Women’s Basketball at Home against Weber State on Thursday

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona women’s basketball will continue its three-game home stand taking on Weber State at 6:35 p.m. on Thursday in the Walkup Skydome. The Lumberjacks will play five of their last seven games at home this regular season.

NAU (5-17, 3-6 BSC) has a home record of 3-4 the 2009-10 season and 1-2 in Big Sky Conference play. The Lumberjacks lost to Northern Colorado last Saturday, 66-56. It was their second straight after falling at Montana a week prior.

Weber State opens a three-game road swing in Flagstaff followed by Northern Colorado on Saturday and Idaho State next Thursday. For the season, the Wildcats are 1-12 on the road and winless in conference play.

PROMOTION
Thursday night will be “Scouts Night” in the Walkup Skydome. Scouts with their uniform with receive free admission. Puente de Hozho & De Miguel Elementary schools will receive free admission as well. For questions contact the Northern Arizona University Athletics at (928) 523-5353.

LAST GAME: NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Arizona women's basketball suffered a 66-56 defeat to Northern Colorado in the Walkup Skydome last Saturday. With the loss, the Lumberjacks fell to 3-6 in the Big Sky Conference. NAU was outshot 51.2-percent to 38.9-percent for the game and allowed Northern Colorado to shot 62.5-percent in the first half. The Lumberjacks trailed 39-24 at the break and were unable to recover from their first half performance. The Bears had three players in double figures including Lauren Oosdyke who turned in a game-high 24 points. NAU was led by Amy Patton who recorded 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting. She also converted 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. The Lumberjacks endured a significant loss in the first half when junior point guard Vickie Toney went down with a leg injury. She did not return to the game. Prior to the game, NAU was positioned in seventh place in the conference standings.

UPCOMING GAME: WEBER STATE
Just over halfway through the Big Sky Conference schedule, Weber State has put together a 2-8 record in league play and 8-15 record overall. After a buzzer beating loss to NAU on January 9, Weber State was stuck in a five-game losing streak. The Wildcats bounced back with a win at home against Montana, 59-55, but lost its next game at home to Montana State, 76-59. The Wildcats two wins in Big Sky play have both come at home in Ogden, Utah. The team has three players in double figures with Caitlin Anderson averaging 11.9 points-per-game. Sarah Conner and Tonya Schnibbe chip in 10.8 ppg and 10.4 ppg. As a team, the women put up 59.3 points-per-game.

MULTIMEDIA
FS Arizona will carry a live broadcast of Weber State 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 25-40 all-time against Weber State in a series that dates back to 1976. NAU is 13-15 against the Wildcats at home. In their last meeting in January, the Lumberjacks defeated Weber State 63-62. In their last meeting in Flagstaff, Weber State beat NAU 63-60. Head coach Laurie Kelly is 6-8 against the Wildcats in her seven-plus years at NAU.

BIG TOTALS
As of February 8, freshman guard Amy Patton leads the Big Sky Conference in scoring (18.0 ppg), rebounding (8.2), double-doubles (8), 30-point games (3), and 10 or more rebound performances (9). She is averaging 20.2 points-per-game in conference play and 9.2 rebounds-per-game-both tops in the Big Sky.

NCAA TOTALS
Three Lumberjacks rank inside the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Top 100: junior guard Vickie Toney, sophomore guard Caty Huntington, and freshman guard Amy Patton. Toney is No. 61 in assists at 4.7 per-game. Huntington is No. 44 in the nation with 2.7 steals-per-game. She is tops in the Big Sky in that category. Patton is No. 38 in the country with 18.0 points-per-game and No. 95 in with 8.1 rebounds-per-game.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Freshman guard Amy Patton is first in the Big Sky Conference and No. 23 in NCAA Division I women's basketball in double-doubles with eight through 22 games played. Patton has twice as many double-doubles than any other league player. Jenna Galloway, Tyler Stephens-Jenkins, and Vickie Toney are also among 29 players who have recorded double-doubles this season. Toney was the latest when she recorded 19 points and 10 rebounds against Montana State on January 28.

DEFENDING THE PERIMETER
The Lumberjacks are ranked 66th in all of NCAA Division I Women's Basketball in three-point field goal defense. NAU is limiting opponents to 29.2-percent shooting from distance and the Lumberjacks rank second in the Big Sky Conference in the category behind only Montana (27.3).

FORWARD RISING
Junior forward Lauren Hoisington is shooting 45.2-percent from the field as of February 8 and providing NAU with consistent scoring inside. In conference play, Hoisington is one of only six players shooting over 50-percent (51.9) and positioned in fifth place. She had a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field against UMKC earlier this year.

QUICK HANDS
Sophomore guard Caty Huntington ranks first in the Big Sky Conference and No. 44 in NCAA Division I women's basketball with 2.7 steals-per-game.

CLOSE CALLS
NAU has played in seven games decided by five points or less this year and hold a 2-5 record in those contests. The Lumberjacks have played in 10 games with the margin of victory in single digits. NAU is 3-7 in those games.

HITTING STRIDE
Freshman guard Tyler Stephens-Jenkins has turned it up during Big Sky Conference play. Stephens-Jenkins has emerged as a consistent scorer for the Lumberjacks and now sits in 4th among freshman in the league in scoring with 9.0 points-per-game. She is also 9th in field-goal percentage. The Goodyear, Ariz., product has shown versatility also ranking 10th in blocks (0.9) and 12th in steals (1.6).

LINEUP SHUFFLE
The Lumberjacks have used nine different starting lineups this fall with head coach Laurie Kelly looking for the right combination on a game-to-game basis. NAU has settled into a starting lineup of Lauren Hoisington, Jenna Galloway, Amy Patton, Tyler Stephens-Jenkins, and Vickie Toney. The group has started the last three consecutive games and has started together eight times to lead all starting lineup combinations.

EIGHTY SIX
The women totaled a season-high in points in an 86-80 win over Portland State on January 16. The freshman tandem of Amy Patton and Tyler Stephens-Jenkins accounted for 55.8-percent of the Lumberjacks' scoring with 25 and 23 points, respectively. NAU shot 48.3-percent for the game.

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.

TRADE OFFS
The Lumberjacks streak of recording a win followed by a loss was snapped last week against Northern Colorado. Prior to Saturday's game, NAU had split against its Big Sky foes over the last three weeks, but the defeat against the Bears made it two straight for NAU after falling at Montana.