| Northern Arizona Women's Basketball |
| GAME 25 |
Northern Arizona at Eastern Washington (Thursday, Feb. 22 | 7 p.m. MST | Reese Court | Cheney, Wash.) |
| FOLLOW |
Live Stats | ESPN+ |
| GAME NOTES |
Northern Arizona |
| GAME 26 |
Northern Arizona at Idaho (Saturday, Feb. 24 | 3 p.m. MST | ICCU Arena | Moscow, Idaho) |
| FOLLOW |
Live Stats | ESPN+ |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Feb. 20, 2024) – Just five regular season games remain for the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team, and each one will feel big from here on out. The Lumberjacks ready for its next challenge, heading out on the road to take on Eastern Washington on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard time in Cheney, Wash., before making the short trip over to Moscow, Idaho, to take on Idaho on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. MST.
Northern Arizona is coming off a tough, 82-66, loss to Sacramento State on Thursday but a bounce back victory, 89-73, over Portland State on Saturday. NAU is at the top of the Big Sky Conference standings with an overall record of 19-7 and 11-2 in conference action. Eastern Washington is also 11-2 in the Big Sky and 21-5 overall. Currently, the Lumberjacks own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles after an 89-81 overtime victory on Jan. 27 in Flagstaff, setting Thursday up to be an important result for the regular season championship and No. 1 seed heading into March's conference championship.
The Lumberjacks have won three-straight over Eastern Washington. The last loss, and the last time NAU visited Cheney, the Lumberjacks lost 96-89 in overtime on Jan. 21, 2023. Since then, Northern Arizona has beat Eastern Washington twice in Flagstaff and in the semifinals at the 2023 Big Sky Conference Championships. Northern Arizona has won nine out of the last 10 games dating back to the 2019-20 season. Overall, Northern Arizona trails the all-time series, 42-35, and are 11-27 all-time in Cheney. Two of the last four regular season games have gone to overtime, with each team earning a victory on their own home floor.
When the team's last clashed earlier in the season, Northern Arizona led 19-18 after the first quarter, then held EWU to 1-of-12 from the field in the second quarter to take a 33-24 lead into the half. By the 8:33 mark of the fourth quarter, the Lumberjacks held a 15-point advantage. The Eagles would not quit, using a 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, tying the game 63-63 with 2:32 to play and then again 71-71 with 27 seconds left.
Sophie Glancey went to the charity stripe and made both for a two-point lead, but with .06 seconds left, EWU returned the favor at the line and the game went to overtime, 73-73. In the overtime period, NAU shot 62.5 percent from the field and Glancey scored six points to outscore the Eagles 16-8 for the victory.
Glancey, a sophomore, has been taking the conference by storm and Thursday will feature a matchup between some of the best players in the Big Sky. In conference only games, Glancey leads the league with 18.7 points per game while EWU's Aaliyah Alexander is right behind with 16.6 points per game. The last time the two teams met, Glancey scored 23 points while Alexander added a career-high 31.
Glancey has won three Big Sky Player of the Week awards and has scored in double figures in nine out of the last 10 games. During that span, she has scored at least 20 points in six games including two with at least 30. She leads the league in field goal percentage, making 53.5 percent (159-297) from the field while leading the way with 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. On the season, Glancey is averaging 15.4 points per game.
Also averaging double figures is a pair of the conference's top three-point shooters in
Leia Beattie and
Emily Rodabaugh. Beattie scored her 1,000
th career point between Montana State and NAU on Saturday and averages 12.1 points per game. She has scored in double figures in four-straight games heading into Thursday and is averaging 2.1 three-pointers per game, including a career-high six triples against Sacramento State.
Rodabaugh adds 11.9 points per game, while Nyah and
Olivia Moran round things out with 9.4 and 9.3 points per game, respectively.
Taylor Feldman has been stepping up due to injury and has started to come into her own, averaging 3.0 assists per game after a career-high nine with no turnovers against the Vikings.
As a team, Northern Arizona has won nine out of their last 10 games for its best conference record since 1997-98. It is also a perfect 6-0 on the road in Big Sky play, winning all six consecutively. The Lumberjacks average 77.7 points per game and have scored over 80 points in 12 games, going 10-2 during that span.
Eastern Washington also adds 70.2 points per game but crack down defensively and only allow 56.2 per game compared to 72.0 for NAU. Both teams like to shoot from three-point range, as the Lumberjacks average 7.9 makes per game compared to 7.4 for EWU. In addition to points, NAU also leads the league in rebounding (38.2 rpg), free throw percentage (78.0%), and assists (16.69 apg) while ranking second in turnover margin (2.42) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.22) behind Eastern Washington.
Idaho is 13-12 overall and 6-7 in Big Sky play, coming off two-straight victories at Weber State and Idaho State last week. The Vandals host Northern Colorado on Thursday night before welcoming the Lumberjacks.
Northern Arizona has won five-straight over Idaho and seven out of the last nine dating back to 2019-20. In Moscow, NAU has won three-straight including a 90-67 victory last season. Idaho came to Flagstaff on Jan. 25 where the Lumberjacks won 65-53 and held the Vandals to a season-low 23 rebounds and no second chance points.
The Vandals average 61.3 points per game with just one player in double figures with Kennedy Johnson adding 12.8 per game while ranking sixth in the Big Sky with 6.6 rebounds per contest.
Following the road trip, NAU returns to Flagstaff for its final two games. The Lumberjacks will be looking for season sweeps over Idaho State (Feb. 29) and Weber State (March 2).
