Huskers Host Southland Champs Friday

#22/#22 Nebraska Cornhuskers 

vs. Houston Christian Huskies

Friday, November 11, 2022, 8 p.m. (CT)

Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska

Live Video: B1G+ (Student U)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (7:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (105.3 FM), Omaha (105.9 FM)
Huskers.com, Huskers App
Special Event: Military Appreciation Night
Halftime: Rolla Bolla
Vote for Alexis Markowski & Jaz Shelley at hoophallawards.com

Huskers Host Southland Champs Houston Christian Friday Night 

The Nebraska women’s basketball team completes its two-game season-opening home stand by playing host to 2022 Southland Conference regular-season champion Houston Christian Friday night in Lincoln. Tip-off between the Huskers (1-0) and Huskies (1-0) at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 8 p.m. 

A live video stream of Nebraska’s game with Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) will be available to subscribers of B1G+. Fans can listen to the call of Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the Huskers Radio Network (105.3 FM in Lincoln, and 105.9 FM in Omaha), the Huskers App and on Huskers.com.

Tickets for the game are available through the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED. As part of Military Appreciation Night, veterans and active-duty military may show military ID at the box office to receive one free general admission ticket.

Nebraska women’s basketball’s late tip time is to accommodate NU’s home volleyball match against Iowa at the Devaney Center, which is set for 6 p.m. Fans holding a ticket to the volleyball match can also show their ticket at Pinnacle Bank Arena for free admission on Friday.

Nebraska is ranked No. 22 in both the AP and USA Today/WBCA Top 25 preseason rankings.

The Huskers opened the season with a 100-36 win over in-state rival Omaha on Monday. Nebraska’s 64-point margin of victory was the largest in a season opener in school history.

Nebraska hit 14 three-pointers against the Mavericks, with all 10 active Huskers sinking at least one three. It was the first time in NU history that every available Husker drained a three in a game.

In addition to the 42 points from beyond the arc, the Huskers got 50 points in the paint, led by 21 points and nine rebounds from 6-2 power forward Isabelle Bourne.

Naismith Trophy and Lisa Leslie Award candidate Alexis Markowski added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Annika Stewart contributed 10 points and seven boards off the bench.

Allison Weidner led the Husker guards with 19 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Maddie Krull added 18 points and a career-high-tying four three-pointers in her Husker debut.

Naismith Trophy and Ann Meyers Drysdale Award candidate Jaz Shelley managed five points while distributing a game-high 10 assists and snagging a game-high four steals.

Houston Christian comes to Lincoln after an 87-33 win over the University of the Southwest on Monday in Houston. The Huskies jumped to a 25-5 lead that included 5-of-7 three-point shooting.

N’Denasija Collins led HCU with 21 points, while Enya Maguire added 17 points off the bench. Six different Huskies hit at least one three in the game, including Maguire (3-5) and Julija Vujakovic (3-7), as HCU knocked down 10-of-24 threes on the night. HCU also hit 23-of-28 free throws.

#22/#22 Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten)

34 – Isabelle Bourne – 6-2 – Jr. – F – 21.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg

40 – Alexis Markowski – 6-3 – So. – C/F – 13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg

1 – Jaz Shelley – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 5.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 10.0 apg

2 – Trinity Brady – 5-11 – So. – G – 3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

3 – Allison Weidner – 5-10 – So. – G – 19.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg

Off the Bench

42 – Maddie Krull – 5-9 – So. – G – 18.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

21 – Annika Stewart – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 10.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg

32 – Kendall Coley – 6-2 – Fr. – F/G – 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

15 – Kendall Moriarty – 6-1 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

14 – Callin Hake – 5-9 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

4 – Sam Haiby – 5-9 – Gr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

24 – Nailah Dillard – 5-10 – Gr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

44 – Maggie Mendelson – 6-5 – Fr. – F/C – 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Seventh Season at Nebraska (97-84); 16th Season Overall (290-193)

Houston Christian Huskies (1-0, 0-0 Southland)

14 – N’Denasija Collins – 6-0 – Sr. – F – 21.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

25 – Abbey Sutherland – 6-4 – Sr. – C – 7.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

33 – Marilyn Nzoiwu – 6-3 – Gr. – C – 6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

5 – Kennedy Wilson – 5-6 – Sr. – G – 5.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

15 – Julija Vujakovic – 5-11 – Gr. – G – 9.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

Off the Bench

0 – Enya Maguire – 5-4 – Jr. – G – 17.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

22 – Quincy Erickson – 6-0 – Jr. – G – 7.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

11 – Jo Oly – 6-0 – Fr. – F – 7.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

12 – Amy Cotton – 6-0 – So. – F – 5.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg

24 – Cat Hursch – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 2.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg

40 – Elizabeth Matadi – 6-5 – So. – C – 1.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

Head Coach: Donna Finnie (Heriot Watt, 1998)

10th Season at HCU (102-152); 10th Season Overall (102-152)

Scouting the Houston Christian Huskies

Donna Finnie is in her 10th season leading the Huskies. A native of Edinburgh, Scotland, Finnie was the first international coach in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball history. She began leading the program at Houston Baptist (which changed its name officially to Houston Christian in September of 2022) in 2013-14. Finnie played collegiately at Lamar before earning her bachelor’s degree from Heriot-Watt in Edinburgh in 1998.

Finnie led the Huskies to her first winning season a year ago, guiding HCU to a 16-11 record and a 12-2 conference mark to earn the school’s first Southland Conference women’s basketball title. The Huskies fell to Incarnate Word in the conference tournament before ending their season with a 61-51 loss to Toledo in the WNIT. 

Houston Christian must replace leading scorer and Southland Conference Player of the Year Timia Jefferson from last year’s team. Jefferson, a 5-9 guard, averaged 12.7 points per game before transferring to Texas State for the 2022-23 campaign.

Despite the departure of Jefferson, HCU has a load of experienced players back from a year ago. Senior N’Denasija Collins, a 6-0 senior forward, averaged 9.6 points and 6.4 rebounds while hitting 85.7 percent (60-70) of her free throws and 34.8 percent (8-23) three-pointers. Collins opened 2022-23 with 21 points in a win over the University of the Southwest in Houston on Monday.

Julija Vujakovic, a 5-11 graduate guard, added 9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds and a team-best 1.7 steals per game. One of two players from Luxembourg on HCU’s roster, Vujakovic also led HCU with 50 three-pointers and was the only Husky to start all 27 games. Vujakovic opened this season with nine points in a win over Southwest on Monday.

Senior Kennedy Wilson also returns to the starting lineup after averaging 8.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and a team-best 2.3 assists per game. The 5-6 guard hit 40.4 percent (19-47) of her threes and 86.7 percent (85-98) of her free throws.

Abbey Sutherland returns to the post for the Huskies after making 26 starts in 2021-22. The 6-4 senior from Hamilton, Australia, averaged 4.3 points and 4.8 rebounds while leading the team with 35 blocks. Sutherland hit 12-of-37 threes (.324) but just 28.3 percent (39-138) of her shots overall.

Marilyn Nzoiwu, a 6-3 graduate center, gives HCU more size and experience. She averaged 4.9 points and a team-best 7.3 rebounds while blocking 33 shots last season. 

Enya Maguire, a junior from Belfast, Northern Ireland, also made 14 starts a year ago, averaging 5.7 points and 2.4 rebounds. She ranked second on the team with 36 made three-pointers.

Sophomore Amy Cotton, a 6-0 forward from North Adelaide, Australia, added five points and nine rebounds off the bench in the win over Southwest Monday. She had 23 rebounds over 12 games the entire 2021-22 season.

Junior Quincy Erickson, a transfer from Mineral Area College, opened her Husky career with seven points off the bench in Monday’s win over Southwest, while fellow newcomer Jo Oly from Luxembourg pitched in seven points and two boards.

Overall, the 2022-23 Houston Christian roster features seven international players (Australia-3, Northern Ireland-2, Luxembourg-2), six players from the state of Texas, and Erickson, who is from Washington, Missouri.

Last season, the Huskies averaged just 57.7 points but held opponents to 56.2 points per contest.  They hit a sparkling 77.8 percent from the free throw line, but knocked down just 35 percent from the field, including 31.6 percent from three-point range. Despite their size, the Huskies were out-rebounded 39.5-35.8 on the year. Opponents hit just 23.9 percent of their threes against HCU’s defense.

Friday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between Nebraska and Houston Christian (or Houston Baptist) in women’s basketball.

Noting Nebraska’s Win Over Omaha

Nebraska’s 64-point margin of victory (100-36) over Omaha was the largest in a season opener and the fifth-largest in any game in school history.

The Huskers reached the century mark for the 30th time in school history and the fourth time in the last 34 games. Last season, Nebraska opened with 108 points against Maine, before scoring 102 in Game 2 vs. Prairie View A&M. NU added a season-high 113 points in a win over North Carolina Central in Game 5 in 2021-22.

Nebraska’s 36 points allowed to Omaha were the second-fewest in a season opener in history, trailing only the 33 points scored by Alabama A&M on Nov. 14, 2019.

NU’s 33 points in the third quarter tied for the most in a third quarter in school history. It was the sixth 30-point third quarter in Nebraska’s last 34 games.

Nebraska’s 14 made threes tied for the fourth-most in school history and were the second most in an opener, trailing only the overall school record of 17 made threes against Vermont at the Devaney Center on Nov. 13, 2010. NU’s 34 attempts tied for the second most in Husker history.

All 10 active Huskers hit at least one three-pointer in the game – the first time in school history that every Nebraska player available hit a three.

Nebraska scored 100 points despite going without a free throw attempt in the game. It was the first time in Husker women’s basketball history that NU did not attempt a free throw in a game (1,462 games).

It marked just the third time in school history the Huskers went without a made free throw, joining an 86-58 win over Georgia State in Lincoln on Dec. 7, 1989 (0-3 FT) and a 68-58 loss at Iowa on Dec. 11, 1987 (0-2 FT). 

The only time Nebraska has been held to a single free throw attempt in a game came at Maryland on Feb. 8, 2015, when the Huskers made their only attempt in a 59-47 loss to the Terrapins.

Husker Nuggets

Nebraska opened the 2022-23 campaign at No. 22 in the AP Preseason Top 25, its first AP Preseason ranking since 2014.

The Huskers closed 2021-22 at No. 23 in the NET rankings. NU finished No. 10 nationally in scoring offense (77.8 ppg), No. 12 in assists per game (17.4 apg), No. 13 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.24), No. 18 in scoring margin (+13.5 ppg), No. 20 in three-point field goal percentage (.357) and No. 21 in three-pointers made per game (8.5).

Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 13 times in the last 41 games, including nine times in 2021-22. NU hit a Big Ten Tournament-record 15-of-32 threes against Illinois (March 3), 14-of-28 threes against NC Central (Nov. 20), 14-of-30 at Iowa (Jan. 16), 12-of-29 vs. Drake (Dec. 19), 11-of-20 vs. Purdue (Jan. 30), 11-of-22 vs. Prairie View A&M (Nov. 11), 10-of-19 at San Diego (Nov. 27), 10-of-21 against Minnesota (Feb. 20) and 10-of-28 at Wake Forest (Dec. 1).  

The Huskers opened 2022-23 by hitting 14-of-34 threes in a win over Omaha (Nov. 7).

Through the first 20 seasons with the three-point shot in women’s basketball (1988-2007), Nebraska hit 10 threes in a game just six times (591 games).

The Huskers have hit at least one three in 432 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 311 consecutive games.

Nebraska has scored 100 or more points four times in the last 34 games, including three times last season.

The Huskers have scored 30 or more in a quarter seven times in the last 34 games. In the previous six years combined (178 games), NU produced nine 30-point periods.