The No. 19 Nebraska women’s basketball team opens a two-game Big Ten road trip when the Huskers travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State Thursday night.
Tip-off between the defending Big Ten Tournament champion Huskers (10-3, 0-2 Big Ten) and the defending Big Ten co-champion Spartans (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten) is set for 7:30 p.m. (central) with live national television coverage by the Big Ten Network with Lisa Byington and Stephanie White on the call.
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 and 93.3 FM in Omaha. Free live audio also will be available on Huskers.com.
Both the Huskers and Spartans are hungry for a Big Ten win after battling injuries and illness in the early portion of Big Ten Conference play. Nebraska opened with a 72-69 road loss at
Minnesota on Dec. 29, before falling to No. 14 Maryland, 75-47 on Saturday to end a 12-game home winning streak.
Nebraska’s road loss at current No. 23 Minnesota (14-1, 3-0 Big Ten) came with only six scholarship players in uniform. Against Maryland, the Huskers matched the Terps in the first half before going ice cold in the second half, hitting just over 20 percent of their shots from the floor.
The Huskers did welcome the return of freshman guard Natalie Romeo to the court, after she missed NU’s previous eight games with a foot injury. Junior center Anya Kalenta also was cleared to play against Maryland. She has missed the last seven games with a foot injury. Both Romeo and Kalenta also battled the flu at Minnesota, along with reserve Esther Ramacieri, who also returned to the court against Maryland.
Michigan State slipped to 0-3 in Big Ten play with a 74-65 loss at in-state rival Michigan on Sunday, following a 70-51 road loss at Indiana on New Year’s Eve. The Spartans dropped their Big Ten home opener with a 61-57 setback to Northwestern on Dec. 28.
The Spartans have competed with just eight healthy players for the last two weeks, having been stung by major knee injuries to Branndais Agee and Madison Williams in the offseason. Recently, senior center Jasmine Hines has struggled to overcome concussion symptoms.
#19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-3, 0-2 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 6.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 13.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 12.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 7.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 17.8 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 – 4.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.4 ppg, 3.6 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 (251-145); 25th Season Overall (446-285)
Michigan State Spartans (8-6, 0-3 Big Ten)
23 – Aerial Powers – 6-0 – So. – F – 19.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg
52 – Becca Mills – 6-4 – Sr. – F – 10.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg
1 – Tori Jankoska – 5-8 – So. – G – 18.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg
14 – Anna Morrissey – 5-10 – Sr. – G – 5.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg
21 – Jasmine Lumpkin – 6-0 – Fr. – G/F – 5.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg
Off the Bench
4 – Jasmine Hines – 6-3 – Sr. – C – 8.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
24 – Lexi Gussert – 6-0 – Fr. – G/F – 3.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg
2 – Cara Miller – 6-1 – Jr. – G – 2.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
55 – Kennedy Johnson – 6-2 – Fr. – F – 1.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg
Head Coach: Suzy Merchant (Central Michigan, 1991)
8th Season at MSU (171-78); 20th Season Overall (372-198)
CHICAGO (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored and set up a goal by Maxime Talbot in the opening 1:17, Semyon Varlamov finished with 54 saves for his third shutout of the season and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 on Tuesday night.
