Kendall Moriarty Season 2024-25

Kendall Moriarty will be counted on to provide solid defense and leadership in the Husker backcourt as a senior in 2024-25. The 6-1 guard from Wheaton, Ill., played in all 35 games with 17 starts a year ago, including each of the final 13 games as Nebraska fought its way to the Big Ten Championship Game and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

 

Moriarty opened 2023-24 by starting Nebraska's first four games, before returning starter Maddie Krull came back to action after suffering a foot injury in preseason practice.

Moriarty returned to the starting lineup for the final 13 games. Nebraska went 12-5 with her in the starting lineup on the year, while she averaged 3.1 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists over 35 games with 17 starts.

She matched her career high with 11 points in a win over Purdue (Jan. 31) after establishing her season high with 11 points in a win over Michigan (Jan. 17). She also had eight points on perfect shooting against Rutgers (Feb. 3), after getting seven points at Penn State (Jan. 21). Her previous season high came with six points against Alcorn State (Nov. 14). She also had five points against Florida Atlantic (Nov. 29). She pitched in four points, three rebounds and two assists in a win over UNCW (Dec. 5).

“Kendall fits perfectly into all aspects of our program,” Nebraska Coach Amy Williams said. “She is a long, tough, gritty player with great versatility. She is a talented scorer, but her willingness to do all the dirty work on the court is what separates her. She is a great teammate and will lay it on the line for her team to win.”

Sophomore (2022-23)
Moriarty played a greater role for the Huskers in her second season, more than doubling her points (111-45), knocking down more than six times as many threes (19-3), snagging more than seven times the steals (22-3) and grabbing more than four times the rebounds (54-12) in 2022-23 than she did as a freshman.

She played in all 33 of Nebraska's games as a sophomore, making her first career start in Nebraska's WNIT Super 16 appearance at Kansas (March 23). Moriarty produced the second double-digit scoring performance of her career with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a pair of threes, against the eventual WNIT champion Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse. She added two steals while playing a career-high 28 minutes.

Moriarty ended her sophomore season by averaging 3.4 points and 1.6 rebounds, while adding 27 total assists and 22 steals on the season.

She produced the best week of her career by averaging 10.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 24 minutes per game off the bench in wins over Wisconsin (Dec. 7) and Samford (Dec. 10). She hit 5-of-8 threes in the two games, including a career-best 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the second half to finish with a career-high 11 points in the win over Samford. It followed a then-career-high nine points in the win over Wisconsin.

Moriarty added eight big points off the bench in Nebraska’s road rally to a 71-64 win at Purdue (Jan. 18). She also scored eight big points while adding a career-high five rebounds in NU's overtime win over eventual NCAA Tournament qualifier Mississippi State in Puerto Rico (Nov. 26). She also had eight points in Nebraska's win over Tarleton (Nov. 22) helping ease the loss of starter Allison Weidner, who suffered an eye injury in the opening minute and was not able to return.

Moriarty also provided one of the most memorable moments of the 2022-23 season for the Huskers when she drained an unlikely, running half-a-hook shot from beyond half court on a baseline inbounds play as the shot clock expired in the closing seconds of Nebraska's win over Penn State (Jan. 11). The shot provided Moriarty with her only points of the night, while earning recognition as Scott Van Pelt's "Best Thing I Saw Today" on ESPN.

Moriarty’s efforts helped Nebraska overcome the absences of starters Isabelle Bourne, Sam Haiby, Trinity Brady and Weidner at different points in 2022-23. In three Postseason WNIT games, Moriarty averaged 6.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.3 steals, while hitting 8-of-11 field goal attempts, including 4-of-7 three-point tries.

Freshman (2021-22)
Moriarty competed in 30 of Nebraska's 33 games as a true freshman, averaging 1.5 points and shooting 48.8 percent (20-41) from the field in 2021-22.

She matched her season high with six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field in Nebraska's 77-44 win over Wisconsin (Jan. 27). She added two rebounds, an assist and a steal in 12 minutes against the Badgers.

Her performance against Wisconsin followed five points and a career-high four assists in a career-high 20 minutes at Iowa (Jan. 16), when the Huskers played without starting guards Jaz Shelley (COVID protocols) and Sam Haiby (injury). She also had five points and a steal in a win over Minnesota (Feb. 20), and she scored five points with an assist in a win over Alabama A&M (Nov. 14).

Moriarty established her career highs with six points and two rebounds in a win over North Carolina Central (Nov. 20). She hit her first career three-pointer in NU’s win over Creighton (Nov. 17), before adding three-pointers against Minnesota (Feb. 20) and against Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. She finished with three points in eight minutes against the Bulldogs. She found the scoring column in 12 games as a freshman.

High School
The first commit to Nebraska’s top-25 recruiting class, announcing her decision in November of 2019, Moriarty was ranked among the nation’s top 100 players by Prospects Nation (74), All-Star Girls Report (77) and Prep Girls Hoops (100). She was also ranked as high as the No. 12 guard prospect in the country by Prospects Nation.

She earned second-team Illinois Class 4A all-state honors for the second straight season in 2021, after leading Benet to a fourth consecutive ESCC league title. Moriarty was Benet's leading scorer as a senior, averaging 13 points per game. She led Benet to a final No. 2 ranking in the state of Illinois by both the Associated Press and MaxPreps.

Moriarty earned second-team IBCA Class 4A All-State honors as a junior and senior at Benet Academy. She also claimed All-Area honors from both the Naperville Sun and the Daily Herald DuPage County, while leading Benet to four consecutive ESCC Conference titles and earning all-conference honors.

As a senior, Moriarty was Benet's leading scorer at 13 points per game in 2020-21. She averaged 11 points while hitting 43.1 percent of her three-pointers in 2019-20. She led Benet Academy in three-point percentage and overall field goal percentage (.458). An elite defender, she also led the team in steals and deflections as both a junior and senior.

She led Benet to a No. 1 ranking in Illinois and a No. 23 team rank nationally at one point as a junior. In 2019, Moriarty was invited to the USA 16U National Team trials, advancing to the top 68. She also played volleyball and soccer as a freshman at Benet Academy.

Moriarty played club basketball for M14 Bluestar and Coach Ryan Haun. She was a top scorer and rebounder while helping the team to a 2019 Run 4 Roses championship. She was named to the all-tournament team at Run 4 Roses and at the USJN All-Star Team at the Windy City Classic.

Academically, Moriarty also earned a spot on Benet’s First Honor Roll in 2019-20.

Personal
The daughter of Margaret Moriarty and Sean Moriarty, Kendall has an older brother, Peyton, and an older sister, Lexi. Kendall is majoring in advertising and public relations/sports media and communication and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and 2024. She is also a five-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection and a three-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

She chose Nebraska over Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Illinois, Marquette, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and DePaul.

“I chose Nebraska because of the family atmosphere and the culture the coaches and players create,” Moriarty said. “Nebraska has amazing fan support for their athletic programs, which I love. All of the coaches are great people who will push me to become a great player and even a better person. Visiting Nebraska just made me feel at home.”