The No. 19 Nebraska women’s basketball team shoots for an upset of No. 5 Maryland on Sunday, when the Huskers travel to College Park, Md.
Tip-off between the Big Red (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) and the Terrapins (20-2, 11-0 Big Ten) is set for 3 p.m. (CT), with live national television coverage by ESPN2. Brenda VanLengen and Stephanie White will be on the call for ESPN2. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM in Lexington.
The Huskers opened a five-day East Coast road trip with a 46-43 loss at No. 21 Rutgers on Thursday night. Nebraska struggled offensively against the Scarlet Knights while playing without first-team All-Big Ten and honorable-mention All-America point guard Rachel Theriot. The 6-0 junior missed the first regular-season game of her career after suffering an ankle injury on Tuesday in practice. Theriot’s status is day-to-day.
Playing against one of the Big Ten’s best defenses at Rutgers, the Huskers hit just 22.1 percent of their shots from the field, including 5-for-30 threes (.167) in producing a season-low point total. Despite the offensive struggles, the Huskers fought to the finish to suffer their fourth one-possession or overtime loss on the road this season. Three of those four narrow losses have come to top-25 foes.
Maryland is the only team in the nation to produce a definitive win over the Big Red. The No. 5 Terps ran to a 75-47 win over the Huskers in Lincoln on Jan. 3, in a game that was tied at 27 at halftime.
Senior guard Tear’a Laudermill has led the Huskers in scoring in five straight games, increasing her season averages to 13.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Laudermill needs nine points to become Nebraska’s third active 1,000-point career scorer, joining senior Emily Cady and Theriot.
Cady enters Sunday’s game with 1,333 career points and 1,014 career rebounds. Cady, who notched her ninth double-double of the year with 13 points and 14 rebounds at Rutgers, needs just six rebounds to move to No. 3 on NU’s all-time rebounding list ahead of 2010 All-American Kelsey Griffin.
#19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 12.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 13.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 7.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 16.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg
or – 30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 1.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg
or – 5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 5.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg
or – 22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg
Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 4.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.9 ppg, 0.3 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.3 ppg, 0.6 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – Redshirting
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (258-147); 25th Season Overall (453-287)
#5 Maryland Terrapins (20-2, 11-0 Big Ten)
5 – Malina Howard – 6-4 – Jr. – C – 5.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg
42 – Brionna Jones – 6-3 – So. – C – 12.4 ppg, 8.9 rpg
1 – Laurin Mincy – 6-0 – RSr. – G – 14.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg
4 – Lexie Brown – 5-9 – So. – G – 12.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg
32 – Shatori Walker-Kimbrough – 5-11 – So. – G – 14.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg
Off the Bench
3 – Brene Moseley – 5-7 – Jr. – G – 5.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg
22 – Tierney Pfirman – 6-2 – Jr. – F – 5.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg
2 – Kiara Leslie – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg
12 – Kristen Confroy – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 4.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg
33 – A’Lexus Harrison – 6-0 – RFr. – F – 2.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg
15 – Chloe Pavlech – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 2.3 ppg, 0.3 rpg
0 – Aja Ellison – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 1.2 ppg, 0.9 rpg
Head Coach: Brenda Frese (Arizona, 1993)
13th Season at Maryland (327-103); 16th Season Overall (384-133)