ARCATA —  Following a bye week in the schedule the Humboldt State women's basketball team hosts non-conference foe Academy of Art on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Lumberjacks enjoy another short break in the action over the holidays before resuming California Collegiate Athletic Association action on Jan. 2, 2009.

Live Stats: All Lumberjack basketball games are broadcast live locally on KATA, 1340 AM, the North Coast's ESPN radio affiliate. Webcasts are also available for out-of-area listeners, accessed through the Humboldt State Athletics site at hsujacks.com. …Bicoastal Media Sports Director J.B. Mathers is back for another year of bring home the action from courtside for all home contests. He'll be joined by Humboldt State Athletics Hall-of-Famer Burt Nordstrom. On the road, Assistant Athletic Director Dan Pambianco provides play-by-play. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to game time with the pregame show.

Lumberjacks Notes: The Lumberjacks enter this week with a 5-3 overall mark and a 1-1 California Collegiate Athletic Association record after defeating the Sonoma State Seawolves 71-58 at home and losing 69-66 on the road to the UC San Diego Tritons. That pair of games marked the beginning of the CCAA season … “We did good defending against both teams,” Humboldt State's head women's basketball coach Joddie Gleason said. … During the conference-opening weekend Brittney Taylor and Katie Franci kept their torrid early pace. Taylor finished with 31 points and 12 boards, recording a stellar performance against SSU with team-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Franci posted double-double figures both nights for totals of 28 points and 24 rebounds on the weekend, while grabbing team-highs against UCSD with 15 points and 14 rebounds. ….Bree Halsey is making her presence known on defense as her 6.5 rebounds per game ranks second behind Franci's 9.6 boards per game. Taylor follows closely behind, averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. …In conference the Jacks continue to lead the CCAA statistical charts with an average of  43.2 per game. “I'm very proud of our rebounding stats, which was a concern going into the season,” Gleason said. “The players are working hard and know the importance of rebounding and that is what has helped us out so far.” HSU holds the No. 2 slot in rebounding margin (+6.1), blocked shots (4.0 per game), turnover margin (+3.0), offensive rebounds (15.3 per game) and three-point field goals made (6.4 per game).

Opponent's Notes: In the Academy of Art University Urban Knights' inaugural season, they are posting an 1-8 record that includes the program's 68-66 inaugural win over Dominican University on Dec. 6. Despite the dismal record, AAU has shown signs of talent. Earlier in the season, Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay defeat the Knights 74-68 and 72-64, while AAU fell 80-76 to Cal State Stanislaus in overtime. Despite their losses against the University of San Francisco, The Master's and Vanguard, AAU has kept its six other losses within 10 points. “Their record is not indicative to how good they are,” Gleason said. …Sondra Stilwell, a 5-5 junior point guard, and Ali-Tyson Taufoou, a 5-8 senior guard, are the Knights' primary scoring threats, averaging 12.8 and 11.7 points per game, respectively. Stilwell leads the team with an .875 percentage from the free throw line, hitting 28-of-32, while registering a team-high 35 steals. Guards Jacqui Heck, a 5-9 junior, and Caprice Hall, a 5-6 junior, are posting team-highs by sinking 16 and 15 shots from three-point range. On the defensive side, KaUwila Lavea, a 6-1 sophomore forward, leads the team with nine blocks and also averages 7.2 boards per game. …AAU comes into this weekend's game with a .667 free throw percentage and +1.2 turnover margin. “What I've seen so far from (Academy of Art) is that they press and get their defense to initiate points,” Gleason said. “They're good at forcing turnovers and converting them into points. They usually have a small starting lineup, and usually teams with small lineups are pressing teams that trap and force turnovers.”

Head-to-Head: The two teams enter this Saturday's face-off with a clean slate, as this is the first season AAU has sponsored intercollegiate sports.

Gleason's Comments: “We will be working on taking care of the ball in a press situation and work on breaking a press,” Gleason said. “We've done well against teams who press and push the tempo to score within their pressing situation.” … “We continually work on our free throw percentage and it's gone up. That's a standout right now for us. We need to get a variety of different people to the line. Our shooters need to be more dimensional for us to do that.”