FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Nov. 27, 2024) – Winners of four-straight, the Northern Arizona women's basketball team will spend the Thanksgiving holiday in St. Petersburg, Fla., for the 2024 St. Pete's Showcase. The tournament is hosted at Tampa Preparatory School and will stream on BallerTV.
Northern Arizona will take on James Madison on Thursday, Nov. 28 at 1:30 p.m. Mountain Standard time before concluding play on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 11 a.m. MST against Tulane.
The Lumberjacks are on a four-game win streak and are off to their best start since 2005-06 after starting the year 5-1. NAU is ranked No. 14 in the College Inside Mid-Major Poll, its highest ranking in program history after knocking off both Arizona and Colorado State last week.
NAU is looking to improve to 6-1 for the first time since 1994-95 as head coach
Loree Payne needs just three more victories to tie NAU's all-time win record and four to break. Three Lumberjacks are also chasing 1,000 career points, with
Nyah Moran needing just 36 more.
Northern Arizona has had a different player earn Big Sky Player of the Week all three weeks of the season so far in
Sophie Glancey,
Nyah Moran and
Taylor Feldman. The Lumberjacks have scored over 80 points in four out of six contests, going a perfect 4-0 when eclipsing the 80-point threshold.
The Lumberjacks boast the conference's top offense with 82.7 points per game, shooting 42.6 percent from the field. NAU also leads the league in three-pointers per game (9.5), team rebounds (43.5), team defensive rebounds (30.8), assist/turnover ratio (1.46) and assists (19.50).
NAU's top three leading scorers in Glancey (17.5),
Nyah Moran (16.8) and Feldman (14.6) rank first, second, and fourth in the Big Sky in scoring, respectively.
Leia Beattie rounds things out with 10.4 points per game, leading the league with 15 made three-pointers for 2.5 per game and is the league leader in assists with 5.5. Glancey also ranks third in rebounding with 8.5 per game, followed closely by
Saniyah Neverson who adds 8.3. Glancey also leads the team and the league with 10 blocked shots on the year.
James Madison is ranked 13th in the mid-major poll, right ahead of Northern Arizona. The Dukes are also 5-1 on the year and are coming off a 73-32 victory over Saint Peter's, not allowing the Peacocks to score any points in the second quarter. JMU's defense allows just 59.0 points per game and holds opponents to 24.6 percent behind the line.
Tulane is 2-3 on the year and are coming off a 77-37 victory over Jackson State. Four days prior, the Green Wave only lost to No. 7 LSU, 85-74. Kendall Sneed earned American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Week honors after the win with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Kyren Wittington (15.2), Sherese Pittman (14.0) and Victoria Keenan all average double figures for a team that averages 71.0 points per game and allows just 62.4.
After this weekend, Northern Arizona returns home to host Oral Robers on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 12 p.m. MST in Rolle Activity Center for the start of the second annual Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
