Women’s Basketball Opens Big Sky Home Schedule with Eastern Washington and Portland State

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women’s basketball opens its Big Sky Conference home schedule with Eastern Washington on Thursday, January 14 at 6:35 p.m. The Lumberjacks will also play Portland State this weekend on Saturday, January 16 at 6:35 p.m. Both games will be played in the Walkup Skydome.

NAU (3-13, 1-2 BSC) snapped a two-game losing streak with a come from behind win over Weber State last Saturday. The Lumberjacks also broke its 0-11 winless streak in away games with its first conference win of the year.

The Lumberjacks are 3-3 in Big Sky home openers under head coach Laurie Kelly.  NAU lost to Montana last season 74-49 in its first conference home game.

PROMOTION
Thursday’s game against Eastern Washington is Flagstaff Appreciation Night. General admission tickets are $5.00 with Flagstaff zip-code on I.D. Knoles and Mountain Elementary Schools will receive free general admission tickets. Contact NAU Athletics at 928-523-5353 with questions.

LAST GAME: WEBER STATE
Amy Patton hit a buzzer beating shot to lift Northern Arizona women's basketball to a 63-62 victory over Weber State at the Dee Events Center on Saturday night. Patton upped her season-high in points with 31 after turning in 30 points against Idaho State on Friday. She also added 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year. With under a minute to play, Weber State's Ali Thorderson put the Wildcats up 62-61. After an NAU turnover, the Lumberjacks sent senior point guard Tonya Schnibbe to the free-throw line to potentially put Weber State up three. Schnibbe missed both free-throws giving NAU a chance for a last second shot. Patton answered the call and hit the game-winner as time expired. Patton played a game-high 39 minutes and accounted for 49.2-percent of NAU's points on Saturday. Junior forward Lauren Hoisington was the only other Lumberjack in double figures totaling 13 points.

UPCOMING GAME: EASTERN WASHINGTON
Through two weeks of Big Sky Conference play, Eastern Washington sits in first with a 3-0 record and a 9-6 record overall. The Eagles had back-to-back home games against Montana and Montana State and responded with two close wins. Eastern Washington beat the Grizzlies 67-64 and the Bobcats 69-63. The Eagles also won at Sacramento State (90-85) back on December 31. Eastern Washington's average margin of victory in its three Big Sky wins is 4.6 points. The Eagles are 6-1 at home this season but just 2-5 on the road. Eastern Washington is led by eighth-year head coach Wendy Schuller who took over the program in 2001. The Eagles' Julie Piper is the only player averaging double figures and also leads the team in rebounds with 6.9 per game. So far this year, Eastern Washington is averaging 66.7 points-per-game while limiting its opponents to 64.8 points-per-game.

MULTIMEDIA
FS Arizona will carry a live broadcast of Eastern Washington versus NAU on Thursday with Jordan Byrd handling play-by-play duties and Sharon Falor doing color commentary. It will be a national broadcast found on Direct TV channel 686 and Dish Network channel 415. Arizona viewers can watch live on cable on channel 58 (FS Arizona) or on channel 147 (Fox College Sports). A live webcast will also be available through www.bigskytv.org and live stats can be found on www.nauathletics.com. The game can be heard on AM 930 KAFF with play-by-play from Andrew Tomsky as well.

SERIES HISTORY
The Lumberjacks are 23-25 all-time against Eastern Washington in a series that dates back to 1980; however, NAU is actually 16-8 at home facing the Eagles. In their last meeting, the Lumberjacks beat Eastern Washington in a close game 70-68. Head coach Laurie Kelly is 6-7 in her seven-plus years at NAU.

WEEKLY AWARD
NAU received its first Big Sky Conference weekly award with Amy Patton being selected Co-Player of the Week. The honor was the first of Patton's career in a weekend where she exploded for 61 points (30.5 ppg) and 21 rebounds (10.5 rpg). The freshman guard from Tempe, Ariz., shared the award with Sacramento State's Charday Hunt.

BACK-TO-BACK
NAU played on Friday and Saturday last week turning in a 1-1 record. The Lumberjacks were forced to play at Pocatello, Idaho, a 67-60 loss to Idaho State, then travel to Ogden, Utah, and play less than 24 hours later. Pocatello and Ogden are separated by 133 miles, which is about two and a half hours by bus. NAU responded with a come from behind last second win over Weber State as Amy Patton hit a buzzer beating shot.

CLOSE CALLS
In the Lumberjacks last nine games, five have been decided by five points or less and seven of 16 so far this season have been decided by five points or less. NAU is 2-5 in games decided by that margin.

LINEUP SHUFFLE
The Lumberjacks have used seven different starting lineups this fall with head coach Laurie Kelly looking for the right combination on a game-to-game basis. NAU has used three different starting lineups in its first three conference games.

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 after starting that five in the season opener. Kelly recently went back to this unit against Idaho State, and the group leads all combinations with six starts together.

DOUBLE DOUBLES
Freshman guard Amy Patton is first in the Big Sky Conference in double-doubles with six through 16 games played. Patton has two more recorded double-doubles than any other league player.

Jenna Galloway and Tyler Stephens-Jenkins are also among 21 players who have recorded double-doubles this season. Galloway put up 12 points and 10 rebounds against Siena on November 27 and Stephens-Jenkins put up 10 points and 12 rebounds against UNLV on December 29.

BIG TOTALS
As of January 11, freshman guard Amy Patton leads the Big Sky Conference in double-doubles (6), rebounding (7.6), and 10 or more rebound performances (6). She leads freshman in scoring (17.6), rebounding and three-point percentage (.438). She is averaging 22.0 points-per-game in conference play, the most in the league.

Patton is tied for first in 30-point performances (2) and made three-point field goals per game (2.3). She is second in 20-point performances (5), and scoring (17.6). Patton is ranked No. 60 in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in scoring (15.7 ppg) and No. 86 in made three-point field goals per game (2.3).

PATTON ON TOP
Freshman guard Amy Patton is currently first in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (7.6 rebounds-per-game) and second in scoring (17.6 points-per-game) through Jan. 11. She ranks first among freshmen in both categories.

Patton has scored in double-figures in 14 of 16 games this year with 30 points against Idaho State on December 14 and followed the next day with a season-high 31 points on December 15 against Weber State. Her 31 points is the second highest total in the Big Sky this year. She has put up double-digits in rebounds six times, the most in the conference.

HOISINGTON COMING AROUND
Junior forward Lauren Hoisington has scored 13, 16, and 13 points in her last three games and is now sixth in the Big Sky Conference in field-goal percentage this year shooting 44.3-percent from the field as of Jan. 11 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 30 in scoring at 28th in the Big Sky Conference with 8.3 points-per-game as of Jan. 11. She is tied with Portland State’s Eryn Jones in scoring. Huntington is second with 2.6 steals-per-game and sixth in free-throw percentage (77.6). The 2.6 steals-per-game places her No. 64 in the Division I women's basketball.

DEFENDING THE PERIMETER
The Lumberjacks are ranked 46th in all of NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in three-point field goal defense. NAU is limiting opponents to 28.0-percent shooting from distance and the Lumberjacks rank third in the Big Sky Conference in the category.

ABOVE FORTY
The Lumberjacks have shot over 40-percent in two of its three Big Sky games and have done so in two straight. NAU has shot over 40-percent from the field in eight of its 16 games. The Lumberjacks season-high came against San Diego with NAU shooting 45.7-percent and picking up a 62-58 win.

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.