Huskers Clash with Cats New Year’s Eve

Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten)

vs. No. 15/16 Northwestern Wildcats (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten)

Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020, 1 p.m. (CT)

Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska

Live TV:  B1G Network (Larry Punteney, Brenda VanLengen)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (12:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (B107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn

Huskers Hope for New Year’s Eve Upset of No. 15 Wildcats

The Nebraska women’s basketball team returns home after a three-game road swing to celebrate New Year’s Eve against No. 15 Northwestern. Tip-off between the Huskers (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) and the unbeaten and defending Big Ten co-champion Wildcats (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten) at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 1 p.m.

Live television coverage will be provided by the Big Ten Network with Larry Punteney and Brenda VanLengen on the call.

Live radio will be available with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the air across the Husker Sports Network stations, the Huskers App and on Huskers.com.

Thursday’s game will be the first of two meetings between Nebraska and Northwestern this season. The Huskers are scheduled to travel to Evanston, Ill., to battle the Cats on Feb. 17. 

The Huskers headed into the holiday break with a 3-3 record after an 83-72 loss at Purdue on Dec. 23. Sophomore Isabelle Bourne continued to shine, scoring a career-high 22 points to go along with a career-high four assists while adding seven rebounds. 

A 6-2 forward/guard from Canberra, Australia, Bourne heads into the Northwestern game ranked second among the Huskers in scoring (15.2 ppg), rebounding (6.8 rpg) and blocks (1.2 bpg). Through three Big Ten games, Bourne is averaging a team-best 19.7 points per contest.

Junior Sam Haiby joins Bourne and senior Kate Cain as Nebraska captains this season. Haiby leads Nebraska in scoring (15.7 ppg), rebounding (7.3 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg) after scoring 16 points at Purdue. Haiby is averaging 18.7 points per game in Big Ten play and earned a spot on the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll (Dec. 14) after scoring a career-high 33 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists in Nebraska’s Big Ten-opening win over Illinois (Dec. 10).

Kate Cain, a 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., ranks third among the Huskers in scoring (9.0 ppg), while leading the Huskers with 2.8 blocks per game. A three-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate, Cain is Nebraska’s career block leader (297) and is poised to become just the sixth player in Big Ten history with 300 career blocked shots. 

Ashley Scoggin has stepped into a major role in her first year as a Husker. The 22-year-old redshirt sophomore tied her career high with 16 points to go along with three assists and two steals at Purdue. Scoggin is averaging 7.2 points through her first six games as a starter at Nebraska.

Junior Bella Cravens has been a major contributor as a starter in Big Ten play. The 6-3 forward from Laie, Hawaii, is averaging 7.0 points and a team-best 9.3 rebounds in conference games, including a career-high-tying 16 rebounds in the win over Illinois. She added 10 boards at Purdue.

Scouting No. 15 Northwestern

Northwestern is hunting a second straight Big Ten regular-season title with an experienced lineup filled with athletic guards. The Wildcats come to Lincoln ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 16 in the USA Today/WBCA Coaches Top 25 with a 4-0 record. The Cats are 2-0 in the Big Ten with wins over Minnesota (80-51) and at Purdue (70-54).

Last season, Northwestern put together the best season in school history with a 26-4 record that included a 16-2 Big Ten mark to share the regular-season title with Maryland. The Wildcats lost both of their top post players from last season, Abi Scheid (6-2, 11.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Abbie Wolf (6-4, 11.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg). Scheid was a first-team All-Big Ten choice after hitting 47.7 percent (73-153) of her three-point attempts as one of the Big Ten’s best stretch fours. Wolf was honorable-mention All-Big Ten as one of the conference’s most improved players in her final year.

Despite those two big losses, the Wildcats return first-team All-Big Ten guard Lindsey Pulliam. The 5-10 senior averaged a team-best 18.8 points per game while adding 4.7 rebounds per contest. Pulliam comes to Lincoln with 1,693 career points to tie Maggie Lyon for seventh on Northwestern’s career scoring list. When Pulliam reaches 1,700 points she will move into soul possession of sixth on the Wildcat career points list. She has started 102 games for the Cats and has averaged 16.6 points per game over her career.

Veronica Burton also returns after earning second-team All-Big Ten accolades last season. The 5-9 junior point guard has been outstanding early this season, averaging a team-best 21.3 points. Burton’s efficiency is off the charts through the first four games of 2020-21. She is shooting 56 percent from the field (28-50), 50 percent from three-point range (9-18) and 90.9 percent (20-22) from the free throw line. She is averaging 5.5 assists and carries an assist-to-turnover of 3.7-to-1 (22-6). She has three times as many steals (18) as turnovers (6). 

Burton’s next steal will be the 200th of her career, which will move her into a tie for seventh on Northwestern’s career list. She needs just 37 steals to climb to No. 2 on the Wildcat career chart behind only Ashley Deary (429, 2013-17). Burton is just 13 assists away from 300 in her career. 

Burton averaged 11.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game in 2019-20.

While Pulliam and Burton were both preseason first-team All-Big Ten choices this season, junior Sydney Wood has emerged as a force early this season. The 5-11 guard/forward is averaging 14.3 points per game and has scored in double figures in each of NU’s first four contests. As a freshman, she averaged just 3.0 points per contest, before managing 5.1 points per game last year while starting 28 games. Wood is deadly in the mid-range as a slasher, but she has not attempted a three-pointer this season and has hit just four in her Northwestern career.

The only starter that is six feet tall for the Wildcats is junior Courtney Shaw. The 6-0 forward is averaging 9.3 points and a team-best 6.5 rebounds. Shaw played just 19 minutes as a freshman for the Cats, before averaging 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds over 30 games last season. 

Senior Jordan Hamilton rounds out Northwestern’s starting five by averaging 8.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Hamilton started 59 games in her first two seasons as a Wildcat, before coming off the bench for the majority of last season.

As a team, Northwestern is averaging 80.5 points per game, while surrendering just 53.0 points per contest. Northwestern leads the Big Ten with a plus-14.3 team turnover margin. In fact, Northwestern has more steals (59) than they have committed turnovers (48) this season.

The Wildcats are shooting a solid 46.4 percent from the field, but just 25 percent from three-point range. They have hit 72.4 percent of their free throws. Northwestern also owns a plus-5.3 team rebounding margin (36.3-31.0).

Nebraska vs. Northwestern Series History

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 10-8, but the Wildcats notched a 60-56 win over the Huskers in Evanston in the last meeting between the two teams on Feb. 16, 2020. In a possession game throughout, Nebraska led 56-51 at Welsh-Ryan Arena with 2:45 left, but the Wildcats scored the game’s final nine points to escape with the victory.

Kate Cain had a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocked shots and a career-high four steals at Northwestern last season.

Veronica Burton led Northwestern with 21 points, including 9-for-9 free throw shooting. She also had a trio of steals and two assists.

Lindsey Pulliam managed nine points and 10 rebounds but went just 1-for-13 from the field. Her only made field goal of the game came with 28 seconds left to give the Cats a 58-56 lead. She also hit 7-of-8 free throws, including the final two to seal the win with four seconds left.

Northwestern’s 9-0 run to end the game began with a Sydney Wood jumper before Jordan Hamilton knocked down a three-pointer with 1:53 left.

Nebraska is 4-3 all-time in Lincoln, but Northwestern has won the last two at Pinnacle Bank Arena, including a 58-54 win on Jan. 24, 2019.

The Huskers are 5-5 against the Cats in Evanston, and 1-0 at the Big Ten Tournament (2012).