The Nebraska women’s basketball team begins its 2014-15 exhibition season by taking on Wayne State College on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The game, which marks the first meeting between the Huskers and Wildcats in women’s basketball since January of 1979, will be carried with free live audio by the Husker Sports Network on Huskers.com.

Tickets for Sunday’s game are available in advance by visiting Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED. Tickets also will be available at the Pinnacle Bank Arena Ticket Office before the game. Reserved seats are just $10, while adult general admission tickets are just $5. Youth and seniors receive discounted rates, while UNL students with ID are admitted free.

Sunday’s matchup between Nebraska and Wayne State promises to offer quality early season action. The Huskers return four All-Big Ten starters who led the Big Red to a 26-7 record, a Big Ten Tournament title and the NCAA Tournament second round. Honorable-mention AP All-American and first-team All-Big Ten point guard Rachel Theriot rejoins seniors Emily Cady (second-team All-Big Ten), Tear’a Laudermill (second-team All-Big Ten) and Hailie Sample (Big Ten All-Defensive) in 2014-15.

Theriot, a 6-0 junior from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, claimed preseason first-team All-Big Ten honors after averaging 14.1 points and 7.1 assists per game as a sophomore. She averaged 18.7 points and tournament-record 10.0 assists on her way to 2014 Big Ten Tournament MVP honors.

Wayne State returns three starters from a 28-5 team that won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title for the third time in the last four years. The Wildcats have earned trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament four times in the last five years and were recently picked No. 6 nationally in the Division II Women’s Bulletin Preseason Top 25.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (26-7, 12-4 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 6.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 12.7 ppg, 9.2 rpg
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – JUCO
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 14.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 11.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Off the Bench
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 3.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 3.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.2 ppg, 0.5 rpg
2 – Kaylee Page – 6-2 – Fr. – F – High School
5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – High School
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – High School
30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – High School
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – High School
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (241-142); 25th Season Overall (436-282)

Wayne State College (28-5, 14-4 NSIC)
44 – Jordan Spencer – 5-11 – Sr. – F – 16.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg
3 – Alex Nelson – 6-0 – RFr. – F – Redshirt
31 – Katie Hoskins – 6-2 – Jr. – F – 2.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg
21 – Sadie Murren – 5-8 – Jr. – G – Nebraska
12 – Ashton Yossi – 5-8 – Sr. – G – 11.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Off the Bench
40 – Millie Niggeling – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 11.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg
5 – Lauren Davis – 5-10 – Jr. – F – JUCO
22 – Haley Moore – 5-8 – So. – G – Eastern Michigan
15 – Kacie O’Connor – 5-10 – Fr. – F – High School
23 – Jasmine Bretoi – 5-10 – Fr. – G – High School
35 – Maggie Schulte – 6-0 – Fr. – F – High School
42 – Taylor Reiner – 6-3 – Fr. – C – High School
52 – Paige Ballinger – 6-1 – Fr. – F – High School
Head Coach: Chris Kielsmeier (Iowa State, 1999)
Seventh Season at WSC (144-40); 15th Season Overall (323-84)

Husker Seniors Begin Pursuit of Fourth Straight NCAA Bid
Nebraska’s four-player senior class of Emily Cady, Hailie Sample, Tear’a Laudermill and Brandi Jeffery form the heart of the Husker lineup in 2014-15, after helping the Big Red to the most successful three-year stretch in school history.

Cady and Sample have started all 100 games over the past three years, helping the Huskers to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and 25 wins per season. NU’s .750 winning percentage over the past three years represents the most successful stretch in school history.
In 2014-15, returning starters Cady, Sample and Laudermill and three-year contributor Jeffery will try to become the first class in school history to compete in four consecutive NCAA tournaments.

Big Red Begins in AP Top 25
The Huskers opened the season at No. 16 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll released on Thursday, Oct. 30. Nebraska closed the 2013-14 campaign at No. 13 in the AP rankings, which did not include NCAA Tournament results.

NU, which went 26-7 last season and 12-4 in the Big Ten before winning its first Big Ten Tournament title, ended the season at No. 17 in the final USA Today Coaches Top 25. Both Nebraska’s final AP and Coaches Top 25 rankings were the second-best year-end rankings in school history. The Huskers have finished the season in the AP Top 25 four times in the past five years.

The Huskers finished No. 19 in the official NCAA RPI, which was its third-best RPI finish in history – all in the last five seasons.

Before Nebraska Coach Connie Yori came to Nebraska for the 2002-03 season, the Huskers had never finished a season ranked in the top 25 in either of the major polls or the RPI.

Nebraska Opened Basketball Season with Big Red Tip-Off
The Nebraska men’s and women’s basketball programs hit the floor for the first time together on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Big Red Tip-Off at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The fun family-friendly event included 15-minute scrimmages by both the men’s and women’s teams and a head-to-head three-point contest between the two programs.

Nebraska women’s basketball Coach Connie Yori and men’s basketball Coach Tim Miles both addressed the thousands of fans who filled the arena for the free event.

The two teams wrapped up the night with an autograph session at the arena.

Husker Season Ticket Sales Reach Another All-Time High
Nebraska’s second season inside the spectacular Pinnacle Bank Arena promises to be packed with action from start to finish, and Husker women’s basketball fans are showing that they want to see it all in person this season.

Heading into their exhibition opener with Wayne State on Sunday, Nov. 2, Nebraska had already sold a school-record 3,887 season tickets for the 2014-15 campaign.

In their first season at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013-14, Nebraska shattered its previous season ticket sales record with more than 3,700. The previous record came in 2010-11, when NU sold approximately 2,700 season tickets.

Last season, Nebraska ranked No. 11 nationally with an average home attendance of 6,161 fans per game. The Huskers ranked No. 8 nationally in total attendance with 110,892 fans flocking to the arena to watch the Big Red roll to a 16-2 home record.

Theriot Claims Preseason All-Big Ten Honors
Nebraska junior Rachel Theriot captured preseason first-team All-Big Ten team announced at Big Ten Conference Women’s Basketball Media Day on Thursday, Oct. 16.

Theriot, a 6-0 point guard from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, joined senior point guards Rachel Banham (Minnesota) and Samantha Logic (Iowa) on the five-play honor squads of both the conference coaches and media. Michigan State sophomore Aerial Powers and Northwestern sophomore Nia Coffey rounded out the coaches top five. Sophomores Amanda Zahui from Minnesota and Lexie Brown from Maryland, along with junior Ameryst Alston from Ohio State claimed spots on the media’s six-player team.

As a team, Nebraska was picked No. 3 in the conference by the media, trailing Maryland and Michigan State. Iowa earned the No. 3 spot ahead of the Huskers in the coaches ranking of the top three teams.

Scouting the Wayne State Wildcats
Coach Chris Kielsmeier brings a talented Wayne State team to Lincoln for Sunday’s game. The Wildcats are coming off one of the best seasons in school history in 2013-14, when they ran to a 28-5 overall record and their third Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title in the last four years. They also earned their fourth trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament in the last five seasons.

Wayne State opens the 2014-15 season at No. 6 in the Division II Women’s Bulletin Preseason Top 25. Kielsmeier, who owns an impressive 144-40 record entering his seventh season at Wayne State, is a 1999 graduate of Iowa State and spent time as an intern under Coach Bill Fennelly with the Cyclones before spending one season as an assistant at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, in 1999-2000. He became Howard Payne’s head coach in 2000.

The Wildcats featured an efficient offense under Kielsmeier in 2013-14, averaging 75.8 points per game while hitting 46.2 percent of their shots, including 38.3 percent of their threes. WSC also knocked down 75.2 percent of its free throws. The Wildcats owned a plus-3.1 team turnover margin and committed just 14.0 turnovers per game last season.

Wayne State returns just two starters from last year’s team, but those two were WSC’s top two scorers.

Jordan Spencer, a 5-11 senior forward from Omaha, averaged a team-best 16.2 points while adding 6.2 rebounds last season. The UNO transfer and Millard West grad also led the Wildcats with 51 steals.

Senior Ashton Yossi added 11.5 points and 2.8 boards as WSC’s top three-point threat. The 5-8 guard from Dallas Center, Iowa, knocked down 68 three-pointers while shooting at a 38 percent clip from long range.

Wayne State’s No. 3 scorer from a year ago, Millie Niggeling also returns after averaging 11.3 points and 3.5 boards per game. Niggeling, a 6-1 senior forward out of Iowa’s Sioux City Heelan High School, came off the bench every game last season. She underwent offseason shoulder surgery and recently returned to practice, but is not expected to play against Nebraska in the exhibition opener.

The Wildcats must replace starters Addy Roller (9.1 ppg) and Ellen Hansen (8.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 4.7 apg), who both started all 33 games last season. Wayne State also lost starter Shantel Lehmann, who averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds while starting all 33 contests.

Wayne State could rely on former Husker Sadie Murren to make an instant impact. Murren, a 5-8 guard from Colon, Neb., is expected to start at guard for the Wildcats to help compensate for the 76 combined threes and nearly 40 percent three-point shooting that WSC got from Roller and Hansen in 2013-14.

The Wildcats also added another Division I transfer in Haley Moore. The 5-8 guard from Milford, Neb., went to Wayne State after spending the 2013-14 season with Coach Tory Verdi at Eastern Michigan. WSC added junior college forward Lauren Davis from Gillette College along with a solid five-player freshman class that includes 6-1 forward Paige Ballinger from Pender, Neb., and 6-3 freshman center Taylor Reiner out of Thunder Ridge High School in Highlands Ranch, Colo.

Freshman center Maggie Schulte from Wynot, Neb., or redshirt freshman Alex Nelson from LaVista, Neb., could earn a start alongside 6-2 junior center Katie Hoskins from Wayne High School.

Nebraska vs. Wayne State Series History
Nebraska faces Wayne State for the first time since Jan. 28, 1979. The Huskers cruised to a 95-42 win to end a string of three straight lopsided victories, including a 93-35 win on Dec. 16, 1978.
The Huskers and Wildcats played each other 10 times in the first five seasons of women’s basketball at Nebraska, splitting the series 5-5.

Nebraska’s fifth game in history came in a 72-44 loss to the Cats at Rice Auditorium in Wayne. WSC added a 74-58 win, March 20, 1975, then beat the Big Red, 68-53, Jan. 23, 1976. NU notched its first win, 71-66 in overtime, Feb. 21, 1976. It was the first of three games in three days at the State Tournament in Fremont. NU added an OT win over the Cats on Feb. 23, 1976.