The No. 12 Nebraska women’s basketball team opens Big Ten Conference play on the road when the Huskers take on Minnesota Monday night.
Tip-off between the Huskers (10-1) and the Golden Gophers (11-1) is set for 8 p.m. (central) at Williams Arena with live national television coverage by the Big Ten Network.
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.
The Huskers finished off one of the best non-conference seasons in school history with an 83-57 win over defending Big South regular-season champion High Point at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Dec. 20. The victory pushed Nebraska’s record to 10-1, matching the second-best 11-game start in school history.
National Player-of-the-Year candidate Rachel Theriot erupted for a season-high 31 points for her second career 30-point effort. Her first came with a career-high 33 points in an 88-85 overtime over Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2014. In addition to her huge 33-point performance in the regular season against the Golden Gophers a year ago, Theriot had 14 points and a career-high 18 assists in Nebraska’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal win over Minnesota in Indianapolis on March 7.
The Huskers ended non-conference play as one of four Big Ten teams with 10 or more wins and owned the conference’s best NCAA RPI at No. 7 (Dec. 23). The Big Ten is the No. 1 RPI conference in the nation. Minnesota posted an even better non-conference mark than the Huskers, rolling to an 11-1 record with its lone loss coming in a 71-54 setback at Vanderbilt. The Golden Gophers ended non-conference play as the Big Ten’s only 11-win team and were ranked No. 37 in the official NCAA RPI.
Athough the Gophers lost just once, they did suffer a huge setback with a season-ending knee injury to preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Rachel Banham at North Dakota on Dec. 10. A preseason national player-of-the-year candidate, Banham was averaging 20.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists before her injury at North Dakota. She scored 33 points in the overtime loss last season in Lincoln.
#12 Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
3 – Hailie Sample – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 7.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
23 – Emily Cady – 6-2 – Sr. – F – 13.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg
1 – Tear’a Laudermill – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 12.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg
13 – Brandi Jeffery – 5-7 – Sr. – G – 8.5 ppg, 6.6 rpg
33 – Rachel Theriot – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 18.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg
Off the Bench
31 – Anya Kalenta – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 6.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg
5 – Natalie Romeo – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 4.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg
22 – Allie Havers – 6-5 – So. – C – 4.1 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 – 0.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg
11 – Esther Ramacieri – 5-8 – So. – G – 0.1 ppg, 0.8 rpg
50 – Darrien Washington – 6-2 – Fr. – F – High School
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
13th Season at NU (251-143); 25th Season Overall (446-283)
Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
23 – Shae Kelley – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 16.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg
32 – Amanda Zahui B. – 6-5 – So. – C – 15.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg
3 – Shayne Mullaney – 5-10 – Jr. – G – 3.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg
24 – Mikayla Bailey – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 6.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
33 – Carlie Wagner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Off the Bench
1 – Rachel Banham (OUT) – 5-9 – Sr. – G – 18.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg
20 – Kayla Hirt – 6-2 – Jr. – G/F – 7.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg
35 – Rangie Bessard – 6-0 – Fr. – F – 2.3 ppg, 1.5 rpg
2 – Stabresa McDaniel – 5-10 – So. – G – 1.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg
52 – Josie Buckingham – 6-5 – Fr. – C – 1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg
22 – Joanna Hedstrom – 6-1 – So. – G – 1.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg
5 – Tory Jacobs – 5-10 – Fr. – G/F – 1.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg
11 – Grace Coughlin – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg
Head Coach: Marlene Stollings (Ohio, 1998)
1st Season at Minnesota (11-1); 4th Season Overall (60-43)
