FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 5, 2026) – The No. 7 Northern Arizona women's basketball team begins the First Round of the Big Sky Championships against No. 8 Montana. The Lumberjacks will tipoff against the Griz on Saturday, March 7 at 2:30 p.m. MST inside Idaho Central Arena. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+, will live stats available
here.
NAU completed the regular season with a 10-21 record, including a 6-12 mark in conference games. The Lumberjacks split their meetings with Montana this season on Jan. 1 in Flagstaff and Jan. 19 in Missoula, with each squad winning on their home court. Montana leads the all-time series, 65-22, but NAU holds a 4-3 edge on neutral courts. The Griz knocked out the Jacks in the semifinals of last year's championships, 71-67.
Naomi White leads NAU and the conference in scoring at 20.7 points per game. White has been ranked in the top of the nation in multiple categories all season long, including points (15th), 3-pointers per game (16th), 3-pointers total (sixth), as well as sitting atop the country amongst freshman in points per game. NAU as a team leads the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (33.4), and ranks third in scoring offense (69.7), and fourth in steals per game (9.4). The Lumberjacks also make and get to the free throw line more than any team in the league, making 14.35 free throws on just under 20 attempts per game.
Despite being picked second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll, Montana finished the regular season 8-21, including a 5-13 mark in league games. The Griz began conference play 0-5 and took their first win against NAU to begin to four-game win streak, before dropping eight of their last nine contests to finish eighth in the conference. One of Montana's five league wins was over No. 4 Idaho State on Jan. 24, as the Griz were the only school in the bottom four with a win over a top four team in the league. Statistically, the Griz rank last in scoring offense (61.9), rebounds (31.3), and eighth in scoring defense (70.7). Montana also allows its opponents to shoot a conference-best 32.9% from beyond the arc but make the most triples per game (nine) and own the best free-throw percentage in the league (76.9). Mack Konig scores 14.2 points and dishes 3.5 assists per game to lead the offense, while Avery Waddington is grabbing 6.7 rebounds per game. Montana is led by first-year Head Coach Nate Harris and features former Lumberjack
Leia Beattie on its coaching staff as the Director of Operations.
NAU has just a pair of victories when allowing at least 70 points this season, with its win on Jan. 1 being one of the two. The largest scoring run for both sides in the first meeting was 7-0, while each team went on a 10-0+ run in the second meeting (NAU 11-0, Montana 13-0). NAU's record when neither team goes on a 10-0 scoring run this season is 2-5, while its record when both teams do so is 3-4.
The Griz's 47.4% shooting in the first meeting is the highest by an opponent in an NAU win this season, as the Jacks countered with a season-high 51.7% shooting that night, including a second highest on the year 52.4% from beyond the arc. NAU also made 11 triples in the win, its most in conference play, and dished a season-high 25 assists, while giving up its lowest number of boards in Big Sky action (26).
In the second meeting, NAU committed its second-fewest turnovers this season of just seven, but Montana also managed to shoot nearly 20% above its average from beyond the arc entering that game and went a perfect 12-12 from the line to get the win.
The winner will face No. 2 Montana State in the second round on Sunday, March 8th at 2:30 p.m. MST, with a spot in the semifinals on the line.
