The Nebraska women’s basketball team made history by earning its fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament and will take on Syracuse Friday in the first round at Columbia, S.C.
Tip-off between the ninth-seeded Cornhuskers (21-10, 10-8 Big Ten) and eighth-seeded Orange (21-9, 11-5 ACC) at Colonial Life Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. (central) with live national television coverage provided by ESPN2. Husker fans may not be able to see the game in its entirety on ESPN2 because of tournament whip-around coverage, so fans can seek more complete coverage on ESPN3.com or the WatchESPN app. Pam Ward and Carolyn Peck will be on the television call for ESPN2.
Live radio coverage from the Husker Sports Network is available with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on stations across the network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln, 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM KRVN in Lexington. Free live audio is available on Huskers.com.
Nebraska seniors Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample made history by advancing to their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament. The seniors, who all came to Nebraska as true freshmen in the same recruiting class prior to NU’s first season in the Big Ten in 2011-12, are also the first class in Husker history to produce four straight 20-win campaigns.
They will try to add to a school-record 96 career victories – an average of 24 wins per season. Prior to their arrival in Lincoln, only one Nebraska team had ever won more than 23 games – the 2010 Huskers who went 32-2 to claim an NCAA No. 1 seed.
Cady, a four-year starter from Seward, Neb., is set to tie a Nebraska record with her 132nd consecutive start on Friday. The 6-2 forward also needs just five rebounds to catch 2014 first-team All-American Jordan Hooper at No. 2 on the Nebraska career rebounds list (1,110). Cady ranks sixth among active NCAA rebounders with 1,105 in her career. She has added 1,441 points and 303 assists, while ranking among the top five players in school history with 114 career blocks.
Sample, a 6-1 forward from Flower Mound, Texas, has started 131 games alongside Cady, while Laudermill (Moreno Valley, Calif.) has made 61 straight starts. Jeffery (Vacherie, La.) has added 38 career starts to give the seniors more than 300 combined career starts.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-10, 10-8 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 12.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 13.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg
5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 8.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg
Off the Bench
33 – Rachel Theriot (OUT) – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 16.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 3.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg
30 – Chandler Smith – 6-0 – Fr. – G – 1.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg
34 – Jasmine Cincore – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg
12 – Emily Wood – 5-5 – Fr. – G – 0.2 ppg, 0.5 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 (262-152); 25th Season Overall (457-292)
Syracuse Orange (21-9, 11-5 ACC)
1 – Alexis Peterson – 5-7 – So. – G – 15.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg
11 – Cornelia Fondren – 5-8 – Jr. – G – 7.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg
13 – Brianna Butler – 5-11 – Jr. – G – 13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg
10 – Isabella Slim – 6-0 – So. – F – 1.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg
50 – Briana Day – 6-4 – So. – C – 9.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg
Off the Bench
0 – Diamond Henderson (OUT) – 5-6 – Sr. – G – 10.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg
22 – Taylor Ford – 6-0 – Jr. – F – 6.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg
4 – Maggie Morrison – 5-8 – Sr. – G – 2.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg
55 – Bria Day – 6-4 – So. – F – 1.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg
44 – Amber Witherspoon – 6-4 – Fr. – C – 0.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg
21 – Danielle Minott – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg
Head Coach: Quentin Hillsman (St. Mary’s, Md., 1993)
8th Season at Syracuse (167-99); 8th Season Overall (167-99)