Huskers to Battle USC in Las Vegas

Nebraska travels to Las Vegas for the Thanksgiving holiday to compete in the South Point Shootout, Nov. 29-30.

Tip-off for Nebraska's first game at the tournament with USC (3-2) is set for Friday at 7:45 p.m. (CT) at South Point Arena. The Huskers close the two-game tournament by taking on Sacred Heart (2-3) on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

Live radio coverage for Friday's game with USC can be heard on 105.3 FM in Lincoln. Stations across the state will also carry the broadcast on the Learfield-IMG College Husker Sports Network. Free live audio can be found at Huskers.com and the Huskers App.

A live video stream will be provided by the South Point Shootout through Vimeo Livestream.

Nebraska is coming off its first setback of the season, a 79-74 loss to in-state rival Creighton on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. 

Junior center Kate Cain led the Huskers with 18 points, seven rebounds and three blocks against the Jays. Cain's next block will be the 200th of her career. 

Sophomores Leigha Brown (15.3 ppg), Sam Haiby (13.2 ppg) and Ashtyn Veerbeek (10.5 ppg) are Nebraska's three leading scorers through six games this season. Brown is the only Husker to score in double figures in all six games this season.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)
vs. USC Trojans (3-2)
Friday, Nov. 29, 2019, 7:45 p.m. (CT)
South Point Arena - Las Vegas, Nevada
Live Video: Vimeo Livestream
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (7:30 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln-105.3 FM; Huskers.com; Huskers App

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten)
13 - Ashtyn Veerbeek - 6-2 - So. - F - 10.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg
31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - Jr. - C - 8.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg
3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Sr. - G - 7.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg
4 - Sam Haiby - 5-9 - So. - G - 13.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Sr. - G - 8.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg
Off the Bench
32 - Leigha Brown - 6-1 - So. - F - 15.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg
33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 2.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg
34 - Isabelle Bourne - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 4.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg
14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 3.0 ppg, 1.8 rpg
44 - Kayla Mershon - 6-3 - So. - F - 1.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg
11 - Kristian Hudson - 5-5 - RSr. - G - 1.8 ppg, 1.2 rpg
1 - Makenzie Helms - 5-8 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Fourth Season at Nebraska (47-50); 13th Season Overall (240-159)

USC Trojans (3-2, 0-0 Pac-12)
35 - Alissa Pili - 6-0 - Fr. - F - 10.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg
15 - Angel Jackson - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 6.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg
4 - Endyia Rogers - 5-7 - Fr. - G - 12.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg
11 - Aliyah Jeune - 6-1 - Sr. - G - 10.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg
24 - Desiree Caldwell - 5-8 - So. - G - 9.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg
Off the Bench
5 - Stephanie Watts - 5-11 - Sr. - G - 11.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg
25 - Alyson Miura - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 4.0 ppg, 0.3 rpg
22 - Kyra White - 5-10 - Fr. - G - 3.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg
30 - India Otto -  5-9 - Fr. - G - 3.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
1 - Kayla Overbeck - 6-1 - Sr. - F - 3.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Head Coach: Mark Trakh (Long Beach State, 1981)
8th Season at USC (130-90); 25th Season Overall: (433-293)

Scouting USC
• USC carries a 3-2 record with them to Las Vegas after a 74-64 loss to No. 6 Texas A&M at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Saturday.
• The Trojans, who received three votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll (Nov. 18), have lost back-to-back games, including a 57-46 setback at UC Santa Barbara (Nov. 18).
• Coach Mark Trakh is in his second stint as the head coach at USC. Last season, Trakh led the Women of Troy to a 17-13 overall record that included a 7-11 mark and ninth place Pac-12 finish.
• Endyia Rogers, the 2019 Texas High School Player of the Year at Bishop Lynch in Dallas, is leading a youth movement in Los Angeles as one of three freshman starters for USC. The 5-7 Rogers is averaging 12.4 points and 4.6 rebounds, including a career-high 20 points in the loss to A&M.
• Senior Stephanie Watts ranks second among the Trojans in scoring (11.3 ppg) while leading USC in rebounding (7.3 rpg) early this season. A grad transfer who was the 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year at North Carolina, Watts notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds in a 59-49 win over Virginia (Nov. 9). The 5-11 guard added five blocks against the Cavaliers. Watts did not play in the losses to UCSB or Texas A&M because of injury.
• Former Rutgers guard Aliyah Jeune ranks third in scoring for a balanced Trojan attack. Jeune, who earned first-team All-Ohio Valley Conference honors as the OVC Newcomer of the Year at Morehead State in 2019, is averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game early this season. She scored 27 points in a win at UC Riverside (Nov. 14) and managed eight points and four boards off the bench in the loss to Texas A&M. She averaged 16.1 points and 6.1 rebounds last season while leading Morehead State to the WNIT second round. She is a graduate transfer playing her final season at USC in 2019-20.
• Jeune started 22 games as a sophomore at Rutgers in 2016-17, averaging 8.2 points per game. She did not start but she did have 15 points and five rebounds in 33 minutes off the bench in Nebraska's 62-58 win over Rutgers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Jan. 10, 2017. She did not play in any of Nebraska's three games against Rutgers when she was a freshman in 2015-16.
• Alissa Pili, a three-time Alaska Player of the Year at Dimond High School in Anchorage, has added 10.0 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds through five games with four starts, including a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds in the win over CS Northridge. She had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the loss to Texas A&M.
• Freshman Angel Jackson, a McDonald's All-American as a 6-5 center, has been a part-ime starter early this season, averaging 6.2 points and 6.0 rebounds. She notched a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds in the win over UC Riverside. She added eight points as a starter in the loss to A&M.
• Kyra White, who joins Endyia Rogers as a freshman from Texas, has managed 3.4 points and 3.2 rebounds. The 5-10 guard started USC's first four games before coming off the bench against A&M.
• Sophomore Desiree Caldwell gives the Trojans four underclassmen and three Texans who have been regular starters. The 5-8 sophomore from San Antonio is averaging 9.8 points and a team-best 3.8 assists.
• Fellow freshman Alyson Miura has added 4.0 points while averaging more than 19 minutes per game off the bench early this season. She did not play against Texas A&M.
• Overall, the USC active roster features seven true freshmen and two first-year transfers.
• Senior Kayla Overbeck, who was a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team at Vanderbilt in 2016-17, before transferring to USC after her sophomore season in 2017-18, is the only returning starter for the Trojans. Overbeck averaged 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds last season. She has appeared in three games, averaging 3.0 points and 4.7 rebounds while battling injury this season.
• Third-year sophomore Shalexxus Aaron did start seven games for the Trojans last year, averaging 6.6 points per game while shooting 41.6 percent (42-101) from three-point range as a redshirt freshman. The 6-1 guard has not played this season because of injury.

Nebraska vs. USC Series History
• Nebraska leads the all-time series with USC, 4-3, with four consecutive victories against the Women of Troy since 2006. 
• The last time the two teams met, Nebraska battled its way to a 74-65 win over USC at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Nov. 23, 2012. That Husker team advanced to the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16.
• The Huskers produced a pair of 18-point wins over the Trojans in the only two meetings at the Devaney Center in Lincoln (68-50, Nov. 18, 2011; 87-69, Dec. 8, 2007). Both of those Nebraska teams advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
• Nebraska began its current streak against USC with a 72-65 win at the Galen Center on Nov. 26, 2006. Ashley Ford, a Lincoln Northeast graduate, was the starting point guard in that game for a Husker squad that eventually advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Ford is now the Director of Operations at USC. She was a graduate assistant at Nebraska for two seasons (2008-09, 2009-10) and an assistant coach for the Huskers for one season (2015-16).
• Ashley Ford's mother, Lynn, is still a regular at Nebraska women's basketball home games.
• USC's last win in the series with the Huskers came in the second round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament, when the Women of Troy defeated NU, 78-60, on March 21, 1993.
• The Trojans also eliminated the 1988 Big Eight Champion Huskers from the NCAA Tournament  with a 100-82 win in Los Angeles.
• USC won the first-ever meeting between the two schools 72-70 (OT) Jan. 12, 1977, in Los Angeles.
• Friday's game will mark the 14th consecutive season that Nebraska has played at least one team from the state of California. The Huskers have gone 18-2 against Golden State schools over the last 14 seasons, with the only two losses coming to Cal in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
• Prior to an 87-80 OT loss at Cal on Dec. 12, 2015, Nebraska had run off 20 consecutive victories against California schools (including a combined 7-0 vs. USC & UCLA) starting with a 69-61 win over UC Santa Barbara in Lincoln on Nov. 19, 2001.

Nebraska Streaks
• Kate Cain owns Nebraska's longest streak of consecutive starts (67).
• Nicea Eliely owns Nebraska's second-longest streak of starts (62).
• Eliely was the only Husker to score in all 30 games last season, and the only Husker to score in all of Nebraska's games against Big Ten Conference foes. She has scored in 40 consecutive games overall. She did not score in a win over Penn State on Feb. 22, 2018, the only time in the past three seasons (including 2019-20, 68 games) that Eliely was shut out.
• Leigha Brown has scored in double figures in all six games to open the season. She has scored in double figures in seven consecutive games overall - the longest active streak by a Husker.
• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 348 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 227 consecutive games.

Numbers to Watch 
(1) Junior Kate Cain is one block away from 200 in her career. Only three other Huskers in history have achieved 200 career blocks.
(2) Nicea Eliely is two assists away from 200 in her career.
(4) Hannah Whitish is four assists away from tying fellow Wisconsin native and two-time WNBA All-Star Anna DeForge (392, 1995-98) in eighth place on the Nebraska career assist list.
(5) Kate Cain is five points away from 600 in her career.
(7) Kristian Hudson needs seven assists to reach 400 in her career (383 at FIU).
(8) Kate Cain is eight blocks from No. 3 on the Nebraska career list (207, Danielle Page, 2005-08).
(11) Kristian Hudson needs 11 rebounds to reach 400 in her career (372 at FIU).
(12) Hannah Whitish is 12 assists away from becoming just the eighth Husker in history with 400 career assists.

Husker Nuggets
• Nebraska's game with USC will be Amy Williams' 400th game as a collegiate head coach.
• Nebraska's trip to the South Point Shootout will be its second to the tournament in the last four seasons. The Huskers went 0-2 with losses to Washington State (79-65) and Virginia (73-51) at the tournament, Nov. 25-26, 2016 - Coach Amy Williams' first season at the helm of the Huskers.
• Through six games, Nebraska is allowing an average of 58.8 points per game while holding opponents to 31.8 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent success from three-point range.
• Last season, Nebraska allowed an average of 70.1 points per game, while opponents shot 41.1 percent from the field and 33.4 percent from long range.
• Nebraska has held four opponents to 55 points or less through six games this season. Last year, NU held only two foes (Radford-39, Kansas-52) to 55 or less.
• In 2017-18, Nebraska held 11 of 32 opponents to 55 points or less.
• Nebraska's bench has outscored the opposing bench in all six games this season. The Huskers have outscored the opponent bench in 34 of the last 36 games.
• The Husker bench has outscored the opponent bench by double digits 25 times in the last 36 games, including a 30-1 edge in a loss to 2019 NCAA Elite Eight qualifier Iowa (Feb. 25, 2019).
• Overall, Nebraska's bench outscored opposition benches 950-492 (31.7-16.4 ppg) for a plus-15.3 margin in 2018-19.
• Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 15 times in the last three seasons (including 2019-20, 68 games). Through the first 20 seasons with the three-point shot in women's basketball (1988-2007), Nebraska hit 10 threes in a game only six times (311 games).