Huskers Shoot for Sweep at Illinois

Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten)

at Illinois Fighting Illini (2-7, 0-6 Big Ten)

Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, 7 p.m. (CT)

State Farm Center – Urbana-Champaign, Ill.

Live TV: B1G Network (Chris Vosters, Meghan McKeown)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (6:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (B107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn

Huskers Shoot for Sweep of Fighting Illini Monday

The Nebraska women’s basketball team completes its regular-season series with Illinois on Monday, when the Huskers (7-5, 5-4 Big Ten) travel to Urbana-Champaign to take on the Fighting Illini (2-7, 0-6 Big Ten). Tip-off at the State Farm Center is set for 7 p.m. (CT). 

The Big Ten Network will provide a live telecast with Chris Vosters and Meghan McKeown on the call. Live radio will also be available through the Husker Sports Network with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action across the network stations, the Huskers App and on Huskers.com.

Nebraska opened Big Ten play with a hard-fought 78-72 win over Illinois in Lincoln on Dec. 10. Sam Haiby scored a career-high 33 points and added nine rebounds and four assists in the victory. Isabelle Bourne contributed 21 points and eight rebounds of her own, as those efforts helped the Huskers offset an Illini roster that featured five players who scored in double figures (Jada Peebles-16, Eva Rubin-13, Solape Amusan-13, J-Naya Ephraim-11, Aaliyah Nye-10).

Haiby, a 5-9 guard from Moorhead, Minn., has continued to put up strong numbers, leading the Huskers in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (8.2 rpg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (1.3 spg). She had her third straight double-double with 25 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to Minnesota (Jan. 19). Haiby is pushing for All-Big Ten honors and is a three-time Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll selection this season. 

Bourne was big for Nebraska through the first 10 games, averaging 14.0 points and 7.3 rebounds before suffering an ankle injury in the closing seconds of the win at No. 23 Michigan State (Jan. 10). Bourne did not play in the victory over No. 15 Ohio State (Jan. 16) or the loss to Minnesota.

Since the first meeting, Nebraska has fought hard to go 4-4 against Big Ten foes with three wins over top-25 teams (Northwestern, Michigan State, Ohio State). 

Illinois has lost six straight starting with the loss at Nebraska, including four losses to top-25 Big Ten foes (Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern) and a loss to Iowa. The Illini also had games against Michigan (Dec. 14), Southern Illinois (Dec. 22) and Michigan State (Jan. 14) postponed.

Nebraska’s Kate Cain earned Big Ten Player-of-the-Week honors (Jan. 18) after producing 22 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocks in the upset of Ohio State. The 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., leads the Big Ten and ranks third nationally with 3.2 blocks per game. Her 318 career blocks rank sixth in Big Ten history and second among active Division I players. She is a three-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate and a two-time Big Ten All-Defensive selection.

Junior Bella Cravens has been a force as a starter in Big Ten play. The 6-3 forward from Laie, Hawaii, ranks second in the Big Ten in conference play-only with 9.6 rebounds per game to go with 7.1 points per game. She had a career-high-tying 16 rebounds in the win over Illinois. She added 14 huge boards in the win over No. 15 Ohio State. She grabbed 13 boards in the win over Rutgers and had nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks in the win at No. 23 Michigan State.

Ashley Scoggin has stepped into a major role in her first year as a Husker. The 22-year-old redshirt sophomore has started all 12 games, averaging 8.2 points while leading NU with 20 made threes (.385). She posted career highs of 16 points against Minnesota, Purdue and Idaho State.

True freshman Ruby Porter has started the past two games in place of Isabelle Bourne. Porter has averaged 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds as a starter, while fellow freshman Whitney Brown has added 9.5 points and 3.0 rebounds off the bench the past two contests. Brown, a walk-on from Grand Island, erupted for a career-high 14 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting in a career-high 28 minutes as the game’s second-leading scorer in the win over No. 15 Ohio State (Jan. 16).

Annika Stewart has been the most productive Husker freshman so far this season, averaging 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds. She owns three double-figure scoring efforts, including a career-high 15 points in just nine minutes in the win over Idaho State (Dec. 6). 

    

Coley Joins Huskers as Early Enrollee 

Since playing its second consecutive game (Ohio State, Minnesota) and its fourth this season (Indiana, Purdue) with just seven active players (six scholarship and walk-on Whitney Brown), the Nebraska roster got a boost with the addition of freshman early enrollee Kendall Coley. The 6-2 wing was cleared for full participation on Wednesday and practiced for the first time Thursday (Jan. 21). 

Coley graduated from St. Louis Park High School in Minneapolis on Jan. 14. She was ranked as one of the top 50 recruits in the nation by All-Star Girls Report (36), Prospects Nation (39) and ESPN HoopGurlz (49).

Coley committed to Nebraska in April of 2020 after averaging 15.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists as a junior at St. Louis Park High School.

Kendall’s older sister, Chase, was a four-year letterwinner at Iowa (2015-18) and started all 32 games for the Hawkeyes as a senior in 2017-18.

Scouting The Illinois Fighting Illini

Coach Nancy Fahey brings a young and balanced Illinois roster into Monday’s game with Nebraska.

Sophomores Kennadi Myles (11.2 ppg, 7.8 rpg), Jeanae Terry (10.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.6 apg) and Jada Peebles (10.0 ppg, 2.0 apg) are all averaging double figures for the Illini. Peebles, a 5-10 guard, led Illinois with 16 points in the first meeting against Nebraska.

The Huskers were able to hold both Myles (4 points, 4 rebounds) and Terry (3 points, 7 rebounds) in check in the first meeting. Myles led Illinois with 16 points and eight rebounds in a 73-54 loss at No. 21 Northwestern on Thursday (Jan. 21). Terry added 11 points and eight boards against the Cats.

Redshirt junior Eva Rubin is new to the Illini starting five this season. The 6-5 center who transferred from Arizona State in December of 2019 after playing nine games as a sophomore in 2018-19, is averaging 9.3 points and 3.9 rebounds, including 13 points and seven boards in the first game against the Big Red. Rubin was a freshman on the 2017-18 Sun Devil squad that defeated Nebraska in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas, but she did not play in the game.

J-Naya Ephraim, a 5-9 junior guard, is one of the most experienced members of the Illini program. Ephraim is averaging 6.1 points per game this season, including 11 points, four rebounds and four assists against Nebraska on Dec. 10. She averaged 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds while playing in all 30 games with 16 starts a year ago.  

Sophomore forward Solape Amusan has emerged in Big Ten play, averaging 6.5 and 2.3 rebounds through six conference games, including 13 points in 15 minutes against Nebraska.

Brazilian post player Geovana Lopes has provided strong contributions inside, averaging 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds but hasn’t played in a Big Ten game since scoring two points in 16 minutes against the Huskers. Lopes had 12 points and six rebounds in a win over Indiana State to open the season (Nov. 25).

As a team, Illinois has hit just 36 percent of its shots, including 22 percent (35-159) of its threes on the season, but the Illini knocked down 9-of-23 threes in the first meeting at Nebraska.

Illinois has been minus-7.1 on the boards in Big Ten play, including minus-12 (47-35) in the loss at Nebraska. Illinois did get 14 offensive rebounds against the Big Red and both teams finished with eight second-chance points.

Nebraska vs. Illinois Series History

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Illinois 15-5, including five consecutive victories. Last season, the Huskers notched an 80-58 win over the Illini on Senior Day (Feb. 22, 2020) at Pinnacle Bank Arena, before opening 2020-21 Big Ten play with a 78-72 win at PBA (Dec. 10, 2020).

Monday’s game will mark the third time in the Illini’s last 11 Big Ten games that they will face Nebraska. Maybe more incredibly, the Illini were scheduled for three meetings in an 11-game Big Ten span with Michigan as well, but the Dec. 19 game against the Wolverines was postponed.

Nebraska is 12-3 against Illinois as Big Ten Conference foes, including 11-2 in Big Ten regular-season conference games.

Nebraska owns six consecutive victories over Illinois at Pinnacle Bank Arena, and is 8-1 against the Illini in Lincoln. The only Illinois win came with a 62-52 victory over the Huskers on Jan. 17, 2013.

The series dates back to an 89-86 Nebraska win over the Illini on March 3, 1982 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.