Huskers Ready for Battle with Highlanders

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Radford Highlanders Sunday, November 25, 2018, 11 a.m. (CT) (Watsco Center, Coral Gables, Fla.) Live Video: Not Available Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (10:45 a.m.) Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst) Lincoln-B107.3 FM; Omaha-ESPN 590 AM Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn Live Stats

Huskers Ready for Battle with Highlanders • The Nebraska women’s basketball team takes aim at a win away from home when the Huskers take on a talented Radford Highlanders team on Sunday at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic. • Tip off between the Huskers (1-3) and the Highlanders (3-1) is set for 11 a.m. (CT) at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, beginning at 10:45 a.m. on B107.3 FM in Lincoln and ESPN 590 AM in Omaha. Free live audio can also be found at Huskers.com and on the Huskers App.  • The Huskers will try to bounce back from an 82-68 loss to No. 24/22 Miami on the Hurricanes’ home court Friday. The Canes improved to 5-1 with the win. • Freshman Sam Haiby led the Huskers in scoring for the third time in four games with 14 points off the bench. Haiby, a 5-9 guard from Moorhead, Minn., is averaging a team-best 12.8 points per contest and also carries a team-best 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio through four games. • Junior guard Hannah Whitish added a season-high 13 points - all in the second half - against the Hurricanes. Whitish, a preseason All-Big Ten selection, has produced double figures in all three of her starts this season. • Whitish claimed 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 (1-3, 0-0 Big Ten) 24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 7.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg 31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - So. - C - 9.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg 3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 8.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg 5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 9.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg 33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - So. - G - 10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg Off the Bench 4 - Sam Haiby - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 12.8 ppg, 3.3 rpg 13 - Ashtyn Veerbeek - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 6.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg 32 - Leigha Brown - 6-1 - Fr. - F - 5.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg 11 - Kristian Hudson - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 4.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg 44 Kayla Mershon - 6-3 - Fr. - F - 2.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg 14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 1.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998) Third Season at Nebraska (29-36); 12th Season Overall (222-145)

Radford Highlanders (3-1, 0-0 Big South) 20 - Lydia Rivers - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 9.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg 35 - Amele Ngwafang - 6-0 - Fr. - F - 3.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg 4 - Khiana Johnson - 5-7 - Jr. - G - 10.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg 5 - Jen Falconer - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 2.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg 10 - Destinee Walker - 5-11 - Sr. - G/F - 12.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg Off the Bench 45 (out) - Savannah Felgemacher - 6-1 - Jr. - G/F - 17.7 ppg, 15.7 rpg 12 - Bryonna McClean - 5-9 - So. - G - 6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg 2 - Tina Lindenfeld - 6-1 - So. - F - 5.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg 42 - Laney Corbin - 6-0 - So. - F - 1.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg 50 - Sydney Nunley - 6-4 - Jr. - C - 0.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg 21 - Piper Morningstar - 6-0 - Fr. - G/F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg 14 - Makaila Wilson - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg Head Coach: Mike McGuire (Roanoke College, 2000) Sixth Season at Radford (93-69); Sixth Season Overall (93-69)

Scouting the Radford Highlanders • Radford heads into Sunday’s game against Nebraska with a 3-1 record after a 56-50 win over Temple at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic on Friday. Radford’s only loss was a 75-58 setback at No. 17 NC State in Raleigh on Nov. 18.  • The Highlanders went 24-9 last season, including 15-3 in the Big South to finish as the conference runner-up. Radford advanced to the second round of the 2018 Postseason WNIT by defeating Penn State in University Park. • Radford is led by sixth-year head coach Mike McGuire, who owns a 93-69 record. • The Highlanders were led through the first three games this season by junior transfer Savannah Felgemacher. The 6-3 forward spent her first two seasons at James Madison. As a sophomore, Felgemacher started for JMU against Radford in the 2017 Postseason WNIT, notching a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds against the Highlanders. • Through three games this season, after sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules last season, Felgemacher averaged team bests of 17.7 points and 15.7 rebounds, while adding 1.7 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.7 steals per game. However, she did not make the trip to Miami after being injured at NC State. • Felgemacher recorded 21 points and 21 rebounds in 28 minutes in her Radford debut against South Carolina State on Nov. 7, and was named the Big South Player of the Week on Nov. 12. • Senior Destinee Walker returns as the most experienced Highlander. She is averaging 12.8 points and 5.3 rebounds through four games this season, after averaging 11.0 points and 4.3 rebounds a year ago. The 5-11 wing earned honorable-mention All-Big South accolades last season. • Walker led the Highlanders with 21 points and six rebounds in Friday’s win over Temple. • An extremely experienced Radford starting five includes 5-7 junior guard Khiana Johnson, who is averaging 10.0 points per game, including 16 points in the win over Temple. Johnson averaged 9.2 points and 2.1 rebounds last season for Radford. She was a member of the Big South All-Freshman team in 2016-17 and started 18 games for the Highlanders last season. • Junior Lydia Rivers, a 6-2 forward, ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 9.3 points while ranking second on the team with 7.5 rebounds per contest. She managed eight points and eight boards in the win over Temple despite going just 2-for-11 from the field. Rivers, who averaged 7.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game last season, was a Big South All-Freshman selection in 2015-16 before suffering a torn ACL as a true sophomore in 2016-17. Rivers is a preseason second-team All-Big South choice in 2018-19. • Point guard Jen Falconer had started 67 straight games for the Highlanders before missing the game with East Tennessee State with an injury. She also missed the loss to NC State. Falconer had four points, six rebounds and two assists in the opener before being injured. She returned to the starting five against Temple and managed two rebounds and two assists in 25 minutes. • Tina Lindenfeld, a 6-1 sophomore forward, started two games in place of Falconer and has managed 5.8 points and 1.8 rebounds this season. Lindenfeld is 7-for-14 from beyond the three-point arc early this season. • Bryonna McClean (6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Amele Ngwafang (3.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and Laney Corbin (1.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg) also have been significant contributors for Radford early this season. Ngwafang made her first career start in the win over Temple and pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with two points.

Nebraska vs. Radford Series History • Sunday’s game will be the first meeting in history between Nebraska and Radford. • It will be Nebraska’s second meeting with a Big South school early this season, joining an 87-64 win over new Big South member USC Upstate (Nov. 11) at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. • Nebraska is 3-0 all-time against current members of the Big South, including an 83-57 win over High Point in Lincoln on Dec. 20, 2014. • The Huskers notched their first-ever win over a Big South school with a 72-54 victory over Hampton at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on Nov. 27, 2004. • The Big South includes 11 women’s basketball programs (USC upstate, Radford, Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Hampton, High Point, Longwood, Presbyterian, UNC Asheville and Winthrop) with all the schools making their homes in the Carolinas and Virginia.

Husker Nuggets • Nebraska is averaging 79.0 points per game through four contests in 2018-19. Last season the Big Red averaged 67.8 points through four games while starting the season 3-1. • Nebraska is shooting 39.4 percent (37-94) from three-point range through four contests. Last season, the Huskers opened the first four games of the year by shooting 34.6 percent (27-78). • Nebraska is shooting 76.3 percent (45-59) from the free throw line through four contests in 2018-19, after shooting just 64.1 percent from the line in 2017-18. Through the first four games of 2017-18, the Huskers hit just 59.4 percent (38-64) from the line. • Overall, Nebraska is shooting 44.7 percent from the field through four games this season after shooting just 41.9 percent from the floor a year ago. Through the first four games of 2017-18, the Huskers were shooting just 41.0 percent. • The Huskers have hit seven or more three-pointers in eight consecutive games dating back to last season. • Taylor Kissinger hit eight consecutive three-point attempts from the USC Upstate game (6-for-6) through her first make of the Miami game. • 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 59 career starts as a Husker. Hannah Whitish (52) 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 82, while fellow senior Kristian Hudson has played in 93 career collegiate games, including four at NU.

Nebraska Streaks   • Sophomore Kate Cain owns the longest streaks of consecutive starts by a Husker with 35.   • Junior Nicea Eliely owns Nebraska’s second-longest streak of starts with 30, while senior Maddie Simon has started 28 consecutive games. • Kate Cain has at least two rebounds in every game of her Nebraska career (36), and she has blocked at least one shot in 35 of 36 games (no blocks in 2018 NCAA Tournament vs. Arizona State). • Maddie Simon has hit 13 straight free throws, dating to a miss against Penn State (Feb. 22). • Freshman Sam Haiby has hit 11 consecutive free throws to open her career. • The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 316 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 195 consecutive games. • Nebraska has hit seven or more three-pointers in eight consecutive games dating back to last season.