The No. 19 Nebraska women’s basketball team completes a two-game Big Ten road swing on Sunday, when the Huskers travel to Champaign to battle Illinois.
Tip-off between the Huskers (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten) and the Fighting Illini (11-4, 2-1 Big Ten) is set for 2 p.m. (central) at the State Farm Center with live premium video from BTN Plus.
Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the call on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM in Lexington. Free live audio also will be available on Huskers.com.
The Huskers are coming off a thrilling come-from-behind road win at Michigan State late Thursday night. Nebraska trailed 66-60 with three minutes left, before outscoring the Spartans 11-1 down the stretch. Senior forward Emily Cady led the Big Red with 16 points, including seven of NU’s final 11 points. Cady’s three-point play with 30 seconds left gave Nebraska the lead for good at 69-67. Fellow senior forward Hailie Sample added 13 points, including two free throws with 5.4 seconds left to seal Nebraska’s first Big Ten win of the season.
Cady and Sample, who will be starting their 115th consecutive games together on Sunday, will lead the Huskers against a much-improved Illinois team. The Fighting Illini are coming off an impressive 73-61 victory over No. 17 Iowa at the State Farm Center on Thursday. Illinois trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half. They won going away despite losing senior guard Ivory Crawford for the game to a first-half knee injury. Crawford entered the Iowa contest as the Illini’s leading scorer at 17.0 points. She added 5.7 rebounds and a team-best 2.5 steals per game.
Freshman Chatrice White led the Illini against the Hawkeyes, pumping in 13 of her team-high 22 points in the second half. She added six rebounds, five steals and four blocks against Iowa. The 6-3 center from Shelby, Neb., is averaging 15.6 points and team bests of 7.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game.
Iowa led Illinois 53-47 with 10 minutes left, before the Illini outscored the Hawkeyes 26-8, thanks to a defense that forced 11 Iowa turnovers in an eight-minute stretch.
#19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-3, 1-2 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 13.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 12.1 ppg, 3.6 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 8.1 ppg, 6.9 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 17.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 6.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 5.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg
30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.7 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – High School
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (252-145); 25th Season Overall (447-285)
Illinois Fighting Illini (11-4, 2-1 Big Ten)
22 – Ivory Crawford – 5-10 – Sr. – F – 15.9 ppg, 5.3 rpg
32 – Chatrice White – 6-3 – Fr. – C – 15.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg
34 – Jacqui Grant – 6-3 – So. – F – 9.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg
15 – Kyley Simmons – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 9.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg
20 – Brittany Carter – 6-0 – Sr. – G – 8.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg
Off the Bench
10 – Amarah Coleman – 5-11 – Fr. – G – 6.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg
3 – Taylor Tuck – 6-0 – Sr. – G/F – 3.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg
21 – Brooke Kissinger – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 2.3 ppg, 0.8 rpg
25 – Kennedy Cattenhead – 5-10 – RFr. – G – 1.1 ppg, 1.2 rpg
12 – Ashley McConnell – 5-9 – So. – G – 0.8 ppg, 0.4 rpg
2 – Taylor Gleason – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg
00 – Sarah Hartwell – 5-10 – Jr. – G – 0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg
5 – Nia Oden – 5-10 – Sr. – F – 0.6 ppg, 0.9 rpg
Head Coach: Matt Bollant (Winona State, 1994)
3rd Season at Illinois (39-39); 13th Season Overall (321-94)