Huskers Shoot for Second Win

Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0)

vs. Prairie View A&M Panthers (1-0)

Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, 7 p.m. (CT)

Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska

Tickets: Huskers.com / 800-8-BIG-RED
Live Video: B1G+ (subscription required)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (6:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (B107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Huskers Shoot For Win No. 2 Against Prairie View

The Nebraska women’s basketball team shoots for its second win of the young season when the Huskers play host to Prairie View A&M on Thursday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Tip-off between the Huskers and Panthers in the first meeting in series history is set for 7 p.m. (CT), with a live video stream provided for subscribers of B1G+ with Huskers Radio Network announcers Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the call. The radio broadcast also can be accessed for free on Huskers.com and the Huskers App. 

The Big Red bolted to a resounding start with a 108-50 win over defending America East Conference regular-season champion Maine on Tuesday afternoon in Lincoln. Isabelle Bourne led five Huskers in double figures with a game-high 17 points in just 16 minutes of action, as Nebraska reached the century mark for the first time under Head Coach Amy Williams.

The 108 points tied for the ninth-highest point total in school history, while the 58-point victory margin tied for the seventh-best spread all-time for the Huskers. Overall it marked the first time that Nebraska put up 100 points since scoring 100 against Pepperdine on Nov. 15, 2014.

Bella Cravens tied her Husker career high with 13 points while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. Ashley Scoggin pitched in 12 points and a career-high six assists.

Annika Stewart also scored 12 points off the bench, while returning second-team All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby put up 10 points. All 12 Huskers who were available scored in the game, including nine points and four rebounds from true freshman Allison Weidner in her collegiate debut.

Fellow Nebraskan Alexis Markowski contributed eight points and seven rebounds, while another newcomer, sophomore point guard Jaz Shelley, scored eight points and dished out five assists in a nearly flawless Husker debut.

As a team, Nebraska hit 61.2 percent of its shots from the field, including 53.3 percent (8-15) of its three-pointers and 81.8 percent (18-22) of its free throws while out-rebounding the Black Bears, 43-20. The Huskers also posted a plus-10 turnover margin (16-6) while producing a 26-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio in the opener.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten)

14 – Bella Cravens – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg

34 – Isabelle Bourne – 6-2 – So. – F – 17.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg

0 – Ashley Scoggin – 5-7 – RSo. – G – 12.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

1 – Jaz Shelley – 5-9 – So. – G – 8.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

4 – Sam Haiby – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 10.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

Off the Bench

21 – Annika Stewart – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 12.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg    

3 – Allison Weidner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 9.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

40 – Alexis Markowski – 6-3 – Fr. – F/C – 8.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg

11 – Ruby Porter – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 7.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

32 – Kendall Coley – 6-2 – Fr. – F/G – 6.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg 

10 – Whitney Brown – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 4.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

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

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Sixth Season at Nebraska (73-75); 15th Season Overall (266-184)

Prairie View A&M Panthers (1-0, 0-0 SWAC)

14 – Kennedi Heard – 5-10 – Jr. – F – 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

21 – Gerlyn Smith – 6-1 – So. – F – 4.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg

23 – Kennedy Paul – 6-1 – Jr. – F – 8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg    

2 – Emely Rosario – 5-6 – Gr. – G – 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

4 – Kirdis Clark – 5-7 – Gr. – G – 23.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

Off the Bench

11 – Diana Rosenthal – 5-9 – Jr. – G/F – 19.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

5 – Marliah Johnson – 5-5 – Jr. – G – 5.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg        

20 – Jaliyah Harper – 5-11 – Fr. – G/F – 4.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

10 – Shira Patton – 5-9 – So. – G/F – 3.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

1 – Barbara Benson – 5-10 – Gr. – G – 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

12 – Tierra Simon – 6-1 – Fr. – F – 1.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

Head Coach: Sandy Pugh (Northwestern State, 1987)

Fourth Season at Prairie View A&M (32-46); 22nd Season Overall (338-270). 

Scouting the Prairie View A&M Panthers

• Coach Sandy Pugh brings Prairie View A&M to Lincoln with a 1-0 record after an 83-70 season-opening victory over NAIA Division I Paul Quinn College in Houston on Tuesday night. 

• The Panthers are coming off a 3-13 season that included a 2-11 SWAC mark in 2020-21, but a revamped roster has PVAMU optimistic about the 2021-22 season. 

• The Panthers return their top three scorers from last season, led by 6-1 junior forward Kennedy Paul, who averaged 12.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Paul hit better than 31 percent of her three-point attempts and nearly 80 percent of her free throws. She opened 2021-22 with eight points and three rebounds against Paul Quinn College.

• Diana Rosenthal, a 5-9 junior wing added 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds last season, while shooting nearly 32 percent from long range. Rosenthal also led the Panthers with 44 assists and 35 steals on the season, while starting all 16 games. In the win over Paul Quinn, Rosenthal came off the bench to score 19 points and grab three boards.

• Junior Kennedi Heard gives Prairie View A&M three returning starters averaging in double figures. The 5-10 forward averaged 10.3 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting a team-best 39 percent (23-59) from beyond the arc and 85.2 percent (23-27) from the free throw line while starting all 16 games alongside Rosenthal. Heard scored seven points and had four rebounds in the opening night win over Paul Quinn College.

• The only other returning player to score last season for Prairie View A&M was 6-5 sophomore Trinity Hudson, who averaged 0.8 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. However, Pugh has fortified PVAMU’s roster with 11 new players, including three graduate transfers, two more transfers from Division I schools, three JUCO transfers and three true freshmen.

• Kirdis Clark, a 5-7 grad transfer led Alcorn State in scoring (13.8 ppg) and steals (44) last season. She also connected on a team-best 29 three-pointers (.296). Clark led PVAMU with a game-high 23 points in Tuesday’s win over Paul Quinn.

• Emely Rosario, a 5-6 guard, helped Troy to a 22-6 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance last season by playing in 27 games with five starts. She managed 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, while carrying a solid 58-36 assist-to-turnover ratio. Troy fell at No. 2 seed Texas A&M, 84-80, in Austin in the NCAA Tournament. She earned a start in the opening-night win over Paul Quinn.

• Barbara Benson, a 5-10 guard who started her career at UTSA before transferring to Texas-Arlington, played 28 games in her two seasons at UTA. She scored a career-high 19 points for UTSA against San Diego on Dec. 15, 2018, and dished out a career-high nine assists against Utah State for UTSA on Dec. 5, 2018. She managed two points and one board in her PVAMU debut.

• In the win over Paul Quinn, the Panthers forced 35 turnovers and produced a plus-18 turnover margin (35-17), but PVAMU was minus-18 on the glass (50-32).

Nebraska vs. Prairie View A&M Series History

• Thursday’s game will be the first in history between Nebraska and Prairie View A&M, which is a historically black land-grant institution located in Prairie View, Texas, approximately 50 miles northwest of downtown Houston. PVAMU is the only charter member remaining in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), which also includes Nebraska’s Sunday afternoon opponent – Alabama A&M – coached by former Husker Margaret Richards.

• Although Nebraska has never played Prairie View A&M, Panther Coach Sandy Pugh has made two appearances as a head coach at Pinnacle Bank Arena as the long-time leader at Southern. Pugh, who led the Jaguars to .500 or better seasons in 18 years at Southern, brought SU teams to Lincoln in November of 2013 and 2015.

• Nebraska guard Nailah Dillard’s twin sister Naomi is a junior pre-med major at Prairie View A&M. Nailah is in her second season at Nebraska, but is out for the season with a knee injury.

Husker Nuggets

• Nebraska’s 58-point margin of victory over Maine matched the largest margin ever by the Huskers in a season opener, tying a 58-point win (104-46) over Wofford (Nov. 21, 2003).

• NU’s 61.2 field goal percentage in the win over Maine marked the 11th-best single-game shooting percentage by the Huskers in school history.

• The Huskers scored at least 24 points in each of the four quarters in Tuesday’s win over Maine, including a 30-point third quarter, which matched the highest point total by Nebraska in a third period since women’s college basketball shifted to the quarter system in 2015-16.

• Nebraska has scored 30 third-quarter points in back-to-back regular-season home games, including an 87-72 win over Penn State on Feb. 21, 2021.

Highlighting the 2021-22 Huskers

• Nebraska returns five starters and 10 letterwinners from its 2020-21 team that advanced to the round of 16 in the Postseason WNIT after knocking off five top-25 opponents during the regular season. The Huskers finished with a 13-13 overall record that included a 9-10 Big Ten mark.

• Nebraska’s top two returning players are second-team All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby (Moorhead, Minn.) and honorable-mention All-Big Ten forward Isabelle Bourne (Canberra, Australia). 

• Haiby was the only Big Ten player to rank among the conference’s top 15 in scoring (11th, 16.8 ppg), rebounding (15th, 6.8 rpg) and assists (8th, 4.4 apg) in 2020-21. 

• Bourne showed her versatility in a breakout 2020-21 season, averaging 13.6 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists. One of the top power forwards in the Big Ten, Bourne also started games on the wing when the Huskers were short-handed because of injuries midway through the 2020-21 season.

• The Big Red do not expect to be short-handed again in 2021-22. Ashley Scoggin (Dallas, Ore.) returns to the backcourt after starting every game in her first year at Nebraska. She averaged 8.5 points and 2.3 assists while leading Nebraska with 43 three-pointers.

• Bella Cravens (Laie, Hawaii) also returns to the starting five after averaging 6.4 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds as one of the Big Ten’s most athletic post defenders.

• Ruby Porter (Adelaide, Australia) also returns for her second season at Nebraska after making 11 starts a year ago. She averaged 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds despite being limited by injuries.

• Other returning letterwinners for Nebraska include Trinity Brady, Whitney Brown, MiCole Cayton, Annika Stewart and 2021 early enrollee Kendall Coley.

• Coley was also part of the 2020-21 signing class that includes Nebraska high school stars Alexis Markowski and Allison Weidner, that was ranked among the top 25 in the nation. Kendally Moriarty adds another true freshman who was ranked among the top 100 players nationally and was the first commit to Nebraska’s signing class. Tatiana Popa, a 6-5 center, rounds out the group of freshman.

• Nebraska’s collection of six newcomers also got a significant boost with the addition of Oregon transfer and Australian National Team point guard Jaz Shelley in April of 2021. Shelley was the only collegiate player on the Australian National Team that won bronze at the 2021 Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan, in October. She helped Oregon to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in 2021.

Opener with Maine Featured Life Skills Pep Rally

• With the return of fans to Pinnacle Bank Arena for Nebraska women’s basketball games in 2021-22, the Huskers also celebrated the return of the Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally in advance of their season-opening game with Maine on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

• The 2021 Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Pep Rally, which was co-sponsored by the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame, featured positive messages from Husker student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators to more than 1,600 students from 30 schools across the state of Nebraska. The students and accompanying staff were also provided complimentary water from Pepsi and pizza from Nebraska Athletics.

• The Sportsmanship Pep Rally began at 9:30 a.m. on the main court at Pinnacle Bank Arena and featured messages from Nebraska Vice Chancellor, Director of Athletics Trev Alberts, Head Coach Amy Williams, All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby, Husker volleyball players Madi Kubik and Kenzie Knuckles, Nebraska baseball players Max Anderson and Brice Matthews and All-American and NCAA Champion bowler Cassidy Ray.

• The Pep Rally, which included schools from as far away as Kimball (5 1/2 hours from Lincoln), along with schools from Northeast Nebraska, Central Nebraska and Southeast Nebraska, lasted until approximately 10:45 a.m., and included a special performance from the Master of Simon Sez (Steve Max).

• The 2021 opener marked the third time (also 2013 and 2019) that Pinnacle Bank Arena and Nebraska women’s basketball teamed with the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame to host the Pep Rally for 6th through 8th grade students from around the state of Nebraska.

Husker History of Home-Opening Success

• Nebraska owns a history of season-opening success on the Huskers’ home court. NU improved to 45-3 in home season openers with a 108-50 victory over defending America East Conference regular-season champion Maine on Nov. 9, 2021. 

• NU is 8-1 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in season openers, including a win over Alabama A&M (Nov. 6, 2019). The lone loss came on Nov. 7, 2018, with an 83-77 setback to Drake. In the first regular-season game in the history of Pinnacle Bank Arena, Nebraska powered its way to a 77-49 win over UCLA on Nov. 8, 2013.

• Nebraska’s only season-opening home losses have come to Drake (2018), South Dakota State (Nov. 19, 2005) and Kansas (Nov. 21, 1980).

• Nebraska has been strong in its first four home games every season. In fact, NU is 164-25 (.868) over 48 seasons in its first four home contests, including 40-7 in Game No. 2. 

• Nebraska is 38-9 in Game No. 3 and 41-6 in Game No. 4.