Huskers Open Exhibition Play with Bearcats

Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-13, 9-9 Big Ten - 2015-16)
vs. Southwest Baptist Bearcats (16-13, 11-11 MIAA - 2015-16)
Sunday, Nov. 6, 2 p.m.
Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com/Huskers App/TuneIn App
Live Video Stream: Not Available
Tickets: Huskers.com

Huskers Open Exhibition Play with Bearcats
The Nebraska women’s basketball team opens play for the 2016-17 season when the Huskers take on Southwest Baptist in exhibition action at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Bearcats is set for 2 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com.

Free live audio of Sunday’s exhibition game will be available on Huskers.com and through the Huskers App and the TuneIn App. The game will be carried live on radio by the Husker Sports Network. No live video stream is available for Sunday’s game.

Nebraska’s exhibition game with the Bearcats will mark the first appearance on the Husker sideline for Coach Amy Williams. The former Husker (Amy Gusso, 1995-98) led South Dakota to 32 victories and a WNIT Championship last season. Williams was a two-time Summit League Coach of the Year at South Dakota, while leading the Coyotes to the conference tournament title game in each of her four seasons in Vermillion.

While Williams and her entire 2015-16 USD staff (Tom Goehle, Chuck Love, Tandem Mays, Amanda Hart) will make their Husker debuts against Southwest Baptist, many familiar faces return to the court to power Nebraska.

Jessica Shepard, a 6-4 sophomore forward from Fremont, Neb., who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors a year ago, returns to lead an experienced front court. The 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Shepard averaged team highs of 18.5 points and 8.6 rebounds in 2015-16. She also claimed Preseason All-Big Ten honors heading into 2016-17.

Shepard is joined inside by senior Allie Havers. The 6-5 center from Mattawan, Mich., averaged 8.3 points and 6.6 rebounds in her first season as a starter in 2015-16. Havers and Shepard should give the Big Red one of the Big Ten’s most formidable starting front lines in 2016-17.

Senior guard Esther Ramacieri, junior guards Jasmine Cincore and Emily Wood, and sophomore guard Maddie Simon will all provide levels of experience to the Husker backcourt. Newcomers Rylie Cascio Jensen, Hannah Whitish, Nicea Eliely and Grace Mitchell are all expected to get chances to contribute early in their Nebraska careers.

Sunday's Probable Lineups
Nebraska Cornhuskers (18-13, 9-9 Big Ten)
32 - Jessica Shepard - 6-4 - So. - F - 18.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg
22 - Allie Havers - 6-5 - Sr. - C - 8.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg
11 - Esther Ramacieri - 5-8 - Sr. - G - 0.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg
12 - Emily Wood - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 1.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg
34 - Jasmine Cincore - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 4.3 ppg, 1.8 rpg
Off the Bench
24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - So. - G - 5.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg
50 - Darrien Washington - 6-2 - So. - F - 2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg
2 - Rylie Cascio Jensen - 5-10 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Fr. - F/G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
First Season at Nebraska (0-0)
10th Season Overall (193-109)

Southwest Baptist Bearcats (16-13, 11-11 MIAA)
3 - Caylee Richardson - 6-2 - So. - F - 13.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg
22 - Mackenzie Skupa - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 6.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg
1 - Morgan Henderson - 6-0 - So. - G - 2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg
2 - Megan Rosenbohm - 5-6 - Jr. - G - 10.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
4 - Alex Botkin - 5-7 - Sr. - G - 3.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg
Off the Bench
24 - Natalie O’Keefe - 6-3 - Sr. - C - 3.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg
14 - Aliyah Isaac - 5-9 - Sr. - G - 2.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg
00 - Taylor Jackson - 5-5 - So. - G - 1.7 ppg, 0.5 rpg
32 - Gokce Cetin - 6-1 - Jr. - G/F - 1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
5 - Laura Vierkant - 5-6 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
12 - Madison Strong - 5-6 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
13 - Kameron Schaaf - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
23 - Bailey Rezeback - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
30 - Kiana Peterson - 6-3 - Jr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
34 - Monique Manuel - 6-3 - Fr. - C - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Head Coach: Kelsey Keizer (Drake, 2008)
Third Season at Southwest Baptist (25-31)
Third Season Overall (25-31)

Scouting Southwest Baptist
Southwest Baptist comes to Lincoln for the first time to meet the Huskers in exhibition play on Sunday. Coach Kelsey Keizer led the NCAA Division II Bearcats to a 16-13 overall record that included an 11-11 MIAA conference mark last season. Keizer enters her third season as the head coach at Southwest Baptist. In her first season, the Bearcats struggled to a 9-18 overall record that included a 4-15 MIAA mark. She was also an assistant coach at SBU for three seasons before taking the reins as head coach.

Southwest Baptist, which is located in Bolivar, Mo., features talented sophomore Calee Richardson. The 6-2 forward from Hesston, Kan., led the Bearcats with 13.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as a freshman while starting all 29 games.

Richardson was joined up front in all 29 contests a year ago by Campbell, Neb., native Mackenzie Skupa. The 6-2 senior forward out of Silver Lake High School averaged 6.8 points and 3.9 boards per game as a junior.

Alex Botkin, a 5-7 senior guard from Republic, Mo., gives the Bearcats a third returner who started all 29 games last season. Botkin averaged 3.9 points and 2.4 boards as a junior for the Bearcats.

Southwest Baptist will be looking to replace starters Dilonna Johnson (10.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.0 apg) and Sarah Magana (6.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.4 apg), who combined for nearly two-thirds (217-of-381) of the Bearcats’ assists last year. Megan Rosenbohm, a 5-6 junior guard who averaged 10.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while leading SBU with 1.8 steals per game, will be a leading candidate for a starting job after coming off the bench in all 29 games last year.

Morgan Henderson, a 6-0 sophomore guard, saw the most playing time of SBU’s non-starting returning players. She averaged 2.2 points and 1.8 rebounds a year ago. Aliyah Isaac, a 5-9 senior guard, also saw substantial playing time last year and contributed 2.9 points per game.

Southwest Baptist will bring six newcomers to Lincoln with a five-player freshman class and 6-3 junior college transfer Kiana Peterson.

Husker Nuggets
• Sunday’s exhibition game marks the first-ever meeting between Nebraska and Southwest Baptist.
• Nebraska sophomore Jessica Shepard set the school’s exhibition game scoring record in a 96-66 win over Winona State, Nov. 8, 2015. Shepard erupted for 42 points on 16-of-19 shooting in just 25 minutes against the Warriors. Shepard went 10-for-10 at the free throw line and grabbed 12 rebounds, while going head-to-head with former Iowa post player Kayla Timmerman.
• Shepard opened her Husker career with 29 points and 12 rebounds in just 17 minutes in a 92-54 win over Nebraska-Kearney in exhibition play on Nov. 1, 2015. She was cleared for full-court, 5-on-5 practice less than one week prior to last year’s exhibition opener. She hit 11-of-19 field goal attempts and 7-of-11 free throws against the Lopers.
• In two career exhibition games, Shepard is averaging 35.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in 21.0 minutes per game while hitting 27-of-38 shots (.711) from the floor and 17-of-21 free throws (.810).
• Nebraska has won its last 11 exhibition games by at least 30 points. The last time the Huskers won an exhibition game by fewer than 30 points came in a 78-60 win over Pittsburg State on Oct. 31, 2010.
• Nebraska has won 30 consecutive exhibition games dating back to an 81-58 loss to the Australian Institute of Sport on Nov. 12, 2000.
• Nebraska is 40-2 all-time in regular-season home openers with its last loss coming to South Dakota State (68-49) on Nov. 19, 2005. The Huskers’ only other home-opening loss came to Kansas (88-56) on Nov. 21, 1980. The loss to KU was Coach Colleen Matsuhara’s first game as Nebraska’s head coach.

Shepard Leads Big Red on B1G Stage
• Sophomore Jessica Shepard earned Preseason All-Big Ten honors when the conference announced its preseason awards on Monday, 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 roster have ever started a game for the Huskers, and that includes sophomore forward Rachel Blackburn who will sit out the 2016-17 season as redshirt after undergoing surgery on both her knees on Oct. 4. Blackburn started 10 games for the Huskers as a freshman in 2015-16.
• Although Jessica Shepard is just a sophomore, she is Nebraska’s returning leader with 29 career starts in 31 games as a freshman.
• A three-year contributor on the court, 6-5 senior Allie Havers adds 21 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 (6), Maddie Simon (5) and Esther Ramacieri (4). Overall, Nebraska returns a total of 65 starts to begin 2016-17.
• 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 52 all-time home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Huskers own an impressive 43-9 record (.827 winning percentage) while averaging 5,845 fans per game (303,960 total fans/52 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.

Huskers Prepare for Preseason WNIT
Nebraska opens the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 12) by playing host to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT. It will mark Nebraska’s first home appearance in women’s college basketball’s premier regular-season tournament since exactly 12 years ago when the Big Red defeated Western Illinois (74-71) at the Devaney Center on Nov. 12, 2004.

Nebraska’s last game in the Preseason WNIT came at then-No. 10 Notre Dame on Nov. 14, 2004. The Fighting Irish are back in the 16-team tournament again this year, and are scheduled to host all four rounds, if they win.

Nebraska is guaranteed to host at least three rounds - win or lose - during the nine-day tournament.

Nebraska tips off the regular season against UTRGV in the Preseason WNIT on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. The Huskers will then play either Missouri or Abilene Christian at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Monday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.

If the Huskers can muster two wins against the strong early round competition, they could face 2016 Final Four participant Washington or a Colorado State team that won 31 games a year ago as the Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament champions. Nebraska’s third game in the Preseason WNIT is set for Thursday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m.

Huskers Have History of Home-Opening Success
Nebraska owns a history of season-opening success on the Huskers’ homecourt. NU notched its 40th season-opening win with a 96-46 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 14. NU is 3-0 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in season openers, including a 100-65 victory 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 217-34 in the past 42 years in its first six home contests (.865), including 36-6 in Game No. 2. The Huskers have won 16 straight in their second home games of the year. Nebraska is 34-8 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.

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 could play as many as 11 games against NCAA Tournament teams and as many as 11 more against Postseason WNIT teams in 2016-17.

Nebraska’s appearances in the 2016 Preseason WNIT to open the year will feature at least three and possibly four 2016 postseason foes.
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 likely feature 13 games against postseason teams, including all eight Big Ten Conference home games.

Nebraska Streaks
• Nebraska has won 30 consecutive exhibition games dating back to an 81-58 loss to the Australian Institute of Sport on Nov. 12, 2000.
• Nebraska has won 11 consecutive exhibition games by at least 30 points dating back to a 78-60 win over Pittsburg State on Oct. 31, 2010.
• Nebraska has won 10 consecutive regular-season home openers dating back to a 68-49 loss to South Dakota State on Nov. 19, 2005.
• Nebraska is 3-0 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 33.7 points per contest.
• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 251 straight regular-season games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008.
• Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 130 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 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.

Huskers to Learn Day-by-Day, Minute-by-Minute
• First-year Nebraska Coach Amy Williams and her staff will try to guide an extremely inexperienced Husker team through the 2016-17 season.
• Senior center Allie Havers is the most experienced Husker with 96 career games and 1,583 career minutes. Havers is the only active Husker who has played more than 1,000 collegiate minutes. In fact, she has played more minutes than senior guard Esther Ramacieri (282 minutes, 52 games), junior guard Jasmine Cincore (653 minutes, 51 games), junior guard Emily Wood (158 minutes, 31 games), sophomore guard Maddie Simon (299 minutes, 21 games) and sophomore forward Darrien Washington (39 minutes, 10 games) combined (1,331 minutes).
• Sophomore forward Jessica Shepard ranks second among active Huskers in career minutes with 884. In all, Nebraska returns just 3,798 minutes of active collegiate experience, which ranks 11th in the Big Ten. Only Illinois (3,108), Wisconsin (2,985) and Rutgers (2,253) have fewer minutes of returning experience to their respective teams than Nebraska.
• Nebraska’s returning players have combined for just under 19 full 40-minute games of experience.
• Northwestern has three seniors (Nia Coffey, Ashley Deary and Christen Inman) who have each played more than 3,000 career minutes for the Wildcats, combining for 9,620 minutes. As a team, Northwestern returns 14,195 minutes on the court, which does not include 413 minutes for Oceana Hamilton who played two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Northwestern and sitting out 2015-16.
• Indiana returns 10,671 minutes and that does not include 3,497 minutes from transfers Amber Deane (2,697, Dayton) and Tia Elbert (800, Marquette) who are both eligible to play this year for the Hoosiers.
• Michigan senior guard Sierra Thompson has played 3,517 career minutes entering 2016-17, while Iowa senior Ally Disterhoft has played 3,346. Northwestern’s Ashley Deary (3,319), Nia Coffey (3,231) and Christen Inman (3,070) join Michigan State’s Tori Jankoska (3,209) as the six returning players in the Big Ten who have played more than 3,000 career minutes entering the season.

Shepard Sets Big Red Records as Freshman
• Jessica Shepard set a Nebraska freshman record with 574 points, shattering Debra Powell’s previous NU freshman mark of 461 (1981-82) by 113 points. Shepard’s 18.5 points per game smashed Powell’s Husker freshman mark of 15.4 points per game.
• Shepard’s 8.6 rebounds per game broke Powell’s previous Nebraska freshman mark of 7.6 per game (1981-82). With 266 total rebounds, Shepard finished 11 shy of Kathy Hagerstrom’s freshman mark of 277 (1979-80). Shepard amassed her rebounds in 31 games. Hagerstrom pulled down her 277 in 40 games.
• Shepard produced one of the best individual performances in Nebraska history with a freshman-record 35 points to go along with 20 rebounds in a win at Michigan on Jan. 24. It is the only 30-point/20-rebound performance in Nebraska women’s basketball history.
• Shepard owns the Nebraska freshman record with 10 double-doubles. She had six double-doubles in Big Ten play. She is just the eighth Husker in history to produce 10 double-doubles in a season.
• Shepard’s 228 made field goals were a Nebraska freshman record.
• Her 203 free throw attempts set the Nebraska freshman record in that category in 2015-16.
• Shepard’s 20 free throw attempts against Northern Arizona (Dec. 19) were the most by any Husker in a game in history, regardless of class.
• Shepard produced a record-setting regular-season debut with 24 points and 13 rebounds against Arkansas Pine Bluff Nov. 14. She became the first freshman in history to notch a double-double in an opener and her 24 points and 13 rebounds were the most by a freshman in school history in a season-opening game.

Shepard Shoots for More as Sophomore
• Nebraska’s first Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Jessica 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 the season 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.
• The senior from Mattawan, Mich., is the most experienced active Husker, competing in 96 career games with 21 starts entering her final season at Nebraska. In fact, senior Esther Ramacieri (52) and junior Jasmine Cincore (51) are the only other Huskers who have played in more than 50 career games entering 2016-17.
• 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 18 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 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 Hopes to Build 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.
• As a starter, 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 Emerging at Guard
• Nebraska junior Emily Wood is contending for a starting role in the Husker backcourt. 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.
• 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-to-1 career assist-to-turnover (12-to-4) ratio.
• Wood also has proven to be a reliable three-point threat, knocking down 8-of-23 (.348) of her career three-point attempts, including 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, 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Blackburn to Redshirt after Surgeries
• Sophomore Rachel Blackburn will redshirt during the 2016-17 season after undergoing season-ending surgery on her knees on Oct. 4, 2016.
• The 6-3 forward from Leavenworth, Kan., averaged 6.3 points and 7.6 rebounds in nearly 24 minutes per contest in Nebraska’s first nine games as a true freshman in 2015-16. She was limited greatly in both practice and games in NU’s final 23 contests last season, missing seven games entirely, while averaging just 13 minutes per contest in 16 games the rest of the way. She averaged just 2.4 points and 4.0 boards in those games, while being limited by chronic knee pain.
• Blackburn underwent knee surgery soon after the 2015-16 season and was hoping to contribute in 2016-17. However, she continued to be limited during the summer and elected to try another procedure to alleviate knee pain this fall.

Pair of Transfers Preparing for 2017-18
• Nebraska added a pair of NCAA Division I transfers following the hiring of Coach Amy Williams in April of 2016. Senior Janay Morton (Eastern Michigan) and sophomore Bria Stallworth (UMass) both elected to leave their former schools after coaching changes at their schools.
• Morton, a 5-10 guard from Brooklyn Park, Minn., was a third-team All-Mid-American Conference selection in 2015-16. She was also a member of the 2016 MAC All-Defensive Team, and she was chosen to the MAC All-Freshman Team in 2014.
• In Morton’s three seasons at EMU, she amassed 1,341 points, 364 rebounds, 249 assists and 223 steals over 103 games with 94 starts. She averaged 13.5 points per game as a junior in 2015-16, while knocking down 76 three-pointers. She also led the MAC with 96 steals.
• Stallworth, a 5-6 guard from Chicago, Ill., earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie Team after leading all A-10 freshmen in scoring (13.1 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg). She also hit 35.1 percent of her three-pointers.
• Stallworth was ranked as the No. 33 point guard in the nation ESPN as a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School in Illinois.

Nebraska’s History of Home Success
• Nebraska went 15-4 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2015-16 after going 12-3 (13-3 at home) in 2014-15. The Huskers are 43-9 all-time at Pinnacle Bank Arena since the building opened for the 2013-14 campaign. • The Big Red went 16-2 at home in 2013-14, suffering their only Big Ten loss to Purdue, 77-75, on Jan. 19, 2014. Nebraska’s 16 home wins in 2013-14 tied the school record for single-season home victories. • The Huskers played the first regular-season basketball game in the history of the arena against USA Today No. 25 UCLA (Nov. 8) and rolled to a 77-49 win over the Bruins. NU’s first win over an AP Top 25 team came with a 76-56 win over No. 24 Michigan State on Feb. 8. The Huskers added their first-ever win over an AP Top 10 team at the arena with a 94-74 victory over No. 8 Penn State on Feb. 24.
• NU won its first-ever Big Ten home game with a 66-65 thriller over Northwestern Jan. 2, before an 88-85 win over Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2014, marked the first overtime game in Pinnacle Bank Arena history.
• NU suffered its first loss at the arena to Washington State (76-72) on Nov. 30, 2013. 
• The Huskers are 431-139 (.756) all-time at home. The Huskers have gone 168-43 (.796) over the last 13 seasons, posting double-figure home victory totals in each of the last 13 years.
• Nebraska played in the Devaney Center from 1976-77 through 2012-13, and added one appearance at Devaney against Utah on Nov. 23, 2014. The Huskers own a 389-130 record at the Devaney Center, including 146-88 (.624) mark in conference play.

Husker Sports Network Covers World
The Husker Sports Network is in its 23rd season producing and marketing the live broadcasts of Nebraska women’s basketball in 2016-17. Women’s basketball play-by-play announcer Matt Coatney and color commentator Jeff Griesch are teaming up for their 16th season together as the Huskers’ broadcast team.

The Husker Sports Network and Nebraska women’s basketball have teamed up for well over a decade to take every game, home and away, around the world for free on Huskers.com.

In addition to carrying every women’s basketball game free on Huskers.com, the Husker Sports Network flagship stations B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln) and ESPN 590 AM-KXSP (Omaha) provide strong signals for Husker women’s basketball. When a network conflict occurs in Omaha, the Huskers also could be heard on CD105.9 FM-KKCD. 880-AM-KRVN (Lexington) also provides a huge AM signal statewide in central Nebraska, while more than 20 stations carry the Husker Sports Network’s women’s basketball coverage across the state and the Midwest.

Inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, fans can access the direct radio call of the game at 87.7 FM.

Huskers More than Fair in Foul Department
The Huskers committed 14.5 fouls per game, which ranked 24th nationally in 2015-16. Nebraska’s 451 fouls ranked as the fifth-fewest in school history. NU was whistled for a season-low six fouls against Creighton Dec. 6.

The Huskers ended 2014-15 ranked No. 5 in the final NCAA Division I statistics for fewest personal fouls per game. Nebraska committed just 13.2 fouls per game, including a school-record four fouls in the win over Bakersfield Dec. 13. Nebraska’s 422 total fouls in 2014-15 were the fewest in school history.

In 2013-14, NU led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally by committing just 13.1 fouls per game. Nebraska continued a non-fouling trend from 2012-13. The Huskers were whistled for a school-record 12.8 fouls per game in 2012-13, including 11 fouls per game in Big Ten regular-season games.

In Nebraska’s loss at No. 22 California on Dec. 12, 2015, the Huskers were whistled for 23 fouls, which marked the highest foul total by an NU team since registering 26 fouls in the season opener against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 12, 2011. That was the only other time in the last 216 games that the Huskers had been called for 23 or more fouls.

Nebraska’s 11-foul differential at Cal was even more rare. In fact, it tied for the second-worst foul differential in the last 14 years at Nebraska, a span of 446 games. The only game that was worse came with minus-12 (21-9) at Iowa State on Jan. 14, 2006 - 318 games earlier. Only four times in the last 446 games has Nebraska experienced a negative double-digit foul differential. The Huskers have produced positive double-digit foul differentials in 12 of the past 96 games and 28 times in the last 446 games, including plus-12 (27-15) against Northern Arizona Dec. 19 and plus-10 against Arkansas State on Dec. 21, 2015.

Nebraska Posts 11th 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 11 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 11 straight years.

The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report on Nov. 3, 2015, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 11th straight season (2004-05).

The Nebraska women’s basketball program joins the Husker women’s golf, women’s tennis and volleyball programs as Husker teams that have produced perfect 100 percent rates each of the last 11 years.

Nebraska was one of six Big Ten women’s basketball programs to post 100 percent rates in 2014-15, joining Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin. All 14 Big Ten women’s programs posted GSR rates above 80 percent last season. The Big Ten’s six teams with 100 percent GSR scores led the Big Five conferences, ahead of five each for the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC, while the SEC managed four.