2014 Missouri Valley Player of the Year Joins Big Red

Lincoln – Kyndal Clark, the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and a 2015 member of the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team, will join the Nebraska women’s basketball team as a fifth-year senior transfer for 2015-16, Coach Connie Yori announced on Thursday.

Clark, who will officially graduate from Drake on Saturday, averaged 19.3 points per game while knocking down a Missouri Valley Conference-record 116 three-pointers as a junior for the Bulldogs in 2013-14. Clark hit 41.1 percent of her threes on the season, including a scorching 45.3 percent (78-172) in MVC play.

The Webb City, Mo., native started all 98 games of her Drake career, including the season opener against South Dakota in 2014-15, when she scored 17 points in 37 minutes before suffering a season-ending injury.

Clark will have one season of eligibility at Nebraska and will be eligible to play for the Huskers immediately. She produced 1,418 points, 422 rebounds, 270 assists and 171 steals in 98 career games at Drake, while earning All-MVC honors in each of her first three seasons.

“We are thrilled to add a player of Kyndal Clark’s caliber to our program, even if it is for just one season,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “We recruited Kyndal out of Webb City High School, and we are excited to finally get a chance to coach her. She is coming off a pretty significant injury, but when she is healthy she is a talented player. She also can add a lot of leadership to our program.”

Clark was a preseason first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a senior, before earning a spot on the WBCA Allstate Good Works Team in 2015. She will receiver her bachelor’s degree from Drake on Saturday after majoring in information systems.

As a junior, she averaged 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 steals on her way to Jackie Stiles Missouri Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year honors. She also was named the Drake University Howlett Female Athlete of the Year across all sports.

Her huge junior season included a career-high 41 points against Northern Iowa on March 2. She added 38 points against Missouri State on Feb. 16, 2014. She pumped in 36 points, including a school-record 10 three-pointers in a win over Loyola, while contributing 35 points against SIU-Edwardsville.

Clark claimed second-team All-MVC honors while starting every game as a sophomore. She finished with 14.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.5 steals while capturing a spot on the MVC All-Defensive Team.

She opened her collegiate career by starting all 34 games for then-Drake head coach Amy Stephens. As a true freshman in 2011-12, Clark averaged 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal per game. Clark also earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman Team.

Clark was recruited to Drake by Stephens, now an assistant coach at Nebraska, out of Webb City High School. As a senior, Clark earned first-team All-Missouri honors from the AP and the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association. She led Webb City to the Missouri Class 4 state title as a junior and a third-place finish in Class 5 in 2011.

A tremendous outside shooter, Clark set a Missouri state record by burying six three-pointers in the third quarter against Joplin on Dec. 14, 2010.

Nebraska also officially added senior volleyball player Alicia Ostrander to its women’s basketball roster on Friday. Ostrander, a 6-3 outside hitter for Coach John Cook’s volleyball team, will complete her fifth season as a volleyball player for the Huskers in the fall of 2015, before turning her full attention to basketball for the start of 2016 Big Ten Conference action. The native of Gordon, Neb., will have just one season of women’s basketball eligibility with the Huskers. Ostrander is one of the top rebounders in Nebraska high school history. The two-time Class C-1 all-stater pulled down 20 or more rebounds on 10 occasions at Gordon-Rushville High School, including a school-record 30 boards in a game as a senior. She also had single-game highs of 43 points and 15 blocked shots as a prep player.