ARCATA — After having its season opener away, the Humboldt State women's basketball team will head back out on the road as it travels to another tournament. The Jacks will play two games at the Grand Canyon University Tip-Off Classic, facing Southern Nazarene on Friday at 3 p.m. PST and host school No. 13-ranked Grand Canyon on Saturday at 5 p.m. PST.
Head-to-Head
As long as head coach
Joddie Gleason has been at the helm of the HSU squad, the Jacks have not faced either Southern Nazarene nor Grand Canyon. Southern Nazarene is a new National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. II school and is currently in its first year transitioning from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Jacks program has, however, faced Grand Canyon twice before, with the last matchup back during the 1996-97 season where the Antelopes came away with a 68-39 victory over HSU.
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Crimson Storm Notes
Southern Nazarene enters Friday's game with a 2-0 record after beating Oklahoma Christian 73-68 Tuesday night. In the Crimson Storm's opener, SNU beat Southwestern Christian 83-59. ... Oumoul Thiam finished the first game with 34 points, adding another 31 points Tuesday night to average 32.5 ppg. The next highest scorer for the Crimson Storm is Annie Kassongo with a 16.0 ppg average. ... Tuesday night, Kassongo set a school record by registering 10 blocks on the night. ... Kassongo leads SNU in rebounds, averaging 8.0 boards per game. ... As a team, the Crimson Storm shoots at a .465 percent from inside the arc and limits their opponents to a .267 shooting percentage. ... Last year, SNU finished No. 16 in the NAIA with a 24-10 record and made it to the first round of the national tournament.
Antelope Notes
The nationally-ranked Grand Canyon Antelopes enter the tournament with a 1-2 record, coming off an 83-55 loss to No. 1-ranked Ashland University. The 'Lopes beat UC San Diego 64-62, but fell 69-60 in their season opener against Simon Fraser. ... While GCU scores more points in the second half than the first, the deficit seems too much for the 'Lopes to overcome as they are outshot by their opponents 214-to-179. ... Judy Jones leads the team with a 10.0 points per game, shooting .476 from inside the arc and .400 from the perimeter. Deanna Daniels follows Jones with a 9.3 ppg average. ... Chigozie Ekweozor averages 6.3 boards per game. ... The Antelopes have surrendered 44 turnovers to average 14.7 giveaways per game.
Lumberjack Notes
Humboldt State comes into Friday's matchup with an even 1-1 record, coming off a 86-65 loss to Academy of Art and a 69-49 victory over Dominican University of California. ... Three Lumberjacks average double digit points, led by
Caitie Richards with 13.0 ppg.
Kelly Kime follows with a 12.0 ppg and
Lisa Petty rounds out the third spot with an 11.0 ppg. ... Petty picked up her first double-double of the season against Dominican and currently leads the Jacks with a 9.5 rpg average. Freshman
Tiana Maxwell follows with 7.5 rpg to help HSU average 43.5 rpg. ... The Jacks average 10.5 steals per game, led by Kime with six steals.
Gleason Gabs
"It was great to see us bounce back on Saturday after we had a rough day on Friday. The team did a nice job of relaxing and settling down against a Dominican team that pressured us the entire game. To break that press and make good decisions were our biggest goals for Saturday and we did that nicely. ... The amount of turnovers we had on Friday was outrageous. We were able to calm down a bit on Saturday. ... This group is doing a great job of just getting better day after day and even within games. We might be struggling with something within a game and they'll be able to recognize it and adjust at halftime or a timeout. That's something that's huge and helps us to continue to get better. ... Southern Nazarene is an NAIA powerhouse. We expect a great battle with them. They have some size and a prolific scorer in the guard position. ... Grand Canyon won the Pacific West conference last year and is always one of the top teams in the region. We're providing our players opportunities against really good teams."
