Tay Hester Season 2008-09

Honors & Awards

• Double-Double in First Career Game at Nebraska
  (13 points, 12 rebounds vs. UTEP, Nov. 9, 2007)
• California State Junior College Tournament MVP (2007)
• Led Mt. SAC to California State Title (2007)
• All-CIF Southern Section II-AA (2005)

Senior (2008-09)

The Personal Side
Full name: La Quantay (Tay) Hester
Major: Psychology
Family:
Mother: Jackelyn Emanuel
Stephfather: Dennis Stinson
Brothers: Patrick, 23, Jordan, 6, Jaden, 3
Sisters: Malaysia, 14, JaKayla, 1
Hometown: Moreno Valley, Calif.
High School: Perris
Date of Birth: Jan. 25, 1987
Place of Birth: Long Beach, Calif.

Tay Hester served as a part-time starter as Nebraska's lone active senior in 2008-09. Hester helped the Huskers to a berth in the second round of the Postseason WNIT by averaging 5.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while NU finished with a 15-16 overall record and a 6-10 Big 12 mark.

Hester's role changed from her junior season due to a season-ending injury suffered by fellow senior Kelsey Griffin before the year began. Hester played much of the season as a power forward, away from her natural wing position. Her playing time also decreased as Nebraska searched for different combinations to become successful during the year.

Hester closed her two-year Nebraska career with 394 points (6.2 ppg) and 264 rebounds (4.1 rpg), while adding 107 career assists (1.7 apg). She played in 64 consecutive games at NU, including 51 starts.

As a senior, Hester erupted for a career-high 17 points to lead Nebraska past Cal State Bakersfield on Dec. 9. She also matched her career-best with four steals in a win at Denver on Nov. 24. Hester produced one of her best all-around games of the season with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists in NU's win over Missouri in Lincoln on Feb. 21. She added eight points and a season-high 11 rebounds along with a game-high three assists in a win over No. 20 Kansas State on Feb. 25.

Hester contributed 11 first-half points against No. 8 Baylor on Feb. 4, and pitched in 11 points and a career-high matching four steals in a win at Denver on Nov. 24. She also pumped in 11 points at UTEP on Dec. 20. She contributed a solid effort off the bench with 10 points in a win over Kansas on Jan. 21. For the season, she scored in double figures six times.

Junior (2007-08)
Hester started every game in her first season at Nebraska, and played a major role in securing the Huskers' first NCAA Tournament win since 1998.

In Nebraska's opening-round NCAA Tournament victory over Xavier at College Park, Md., on March 23, Hester erupted for 13 points, including a pair of free throws in the final minute to help the Huskers to victory.

Hester hit 5-of-9 shots from the field against the Musketeers, and pulled down a pair of crucial defensive rebounds in the closing minutes. She also hit a pair of free throws with 35 seconds left to help seal NU's victory. Hester added a pair of assists and a steal in an outstanding all-around effort.

The junior transfer from Mt. San Antonio College in California opened her career with a double-double by scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds in NU’s win over UTEP on Nov. 9.

Hester, who competed her first season as a collegian at UTEP in 2005-06, hit 5-of-12 shots from the field, while adding two assists and two steals in a career-high 31 minutes against her former team.

She followed her impressive debut with 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in Nebraska's run past Mississippi on Nov. 11. Hester hit 6-of-9 shots from the field and added a steal against Ole Miss, which was coming off a run to the 2007 NCAA Elite Eight.

After scoring eight points and pulling down eight boards in 20 minutes of action against 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier Robert Morris on Dec. 2, Hester had 12 points, five boards, two assists and two steals in just 16 minutes in the Huskers' victory over USC on Dec. 8.

Hester produced her sixth double-figure scoring effort in regular-season non-conference action by pouring in a career-high 14 points to go along with four assists and three rebounds at No. 18 Ohio State on Dec. 22. Hester hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and 4-of-6 free throws against the Big Ten co-champion Buckeyes.

She continued to play well in Nebraska's biggest games, scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds at No. 11 Oklahoma on Jan. 16, before adding 10 points and six boards at No. 6 Baylor on Jan. 26.

Hester finished the season with eight double-figure scoring efforts, while finding the scoring column in 31 of Nebraska's 33 games on the season. She didn't score in Nebraska's 55-45 win over Iowa State in the regular-season finale on March 5, but she contributed a career-high six assists to go along with four rebounds in the win over the Cyclones, which marked NU's first season sweep of ISU since 1995.

On the season, Hester hit 42.5 percent of her attempts from the field, including 5-of-27 three-pointers. She also ranked third on the team with 35 steals on the year, including a career-best four steals in a win over Denver on Dec. 30, and three steals apiece in wins over Texas A&M on Jan. 23, and at Colorado on Feb. 6.

Mt. San Antonio College (2006-07)
Hester earned MVP honors at the California State Junior College Championships by averaging 14.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while leading the Mounties to their second straight state title.

She averaged 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 48 percent from the field as a sophomore. With Hester leading the charge, the Mounties finished the season with a 37-1 overall record and their third state title in the past four years under Coach Laura Beeman.

Hester's sophomore season included a 31-point outburst against Reedley on Dec. 1. She added six rebounds and three assists in the win over the Tigers while knocking down a trio of three-pointers.

UTEP (2005-06)
Hester began her college career at the University of Texas-El Paso and made an immediate impact. In her first career start against Northern Colorado in Greeley, Hester erupted for 22 points against the Bears. Hester was 7-of-10 from the field and 8-of-9 from the free throw line in 29 minutes of action in an 85-57 Miners victory on Dec. 13, 2005.

For the season, Hester appeared in 26 games with eight starts for the Miners. She averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, as UTEP finished with a 14-15 record.

High School
Hester was a 2005 graduate of Perris High School, where she helped the Panthers to a 24-8 overall record and a California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section Division II-AA runner-up finish for Coach Marvin Williams as a senior. She averaged 16.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.9 steals as a senior in 2004-05.

Hester earned All-California Interscholastic Federation honors from the Orange County Register, and was a first-team All-CIF Southern Section II-AA pick as both a junior and a senior at Perris. During her junior season in 2003-04, she joined current Texas guard Erika Arriarian and former Oklahoma State center Maria Cordero on the All-CIF sectional squad.

The Perris MVP as a senior, Hester was also a second-team All-Riverside County selection and the Sunbelt League MVP as a junior and senior. She earned first-team All-Ivy League and honorable-mention All-Riverside County accolades as a freshman.

Hester played AAU basketball for the West Coast All-Stars and Coach Kevin Morrison in the spring and summer of 2004. The team finished with a 50-5 record and claimed tournament titles at the Nike Boo Williams Tournament, the Basketball at the Bayou Tournament in New Orleans and the Nike Chicago Cup.

An outstanding all-around athlete, Hester also earned one letter in volleyball and two letters in track and field at Perris.

Personal
La Quantay Nashay (Tay) Hester was born Jan. 25, 1987, in Long Beach, Calif. She is the daughter of Jackelyn Emanuel and her stepfather is Dennis Stinson. Tay has three brothers, Patrick, 23, Jordan, 6, and Jaden, 3, and two sisters, Malaysia, 14, and JaKayla, 1.

Hester is majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology at Nebraska.

As a junior college prospect, Hester chose Nebraska over Boise State, UNLV, Oregon State, Texas A&M and Temple. Out of high school, Hester was also recruited by UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine and UC Riverside.

Hester's Career Statistics

Year

G-GS

FG-FGA

Pct.

3P-3PA

Pct.

FT-FTA

Pct.

TRB-Avg.

PF-D

A

TO

Blk

ST

Pts-Avg.

2007-08 33-33 85-200 .425 5-27 .185 41-78 .526 135-4.1 89-3 67 93 3 35 216-6.52008-09 31-18 70-186 .376 1-13 .077 37-73 .507 129-4.2 90-2 40 82 3 23 178-5.7

Career

64-51

155-386

.402

6-40

.150

78-151

.517

264-4.1

179-5

107

175

6

58

394-6.2