The Nebraska women’s basketball team returns from celebrating the Christmas holiday with family and friends to close non-conference play against Oral Roberts on Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off between the No. 18 Huskers (9-2) and the Golden Eagles (1-8) is set for 2 p.m. (CT).

Nebraska will recognize former All-America point guard and current WNBA champion Lindsey Moore during the first half of Sunday’s game. A member of Nebraska’s All-Time Devaney Center Team in 2013, Moore will be attending her first game at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Nebraska’s all-time assist leader (699), Moore started more games (132), played more minutes (4,360) and won more games (93) than any other player in Husker history. She led the Huskers to three NCAA tournaments and the first two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances in school history. Moore will be in Lincoln while on holiday break from her professional team in Italy. Tickets for the game are available now at Huskers.com.

The game can be heard live on the Husker Sports Network, including flagships B107.3 FM in Lincoln, The Wolf 93.3 FM in Omaha and 880 AM KRVN in Lexington. Free live audio is available on Huskers.com, while live premium video coverage will be provided to subscribers of BTN.com All-Access.

All-American Jordan Hooper, who had 19 points and seven rebounds in NU’s win over South Dakota Dec. 21, became the third player in school history to reach career milestones of 1,900 points and 900 rebounds. She enters the ORU game with 1,903 points and 930 rebounds. She needs 27 points to catch Husker All-American Kiera Hardy at No. 5 on Nebraska’s career scoring list. Last year against the Golden Eagles, Hooper had 33 points and five three-pointers in just 25 minutes in an 80-67 win.

Second-year coach Misti Cussen brings her Golden Eagles to Nebraska with a 1-8 record. ORU, which won the Southland Conference and earned an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Tournament, returned three starters from last year’s club but has dropped eight straight games against primarily major conference opponents including Northwestern, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Marquette.

The Nebraska basketball team wraps up the non-conference portion of the 2013-14 slate on Saturday morning, as the Huskers head to Cincinnati for a matchup with the Bearcats. Tipoff is set for 11:02 a.m. at Fifth Third Arena and the game will be carried nationally on ESPN2 with Mark Neely and Dan Dakich on the call. The game is also available on the WatchESPN app and at WatchESPN.com.

Saturday’s game will also be carried across the state on the 27-station Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Matt Davison calling all of the action, including flagship stations KLIN (1400 AM/94.5 FM) in Lincoln and KFAB (1110 AM) in Omaha (complete list of affiliates is on page five of the game notes). The game can also be heard for free on Huskers.com and is available on the Huskers’ app on iOS or android devices, as well as Sirius and XM Radio.

Saturday’s game at Cincinnati begins a challenging three-game road swing for the Huskers over an eight-day span, as the three foes (Cincinnati, No. 22 Iowa and No. 3 Ohio State) are a combined 33-5 on the season.

The Huskers returned from a short holiday break with an 8-3 record following a 77-62 win over The Citadel on Dec. 21. In that game, sophomore Terran Petteway led all scorers with 27 points, hitting 9-of-18 shots from the floor to pace three players in double figures. The Huskers out-scored the Bulldogs, 45-30, in the second half to break a 32-all deadlock, as sophomore Shavon Shields scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime.

Petteway, who leads the Huskers and ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 16.8 points per game, has played some of his best basketball in recent weeks, averaging 19.7 points per game on 52 percent shooting over the Huskers’ last three contests. The 6-foot-6 sophomore now has a team-high four 20-point games in 2013-14.

Cincinnati is 10-2 on the season following a 40-point rout of Chicago State on Dec. 23. The Bearcats have won three straight games, including a neutral-site win over previously unbeaten Pittsburgh in Madison Square Garden. Cincinnati will pose a tough defensive challenge, as the Bearcats are fourth nationally in scoring defense and have not allowed more than 67 points in any of its 12 games.

Following Saturday night’s game, the Huskers will turn their attention to Big Ten play, as Nebraska opens conference action on New Year’s Eve at Iowa. In all, three of the Huskers’ first four Big Ten games are away from Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Six teams have committed to participate in the 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The field for the sixth-annual event includes Colorado, George Washington, Nebraska, Ohio, Wichita State and tournament host school Hawai’i. 

Wichita State is ranked No. 11 in the latest Associated Press poll, while Colorado is ranked No. 20. Meanwhile, George Washington is on the cusp of the Top 25 after a 9-1 start. Four of the teams in the field qualified for the postseason in 2012-13, highlighted by a Wichita State squad that advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, an eight-team men’s college basketball tournament, will feature 12 games through three days. Each team will compete in one game per day, advancing through the bracket. The two teams that remain undefeated throughout will face off in the championship game on the final day of the tournament.

Previous tournament champions of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic include USC (2009), Butler (2010), Kansas State (2011) and Arizona (2012), currently the top-ranked team in the nation.

The family-friendly tournament includes three days of tournament play, practices, events and travel experiences unique to the islands of Hawai’i.

The Huskers have 88-83 record against the other five teams announced Sunday, but have not played any of the teams since the 2010-11 season. A potential Nebraska-Colorado matchup would be Nebraska’s first regular-season matchup against a Big 12 team since joining the Big Ten Conference prior to the 2011-12 season.

The 2014 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic will be the second of three ESPN-sponsored events Nebraska has signed up for. Last month, the Huskers competed in the Charleston Classic and will travel to Anaheim, Calif., for the Wooden Legacy during the 2015-16 season.

Next year’s trip to the Diamond Head Classic will mark the sixth time that the Huskers have traveled to Hawai’i for a holiday tournament and the first since the 2006-07 season.

Additional information can be found on the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic’s official Web site at www.DiamondHeadClassic.com.

The Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic is owned and operated by ESPN Regional Television.

Nebraska vs. 2014 Diamond Head Classic Field
Team                                      Series Record           Last Meeting
Colorado                                77-71                         2010-11
George Washington            0-1                              1936-37
Hawai’i                                   2-6                              2006-07
Ohio                                       3-0                              1993-04
Wichita State                        6-5                              2010-11

Huskers in Hawai’i Tournaments
Year                Tournament                                     Record
1979-80         Rainbow Classic                                1-2
1988-89         Chaminade New Year’s Classic       2-1
1992-93         Rainbow Classic                                1-2
1997-98         Rainbow Classic                                1-2
2006-07         Rainbow Classic                                2-1

Lincoln – Behind a game-high 27 points from Terran Petteway, the Nebraska men’s basketball team put away a stubborn Citadel squad, 77-62, at Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday night.

Petteway, a sophomore from Galveston, Texas, scored 16 of his 27 points in the first half to keep Nebraska in the game before the Huskers took the ball inside the second half to break open a game that was deadlocked at halftime. Petteway scored five of his points during a 7-0 run in the final 1:08 of the half, including a 25-footer that beat the halftime buzzer.

Shavon Shields and Leslee Smith joined Petteway in double figures, scoring 17 and 10 points, respectively. Shields, a sophomore forward, had 15 of his 17 points in the second half, while Smith came off the bench with his second double-double of the year, as he grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds for Nebraska.

Nebraska shot 62 percent in the second half, while holding the Bulldogs to just 36 percent shooting after halftime.

Nebraska (8-3) fell behind early, as the Citadel used an 8-0 run to take a 13-8 lead on Matt Van Scyoc’s jumper before the Huskers regrouped behind the play of Petteway. The sophomore wing ended the drought with a 3-pointer from the corner off a Deverell Biggs steal before Petteway’s driving layup tied the score at 13.

Huskers lead 20-18, but the Citadel went on an 8-1 run and took a 26-21 lead after a Brian White 3-point play with 3:57 in the half and pushed the lead to 29-21 after a Van Scyoc’s 3-pointer. The Bulldogs lead 32-25 after a Raemond Robinson 3-pointer, but the Huskers closed the half by scoring the final seven points to pull even heading into the locker room.

Nebraska turned up the defensive intensity as a Gallegos steal led to a Petteway basket before Benny Parker’s blocked shot ignited another fast break capped by Gallegos’ layup.  Nebraska then forced an airball to get one final possession in the half, and Petteway hit a long 3-pointer to knot the contest.

Nebraska continued the run in the early moments of the second half, as two quick baskets by Shields completed an 11-0 Huskers run and gave NU a 36-32 lead. The Huskers continued to extend the lead as two Walter Pitchford baskets extended Nebraska’s lead to 40-35, as NU hit six of its first seven shots after the break after shooting 42 percent in the first half.

The Citadel would not go away, scoring seven of the next nine points to pull even at 42 after a Tom Koopman layup and eventually took a 51-49 lead on a Quinton Marshall’s basket with 11:13 remaining.

Leading 57-56, the Huskers took control down the stretch, as Petteway’s basket and a 3-ponter by Shields triggered a 9-0 Husker run that gave Nebraska a 66-56 lead with 4:00 left. Over the final eight minutes, Nebraska held The Citadel to 1-of-10 shooting, as Nebraska outscored the Bulldogs, 20-6 in that stretch.

Ashton Moore led the Citadel (4-9) with 21 points and six rebounds to pace three Bulldogs in double figures.

The Huskers return to action next Saturday when they travel to Cincinnati. Tipoff for the ESPN2 nationally televised game is set for 11 a.m. and will also be carried on the Husker Sports Radio Network.

Lincoln – No. 19 Nebraska jumped to a 20-point halftime lead and cruised to an 87-53 women’s basketball victory over South Dakota on Saturdayat Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Nebraska improved to 9-2 with its third straight win, while snapping South Dakota’s five-game winning streak. The Coyotes slipped to 7-6 on the season.

All-American Jordan Hooper led four Huskers in double figures with a game-high 19 points, while adding seven rebounds and a career-high matching four assists.

Junior guard Tear’a Laudermill pitched in a career-high 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, while contributing five rebounds in just 21 minutes. She added her fifth blocked shot of the season.

Sophomore Sadie Murren added a breakout performance with 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds. Murren, a 5-8 guard from Colon, Neb., more than doubled her previous career-best on the glass of three. In fact, entering the game she had just 11 rebounds in her previous nine games this season. Murren was the leading rebounder in the game.

Junior forward Emily Cady contributed 10 points and seven boards in another solid effort, while nine Huskers scored four or more points in the contest. All 10 Huskers found the scoring column, including freshman guard Esther Ramacieri who got the first point and first two rebounds of her career.

Murren also hit 3-of-6 three-pointers on the day to lead Nebraska’s season-high 10 threes in the game. The Huskers went 10-for-24 from long range against the Coyotes, including two threes from Laudermill and two more from Brandi Jeffery, who finished with six points.

“That is what they call a feel-good win,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “Everybody contributed. Everybody scored and hustled. It was a great way to end the semester so everybody could get home to their families for the holidays. Hopefully we can come back refreshed for the next part of our season.”

As a team, Nebraska hit 46 percent (29-63) of its shots from the field and connected on 79.2 percent (19-24) of its free throws. With Murren leading the charge with seven second-half rebounds, the Huskers were a plus-13 on the boards after intermission. NU finished with a 46-33 edge on the glass for the game. Nebraska also won the turnover battle, 16-14.

The Huskers were solid defensively, holding the Coyotes to just 29.3 percent (17-58) shooting for the game, including just 4-of-25 from long range. USD also went just 15-of-23 at the line.

Raeshel Contreras led three Coyotes in double figures with 17 points, but went just 5-of-14 from the field and 5-of-12 at the line. Tia Hemiller and Nicole Seekamp each contributed 11 points, but the rest of the Coyotes combined for just 14 points.

For the game, Nebraska’s bench outscored USD’s 28-5. The Coyotes, who were without regular starter Heidi Hoff (injury), also missed one of their top reserves, Margaret McCloud. She missed the game because of a family funeral. The absence of those two players pushed Contreras into the starting lineup.

Nebraska took immediate control of the game, opening with an 11-0 run in the first four minutes. NU also closed the first half with a 10-0 surge to take a 40-20 lead into the locker room. Laudermill led the Big Red with 11 first-half points, while Cady pitched in nine points. Hooper contributed eight points and five rebounds despite hitting just 3-of-12 shots from the field. She went a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor in the first five minutes of the second half.

The Huskers connected on 14-of-33 shots in the first half, including 5-of-10 three-pointers. NU also knocked down 7-of-8 free throws. Nebraska won the turnover battle 12-5, but was even on the glass at 19. USD team went just 8-of-27 from the field. The Coyotes did hit 3-of-10 threes, but managed just 1-of-2 free throws. Contreras led USD with eight first-half points, while Hemiller added six points on a pair of threes.

Nebraska’s lead kept growing in the second half, hitting 28 points at 54-26 after Hooper’s first three-pointer in three games with 15:25 left. It grew to 30 for the first time at 67-37 on a layup by Allie Havers off an assist from Hooper with 8:16 left. NU took its biggest lead at 35 points after a pair of Murren free throws made it 81-46 with 3:35 left.

Despite the one-sided score, the game was Nebraska’s longest from start-to-finish of the season lasting nearly two hours and 10 minutes because of a pair of 10-minute delays caused by malfunctioning shot clocks. The first delay occurred with 4:41 left in the first half. The second occurred before the start of the second half.

The Huskers head home for the holidays before returning to close non-conference action against Oral Roberts on Sunday, Dec. 29. Tip-off at Pinnacle Bank Arena with the Golden Eagles is set for 2 p.m. with tickets available now at Huskers.com.