Huskers Take Aim at Unbeaten Jayhawks

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3) at Kansas Jayhawks (7-0)
Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m. (CT)
Allen Fieldhouse (Lawrence, Kansas)
Live Video: ESPN3
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln - 107.3 FM; Omaha - CD 105.9 FM
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com/Huskers App
Live Stats

Huskers Take Aim at Unbeaten Jayhawks
• The Nebraska women’s basketball team will play its first regular-season game against Kansas since joining the Big Ten when the Huskers travel to Lawrence to face the Jayhawks on Wednesday. Tip-off at Allen Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m.

• A live radio broadcast will be produced by the Husker Sports Network, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch teaming up for their 17th season together on the call. The game will be carried live for free on Huskers.com and over the air on select Husker Sports Network stations, including B107.3 FM and CD 105.9 FM in Omaha. Free audio also can be found on Huskers.com and the Huskers App. 

• A live video stream will be available on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN App.

• Kansas enters the game with a 7-0 record after back-to-back home wins over UMKC (63-48) and Arkansas (71-60) last week. The Huskers (5-3) also posted back-to-back home wins over UMKC (80-60) and Arkansas (80-69) in mid-November.

• Wednesday’s game will mark the 82nd all-time meeting between the Huskers and Jayhawks in women’s basketball, with Kansas owning a 50-31 lead in the series. 

• Nebraska’s 81 games against Kansas make the Jayhawks the most frequent foe in Husker history.

• The Huskers fell 77-66 in their last trip to Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 26, 2011.

• Nebraska is 7-5 in its 12 meetings with Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse since 2000. The Huskers are just 8-25 all-time against the Jayhawks in Lawrence, going 1-20 from 1975 to 1999.

• The Huskers and Jayhawks have played one time since Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten, with Kansas defeating the Huskers in the 2012 NCAA Tournament at Little Rock, Ark., 57-49 (March 18, 2012).

• Nebraska features one of the youngest lineups in the Big Ten with freshmen Taylor Kissinger (14.0 ppg) and Kate Cain (10.6 ppg) leading the Huskers in scoring through eight games. Sophomores Hannah Whitish (8.6 ppg) and Nicea Eliely (7.6 ppg) rank third and fourth in scoring, respectively, for second-year Nebraska head coach Amy Williams.

• The Husker roster includes three players from the state of Kansas (Emily Wood, Salina; Rachel Blackburn, Leavenworth; Grace Mitchell, Wellington). Wood is coming off the best performance of her career with 12 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting in a win over Arkansas Pine Bluff. The former walk-on also tied career highs with four rebounds and three steals while making her third start of the season.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten)
24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 7.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg
31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 10.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg
3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - So. - G - 8.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg
5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - So. - G - 7.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg
33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 14.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Off the Bench
34 - Jasmine Cincore - 5-10 - Sr. - F - 6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg
12 - Emily Wood - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg
15 - Bria Stallworth - 5-6 - So. - G - 5.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg
14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - So. - F - 4.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg
13 - Janay Morton - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
43 - Rachel Blackburn - 6-3 - So. - F - 2.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg
50 - Darrien Washington - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 1.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Second Season at Nebraska (12-25)
11th Season Overall (205-134)

Kansas Jayhawks (7-0, 0-0 Big 12)
14 - Austin Richardson - 6-0 - Jr. - F - 8.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg
35 - Bailey Helgren - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 1.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg
0 - Christalah Lyons - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 15.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg
2 - Brianna Osorio - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 11.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg
33 - Kylee Kopatich - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 19.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Off the Bench
55 - Tyler Johnson - 6-2 - So. - F - 6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg
12 - Micaela Wilson - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 5.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg
22 - Chayla Cheadle - 6-0 - Sr. - G - 5.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg
50 - Sara Boric - 6-5 - Jr. - C - 0.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg
1 - Chelsea Lott - 6-3 - Jr. - C - 1.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg
23 - Eboni Watts - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 0.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg
24 - Sydney Benoit - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg
Head Coach: Brandon Schneider (Wayland Baptist, 1995)
Third Season at Kansas (21-47)
20th Season Overall (422-185)

Scouting The Kansas Jayhawks
• Coach Brandon Schneider has Kansas off to a 7-0 start in his third season leading the Jayhawks.

• Kansas will be looking to match its season win total from a year ago, when the Jayhawks went 8-22 overall, including 2-16 in the Big 12.

• The Jayhawks are off to an unbeaten start despite playing without their top returning scorer from a year ago, Jessica Washington, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason practice. Washington, a 5-8 senior guard, averaged 17.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season.

• Wednesday’s game will be KU’s eighth game in a nine-game home stand at Allen Fieldhouse to open the season. 

• KU’s starting lineup does not feature a senior, but four juniors have anchored the Jayhawks’ resurgence so far this season.

• Junior guard Kylee Kopatich leads the Jayhawks with 19.0 points per game, including a career-high 26 in Sunday’s win over Arkansas. The 5-10 Kopatich is shooting a sizzling 45.3 percent (24-53) from three-point range and a near-perfect 23-of-25 (.920) at the free throw line. She also ranks second among the Jayhawks with 2.8 assists and third on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.

• Fellow junior guard Christalah Lyons ranks second on the squad with 15.9 points per game while leading KU with 4.1 assists per contest.

• A third junior, Brianna Osorio, gives the Jayhawks three guards averaging in double figures. Osorio is averaging 11.0 points per game while matching Lyons for the team lead with 1.7 steals per game. Osorio ranks second among the Jayhawks with nine three-pointers.

• Junior forward Austin Richardson has added 8.4 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting less than 30 percent from the field, including 3-for-17 from three-point range.

• Bailey Helgren, a 6-5 freshman center, rounds out KU’s projected starting five with 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

• Kansas gets significant contributions off the bench from 6-2 sophomore forward Tyler Johnson (6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and 6-2 freshman forward Micaela Wilson (5.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg)

. • Senior guard Chayla Cheadle has pitched in 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds. Her twin sister, Kayla, was a member of the KU volleyball team that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Missouri over the weekend. Kayla helped KU to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a loss to Nebraska in the NCAA semifinals in 2015. Kayla did not play in that match.

• As a team, Kansas owns a plus-17.8 points per game scoring margin (72.4-54-6) and a plus-11.7 team rebounding margin (46.9-35.1). However, the Jayhawks have a minus-0.6 team turnover margin. KU is shooting 43.3 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from three-point range. The Jayhawks have hit 68.1 percent of their free throws and have outscored their opponents by 4.4 points per game at the line.

Cain Claims Second Big Ten Freshman Honor
• Kate Cain claimed the second Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award of her young career when the conference announced its weekly honors on Monday.

• The 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots in a pair of starts for the Big Red last week. In Saturday’s win over Arkansas Pine Bluff, Cain notched her second double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while adding three blocks. Cain helped the Huskers hold UAPB to an opponent-record-low four first-quarter points, while also limiting the Lady Lions to an opponent-record-tying-low of 12 first-half points. In the first half, Cain had 10 points and six rebounds to help the Huskers take a 37-12 halftime lead. For the game, she hit 7-of-10 shots from the field.

• On Thursday, Cain produced 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots against Clemson. Cain’s six blocks tied the Nebraska freshman single-game record that was last achieved by Husker career block leader Janet Smith in January of 1979.

• Through eight games with seven starts, Cain is averaging 3.1 blocks per game. The last time a Husker averaged 1.0 or more blocks per game was Catheryn Redmon in 2010-11. Cain’s 25 total blocks on the season already rank as the seventh-best total by a Husker freshman in history.

• Cain ranks second among the Huskers in scoring (10.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg) while leading the Big Red in field goal percentage (.585).

Nebraska Streaks 
• Sophomore guard Hannah Whitish (25) now owns the longest streak of consecutive starts by a Husker. Nebraska’s second-longest streak is seven games by freshman Kate Cain (7). 

• Whitish is the only Husker to start all eight games this season. • The Huskers have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 288 straight regular-season games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008.

• Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 167 consecutive games. 

• Nebraska snapped its 19-game road losing streak with its 55-47 win over Coastal Carolina (Nov. 24) in Daytona Beach, Fla. NU’s last win in a true away game came at Michigan (93-81) on Jan. 24, 2016.

• Kate Cain has blocked at least one shot in each of the first eight games of her career. She has seven games with two or more blocks.

• Jasmine Cincore has notched at least one assist in 17 consecutive games dating back to a game at Purdue on Jan. 26, 2017. She went without an assist against Michigan (Jan. 22, 2017).

• Hannah Whitish has posted at least one assist in 10 consecutive games, and has three or more assists in seven games this season.

• Bria Stallworth has at least one assist in all eight games this season.

• Taylor Kissinger has knocked down at least one three-pointer in six consecutive games.

• Kissinger has at least three rebounds in each of her seven games this season.

• Whitish has a steal in six consecutive games - the longest active streak by a Husker.

• Whitish has knocked down a three-pointer in five consecutive games.