so far this season.
Northern Arizona and NDSU have met four times before with the Lumberjacks owning a 3-1 record. It will be the first meeting since Nov. 19, 2010, where NAU picked up a 76-69 victory in Flagstaff. In Fargo, Northern Arizona is 1-1 with the lone win coming the first time the two teams met in 2006 in overtime. The Lumberjacks are 10-17 all-time against current members of The Summit League.
Four players average double figures for NAU, led by
Sophie Glancey with a team high 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Glancey leads the Big Sky in field goal percentage, draining 52.2 percent (70-134) of her shots. She ranks eighth in the Big Sky in scoring, ninth in rebounding and second in blocks.
Emily Rodabaugh also ranks in the top-ten in the conference in scoring with 11.9 points per game and is 13
th with 5.8 rebounds per game. Rodabaugh has made the second-most three-pointers in the conference with 31 and averages 2.4 triples per game, shooting 38.8 percent from deep.
Grace Beasley is coming off a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds against SDSU and currently averages 10.3 points per game. Beasley dishes a team-high 3.3 assists per game which is sixth in the Big Sky.
Leia Beattie rounds things out for NAU with 10.6 points per contest.
Olivia Moran has come off the bench and scored in double figures in five out of the last six games, adding 8.9 points per game.
As a team, NAU has committed 10 or less turnovers in four out of the last five games while forcing 17.3 per game on the year. The Lumberjacks are second in the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.2), assists per game (16.54) and steals (9.15). Northern Arizona boasts the conference's top offense with 77.9 points per game but rank last in opponent points per game with 73.0. The Lumberjacks also rank first in blocks per game with 3.77.
The Bison were picked to finish second in the preseason Summit League polls. Heaven Hamling leads the team with 13.5 points per game and has also made 31 three-pointes on the year, averaging 2.3 per game on 37.8 percent shooting. Elle Evans also adds 11.3 points and a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game.
As a team, NDSU averages 70.2 points per game while shooting 40.5 percent, and opponents average 69.9 on 45.3 percent from the field. The Bison like to shoot from three-point range as well, averaging 7.0 per game. They turn the ball over an average of 16.2 times per contest.
Following Saturday's contest, NAU returns home to resume Big Sky play against Montana State (Jan. 11) and Montana (Jan. 13) at Findlay Toyota Court in Flagstaff.
