| Northern Arizona Women's Basketball | WNIT Second Round |
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 22, 2024) – The second-round WNIT opponent for the Northern Arizona University women's basketball team has been set. The Lumberjacks will take on South Dakota on Tuesday, March 26 in Vermillion, S.D. at the Sanford Coyote Sports Center.
Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Standard time and the game will broadcast on The Summit League Network on Midco Sports Plus and James Malamas will have the call on the Northern Arizona Healthcare NAU Lumberjack Radio Network.
South Dakota, who is a member of the Summit League, defeated UC Riverside in the first round tonight by a score of 72-57 at home. The Lumberjacks earned a first-round bye, and the winner of Tuesday's game will go on to face the winner of Wyoming/UTSA in the Super 16. The Cowgirls and the Roadrunners play in their second round on Sunday, March 24 in Laramie, Wyo.
It's the second-straight WNIT appearance for Northern Arizona and the second in program history. Northern Arizona was one of 11 automatic qualifiers and received a first-round bye. Of the 48 teams in the field, 24 have over 20 victories this season. NAU joins Montana and Northern Colorado as the other Big Sky Conference schools in the bracket. The Griz have already advanced to the second-round after a 92-66 victory over Boise State at home and Northern Colorado lost its first round game to UTSA.
Last year, the Lumberjacks took on New Mexico on March 16, 2023, in Albuquerque, N.M., falling 72-64. NAU trailed by just three points at the half and
Emily Rodabaugh led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Olivia Moran added 15 points and
Nyah Moran finished with nine points, five assists, and four steals.
Northern Arizona is 25-9 overall and ended conference play 15-3. The overall wins total is a program record for victories in a single season, passing the previous mark of 22 (1997-98, 2005-06), while the 15 conference wins matches the most in a single season since 1997-98. NAU has eclipsed the 20-win threshold for the second-straight season, putting together consecutive 20-win seasons for first time since 2005-06 and 2006-07.
South Dakota is 22-12 on the year and finished fourth in the Summit League standings. The Coyotes are led by Grace Larkin who was named first team All-Summit League. Larkin leads USD in scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounds (7.2 rpg) and assists (5.0 apg). South Dakota has made it to the postseason in 13 out of the last 14 seasons. The Coyotes are making their sixth WNIT appearance and won the tournament back in 2016, owning a 13-4 overall record. As a team, USD averages 71.2 points per game, shooting a 43.3 percent clip with 8.0 triples per contest.
Northern Arizona and South Dakota have met twice in program history, with the Coyotes winning both games. The last meeting took place on Nov. 18, 2011, where NAU lost 73-56 in Vermillion. The season prior, the Lumberjacks lost 69-57 on Dec. 9, 2010, in Flagstaff. The Lumberjacks are 10-18 all-time against current Summit League opponents, most recently falling at home to South Dakota State in double overtime and to North Dakota State on the road this season as part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge.
The Lumberjacks earned the No. 2 seed and entered the Big Sky Championships on a four-game winning streak which extended out to six-straight after a win over No. 8 Sacramento State in the quarterfinals (81-63) and No. 3 Montana in the semifinals (74-67). NAU advanced to the program's third-straight title game where NAU lost to No. 1 Eastern Washington, 73-64.
In the championship, Northern Arizona led 22-12 after the first quarter, but the Eagles would slowly chip away and make it a one-point game at the half, 33-32. Both teams were tied at 48-48 heading into the fourth, and Eastern Washington took its first lead of the game with 9:21 left to play and never gave it back.
Turnovers troubled the Lumberjacks, who committed the second most of the season with 20, which EWU turned into 15 points. NAU made 13-of-15 at the line while EWU made 14-of-20. The Eagles also had 72 field goal attempts, shooting 37.5 percent from the field while Northern Arizona shot 42.1 percent (24-57). Northern Arizona had the slight 42-38 edge on the boards, dropping to 21-1 on the season when out-rebounding opponents.
A pair of All-Big Sky performers led Northern Arizona in the tournament, including Boise native
Sophie Glancey and
Leia Beattie who made the All-Tournament team.
Glancey was a unanimous first team All-Big Sky selection this season. In the tournament, the sophomore averaged 22.0 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 64.3 percent (27-42) from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range. She also added 1.3 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, earning double-doubles against Sacramento State and Montana including a 30-point performance in the quarterfinals.
Glancey had a standout sophomore season that saw her lead the league in conference-only games with 17.4 points per game. She ranked first in the conference in field goal percentage (123-233, 52.8%) and offensive rebounds (3.1 orpg), third in rebounding (7.7 rpg), and second in blocked shots (1.2 bpg). Through all games, she leads NAU and ranks second in the conference with 15.8 points per game, fourth in rebounds with 7.4 per game, second in blocked shots (1.2 bpg) and continued to lead the league in field goal percentage, making 54.0 percent of her attempts from the field this season.
She is the only Lumberjack to play in and start all 34 games this year. A three-time Big Sky Player of the Week, Glancey has scored in double figures 27 times with 11 20-plus point performances including consecutive 30-point games on the road at Montana and Montana State. She earned six double-doubles on the year, pulling down 13 rebounds on two different occasions.
Glancey's 537 points this season rank fourth all-time on the single season scoring list, while her 215 field goals made ranks sixth.
Beattie added 11.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game during the championships. She shot 54.2 percent (13-24) from the field and made 5-of-7 from three-point range in the quarterfinals.
She claimed second team All-Big Sky honors in her first year as a Lumberjack. The junior ranks second on the team in scoring with 11.6 points per game and gave opponents nothing but trouble from behind the three-point line, making 74 of her 176 attempts to rank second in the league in three-point percentage (42.0%).
She ranks fifth in the league with 2.1 triples per game, and in conference-only contests she led the league in three-point percentage with 43.5 percent (47-108), ranking second with 2.6 per game. The Midland, Texas, native made at least two three-pointers in 20 games including seven with four or more. Beattie also ranks third on the team in rebounds (4.8), second in assists (2.7) and second in steals (1.2).
Emily Rodabaugh ranks third on the team with 10.6 points per game and second in rebounding with 5.6 per contest. Rodabaugh continued to make her mark from three-point range, ranking sixth in the conference in three-point percentage (35.2) and fourth in three-pointers made per game with 2.1, making 69 total on the year which is currently sixth on NAU's single-season three-pointers made list. Beattie ranks third on the list with 74.
A fifth-year senior, Rodabaugh added to her decorated career with her first All-Big Sky honorable mention nod. Rodabaugh ranks in the top-ten in eight different career categories at NAU, including the program's all-time leader in three-pointers made (244) and three-pointers attempted (683). She also is sixth on the all-time scoring list (1,350), fifth all time in blocks (100), 10
th in steals (170), second in games played (149), seventh in rebounds (666) and fourth in minutes played (3,838).
Olivia Moran also earned an honorable mention All-Big Sky nod and averages 9.0 points per game. Moran did not play in the championship game after an unexpected illness. On the season, the Riverside, Calif., native added 1.8 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 80.2 percent from the free throw line.
The Lumberjacks are led by seventh year head coach
Loree Payne who has a 109-107 record at Northern Arizona, ranking second on the all-time wins list. Payne is NAU's all-time leader in Big Sky victories, sitting at 72-60. She has led her team to a winning record in conference play in each of the past five seasons. It's the third postseason appearance for Payne's Lumberjacks, who placed third in the WBI back in 2020-21 along with the consecutive WNIT bids.
