Women’s Basketball Travels to Denver, Opens Seven-Game Road Trip

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women’s basketball will play seven straight road games starting on Wednesday, December 16 against Denver at the Magness Arena. The women enter the month-long swing riding a 62-58 victory over San Diego on Thursday, December 10. NAU and Denver tip off at 7 p.m.

NAU (2-7) opened the year playing five away games in 12 days and went 0-5 during that span. The Lumberjacks responded over the past two weeks with a 2-2 record in its last four games—all at home.

LAST WEEK: SAN DIEGO
Northern Arizona women's basketball defeated San Diego 62-58 behind an 11-0 run to close the game. NAU was down by seven with just under three minutes to play and rallied for their second win of the season behind Caty Huntington's team-high 15 points off the bench. Huntington hit a three-point shot with 25 seconds left in the game to seal the victory for the Lumberjacks. NAU made shots on Thursday night shooting 45.7-percent from the field and 52.6-percent in the second half, its best-percentages on the season. The Lumberjacks turned in several key defensive stops down the stretch which led to transition baskets in a close game that produced 13 lead changes and 10 ties. Four Lumberjacks turned in double digit performances in addition to Huntington's 15 points. Lauren Hoisington chipping in 11 points and Amy Patton and Katie Pratt each added 10. NAU outscored San Diego 33-7 off the bench.

THIS WEEK: DENVER
Denver (4-5) started the year 1-5 but the Pioneers have won their last three games including a 62-48 win over Florida International on Monday, December 14. Denver has played nine games this season under second-year head coach Erik Johnson who has used the same starting five in each contest. The Pioneers have three players averaging double figures led by Kaetlyn Murdoch at 14.2 points-per-game. Prior to Monday's win over Florida International, Denver had not played at home since November 18. The Pioneers are 2-1 at home this season. The Lumberjacks are 3-1 all-time against Denver after a 76-60 loss at home against the Pioneers during the 2008-09 season.

MULTIMEDIA
Fans can catch a live webcast for Wednesday's game against Denver, which is available for a nominal fee. Webcasting will be available through Pioneer Vision at www.denverpioneers.com. Live stats can also be found on www.denverpioneers.com in the “All-Access” section at the top of the page.

BALANCED NIGHT
NAU women's basketball used 10 players, with eight seeing 10 minutes or more, and totaled a season-high four in double figures in its win over San Diego on Thursday, December 10. Caty Huntington turned in a team-high 15 points while Lauren Hoisington, Amy Patton, and Katie Pratt each finished with 10 or more points. NAU shot a season-high 45.7-percent for the game and 52.6-percent in the second half leading to the comeback victory.

DOUBLE DOUBLES
Freshman guard Amy Patton leads the Big Sky Conference in double-doubles with four through nine games played. She moved ahead of Portland State's Claire Faulker with a 14 point and 13 rebound performance against Arkansas State on December 10. Jenna Galloway also made the Big Sky's double-double list with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Siena on November 27. Patton and Galloway are two of 15 players in the conference this year to record at least one double-double.

BIG TOTALS
Freshman guard Amy Patton is the only player in the Big Sky Conference to have four games with 10 or more rebounds and two games with 20 or more points. As of Dec. 14, Patton is ranked No. 100 in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in scoring (16.1 ppg).

PATTON ON TOP
Freshman guard Amy Patton is currently first in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.2 rebounds-per-game) and second in scoring (16.1 points-per-game) through Dec. 14. She is the only freshman in the top 10 in scoring and the best freshman rebounder. Patton has scored in double-figures in all but one game this year with a season-high 29 points against UC Riverside and 26 points against Ball State. Her 29 points is the second highest total in the Big Sky this year. She has put up double-digits in rebounds four times.

STREAK RENEWAL?
NAU was back above the 40-percent mark against San Diego on Thursday, December 10 with a season-high 45.7-percent shooting from the field. The Lumberjacks' four-game streak shooting over 40-percent from the field was snapped against New Mexico; however, NAU bounced back against Siena shooting 40.7-percent for the game on November 27. The Lumberjacks fell under 40-percent against Oregon State and Arkansas State, but have still shot over 40-percent in six of their nine games.

LINEUP SHUFFLE
The Lumberjacks have used four different starting lineups this fall with head coach Laurie Kelly looking for the right combination on a game-to-game basis. After several lineup changes to open the season, NAU settled into a starting five of Vickie Toney, Caty Huntington, Amy Patton, Jenna Galloway and Lauren Hoisington using that lineup for four games up until last Thursday against San Diego with Tyler Stephens-Jenkins starting in place of Caty Huntington. This season, seven different players have earned starts while six are averaging more than 20 minutes-per-game.

HOISINGTON STAYING SHARP
Junior forward Lauren Hoisington is fourth in the Big Sky Conference in field-goal percentage this year shooting 46.3-percent from the field as of Dec. 14 providing NAU with consistent scoring inside. She had a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field against UMKC earlier this year.

HUNTINGTON MOVING ON UP
Sophomore guard Caty Huntington broke into the top 25 in scoring at 21st in the Big Sky Conference with 9.4 points-per-game as of Dec. 14. She is second with 2.8 steals-per-game and eighth in free-throw percentage (82.9). The 2.8 steals-per-game places her No. 52 in the Division I women's basketball.

17-0
NAU women's basketball broke open its game against Siena with a 17-0 run midway through the second half. Down 36-33 with 15:32 left in the game, the Lumberjacks scored 17 unanswered points behind Caty Huntington and Amy Patton whom combined for all but three of those 17 points. It marked their largest scoring streak of the season.

FIRST OF THE YEAR
NAU women's basketball turned in its best performance of the season with a 71-62 win over Siena on day one of the NAU Thanksgiving Classic. The Lumberjacks 0-5 start was their worst to open a season since the 1990-91 women went 0-14 before beating Nevada at home (57-42) and finishing 1-26 on the year.

TRIO SHINES VS. SIENA
Sophomore guard Caty Huntington, freshman guard Amy Patton and junior forward Jenna Galloway turned in standout performances in NAU's win over Siena. Huntington led all scorers with 21 points while Patton and Galloway recorded double-doubles. Patton totaled 18 points and 10 rebounds while Galloway added in 12 points and 10 rebounds. Huntington, Patton and Galloway accounted for 71.8-percent of NAU's scoring while Galloway and Patton made up half of NAU's rebound total.

SPAICH DELIVERS
Junior forward Melissa Spaich totaled a career-high 10 points off the bench and was perfect from the field (3-3) and foul line (3-3) against New Mexico. She added in two rebounds and a career-high two blocks during 13 minutes of play.

SEVEN IN SIXTEEN
The Lumberjacks played seven games in 16 days dating back to their season opener against Pepperdine on Nov. 13 and finishing with Oregon State on Nov. 28. NAU has been across the country in those 16 days playing at Malibu, Calif., Riverside, Calif., Kansas City, Mo., Muncie ,Ind., Albuquerque, N. M., and Flagstaff, Ariz. The Lumberjacks will enjoy a six-day break from games prior to playing Arkansas State, its longest gap between games so far this year.

ROAD TRIPPIN'
The Lumberjacks will play their first five games away from Flagstaff with nine of their 13 non-conference games on the road. The challenging schedule includes matchups against Pepperdine (WAC), Ball State (MAC), New Mexico (Mountain West), Arkansas State (Sun Belt), UNLV (Mountain West), and Oregon State (Pac-10) at the NAU Thanksgiving Classic. Ball State received votes in the 2009 USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll.