Women's Basketball Travels to Las Vegas for Last Non-Conference Game

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women’s basketball will play its final game in 2009 as the women travel to Las Vegas, Nev., to take on UNLV on Tuesday, December 29 at 8 p.m. The Lumberjacks will conclude non-conference play with the Rebels and start Big Sky Conference competition on Jan. 2 at Northern Colorado.

NAU (2-10) is 0-3 in its last three games and 0-8 on the road this season.  The Lumberjacks are three games into a seven game road swing that includes four non-conference games and three Big Sky games.

LAST GAME: NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Freshman guard Amy Patton collected 19 points for Northern Arizona women’s basketball in a 66-56 loss to North Dakota State on Monday, December 21 at the Bison Sports Arena in Fargo, N. D. NAU outrebounded the Bison 42-35 and 18-7 on the offensive glass but shot 30-percent for game compared to North Dakota State’s 43.5-percent. NAU (2-10) fell to 0-8 on the road this season while North Dakota State (7-5) improved to 4-1 at home. Patton shot 7-of-20 from the field and for the second straight game hit 4-of-12 three-point attempts. The freshman guard was the only Lumberjack in double figures with Lauren Hoisington and Tyler Stephens-Jenkins each turning in nine points.

UPCOMING GAME: UNLV
UNLV, out of the Mountain West Conference, is 6-6 on the season and coming off a runner-up performance hosting the Duel in the Desert Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev. The Rebels went 2-1 during tournament play with wins over VCU (68-66) and Hawaii (67-54). UNLV lost to DePaul (82-48) in the championship game. In all, the Rebels are 2-5 at home this year. UNLV is averaging 65.3 points-per-game while its opponents are averaging 69.8 points-per-game. The Rebels are led by second-year head coach Kathy Olivier who is 20-24 since taking over the UNLV program on April 22, 2008. The Rebels have two players averaging double figures in Kelli Thompson (13.4) and Erica Helms (13.3). NAU is 2-13 against UNLV all-time. The Lumberjacks last played the Rebels on December 18, 2004 in a game that resulted in a 61-49 UNLV win. NAU last defeated UNLV 85-76 in overtime on January 4, 2003—several months prior to NAU head coach Laurie Kelly taking control of the Lumberjack program.

MULTIMEDIA
For Tuesday's game, UNLV will provide live audio and live stats. Both will be available free of charge. The links can be found on the unlvrebels.cstv.com in the women's basketball section.

CLOSE CALLS
In the Lumberjacks last five games, three have been decided by five points or less and five of 12 so far this season have been decided by five points or less. NAU is 1-4 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. 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. NAU has used three different starting lineups in its past three games.

DOUBLE DOUBLES
Freshman guard Amy Patton leads the Big Sky Conference in double-doubles with four through 12 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. 28, Patton is ranked No. 79 in NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in scoring (16.9 ppg).

PATTON ON TOP
Freshman guard Amy Patton is currently first in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (7.3 rebounds-per-game) and second in scoring (16.9 points-per-game) through Dec. 28. She is the only freshman in the top 10 in scoring and the best freshman rebounder. Patton has scored in double-figures in 11 of 12 games 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.

HOISINGTON STAYING SHARP
Junior forward Lauren Hoisington is 10th in the Big Sky Conference in field-goal percentage this year shooting 41.4-percent from the field as of Dec. 28 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 27th in the Big Sky Conference with 8.4 points-per-game as of Dec. 28. She is second with 2.5 steals-per-game and third in free-throw percentage (79.5). The 2.5 steals-per-game places her No. 52 in the Division I women's basketball.

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.