Huskers Shoot for Sweep at Rutgers

Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-6, 7-5 Big Ten)

at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten)

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, 1 p.m. (CT)

The RAC – Piscataway, N.J.

Live Video: B1G Network+ 
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 Shoot for Sweep in Return to Rutgers

• The Nebraska women’s basketball team will compete for a season series sweep as Rutgers returns to the court afer an eight-game absence on Sunday in New Jersey. Tip-off between the Huskers (9-6, 7-5 Big Ten) and the Scarlet Knights (5-3, 1-3 Big Ten) at the RAC in Piscataway is set for 1 p.m. (CT).

• Live video will provided to subscribers of Big Ten Network Plus while fans can also follow Nebraska with the Husker Sports Network call of Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch across the radio network stations, the Huskers App and on Huskers.com.

• Nebraska fought its way to a 53-50 win over Rutgers at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Jan. 3) to improve to 5-3 overall. Since then, the Huskers have gone 4-3 with a pair of wins over top-25 teams to move to 9-6 and 7-5 in the conference. 

• Rutgers has not played since leaving Lincoln because of COVID-19 concerns within its program. The Scarlet Knights have had eight games postponed including the second postponement of a game against nationally ranked Indiana on Thursday (Feb. 4). The game against the Hoosiers was originally scheduled for Jan. 18. Five of the eight games missed by Rutgers were against ranked foes. 

• Sam Haiby continues to rise as a star in the Big Ten. The 5-9 junior guard from Moorhead, Minn., leads Nebraska in scoring (17.3 ppg), assists (4.3 apg) and steals (1.3 spg) while ranking second on the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg). She has made four appearances on the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll and owns five 20-plus scoring efforts. She also owns three double-doubles in the last six games. Haiby had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists in the first meeting with Rutgers.

• The Big Red welcomed the return of Isabelle Bourne to the active roster on Thursday at Penn State. Despite NU’s 85-74 loss, Bourne came off the bench with nine points and nine rebounds. Her three-pointer with just over 3:30 left gave the Huskers a 71-68 lead before the Lady Lions closed the game out at the free throw line down the stretch.

• Bourne, a 6-2 sophomore from Canberra, Australia, is Nebraska’s second-leading scorer (13.5 ppg) and third-leading rebounder (7.5 rpg) on the season. She missed four games with an ankle injury suffered in the closing seconds of a win at Michigan State (Jan. 10). Bourne had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting with the Scarlet Knights

• Senior Kate Cain returns to her home area to face Rutgers. The 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., is coming off her second 20-point scoring effort of the season with 21 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots at Penn State (Feb. 4). 

• Cain leads the Big Ten with 3.4 blocks per game and ranks No. 6 in Big Ten history with a Nebraska career record 331 blocks. She led the Big Ten with a school-record 101 blocks last year and ranks No. 2 among active NCAA Division I players in career blocks.

• One of 15 candidates for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award, Cain is a three-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate and two-time Big Ten All-Defensive selection. 

Scouting the Rutgers Scarlet Knights

• Hall of Fame Coach C. Vivian Stringer brings 1,046 career wins into Sunday afternoon’s game against Nebraska. Stringer, who is in her 50th season overall as a head coach, leads her 26th Rutgers team with a 5-3 record this season and a 1-3 start to Big Ten play.

• The Scarlet Knights have had eight games postponed since losing to Nebraska (Jan. 3). 

• Rutgers always starts with defense, but the Scarlet Knights feature one of the nation’s elite scorers in redshirt senior Arella Guirantes. One of three Big Ten Preseason Co-Players of the Year, Guirantes leads Rutgers in scoring (22.5 ppg), rebounding (7.1 rpg), assists (5.4 apg) and steals (3.1 spg) while hitting 38.6 percent (17-44) of her three-point attempts and 89.5 percent (51-57) of her free throws. In the loss at Nebraska, the Huskers held Guirantes to a season-low eight points while playing the full 40 minutes. Last season, Guirantes earned first-team All-Big Ten honors after leading the league in scoring (20.6 ppg).

• The Scarlet Knights also feature another explosive scorer in true freshman Diamond Johnson. The 5-5 guard is averaging 17.8 points per game, including 19 as a starter in the loss at Nebraska. The No. 6 overall player in the nation by ESPN coming out of high school, Johnson has scored in double figures in each of her first eight college games, including 20.3 points over the last four contests. She had a career-high 23 in Rutgers’ last home game against Manhattan (Dec. 23).

• Through seven games, Rutgers was averaging 85.7 points per game while allowing 57.1 points per contest. The Scarlet Knights’ season scoring average dipped to 81.3 points per game after being held to a season-low 50 by the Huskers in Lincoln. 

• In four home games against non-conference foes, Rutgers surrendered just 154 total points (38.5 ppg), but gave up 91 to No. 7 Maryland in its only Big Ten home contest this season.

• Senior Tekia Mack has been a difference-maker in her career for Rutgers but has been slowed by injury early this season. She is averaging 9.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, including 13 points and seven rebounds while playing the full 40 minutes in the loss at Nebraska. Last season in a 69-65 win over Nebraska at the RAC (Dec. 12, 2020), the 6-1 Mack had 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals.

• Mael Gilles gives Rutgers more size, athleticism and experience. The 6-1 senior forward is averaging 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game but had just four points and one board in 33 minutes in Lincoln.

• Tyia Singleton (5.5 ppg, 5.6 rpg), a 6-2 redshirt sophomore forward, has started all eight games.

• Junior Zipporah (Zippy) Broughton started the first seven games before suffering an injury in a loss at Iowa (Dec. 31). Broughton, who averaged 13.2 and 2.7 rebounds through the first six games, played just five minutes at Iowa and did not play in the first meeting with the Huskers.

• A talented freshman class for Rutgers includes 6-4 freshman center Sakima Walker (4.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg) and 6-0 guard Liz Martino (3.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg). Two other freshmen, Erica Lafayette (1.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and Chyna Cornwell also have seen action alongside impact freshman Diamond Johnson.

 

Nebraska vs. Rutgers Series History

• Rutgers leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 5-4, including a 69-65 win over the Huskers at the RAC in Piscataway on Jan. 12, 2020. Arella Guirantes had 16 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Rutgers, while Tekia Mack added 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and three steals. Nebraska out-rebounded Rutgers, 42-35, but the Scarlet Knights won the turnover battle, 17-6. Both teams entered last season’s game with identical 13-2 records at 3-1 in the Big Ten.

• Nebraska defeated Rutgers in the last meeting in Lincoln (53-50, Jan. 3, 2021). The Huskers are 3-1 all-time against Rutgers at Pinnacle Bank Arena, and 1-3 at the RAC, dating back to the first-ever meeting between the two teams (Feb. 5, 2015). The No. 21 Scarlet Knights earned a hard-fought 46-43 victory over the No. 19 Huskers. Rutgers went 0-for-2 from three-point range in that game.

• Rutgers eliminated Nebraska from the 2016 Big Ten Tournament with a 66-63 win in Indianapolis (March 3, 2016). 

• The largest margin of victory in the nine games in the series is 11 points (Nebraska, 65-54, Jan. 16, 2016, Lincoln). Two weeks later, Rutgers posted a 10-point win (66-56, Jan. 30, 2016, Piscataway). Six of the nine meetings have been decided by two possession (6 points) or less.

• Neither Nebraska nor Rutgers has ever reached 70 points in the series and the Huskers own the narrowest of scoring margins in the series with a combined cumulative score of Nebraska 515 (57.2 ppg) and Rutgers 513 (57.0 ppg).