FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (January 27, 2026) – The Northern Arizona women's basketball team returns home this week to play Eastern Washington on Thursday in the front end of a doubleheader with NAU men's basketball before traveling to Moscow Saturday to face Idaho.
The Lumberjacks will tipoff against the Eagles on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 3 p.m. MST. Tickets purchased for the women's game are also valid for the men's game at 6 p.m. MST. Saturday's game against the Vandals will tip at 2 p.m. MST on Jan. 31. Both contests will be streamed on ESPN+.
NAU enters this week with a 7-14 record, including a 3-5 mark in Big Sky games. The Jacks most recently fell to Northern Colorado, 72-59 on the road last Saturday.
Naomi White secured her 10th game with 25 points or more this season as she dropped 26 points against the Bears. The redshirt freshman remains the top scorer in the Big Sky, as well as the best amongst freshmen nationwide.
Madison Watts also recorded 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting, her 10th outing this season shooting at least 50% from the floor. Watts also leads the Jacks on the boards, pulling down 6.6 per game to rank 12th in the conference. NAU will look to snap a two-game skid and improve its home record to 5-4 on Thursday.
Eastern Washington brings an even 10-10 record into the matchup, with a 3-4 mark in league games. The Eagles dropped their last contest, 61-54 on the road at Sacramento State. The Eagles sit fifth in the league in both scoring offense (68) and defense (66.1), and second-to-last in 3-point field goal percentage (28.6). Kourtney Grossman highlights the Eagles on the glass, as she leads the conference in boards per game with 13.1, and has spent time this season leading the country in rebounding. Ella Gallatin leads the scoring efforts with 14.5 points per game on 40.9% shooting. The Eagles are led by Joddie Gleason, who has over 20 years of head coaching experience and is in her fifth season at the helm in Cheney.
Idaho stands at 15-5 overall and 6-1 in Big Sky play and will face Northern Colorado in Greeley on Thursday before welcoming NAU to Moscow on Saturday. Kyra Gardner is scoring 13.9 points on 42.9% shooting per contest to lead the Vandals, while Deborah dos Santos is collecting 7.5 boards per game. Garder and dos Santos were the first and most recent players to earn conference weekly honors this season. The Vandals currently lead the conference in scoring offense at just under 80 points (79.9) and rebounding offense (47.4), but are seventh in points allowed at 68.2. Idaho is led by second-year head coach Arthur Moreira, who is the first-ever Brazilian head coach in NCAA DI history.
