Huskers Set for Showdown with Mavericks

Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-1) vs. Omaha Mavericks (1-2)
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 7 p.m.
Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network
Lincoln - B107.3 FM, Omaha - CD105.9 FM
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com/Huskers App
Live Video Stream: BTN Plus

Huskers Shoot for Third Win Against Mavs
The Nebraska women’s basketball team (2-1) closes its four-game season-opening home stand by playing host to Omaha (1-2) on Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.

Tip-off between the Huskers and Mavericks is set for 7 p.m., and fans can purchase tickets in advance at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED. Tickets are also available in person at the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office across the street from Memorial Stadium during regular business hours, and at the Pinnacle Bank Arena Box Office beginning at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

Fans can also follow the action live on B107.3 FM in Lincoln and CD 105.9 FM in Omaha and on select stations across the Husker Sports Network. Free live audio of Tuesday’s game will be available on Huskers.com and through the Huskers App.

A live video stream will be available for BTN Plus subscribers with the radio call of Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch accompanying the action.

The Huskers head into the in-state showdown with the Mavs after battling to a 62-59 win over defending Mountain West Conference champion Colorado State in their final game of the 2016 Preseason WNIT on Nov. 17. All-Big Ten sophomore forward Jessica Shepard led the Big Red with 24 points, including the game-clinching three-pointer with a minute left. Shepard added 13 rebounds for her 12th career double-double to move her into the No. 12 spot on Nebraska’s career list.

Freshmen Nicea Eliely and Hannah Whitish also played major roles for the Huskers in the win over the Rams. Whitish, a 5-9 guard from Barneveld, Wis., produced the first double-figure scoring effort of her career with 10 points on a career-high three three-pointers.

Eliely, a 6-1 guard from Colorado Springs who has started the first three games for the Huskers, produced six points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals while helping to frustrate and foul out CSU’s reigning Mountain West Player of the Year Ellen Nystrom.

Nystrom settled for 13 points and one assist against the Huskers, after going off for 22 points and six assists in Colorado State’s season-opening 69-42 win over Omaha in Fort Collins, Colo., on Nov. 11. Omaha completed its appearance in the Preseason WNIT with an 85-57 win over North Texas in Abilene Saturday. The Mavs suffered a tight 73-66 loss at defending Southland champ Abilene Christian on Friday.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
32 - Jessica Shepard - 6-4 - So. - F - 17.7 ppg, 12.3 rpg
22 - Allie Havers - 6-5 - Sr. - C - 4.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg
5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 7.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg
11 - Esther Ramacieri - 5-8 - Sr. - G - 3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg
34 - Jasmine Cincore - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 6.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg
Off the Bench
3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 5.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg
24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - So. - G - 5.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg
12 - Emily Wood - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg
50 - Darrien Washington - 6-2 - So. - F - 1.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg
14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Fr. - F/G - 1.3 ppg, 1.7 rpg
2 - Rylie Cascio Jensen - 5-10 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
First Season at Nebraska (2-1); 10th Season Overall (195-110)

Omaha Mavericks (1-2, 0-0 Summit League)
22 - Mikaela Shaw - 6-0 - Sr. - G - 14.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg 
44 - Michaela Dapprich - 5-10 - RSr. - G/F - 13.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 
10 - Courtney Vaccher - 6-2 - So. - C - 6.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg
5 - Amber Vidal - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 4.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg
33 - Remy Davenport - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 8.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Off the Bench
14 - Marissa Preston - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 7.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg
20 - Alexa Fisher - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 5.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
34 - Ellie Brecht - 5-11 - So. - G - 4.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg
40 - Jay Bridgeman - 6-1 - RFr. - F - 2.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg
43 - Moriah Dapprich - 6-0 - Jr. - G/F - 1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg
21 - Abi Lujan - 5-11 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Head Coach: Brittany Lange (Iowa State, 2010)
Fourth Season at Iowa State (38-51); Fourth Season Overall (38-51)

Husker Nuggets
• Jessica Shepard produced her 12th career double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds in Nebraska’s win over Colorado State Nov. 17. It was her second double-double in three games this season, joining a 17-point, 15-rebound effort in a win over UTRGV on Nov. 12. Shepard, who has eight career games with 13 or more rebounds, will move into a tie for 10th on Nebraska’s career double-double list with her next double-double.
• Shepard leads Nebraska in three-point field goals made (5) and three-point field goal percentage (.556), including a game-clinching three with one minute left in the win over Colorado State on Nov. 14, and a 60-foot heave at the first-half buzzer in the win over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• One of Nebraska’s biggest concerns entering the season was finding consistent three-point shooting, after losing 144 of its 178 made threes from its roster a year ago. In addition to Shepard, who did not hit a three last season, Hannah Whitish (4-9), Nicea Eliely (2-4) and Allie Havers (1-7) have hit their first career threes for the Huskers this season. Esther Ramacieri (3-10) has matched her previous career total for made threes. As a team, Nebraska is averaging 7.3 threes per game (22-69, .319).
• Hannah Whitish produced her first career double-digit scoring performance with 10 points and a career-high three three-pointers off the bench in Nebraska’s 62-59 win over Colorado State Nov. 17.
• Nebraska freshman Nicea Eliely ranks second on the team in scoring (7.7 ppg), third in rebounding (5.3 rpg), first in assists (4.0 apg) and first in steals (1.7 spg) through the first three games of her collegiate career.
• Nebraska will meet Omaha for the first time since running to an 80-44 win on Nov. 26, 2010. It will be just the second regular-season meeting between the Huskers and Mavericks since UNO posted a 76-74 win over NU in Omaha on Dec. 20, 1986. Nebraska leads the all-time series with Omaha, 15-9.

Scouting Omaha
Omaha comes to Lincoln for the first time since November of 2010 to take on the Huskers in women’s basketball. The Mavs, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Brittany Lange, have battled to a 1-2 start that includes a 69-42 season-opening loss at Colorado State in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 11, and a 73-63 loss at defending Southland champ Abilene Christian on Friday. The Mavs got on the winning track with an 85-57 win over North Texas to close their WNIT trip on Saturday.

All-Summit League forward Mikaela Shaw leads the Mavs with 14.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. She went 10-for-17 from the field in Texas over the weekend, after opening 5-for-17 in the loss to CSU. As a team, Omaha hit just 15-of-47 field goals, including just 3-of-14 threes in the loss to Colorado State. The Mavs were also outrebounded 39-29 by the Rams and lost the turnover battle 16-9.

Shaw, a 6-0 senior forward out of Sandy Creek High School (Deweese, Neb.), averaged 18.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game last year for Omaha. She is one of four returning starters for the Mavs this season, joining 5-8 junior guard Remy Davenport (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2015-16), 5-6 sophomore guard Amber Vidal (5.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 2015-16) and 5-11 senior guard Abi Lujan (4.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2015-16).

Lujan has given way to Wichita State transfer Michaela Dapprich in Omaha’s starting five. Dapprich, a 5-10 senior guard/forward managed just two points and two rebounds before fouling out in 20 minutes in the loss to Colorado State. However, she bounced back in a big way with 26 points and seven rebounds in the win over North Texas and is averaging 13.0 points and 5.0 boards this season.

Dapprich was an honorable-mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection as a junior at Wichita State in 2014-15. She averaged 12.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as a junior. A three-year starter, she helped the Shockers to a trio of conference titles and NCAA Tournament berths (2013, 2014, 2015) before transferring to Omaha along with her sister Moriah.

Another Division I transfer, sophomore Coutney Vaccher rounds out Omaha’s probable starting five. The 6-2 center from Yorba Linda, Calif., by way of Texas Tech, is averaging 6.0 points and ranks second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per game. She also leads Omaha with five steals.

Last season, Omaha battled its way to a 15-15 overall record that included a 7-9 Summit League mark. The Mavs averaged 63.7 points per game while hitting 41.8 percent of their shots from the field including 32.7 percent of their three-pointers. They were also a solid free throw shooting team at 72.2 percent. However, the Mavs were outrebounded 37.1-35.7 per game a year ago, while suffering with a minus-3.47 team turnover margin. Omaha forced an average of just 11.5 turnovers per game in 2015-16.

Nebraska vs. Omaha Series History
Nebraska will meet Omaha for the first time on the hard wood since the Huskers ran to an 80-44 victory over the Mavs at the Devaney Center on Nov. 26, 2010.

Prior to that meeting the Huskers had not faced UNO in a regular-season game since Dec. 20, 1986, when the Mavericks defeated Nebraska, 76-74 in Omaha.

The Huskers have won three straight home games in the series with the Mavs, including an 84-60 win over Dec. 20, 1985, and a 74-64 win on Dec. 19, 1980. Overall, Nebraska leads the all-time series with Omaha, 15-9.

Nebraska’s series with Omaha is one of the oldest in school history. In fact, Nebraska faced UNO in the second meeting in school history, a 47-41 loss on Dec. 4, 1974. The two teams then met again in

Nebraska’s next game that season - a 48-47 loss at Omaha on Jan. 17, 2015.

The Huskers got revenge later that season with a 71-54 win on March 19, 1976, before defeating UNO three times in 1975-76. The two teams met a staggering six times in 1976-77, with Nebraska going 4-2.
Overall 15 of Nebraska’s first 112 games in program history came against UNO.

Connecting with Omaha
Nebraska Coach Amy Williams went 7-1 against Omaha in her four seasons as the head coach at South Dakota. She is 5-1 head-to-head against Omaha Coach Brittany Lange. Last season at Vermillion, USD survived with an 82-76 win on Jan. 9, before rolling to a 70-55 win in Omaha on Feb. 7.

While Nebraska’s roster has the last three Nebraska Gatorade High School Players of the Year (Jessica Shepard-2013, 2014; Maddie Simon-2015; Rylie Cascio Jensen-2016), Omaha has just two Nebraskans on its roster, including All-Summit League forward Mikaela Shaw (Sandy Creek High School, Deweese, Neb.) and redshirt freshman forward Jay Bridgeman from Omaha Westside.

Omaha Director of Operations Sadie Murren earned a letter on Nebraska’s 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 team and played in 43 games before transferring to Wayne State to complete her college career. Murren, a native of Wahoo, scored 92 points, grabbed 42 rebounds and dished out 12 assists as a Husker. She replaced another former Husker (Cory Montgomery) in the director of operations position at UNO, prior to the start of the 2016-17 season.

Shepard Leads Big Red on B1G Stage
• Sophomore Jessica Shepard led the Huskers with her 12th career double-double with 24 points and 13 rebounds in Nebraska’s 62-59 win over Colorado State on Nov. 17. It was Shepard’s 12th career double-double and second of the season, joining her 17-point, 15-rebound effort in Nebraska’s season-opening win over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• Through three games, Shepard is averaging a double-double with 17.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. She is also a team-best 5-for-9 from three-point range, including a game-clinching three with one minute left against Colorado State and a 60-footer at the first-half buzzer in the win over UTRGV. The 6-4 sophomore forward had not hit a collegiate three-pointer prior to this season.
• Shepard earned Preseason All-Big Ten honors when the conference announced its preseason awards on Oct. 24. Shepard was one of two sophomores on the coaches preseason all-conference team, joining Penn State guard Teniya Page. Shepard was the lone sophomore honored by the media on its 10-player preseason team.
• Shepard became the first freshman in Nebraska history to earn first-team all-conference honors. Shepard produced school freshman-record averages of 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game in 2015-16.
• Shepard became the first Husker in history to earn conference freshman-of-the-year accolades. The 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., joined Emily Cady (2012) and Rachel Theriot (2013) as Huskers who earned spots on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team in Nebraska’s first five seasons in the conference.
• Shepard set a conference record by winning 10 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards.

Huskers Search for Solid Starting Five
• One of Coach Amy Williams’ primary objectives early in the season will be to find a starting five from a relatively inexperienced group of Huskers. Only six players on Nebraska’s active roster have ever started a game for the Huskers, with four of them starting seven or fewer contests.
• Although Jessica Shepard is just a sophomore, she owns a team-high 32 career starts, including 29 in 31 games as a freshman.
• A three-year contributor on the court, 6-5 senior Allie Havers adds 24 career starts to Nebraska’s level of experience to begin 2016-17.
• Only three other returning Huskers have ever started a game for Nebraska, including Jasmine Cincore (9), Esther Ramacieri (7) and Maddie Simon (5), while true freshman Nicea Eliely has made her first three career starts. Overall, Nebraska owns just 80 career starts.
• Nebraska sent nine different starting lineups onto the floor in 2015-16.
• The longest stretch Nebraska was able to play with a consistent starting five in 2015-16 was eight games (Game 2 vs. North Florida, Nov. 16 - Game 9 at California, Dec. 12).
• Three times (2003-04, 2006-07, 2011-12) in the last 14 seasons, Nebraska’s starting five has hit the floor for every game together, and five more times the Huskers have only featured six different starters in a season (2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2013-14).

Nebraska Ranks Near Top in Attendance
• Nebraska closed the 2015-16 season ranked No. 9 nationally in total attendance (102,682) and No. 12 in NCAA Division I in average home attendance (5,404). It marked the third consecutive season inside Pinnacle Bank Arena that the Big Red have ranked among the top 12 nationally in both categories.
• In 55 all-time home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Huskers own an impressive 45-10 record (.818 winning percentage) while averaging 5,760 fans per game (316,801 total fans/55 games).
• Nebraska attracted a non-conference school-record crowd of 9,750 to open its stay in the building with a win over UCLA on Nov. 8, 2013.

Big Red To Battle one of Nation’s Best Schedules
• Nebraska will likely face the toughest overall schedule in school history in 2016-17. The Huskers will play 10 games against NCAA Tournament teams and 11 more regular-season games against Postseason WNIT teams in 2016-17.
• Nebraska’s appearance in the 2016 Preseason WNIT to open the year featured three games against postseason foes, including NCAA Tournament teams Missouri and Colorado State.
• Virginia, Virginia Tech, Drake and Creighton all competed in the 2016 WNIT and the Huskers will play three of those games on the road. Nebraska closes non-conference play at home against UConn, which has won four consecutive NCAA titles.
• A total of 13 of Nebraska’s 16 Big Ten Conference games will come against postseason foes, including seven games against NCAA qualifiers and six more against WNIT teams from a year ago.
• Nebraska’s 16-game regular-season home schedule will feature 13 games against postseason teams, including all eight Big Ten Conference home games.

Huskers Have History of Home-Opening Success
• Nebraska owns a history of season-opening success on the Huskers’ home court. NU notched its 41st season-opening win with a 71-53 victory over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• NU is 4-0 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in season openers, including a 96-46 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 14, 2015, a 100-65 win over Pepperdine on Nov. 15, 2014, and a 77-49 win over UCLA in the first regular-season basketball game in the history of the building on Nov. 8, 2013. Nebraska’s last loss in a home opener came to South Dakota State on Nov. 19, 2005. NU’s only other home-opening loss was to Kansas (88-56) on Nov. 21, 1980.
• Nebraska has been strong in its first six home games every season. In fact, NU is 219-35 in the past 43 years in its first six home contests (.862), including 36-7 in Game No. 2.
• The Huskers had their streak of 16 straight wins in their second home games of the year snapped with a 55-35 loss to No. 25 Missouri on Nov. 14.
• Nebraska is 35-8 in Game No. 3, 36-6 in Game No. 4, 37-5 in Game No. 5 and 34-7 in Game 6. The Huskers only played five total home games in their first season in 1974-75.

Nebraska Streaks
• Nebraska senior Allie Havers is ready to compete in her 100th consecutive game when the Huskers take the floor against Omaha. Havers has appeared in every game of her Nebraska career and the Huskers own a 67-32 record in those contests over the last four years.
• Nebraska has won 11 consecutive regular-season home openers dating back to a 68-49 loss to South Dakota State on Nov. 19, 2005.
• Nebraska is 4-0 in home openers since moving into Pinnacle Bank Arena for the start of the 2013-14 season. NU’s average margin of victory in its regular-season home openers at Pinnacle Bank Arena is 29.8 points per contest.
• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 254 straight regular-season games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008.
• Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 133 consecutive games.
• Nebraska has had at least two players earn first- or second-team All-Big Ten honors in each of its first five seasons in the Big Ten.
• Nebraska has won 31 consecutive exhibition games dating back to an 81-58 loss to the Australian Institute of Sport on Nov. 12, 2000.
• Nebraska finished with a 9-9 Big Ten record to mark the fifth consecutive season the Huskers have posted a .500 or better Big Ten record. Nebraska is the only Big Ten team with a .500 or better record in each of the last five seasons. In fact, no other Big Ten team has had four straight .500 marks. The only other team with three straight .500 or better Big Ten seasons is Minnesota, which went 11-7 in both 2015 and 2016 after going 8-8 in 2014.

Pump up the Program
• Nebraska earned its fifth straight postseason tournament bid with a trip to the 2016 WNIT. The Huskers were one of only 21 Division I teams to earn four consecutive NCAA Tournament bids from 2012 through 2015.
• The Huskers have produced seven 20-win seasons in the last 10 years. Nebraska owns 16 20-win seasons in program history.
• Nebraska is the only team in the Big Ten to post a .500 or better conference mark in each of the last five years. Minnesota is the only other Big Ten team to do it each of the last three seasons.
• The Huskers, who joined the Big Ten in 2011-12, have averaged 10.6 conference wins per season since joining the conference. The Big Red have added eight Big Ten Tournament wins for 61 total victories over Big Ten foes during the past five years (12.2 wins per season).
• Nebraska has ranked among the top 12 schools nationally in average home attendance in each of the Huskers’ first three seasons at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Big Red have ranked among the top 10 nationally in total home attendance in each of the first three seasons at the arena, including 102,682 fans in 2015-16.
• Nebraska set a season ticket sales record with 4,032 season tickets sold as of Jan. 31, 2016. It marked the first time in school history the Huskers sold 4,000 season tickets. Nebraska’s season ticket number for 2016-17 was 3,947 as of Nov. 1, 2016.
• Nebraska featured six first-team academic All-Big Ten selections in 2015-16, including returning Huskers Jasmine Cincore, Allie Havers and Emily Wood.

Shepard Shoots For More as Sophomore
• Jessica Shepard has her sophomore season off to a strong start averaging 17.7 points and 12.3 rebounds per game. She has produced two double-doubles in three games, with 24 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Colorado State on Nov. 17, and 17 points and 15 boards in a win over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• Shepard owns 12 career double-doubles and her next double-double will move her into a tie for 10th on Nebraska’s career chart in that category.
• Shepard leads the Huskers with five three-pointers on the season, including a game-clinching three in the win over Colorado State and a buzzer-beating 60-footer to close the first half in the win over UTRGV. Shepard did not hit a three-pointer as a freshman.
• She had 30 points and 13 rebounds in an exhibition win over Southwest Baptist on Nov. 6.
• Nebraska’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Shepard became the first Husker in history to earn first-team all-conference honors as a freshman in 2015-16. During the season, she set a conference record by winning 10 Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards. She was also a two-time Big Ten Player of the Week (Dec. 21, Jan. 25).
• One of only two freshmen on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Top 30 in 2015-16, Shepard was the USBWA National Freshman of the Week (Dec. 22, 2015; Jan. 26, 2016). Shepard was the espnW and College Sports Madness National Player of the Week (Jan. 25).
• Shepard finished 10th overall in the Big Ten in scoring (18.5 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (8.6 rpg), including fourth on the offensive glass (3.1 rpg) and 10th on the defensive boards (5.5 rpg). She ranked 13th in conference field goal percentage (.510).
• The 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., finished with Nebraska freshman record averages of 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Her 574 total points were a Nebraska freshman record, while her 266 rebounds ranked second among freshmen in Husker history.
• She amassed 16 games with 20 or more points as a freshman, including 11 in Big Ten play. She produced the first of two 35-point performances against Northern Arizona Dec. 19, 2015. She added 35 points at Michigan, Jan. 24. She scored in double figures 25 times.
• Shepard averaged just 4.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in 20 minutes per game over the final two games of 2015-16 as she battled a stress reaction in her foot. She did not practice March 1-17, while she rested the injury.
• Shepard was not cleared for her first full practice until Oct. 27, 2015, after suffering an ACL tear as a high school senior on Dec. 29, 2014. On Nov. 1, she had 29 points and 12 rebounds against Nebraska-Kearney in NU’s exhibition opener. She added 42 points and 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes in a second exhibition against Winona State on Nov. 8.
• She was the top recruit in Nebraska history, as the No. 1 post and No. 3 overall recruit in the nation by ESPN. A first-team Parade All-American as a high school senior despite missing nearly all of her final year (ACL tear, Dec. 29, 2014), Shepard was the 2013 and 2014 Nebraska High School Player of the Year. Shepard averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 rebounds while helping the USA Basketball U18 Team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas Championship.

Havers Looked to for Senior Leadership
• One of the tallest Huskers in history, 6-5 center Allie Havers will be looked to for senior leadership in 2016-17. She got her senior season off to a solid start with 10 points and seven rebounds in the WNIT first-round victory over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• The senior from Mattawan, Mich., is the most experienced active Husker, competing in 99 career games with 24 starts. In fact, senior Esther Ramacieri (55) and junior Jasmine Cincore (54) are the only other Huskers who have played in more than 50 career games.
• Havers is expected to play in her 100th consecutive game as a Husker on Tuesday against Omaha.
• She tied her career high with five assists in Nebraska’s win over Colorado State on Nov. 17.
• Havers, who was a freshman on Nebraska’s 2014 Big Ten Championship team and helped the Huskers to NCAA Tournament appearances in her first two seasons in Lincoln, will need to draw on her experience to help an extremely young Husker squad with a group of first-year coaches this season.
Last season, Havers stepped into the starting lineup and stepped up her production as a junior.
• Havers tied for 15th in the Big Ten with 6.6 rebounds per game, while her 1.0 blocked shots per game tied for 14th in the conference.
• Her scoring numbers increased throughout the season, finishing at 8.3 points per game - her highest average at any point during the season. Over the final five games, Havers averaged 13.0 points and 6.8 rebounds while hitting 70.7 percent of her shots from the field in 27.8 minutes per game. In the first five games of 2015-16, Havers averaged just 4.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game, while hitting just 36 percent of her shots from the floor.
• Havers scored in double figures 11 times as a junior, including each of the final five games of the season. She has 19 career double-figure scoring efforts, including a career-high 18 points at California on Dec. 12, 2015.
• She also produced five double-figure rebound games, including a career-high 14 against Wisconsin on Jan. 27, 2016. Havers notched four double-doubles in 2015-16, including back-to-back games against Northwestern (Feb. 28) and Rutgers (March 3).
• Havers also stepped up her passing production, totaling 34 assists in 31 after managing just 21 assists in the first 65 games of her career.
• Havers added her second academic All-Big Ten award for the Huskers in 2016.

Home-Grown Huskers at Heart of Nebraska
• Nebraska’s 11-player active roster features a trio of Huskers who combined forces to win the last four Nebraska Gatorade High School Player-of-the-Year honors. Sophomore Jessica Shepard claimed state high school honors in 2013 and 2014, before fellow Husker sophomore Maddie Simon earned state player-of-the-year accolades as a senior at Lincoln Pius X High School in 2015. Shepard’s high school teammate, freshman Rylie Cascio Jensen, was named the state player of the year at Fremont High School in 2016.
• Shepard, a two-time state high school player of the year (2013, 2014), earned Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year honors as a Husker in 2015-16. The graduate of Fremont High School started 29 games for the Big Red as a freshman and averaged team highs and Husker freshman records of 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.
• Simon opened 2016-17 with six points and a career-high matching seven rebounds off the bench in Nebraska’s win over UTRGV on Nov. 12. She is averaging 5.3 points and 4.0 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game off the bench early this season.
• She started Nebraska’s final four regular-season games in 2015-16, before missing the Postseason WNIT with a severe ankle sprain suffered in practice on March 14. The 6-2 guard out of Pius X High School in Lincoln also started the season opener for the Huskers on Nov. 14. In five games as a starter, Simon averaged 7.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 23.8 minutes per game. For the season, she averaged 5.0 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 14.2 minutes over 21 contests.
• In her last two games of 2015-16, Simon averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist, while hitting 9-of-16 shots from the floor, including 4-of-9 threes. She had career highs of 16 points and seven rebounds in Nebraska’s win over Northwestern on Feb. 28. She also hit a career-high three three-pointers against the Wildcats. Simon notched three double-figure scoring performances on the season.
• Over her last seven games of 2015-16, Simon hit 8-of-19 (.421) of her three-point attempts, finishing at 12-for-35 (.343) on the season.
• Simon missed 10 games, primarily because of injuries, in 2015-16. She suffered a broken left (non-shooting) arm in a non-basketball accident on Dec. 7, 2015. She also suffered a strain in her right arm in the same fall, and a severe ankle sprain in practice before the 2016 Postseason WNIT.
• The 2015 Nebraska High School Player of the Year, Simon was a two-time first-team Super-State selection while leading Lincoln Pius X to the 2015 Class B state championship. She was the No. 149 player in the nation according to Blue Star and the No. 22 guard by ESPN in 2015. A tremendous all-around athlete, Simon won the Class A 100- and 300-meter hurdles championships at the 2015 Nebraska State Track & Field Championships.
• Her mother, Nicole Ali Simon, was a CoSIDA Academic All-American as a member of Coach Gary Pepin’s national champion Huskers in 1983 and 1984.
• Cascio Jensen averaged 22.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals to lead Fremont High School to the Class A quarterfinals as a senior in 2015-16. The 5-10 guard hit 40.7 percent of her three-point attempts and 78.2 percent of her free throws, including a Class A state record 34 straight free throws as a senior.
• As a junior in 2014-15, Cascio Jensen averaged 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists. She led Fremont to the district final despite the loss of Shepard in December to an ACL tear. At the time of her injury, Shepard was averaging 33.0 points and 14.3 rebounds per game.

Cincore Building on Strong Finish to 2015-16
• Jasmine Cincore emerged as a reliable and consistent contributor at both ends of the court throughout her sophomore season. One of five Huskers to play in all 31 games in 2015-16, Cincore made six starts in place of injured All-American Rachel Theriot, including five straight to close the campaign.
• Cincore has started each of Nebraska’s first three games this season and ranks third on the team in scoring (6.7 ppg) and second in assists (2.0 apg). She also leads the Huskers by shooting 40 percent from the field.
• Cincore opened 2016-17 with nine points and four rebounds in a win over UTRGV on Nov. 12. She added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting with a three-pointer in the win over Colorado State on Nov. 17.
• As a starter in 2015-16, Cincore averaged 7.3 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals in 35.5 minutes per game for the Huskers.
• The 5-10 guard from Arlington, Tenn., averaged 4.3 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18 minutes per game in 2015-16.
• Cincore produced the first double-digit scoring effort of her career with 16 points in a career-high 38 minutes against Indiana on Feb. 24. She closed the 2015-16 season with 10 points and a career-high-tying four rebounds to go along with three assists against Northern Iowa in the WNIT on March 17.
• A two-time Tennessee Class 2-AA Player of the Year (2013, 2014), Cincore made her first career start in her 39th career game in Nebraska’s 93-81 win at Michigan Jan. 24. She had eight points, three assists, a block and a steal in 32 minutes against the Wolverines. She had nine points and a pair of threes at No. 5 Ohio State on Feb. 21, and nine points at No. 8 Maryland on Jan. 7.
• Cincore earned academic All-Big Ten honors for the first time in 2016.

Former Walk-on Wood contributing at Guard
• Emily Wood challenged for a starting role in the Husker backcourt and has provided important contributions off the bench early in her junior season at Nebraska. The 5-5 guard from Salina, Kan., originally came to Lincoln as a walk-on, before earning a scholarship prior to her sophomore season in 2015-16.
• Wood earned a start in Nebraska’s exhibition win over Southwest Baptist on Nov. 6. She came off the bench to score three points while tying a career high with three rebounds in the Huskers’ regular-season opening victory over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• She came up with a crucial offensive rebound late in the game against Colorado State that led to Ram post player Amanda Kantzy fouling out. Wood hit both free throws with 3:38 left to give NU a 55-52 lead over CSU in a game the Huskers won 62-59.
• As a sophomore, Wood competed in 21 of Nebraska’s 32 games, including 11 of 18 Big Ten contests. She averaged 1.4 points and 0.8 rebounds.
• Wood has proven herself as a smart, tough, consistent and hard-working player. She owns a 3.5-to-1 career assist-to-turnover (14-to-4) ratio.
• Wood also has proven to be a reliable three-point threat, knocking down 10-of-30 (.333) of her career three-point attempts, including 2-of-7 (.286) as a junior and 8-of-18 (.444) as a sophomore.
• A star off the court, Wood was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and an academic All-Big Ten selection in 2016. She also earned a prestigious Nebraska Student-Athlete HERO Leadership Award in 2016, and is a two-time Tom Osborne Citizenship Team selection (2015, 2016).
• In May of 2016, Wood participated in Nebraska’s second annual Service Trip Abroad, joining 19 other Husker student-athletes across all sports in an outreach journey to the Dominican Republic.
• Wood participated in the NCAA Career in Sports Forum in 2015.
• Wood was a Kansas Class 5A all-state selection at Salina Central High School. She averaged 16.0 points per game while hitting a school-record 91 three-pointers as a senior. Her 223 career threes were also a school record.

Freshmen Need to Contribute Early
• Nebraska’s four-player freshman class of Rylie Cascio Jensen, Nicea Eliely, Grace Mitchell and Hannah Whitish will be looked to for immediate contributions on the Huskers’ 11-player active roster.
• Cascio Jensen, a 5-10 guard from Fremont High School, was the 2016 Nebraska High School Player of the Year. She averaged 22.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game for the Tigers.
• Eliely, a 6-1 guard out of Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, earned her first career start in Nebraska’s season-opening win over UTRGV on Nov. 12. Eliely performed well with nine points, two rebounds, four assists and two steals against the Vaqueros, while also drawing the primary defensive assignment on 2016 WAC Player-of-the-Year Shawnte’ Goff.
• Eliely played Nebraska’s best all-around game in the loss to No. 25 Missouri on Nov. 14. She finished with eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal against the Tigers. She also hit her first career three-pointer against the Tigers.
• She was even better in Nebraska’s win over Colorado State, contributing six points, six rebounds and career highs of six assists and three steals, while helping to frustrate and foul out 2016 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year Ellen Nystrom.
• Eliely was a Colorado Class 5A performer as a senior in 2015-16. Ranked as the No. 25 guard in the nation by ESPN and the No. 143 player in the nation by Blue Star, Eliely averaged 21.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game as a senior for the Rams.
• Whitish, a 5-9 guard from Barneveld, Wis., was the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 4.5 steals as a senior. The five-time first-team All-Wisconsin selection led Barneveld High School to four consecutive state championship game appearances including a pair of state titles. She led her team to a 110-4 record in her career, while ranking among the top 10 in Wisconsin High School history in career points with well over 2,000.
• In her Husker debut, Whitish scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting with a three-pointer, while adding two assists, one steal and no turnovers in the win over UTRGV on Nov. 12.
• After struggling against Missouri, Whitish played a huge role in Nebraska’s win over Colorado State, finishing with her first career double-figure scoring performance. Her 10-point effort in the win over the Rams included a career-high three three-pointers with the final triple coming on a cast from the deep left wing with one second on the shot clock to give Nebraska a 58-55 lead with 1:48 left. She added a free throw with 18 seconds left to seal the 62-59 win.
• Mitchell, a 6-2 forward/guard, was the Kansas Player of the Year as selected by USA Today High School Sports. She averaged 21.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks as a senior at Wellington High School. She also hit 48 percent of her three-pointers while setting a single-season school record with 533 points on her way to Kansas Class 4A Player-of-the-Year honors. She was ranked as the No. 51 wing in the nation by ESPN. She scored two points and grabbed two rebounds off the bench in her Husker debut against UTRGV, and added an important putback in Nebraska’s 62-59 win over Colorado State on Nov. 17.

Nebraska Posts 12th Straight Perfect GSR
In the eyes of the NCAA’s Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR), the Husker women’s basketball program has been perfect for 12 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 12 straight years.

The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report on Nov. 15, 2016, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 12th straight season (2004-05).
The Nebraska women’s basketball program joins the Husker women’s tennis and volleyball programs as Husker teams that have produced perfect 100 percent rates each of the last 12 years.