Huskers Shoot for Win at Washington State

Nebraska Cornhuskers at Washington State Cougars Friday, November 16, 2018, 7:30 p.m. (CT) Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Wash.) Live Video: Pac-12.com (WSU Stream) Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (7 p.m.) Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst) Lincoln-1400 AM-KLIN; Omaha-ESPN 590 AM Huskers.com & Huskers App, TuneIn Live Stats

Huskers Shoot for Road Win at Washington State • The Nebraska women’s basketball team opens a five-game road swing by traveling to Washington State to battle the Cougars on Friday night. • Tip off between the Huskers (1-1) and Washington State (0-2) is set for 7:30 p.m. (CT) on Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Wash. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, beginning at 7 p.m. on 1400 KLIN in Lincoln and ESPN 590 AM in Omaha, along with other stations across the network. Free live audio can also be found at Huskers.com and on the Huskers App. • Nebraska heads to Pullman in search of its first road win after splitting a pair of games at Pinnacle Bank Arena during the opening week of the season. The Huskers are coming off an 87-64 win over USC Upstate on Sunday. • Sophomore Taylor Kissinger led the Huskers with 22 points against the Spartans, including a school-record 6-for-6 effort from three-point range. Kissinger is averaging a team-best 15.0 points per game early this season, while adding 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists. • Fellow sophomore Kate Cain pitched in 16 points against USC Upstate. She ranks second on the team with 10.0 points while tying for the team lead with 5.0 rebounds per contest. Cain is also averaging 3.0 blocks. • Nebraska will be playing Washington State for the third consecutive year, and will be aiming to come away with its first win against many familiar faces for the Cougars. Last year, WSU won 73-61 in Lincoln (Dec. 22) after defeating the Huskers 79-65 in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, 2016.  • It will actually be the fifth meeting between the Huskers and Cougars in the last six years. Washington State won the first game by an opponent at Pinnacle Bank Arena (76-72, Nov. 30, 2013), and Nebraska defeated the Cougars in Pullman (82-61, Nov. 14, 2014). • Williams, who enters her third season leading her alma mater at Nebraska, was the 2018 Big Ten Coach of the Year and a semifinalist (1 of 10) for Naismith National Coach-of-the-Year honors. • Junior Hannah Whitish earned preseason first-team All-Big Ten honors after claiming second-team all-conference accolades as a sophomore. The 5-9 guard from Barneveld, Wis., led the Huskers in scoring (12.6 ppg), assists (4.7 apg), steals (1.3 spg) and three-pointers made (73) last season. The only Husker to start all 32 games last year, she carried a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as Nebraska’s point guard. She had a string of 50 straight starts and 60 consecutive games with at least a point snapped by USC Upstate. Whitish did not start while nursing a minor leg injury. She dished out four assists but did not score in 15 minutes off the bench. • Kate Cain is expected to play a big role for the Huskers in 2018-19. The 6-5 sophomore from Middletown, N.Y., is one of 20 preseason candidates for the Lisa Leslie National Center-of-the-Year Award presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association of America. Cain led the Big Ten with 3.1 blocks per game last year and ranked among the top 10 players in the nation with a school-record 100 blocks. She averaged 9.9 points and a team-leading 7.0 rebounds per contest on her way to spots on the Big Ten All-Defensive and Big Ten All-Freshman teams.  • Lincoln native Maddie Simon is the only fourth-year senior in the Husker program this season. The 6-2 forward was one of the Big Ten’s most improved players last season, averaging 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in her first season as a starter.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) 24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg 31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - So. - C - 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 5.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg 5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 9.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg 33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - So. - G - 15.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg Off the Bench 4 - Sam Haiby - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 8.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg 13 - Ashtyn Veerbeek - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 11 - Kristian Hudson - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 6.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg 44 - Kayla Mershon - 6-3 - Fr. - F - 4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg 32 - Leigha Brown - 6-1 - Fr. - F - 6.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg 14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 3.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998) Third Season at Nebraska (29-34); 12th Season Overall (222-143)

Washington State Cougars (0-2, 0-0 Pac 12) 13 - Shir Levy - 5-11 - Fr. - F - 3.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg 45 - Borislava Hristova - 6-0 - Jr. - F - 20.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg 20 - Maria Kostourkova - 6-4 - Sr. - C - 7.0 ppg, 10.5 rpg 11 - Chanelle Molina - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 9.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg 23 - Alexys Swedlund - 5-11 - Sr. - G - 12.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg Off the Bench 15 - Ula Motuga - 6-0 - Fr. - F - 8.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg 33 - Cherilyn Molina - 5-6 - Fr. - G - 1.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg 41 - Jovana Subasic - 6-4 - So. - F - 1.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg 22 - Celena Molina - 5-9 - RFr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg Head Coach: Kamie Ethridge (Texas, 1986) First Season at Washington State (0-2); Fifth Season Overall (83-46)

Scouting The Washington State Cougars • Coach Kamie Ethridge brings her first Washington State team into Friday’s game in Pullman in search of her first win as head coach of the Cougars. • WSU opened the season with a 72-61 loss to Utah State (Nov. 6), before falling 70-64 to Saint Mary’s (Nov. 11). Both games were play in Pullman on Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum. • Ethridge, who headed to Washington State after leading Northern Colorado to the 2018 NCAA Tournament, was a long-time assistant under Coach Deb Patterson at Kansas State. Former KSU shooting guard Laurie Koehn is the associate head coach for the Cougars. • Ethridge was the Wade Trophy winner while leading Texas to the NCAA title under Coach Jody Conradt in 1986. She was also the 2018 Big Sky Coach of the Year at Northern Colorado. • While Ethridge has replaced former coach June Daugherty in leading the WSU program, many of the players who have notched wins over Nebraska the past two seasons are still in Pullman. • Borislava Hristova (a.k.a. Bobby Buckets) leads WSU in scoring with 20.0 points in 37.0 minutes per game through two contests. She has added 5.0 rebounds per game. Last year, Hristova scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting in a 73-61 win over the Huskers in Lincoln, including 2-of-5 threes. This year, the 6-0 forward from Bulgaria has hit just 1-of-12 threes, but is 15-of-24 (.625) on her two-point attempts. As a freshman in 2016-17, Hristova scored nine points as a starter as Washington State built a 68-38 lead in the third quarter, before settling for a 79-65 win at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas. • Hristova owns 1,142 career points in two-plus seasons for Washington State. • Senior Alexys Swedlund matched Hristova for team-high scoring honors last year with 16 points on 2-of-9 three-point shooting. She added six rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. Swedlund, who ranks second among the Cougars with 12.0 points per game this season and leads the team with five threes, scored seven points in the WSU win in Las Vegas two seasons ago. • Swedlund, a 5-11 shooting guard from Rapid City, S.D., is closing in on 1,000 career points with 850 despite starting just 31 career games. Swedlund has hit 162 threes in her career. • A third starter from last year’s game between the Huskers and Cougars, 6-4 senior center Maria Kostourkova from Portugal, had six points and five rebounds in 13 minutes. She also had six points, four rebounds and four steals in 13 minutes off the bench against NU two seasons ago. • Through two games this season, Kostourkova is averaging 7.0 points and a team-high 10.5 rebounds in 30.5 minutes per game. Although she has started 62 career games, Kostourkova has never averaged 23 minutes per game in her career. • Junior point guard Chanelle Molina started and produced six points and six assists as a true freshman against the Huskers in 2016. She actually started the first 17 games of her career before suffering a season-ending knee injury, but was still named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. • Last season, Molina played 11 minutes off the bench against the Big Red and managed two points and four assists. Through two games this season, Molina is averaging 9.5 points and 6.0 assists in 39.0 minutes per game. She has never averaged more than 25.5 minutes per game in a season. • Molina, who is from Kailua Kona, Hawaii, also has two younger sisters on the team - redshirt freshman Celena and true freshman Cherilyn. Both saw action off the bench in both games to open the season last week. • True freshman Shir Levy, a 5-11 forward from Israel, joined Hristova, Swedlund, Chanelle Molina, and Kostourkova in the starting five in WSU’s first two games. Levy averaged 3.0 points in 13.0 minutes per game. • Another true freshman, Ula Motuga was by far the most productive Cougar off the bench during the season’s opening week. The 6-0 forward from Logan, Australia averaged 8.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game. • Jovana Subasic, a 6-4 redshirt sophomore from Serbia, managed two points in seven total minutes last week. She redshirted as a freshman in 2016-17 and played in just 12 games last season. She did not play against the Huskers. • Only two players on Washington State’s 11-player roster come from the mainland United States - Swedlund from South Dakota and Michaela Jones, a 5-10 guard from Wymore, Neb., who played at Beatrice High School. Jones signed her National Letter of Intent to play at Northern Colorado for Coach Kamie Ethridge, then was released from that NLI and elected to follow the staff to WSU. She was the only member of the Washington State roster who did not play last week. • Washington State went 3-for-13 from three-point range in a loss to Utah State and just 7-for-30 from long range in the loss to Saint Mary’s. The Cougars head into the weekend shooting 23.3 percent from beyond the arc (10-43). In the two previous meetings with Nebraska, the Cougars are a collective 16-for-45 (.356) from three-point range.

Nebraska vs. Washington State Series History • Nebraska owns a 5-3 edge in the all-time series with Washington State, but the Cougars have claimed wins in three of the last four meetings. • Friday’s game will mark the fifth time in the past six seasons that the Huskers and Cougars have met in women’s basketball. • All eight of the previous meetings in the series have come since 2003, when Nebraska defeated Washington State, 64-56 in Pullman on Dec. 4. NU completed a home-and-home series sweep with a 78-61 win over WSU at the Devaney Center in Lincoln on Nov. 22, 2004. • Exactly five years later, Nebraska raced to a 107-54 win over the Cougars at the Devaney Center on Nov. 22, 2009. That Husker team went unbeaten during the regular season, won the Big 12 title and advanced to the school’s first NCAA Sweet Sixteen. NU completed a second series sweep with an 87-79 win in Pullman on Nov. 22, 2010. • The two schools opened a third series in Nebraska’s first year inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, and the Cougars clawed their way to a 76-72 win on Nov. 30, 2013, to become the first opponent to record a victory inside NU’s new home. That Husker team went on to win the Big Ten title. • Nebraska improved to 3-0 all-time in Pullman and earned a series split with an 82-61 run past WSU on Nov. 19, 2014. • The Big Red and Cougars met for the first time on a neutral court in Nebraska Coach Amy Williams’ first season at Nebraska (2016-17). The Huskers fell to Washington State, 79-65 at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas on Nov. 25, 2016. • Nebraska and Washington State opened a fourth home-and-home series with the Cougars working their way to a 73-61 win to close NU’s non-conference season a year ago on Dec. 22, 2017, in Lincoln.  • Washington State became the first non-conference opponent to beat the Huskers twice at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The only other school to accomplish that feat is Drake, who opened the 2018-19 season with an 83-77 win in Lincoln on Nov. 7.

Husker Nuggets • Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes in each of its first two games to open 2018-19. The last time the Huskers accomplished that feat was Game No. 16 (Jan. 7, at Northwestern-10) and No. 17 (Jan. 10, at Illinois-12) last season. The Huskers also did it with 10 against Buffalo (Nov. 23) and 11 against Coastal Carolina (Nov. 24) last season in Daytona Beach, Fla. • No Nebraska team has ever hit 10 or more three-pointers in three consecutive games. • Through the first 20 seasons with the three-point shot in women’s basketball (1998-2007), Nebraska had hit 10 threes in a game only six times in school history. Last year, Nebraska knocked down 10 or more threes a school-record eight times in 32 games. • The Huskers have hit seven or more three-pointers in six consecutive games dating back to last season. • Nebraska has hit 75 percent or better from the free throw line in its first two games this season. Last year it took Nebraska 20 games to achieve that statistical mark. • Nebraska has not won its first game away from home to start a season since defeating Washington State, 82-61, in Pullman on Nov. 19, 2014.  • The Huskers have not won a true road game in November since knocking off UCLA in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, 2014. • Nicea Eliely leads Nebraska’s active roster with 57 career starts as a Husker. Hannah Whitish (50) is the only other Husker with as many as 50 starts at Nebraska. • Kristian Hudson leads Nebraska with 88 collegiate starts, including her first start as a Husker against USC Upstate (Nov. 11). • Senior Maddie Simon has played more games as a Husker than any other player with 80, while fellow senior Kristian Hudson has played in 91 career collegiate games, including two at NU.

Huskers Sign Three in Early Period • Coach Amy Williams and the Nebraska women’s basketball program received National Letters of Intent from three outstanding young players on the first day of the early signing period on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. • Australian Isabelle Bourne brings an impressive international resume’ with her to Nebraska. The 6-2 forward won a pair of gold medals in 2017 while representing Australia at the Oceania Championship in Guam and at the FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup 3-on-3 tournament in Mongolia.  • “Isabelle Bourne will be a fantastic addition to our program,” Williams said. “She has been training with high-level coaches and high-level players at the Australian Institute of Sport and has become a skilled and versatile forward.  She is crafty around the basket and effective as a weapon on the perimeter.  Her experiences competing internationally for Australia have prepared her to transition seamlessly to Nebraska.” • Trinity Brady, a 5-11 guard from Indianapolis, was one of the top players in Indiana at Lawrence North High School in 2017-18, before transferring to national power Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Chattanooga, Tenn., for her senior season. Brady is a big, powerful guard who has the potential to be a strong rebounder and potent scorer at the Big Ten level. As a junior at Lawrence North, she earned a spot on the IBCA Subway Supreme 15 Underclass All-State Team after averaging 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. • “We are thrilled that Trinity Brady will be joining the Nebraska women’s basketball family and living out her dream to play in the Big Ten Conference,” Williams said. “She spends a great deal of time in the gym working on her game, and it shows in her skill level.  She is dangerous with the ball in her hands and can score comfortably at all three levels. Her size and strength combined with her basketball IQ, make her a valuable addition for our program.” • While Bourne and Brady will provide Nebraska with size and strength, guard Makenzie Helms is expected to be a play-maker at the point. Helms averaged 17.5 points and 7.2 assists as a junior at East Haven High School to earn a spot on the USA Today All-Connecticut team. She was ranked as the No. 27 point guard in the class of 2019 by ESPN. • “We are excited to add Makenzie to the Husker women’s basketball family,” Williams said. “She has incredible court vision and creates offense for her teammates with tempo and passing ability. Combining that with her confident scoring mentality and her ability to score at all three levels, Makenzie is a great fit for the versatility we like in our system. She is an intense competitor, and we are eager to have her fighting for the Huskers.”

Big Red Return Young, Hungry Huskers in 2018-19 • Nebraska loses three key 2017-18 (Jasmine Cincore, Janay Morton, Emily Wood) but the 2018-19 version of the Huskers features several experienced weapons. • Nebraska returns each of its top five scorers from 2017-18, led by second-team All-Big Ten point guard Hannah Whitish (12.6 ppg). Forward Maddie Simon (10.1 ppg), guard/forward Taylor Kissinger (10.0 ppg), center Kate Cain (9.9 ppg) and guard/forward Nicea Eliely (8.2 ppg) all return for the Huskers in 2018-19. • Overall, the Huskers returned more than 70 percent of their scoring (70.4%) and rebounding (70.2%), and nearly 65 percent (64.7%) of their assists from the 2017-18 roster. Nebraska also returns 147 of its school-record 163 blocks from 2017-18.  The previous school record was 147. • Nebraska returns 160 of its school-record 250 three-pointers (64%) from 2017-18, including 73 from Hannah Whitish and 50 from Taylor Kissinger. It marks the first time in school history that Nebraska returns two players from the previous season who each hit 50 or more threes. • Nebraska’s 2018-19 freshman class was ranked No. 20 in the nation by the ESPN, giving the Huskers back-to-back top 20 classes. • Ashtyn Veerbeek, a 6-2 forward out of Western Christian High School in Hull, Iowa, was ranked as the No. 55 player in the nation by Blue Star, No. 66 by Prospects Nation and No. 68 by ESPN, which also ranked Veerbeek as the No. 9 forward in the Class of 2018. As a senior, Veerbeek was named one of the 50 greatest girls players in Iowa history by the Des Moines Register. She led the state in rebounding (14.4 rpg) while ranking third in scoring (25.8 ppg) and eighth in blocks (86). She finished with 1,871 points, 1,041 rebounds, 227 blocks and 203 assists. • Leigha Brown, a 6-1 forward out of DeKalb High School in Indiana, averaged 28.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.4 blocks in 2017-18. She finished her career with 1,798 points, 810 rebounds and 325 assists. She was ranked as the No. 21 forward nationally by ESPN. • Sam Haiby was ranked as the No. 122 player in the country by Prospects Nation, No. 125 by Blue Star and as the No. 28 guard nationally by ESPN. The 5-9 guard at Class 4A Moorhead High School scored well over 2,000 points in her high school career while averaging 25.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game for the Spuds despite being limited by injury as a senior. • A North Tartan club teammate of Haiby’s, Kayla Mershon comes to Lincoln as one of the top players in Minnesota. The 6-3 forward from Chanhassen, Minn., was ranked as the No. 132 overall player in the country by Prospects Nation and the No. 14 wing nationally by ESPN. As a senior at Minnetonka High School, Mershon averaged 12.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks per game.

Nebraska Posts 14th 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 14 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 14 straight seasons. • The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report on Nov. 14, 2018, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 14th straight season, dating back to the initial public tracking of the GSR since 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 14 years. • Nebraska was one of just 28 teams in the 64-team field of the 2018 NCAA Tournament to also boast a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate. • Overall, the Nebraska Athletic Department produced a record-high GSR for the sixth consecutive year, reaching 90 percent for the first time in school history. Nine Husker programs recorded perfect 100 percent GSR scores, including women’s basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, rifle, men’s and women’s gymnastics and men’s and women’s tennis.

Cain Named to Lisa Leslie Award Watch List • Nebraska’s Kate Cain claimed one of 20 spots on the preseason watch list for the 2019 Lisa Leslie Award announced by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) on Oct. 26. • The Lisa Leslie Award is in its second season of recognizing the top centers in NCAA Division I women’s college basketball. It is named after the three-time All-American and 1994 National Player of the Year. The award will be announced by ESPN at the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa. • Cain, a 6-5 sophomore from Middletown, N.Y., made an instant impact as a freshman for the Nebraska women’s basketball team in 2017-18. She was one of five players across the conference to capture first-team Big Ten All-Freshman honors, while being the only freshman or sophomore named to the five-player Big Ten All-Defensive Team.  • Cain shattered the Nebraska single-season blocked shot record with 100 on the season, while leading the Big Ten in blocks per game. She ranked among the top 10 players nationally in blocked shots. Cain also smashed Nebraska’s single-game block record with 11 against Florida Atlantic on Dec. 17, 2017, when she became the first Husker in history to produce a triple-double in points (22), rebounds (14) and blocks (11). • Cain’s growth on the court helped the Huskers produce one of the nation’s top turnarounds, improving 14 games in the win column to capture a bid to the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Cain finished the season by averaging 9.9 points and team bests of 7.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game. • Cain is one of five Big Ten Conference centers who make up a combined one quarter of the preseason national watch list for the Lisa Leslie Award. Cain is the youngest Big Ten center on the list, joining Iowa senior Megan Gustafson, Michigan senior Hallie Thome, Illinois senior Alex Wittinger and Purdue junior Ae’Rianna Harris in representing the conference. • Cain is scheduled to go head-to-head against those Big Ten centers seven times during the 2018-19 conference season, including twice each against Gustafson, Thome and Harris, who will all play the Huskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season. Cain is also set to face another center on the list - Louisville’s Sam Fuehring in the ACC/B1G Challenge in Kentucky on Nov. 29. • Overall, Cain is one of just four sophomores on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list, joining North Carolina’s Janelle Bailey, Duke’s Jade Williams and IUPUI’s Macee Williams. No freshmen start the season on the award watch list, but centers can play their way onto the list at any point in the season. • The inaugural winner of the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award was A’ja Wilson from South Carolina in 2018. • The selection committee for the Lisa Leslie Award is composed of media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. In mid-February, the watch list will be narrowed to a list of 10 centers. In March, five finalists for the award will be announced. Fans will have the opportunity to vote on their favorite finalist at www.hoophallawards.com. • The Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award is part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Starting Five awards, which include the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award, the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard Award, the Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award and the Katrina McClain Power Forward Award. The WBCA also presents the annual Wade Trophy, which honors the overall national player of the year. In 1993, Nebraska’s Karen Jennings won the Wade Trophy.

Whitish Earns Preseason All-Big Ten Honors • Nebraska’s Hannah Whitish was named to the 12-player All-Big Ten Team by the conference coaches when the annual preseason honors were announced on Oct. 22. • The announcement of the preseason teams marked the tip-off of Big Ten Women’s Basketball Media Week (@B1GWBBall) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  • Whitish, a 5-9 junior guard from Barneveld, Wis., led Nebraska in scoring (12.6 ppg) and assists (4.7 apg) as a sophomore in 2017-18. She owned a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio as Nebraska’s point guard while also ranking among the Big Ten’s best three-point shooters. Whitish played a major role in lifting Nebraska to the nation’s top turnaround in the win column last season, as the Huskers recorded 14 more victories (21) in 2017-18 than in 2016-17 (7). She captured second-team All-Big Ten accolades at the end of last season while helping Nebraska to the NCAA Tournament. • Whitish was the lone Husker honored by the league in preseason voting of the conference coaches. • The Big Ten Conference does not rank its team’s No. 1 through No. 14 in preseason voting, instead the coaches and select media members each choose their projected top-three teams in the league. Maryland is the preseason pick of the coaches and the media to win the Big Ten, while Iowa was picked No. 2 by both the coaches and media. The league coaches chose Michigan in the No. 3 spot, while the conference media selected Minnesota. Iowa senior center Megan Gustafson, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, was chosen by the coaches to repeat that honor. Gustafson, Maryland’s Kaila Charles, Michigan’s Hallie Thome and Minnesota’s Kenisha Bell were all unanimous preseason all-conference selections by the coaches.

Nebraska Streaks • Sophomore Kate Cain owns the longest streaks of consecutive starts by a Husker with 33. • Junior Nicea Eliely owns Nebraska’s second-longest streak of starts with 28, while senior Maddie Simon has started 26 consecutive games. • Kate Cain has at least two rebounds in every game of her Nebraska career (34), and she has blocked at least one shot in 33 of 34 games (no blocks in 2018 NCAA Tournament vs. Arizona State). • Maddie Simon has hit 11 straight free throws, dating to a miss against Penn State (Feb. 22). • Hannah Whitish has hit seven straight free throws, dating back to a miss vs. Penn State (Feb. 22). • Freshman Sam Haiby has hit six consecutive free throws to open her career. • The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 314 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 193 consecutive games.

Simon Shoots for Strong Senior Season • With depth and experience creating a positive for the Nebraska backcourt, Maddie Simon changed her focus to the power forward position in 2017-18. • The 6-2 Lincoln Pius X High School grad was a significant contributor in the NU backcourt her first two years, including a starting role late in the regular season of 2015-16. • Through two seasons, she averaged 4.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game. She made five starts for the Huskers as a freshman, before coming off the bench in all 29 games in 2016-17. • With the loss of Nebraska’s starting frontcourt, and inexperience and injuries challenging the inside game, Simon ran into a more prominent role at power forward in 2017-18. • In 28 games with 27 starts at power forward, Simon was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten by averaging 10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in 2017-18. The Huskers went 20-8 with Simon on the court with their only losses to No. 11/13/17 Maryland (3), No. 12 Ohio State, No. 23 Michigan, Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament, at WNIT Champion Indiana, and Washington State. • Statistically, Simon was one of the Big Ten’s most improved players, increasing her scoring (+6.0 ppg) and rebounding averages (+3.0 rpg) from 2016-17. She more than doubled her points (282-118), rebounds (147-67) and assists (55-24) and nearly doubled her steals (23-12) from 2016-17. • Simon produced double figures 14 times in 2017-18. She entered the season with five career double-figure scoring efforts in 50 games. • She had the best game of her career with 18 points, eight rebounds, a career-high five assists and a career-high-tying three steals in a win at Minnesota (Dec. 31). Simon scored 16 of her team-high 18 points in the second half, including the go-ahead shot in the lane with 29.8 seconds left, before grabbing a defensive rebound, getting fouled and making two free throws with 12.9 seconds left to help seal a 79-74 win in which Nebraska trailed by eight points late in the third quarter on the road.  • Simon erupted for a team-high 19 points including a season-best 3-for-4 three-point shooting in a win over No. 20 Iowa (Jan. 16). She added 19 more points and a team-best eight rebounds to complete a season sweep of the Hawkeyes at Iowa (Jan. 28). • Simon scored a career-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting at San Jose State (Dec. 17). Her 20 points at San Jose State came in just 24 minutes. • Her effort at San Jose State followed a then-career-high 17 points to go along with six boards, four assists and two steals in a win at Drake (Dec. 9). She added 13 points against Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19). • The Big Red opened the season 3-0 with Simon in the starting lineup. She averaged 6.7 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds through three games. She had 11 points and eight rebounds in a win over UMKC (Nov. 14), before managing five points and a career-high 12 rebounds in a win over Arkansas (Nov. 16).   • She suffered an ankle sprain in pregame warmups prior to Nebraska’s game with Creighton (Nov. 19) and did not play against the Bluejays. Simon missed four straight games with the injury. • 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.  • Simon earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the second time in 2018. • 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.

Cain Key on Block, Earns Big Ten All-Defensive Award • Kate Cain was the only player to capture spots on both the Big Ten All-Freshman Team and Big Ten All-Defensive Team in 2017-18. Both five-player teams were chosen by the league coaches. • She averaged 9.9 points and team bests of 7.0 rebounds and a Big Ten-best 3.1 blocks per game in 2017-18.  • Cain’s 100 total blocks were a school record, while her seven blocks in a win over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals (March 2) and nine total blocks in two tournament games were both Nebraska conference tournament records. • Cain’s 56.6 field goal percentage ranked as the second-best mark by a Nebraska freshman in school history. • Her 223 total rebounds ranked fourth among freshmen in Husker history, and she was just the sixth Husker freshman ever to grab 200 rebounds. • She is the only Husker freshman ever to record 300 points, 200 rebounds and 100 blocks. • Cain is the only player in Nebraska history to record a points (22), rebounds (14) and blocked shots (11) triple-double, which she accomplished in a win over Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19). Her points, blocks and assists (3) were all career highs against the Owls. • Cain’s performance was one of only two points-rebounds-blocks triple-doubles in the Big Ten (Alex Wittinger, Illinois vs. Penn State, Jan. 23) in 2017-18. • Cain, who set the Nebraska record with 11 blocks against Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19) smashed Olympic bronze medalist Danielle Page’s previous school record of nine against Baylor (Feb. 3, 2007). • Cain became just the sixth player in Big Ten Conference history to record 11 or more blocks and just the 10th Big Ten player to notch double-digit blocks in a single game. • Cain captured four Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week awards (Nov. 13, Dec. 4, Dec. 11, Dec. 26) during the non-conference season. • Cain added a monstrous double-double with 14 points and a career-high 20 rebounds in a win over Penn State (Feb. 22). Her 20 rebounds tied for the sixth-highest individual total in school history and helped the Huskers to a plus-29 rebound margin against the Lady Lions. Cain added three blocks. • Cain owns five career double-doubles, including 19 points and 14 rebounds in a double-overtime win at Drake (Dec. 9). She had four blocks and a steal against the Bulldogs. • She had another double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Arkansas Pine Bluff (Dec. 2). She added three blocked shots against the Lady Lions. • Cain notched her first career double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in Nebraska’s win over Arkansas (Nov. 16). She also had two assists against the Razorbacks. • Cain finished No. 8 nationally in blocks (100) and No. 7 in blocks per game (3.1 bpg). • Cain recorded a block in each of the first 31 games of her career before going without a block in the NCAA Tournament first round loss to Arizona State (March 17). She had multiple blocks in 26 of 32 games as a freshman.  • She owns 16 double-figure scoring efforts, six double-figure rebounding games and one double-digit block game in the first 34 games of her career. She has made 33 straight starts.   • Cain, who previously tied the Nebraska freshman record with six blocks against Clemson (Nov. 30), had 15 games with three or more blocks in 2017-18, including five games with five or more blocks - Clemson (6, Nov. 30), Kansas (5, Dec. 6), Florida Atlantic (11, Dec. 19), Northwestern (5, Jan. 7), Iowa (5, Jan. 16).

Kissinger Off to Strong Start as Sophomore • Taylor Kissinger has her second season at Nebraska off to a strong start as Nebraska’s leading scorer (15.0 ppg) and leading three-point shooter (8-11, .727) through two games. She is also tied for the team lead with 5.0 rebounds per game, while adding 3.0 assists. • Kissinger set a Nebraska basketball record by going 6-for-6 from three-point range in the win over USC Upstate (Nov. 11). She led Nebraska with 22 points - the second 20-point performance of her career. It was the 13th double-digit scoring game of her career. • The 6-1 guard from Minden, Neb., finished third on the 2017-18 team in scoring with 10.0 points per game, while adding 4.1 rebounds per contest. She also ranked second on the team with 50 three-pointers, which was the fourth-highest total by a freshman in Nebraska history. • Kissinger played in 25 games with seven starts on the year, while missing seven games due to injuries. She scored in double figures 12 times, while adding one double-digit rebound game with her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench at Indiana (Feb. 17). • In the NCAA Tournament, Kissinger scored 15 points in 21 minutes off the bench, after missing all but six minutes over the three previous games with a sprained SC joint suffered in the first quarter of a loss in the regular-season finale at No. 13 Maryland (Feb. 25). • Kissinger produced the best performance of her young career with a game-high 25 points to lead Nebraska to an 80-69 win over Arkansas (Nov. 16). Kissinger hit 9-of-15 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 threes, and 3-of-4 free throws against the Razorbacks. She added eight rebounds and four assists against the Hogs. • Kissinger joined Hannah Whitish as the only two Huskers to start each of the first seven games in 2017-18, Kissinger did not play in wins over Arkansas Pine Bluff (Dec. 2), at Kansas (Dec. 6), at Drake (Dec. 9), at San Jose State (Dec. 17) or over Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19) after suffering a minor knee injury late in the game against Clemson (Nov. 30). She also missed a loss to Washington State (Dec. 22). • Kissinger opened her career as a starter and managed five points and three rebounds despite battling foul trouble in a win over SIUE (Nov. 11). She scored Nebraska’s first three points of the season. • Kissinger pumped in 18 points and four three-pointers in Nebraska’s win over UMKC (Nov. 14). • She averaged 14.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in two games at the San Juan Shootout in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 23-24. She also established a career high with three steals vs. Buffalo (Nov. 23). • She hit a freshman season-high five threes in a win over Coastal Carolina (Nov. 24). • Kissinger led Nebraska with 17 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal before sustaining a knee injury late in the game against Clemson (Nov. 30).   • Nebraska’s leading scorer through the first seven games as a starter (14.0 ppg), Kissinger averaged 8.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game off the bench in Big Ten play, including a personal conference-best 18 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting against No. 11 Maryland (Feb. 4). • She had 14 points with four three-pointers to go along with three rebounds and two assists in a road win at Northwestern (Jan. 7). • Kissinger came up big in Nebraska’s upset of No. 20 Iowa (Jan. 16), scoring 12 points while grabbing a eight rebounds off the bench in the win over the Hawkeyes. • She played a strong all-around game with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting while adding three rebounds, three assists and a steal in a road win at Michigan State (Feb. 14). • She had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench in a low-scoring win over Wisconsin (Feb. 11). • Kissinger’s older twin sisters were both Division I guards, with Brooke entering her third season at Creighton in 2018-19 after spending her first two seasons at Illinois. Jamie completed her eligibility at San Diego in 2017-18.

Eliely Opens Junior Season Strong  • Nicea Eliely is in her third season as a regular starter for the Huskers in 2018-19.  • Eliely ranks third on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg), tied for fourth in rebounds (4.5 rpg), tied for second in assists (3.5 apg) and tied for the lead in steals (1.5 spg) through two games. • Her 57 career starts at Nebraska are the most by any current Husker. She has started 28 consecutive games. • Eliely, a 6-1 wing from Colorado Springs, Colo., started all 29 games for the Huskers as a true freshman, averaging 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and a team-leading 1.6 steals per game. • She missed three games and six starts with a foot/ankle injury to open the 2017-18 season. She started the season’s final 26 games and averaged 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals as a sophomore. She shot a strong 46.9 percent from the field, including 38 percent (19-50) from three-point range. • She recorded 20 blocks, giving her back-to-back seasons with 20 or more blocks (team-leading 21 in 2016-17) - the first Husker to do that feat since Emily Cady in 2013-14 (27) and 2014-15 (30). • Eliely put up her 21st career double-figure scoring effort  with 10 points in the 2018-19 season opener against Drake (Nov. 7). She followed with eight points and a career-high-tying six assists to go along with a team-high six rebounds against USC Upstate (Nov. 11). • Last season, Eliely produced a season-high 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting in a road win at Michigan State (Feb. 14).  • Eliely had 10 points, a career-high-matching nine rebounds in a 2017-18 win over Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19).

Husker Sports Network Covers World • The Husker Sports Network enters its 25th season producing and marketing the live broadcasts of Nebraska women’s basketball in 2018-19. Women’s basketball play-by-play announcer Matt Coatney and color commentator Jeff Griesch will team up for their 18th season together as the Husker 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.

Booster Bus Trip to Creighton • Nebraska women’s basketball boosters are organizing a bus trip to Omaha for the Huskers’ game with Creighton on Dec. 2. Tip-off between the Big Red and Blue Jays is set for 1 p.m. • The cost of the trip is $30, which includes round-trip bus transportation and one game ticket.  • If interested in joining the trip and to receive more details, contact Doug Fry at (402) 617-7039.