Women’s Basketball Prepares for Opening Weekend
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern
Arizona women’s basketball plays at Pepperdine and UC
Riverside this weekend opening the 2009-10 season. The Lumberjacks
face the Waves on Friday, November 13 at 6 p.m. and the Highlanders
on Sunday, November 15 at 3 p.m. NAU was 9-21 in 2008-09 with a
6-10 record in the Big Sky Conference and advanced to its 14th
consecutive Big Sky Championship tournament.
“Your ultimate goal is to take your non-conference season
and hopefully prepare you, through a lot of ups and downs probably,
for your conference season,” said head coach Laurie Kelly.
“You learn a lot about your team in the
non-conference.”
NAU (0-0) played New Mexico Highlands in an exhibition last
Saturday and the Division II team defeated the Lumberjacks 66-62 at
the Rolle Activity Center. While only an exhibition, NAU will look
to redeem itself on the road proving its three starters lost from a
year ago will not determine the success of this year’s
team.
“Hopefully we learned a lot from our exhibition game last
week,” Kelly said. “The focus right now is still on
your team. You don’t know that much about your opponents. You
are on the road with a young team, and it is the first time they
have ever done a college trip like this. It also simulates what you
typically see in the Big Sky with two games in three days and gives
us a chance to see how well our team can prepare for a game then
quickly turn around and prepare for another game.”
After falling 75-60 to Pepperdine (0-0) a year ago, the
Lumberjacks will face the Waves for the eighth time in series
history. Pepperdine holds a slight 4-3 edge over NAU winning the
last two meetings. Friday’s game will also be the first of
the season for Pepperdine.
“Pepperdine is a team we did not play well at all, but we
were in the game the whole time until they started hitting the
three for a stretch,” Kelly said. “They have some good
shooters coming back and a great inside presence. They are a team
we are going to see a lot of pressure from.”
The Lumberjacks last faced UC Riverside (0-0) during the 2005-06
season recording a 71-62 win and adding to their 3-1 all-time
record against the Highlanders. UC Riverside plays Miami (Fla.) in
its season opener prior to facing the Lumberjacks on Sunday. The
Highlanders are coached by former assistant coach John Margaritas
who spent eight seasons at NAU.
“UC Riverside is a very athletic team,” Kelly said.
“There are not a lot of secrets between John and I, but he
has done a great job at Riverside. They have got some great
recruits in there that are really athletic, long, and quick kids so
obviously it is a challenging match up for us.”
In her six years as head coach, Kelly has posted an opening weekend record of 6-6. Of those 12 games, eight were played on the road for a 2-6 record opening seasons away from Flagstaff.
Multimedia
Pepperdine will provide free live
stats for Friday's game and video
for a small fee. UC Riverside will have free live stats and a free
audio broadcast on Sunday. The audio link will not
be available till the 15th.
Last Week: New Mexico
Highlands
In its only exhibition game of the season, Northern Arizona
women’s basketball fell 66-62 to New Mexico Highlands at the
Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks shot 30 percent for the
game, totaled 29 turnovers and went 3-of-14 from three-point range.
Caty Huntington finished with 22 points on 4-of-17 shooting yet
atoned for the low percentage going 11-of-12 at the free throw
line. She added six rebounds, four assists, four steals, and three
blocks, but also totaled a team-high nine turnovers.
Freshman Delivers
Tyler Stephens-Jenkins made her collegiate debut and finished with
11 points, one of two Lumberjacks in double-figures in the loss
against New Mexico Highlands. The freshman from Goodyear, Ariz.,
filled the stat line with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals
and one block.
Keeping it Rolling
Laurie Kelly has accumulated a 92-90 record in her six years at
NAU. The Lumberjacks opened the 2008-09 season just 3-13, but Kelly
led the team to a 6-8 record down the stretch resulting in her
sixth postseason appearance in six years.
Some Perspective
Kelly is the ninth head coach in the history of Northern Arizona
women’s basketball, but the first to lead the Lumberjacks to
two 20+ win seasons. The Lumberjacks have appeared in the
conference tournament 14 straight years, second only to Montana
which has made 21 consecutive appearances.
Presence Inside
Lauren Hoisington finished 23rd in the Big Sky with 10.3 points
per game and was eighth in the conference among underclassmen. She
was one of only six players in the conference that finished in the
top 15 in rebounds, field-goal percentage, and free-throw
percentage. Hoisington scored in double figures in 16 games and
recorded five double-doubles.
Breakout Ahead
Caty Huntington finished 12th in the Big Sky in steals with 38 and
was second among freshmen in steals. She tied the single-game at
NAU record for steals when she recorded nine against Sacramento
State on Feb. 21. Huntington scored in double figures five times
and recorded three or more steals on three occasions. She scored a
season-high 21 points in a win at Montana State.
Filling it Up
Jenna Galloway is one of only two Lumberjacks to reach 130 points,
100 rebounds, 25 assists, 20 steals, and 10 3-pointers in the
2008-09 season. She appeared in all 30 of the Lumberjacks' games
last year. Galloway was one of six players, and two upperclassmen,
to do so in 2008-09.
