Huskers Shoot for Unbeaten Week

Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-0) vs. Alabama A&M Bulldogs (0-2)

Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021, 2 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 (1:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst), Lincoln (1400 AM KLIN), Omaha (CD 105.9 FM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Prolific Huskers Shoot For Perfect Opening Week 

The Nebraska women’s basketball team continues its five-game home stand by taking on Alabama A&M on Sunday afternoon at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Tip-off between the Huskers (2-0) and Bulldogs (0-2) is set for 2 p.m. (CT), with a live video stream provided for subscribers of B1G+ with the Big Ten Student U call of Connor Clark and Matt McMaster. Huskers Radio Network announcers Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will be on the radio broadcast, which can be heard on 1400 AM KLIN in Lincoln and CD 105.9 FM in Omaha. The free audio also can be accessed on Huskers.com and the Huskers App. 

The Huskers welcome Alabama A&M Head Coach Margaret Richards and her Bulldogs back to Lincoln for the second time in three seasons. Richards, a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska (2001-04), is in her sixth season leading Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs have posted back-to-back winning seasons and have improved their winning percentage in each of Richards’ five seasons at the Huntsville, Alabama school. NU defeated Alabama A&M 68-46 in the 2019-20 season opener (Nov. 6, 2019).

Nebraska heads into Sunday’s game after its most prolific back-to-back offensive performances to open a season in school history. After tipping the 2021-22 campaign with a 108-50 win over defending America East Conference regular-season champion Maine on Tuesday (Nov. 9), the Huskers added a 102-47 victory over Prairie View A&M on Thursday (Nov. 11).

The 210 combined points in the first two games were the most to open a season in school history and were just one point shy of the 211 points scored in back-to-back 100-point efforts (108 vs. Iowa State, Jan. 15; 103 vs. Kansas State, Jan. 18) in 1983 – the only other time in NU history that the Huskers produced back-to-back 100-point games.

Nebraska added the second-most defensive rebounds (48) in school history in the win over Prairie View A&M, on its way to a plus-26 rebound margin. The Big Red own an average scoring margin of 56.5 and an average rebound margin of 24.5 through two games.

In addition to the huge scoring and rebounding differentials, Nebraska also has dished out 26 assists in each of the first two games, as five Huskers have scored in double figures in each game. Only Isabelle Bourne scored double digits in both contests, as nine different Huskers own double-figure performances already this season. 

Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten)

14 – Bella Cravens – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 8.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg

34 – Isabelle Bourne – 6-2 – So. – F – 15.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg

0 – Ashley Scoggin – 5-7 – RSo. – G – 9.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg

1 – Jaz Shelley – 5-9 – So. – G – 15.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg

4 – Sam Haiby – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 8.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg

Off the Bench

40 – Alexis Markowski – 6-3 – Fr. – F/C – 11.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg

3 – Allison Weidner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 10.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg

32 – Kendall Coley – 6-2 – Fr. – F/G – 8.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg 

21 – Annika Stewart – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 7.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg    

11 – Ruby Porter – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 6.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg

10 – Whitney Brown – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 3.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg

15 – Kendall Moriarty – 6-1 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Sixth Season at Nebraska (74-75); 15th Season Overall (267-184)

Alabama A&M Bulldogs (0-2, 0-0 SWAC)

21 – Dariauna Lewis – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 6.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg

30 – Jada Clowers – 6-2 – So. – F – 7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg

5 – Nigeria Jones – 5-7 – Gr. – G – 9.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg    

15 – Jill Harris – 5-7 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

23 – Deshawna Harper – 5-4 – Gr. – G – 7.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg

Off the Bench

11 – Kierra Johnson-Graham – 5-11 – Gr. – F – 11.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg

0 – Darian Burgin – 5-7 – So. – G – 8.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg

22 – Teliyah Jeter – 6-0 – Gr. – F – 3.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg

12 – Zhordan Shannon – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg

1 – Ja’Niah Alexander – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 2.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg

4 – Quantaijah Huffman – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 0.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg

Head Coach: Margaret Richards (Nebraska, 2003)

Sixth Season at Alabama A&M (53-82); Sixth Season Overall (53-82) 

Scouting the Alabama A&M Bulldogs

Former Husker Margaret Richards brings her Alabama A&M Bulldogs to Pinnacle Bank Arena for the second time in the last three seasons to battle Nebraska. Richards has led Alabama A&M to back-to-back winning seasons, and the Bulldogs have improved their winning percentage in each of her first five seasons in Huntsville.

Richards, who is in her sixth season as the head coach at Alabama A&M, was a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska from 2001 through 2004. The 5-9 guard from Louisville, Ky., finished her Husker career with 915 points, 518 rebounds and 216 assists while playing 117 games with 69 starts for the Big Red.

Alabama A&M comes to Lincoln with an 0-2 record after playing back-to-back games in Ohio to open the season. The Bulldogs dropped a 73-52 decision at Dayton in the opener on Nov. 9, before suffering a 73-60 setback at Cincinnati on Nov. 10. The Bearcats are coached by former Nebraska assistant Michelle Clark-Heard, who played a significant role in bringing Richards to Lincoln as a player.

The Bulldogs also feature a pair of Nebraskans in their starting five. Nigeria Jones, a 5-7 graduate student out of Lincoln Northeast High School, has averaged 9.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.5 steals through two games this season. Jones, who has played in 108 games with 100 starts as a Bulldog, has scored 1,036 career points.

Senior Dariauna Lewis is in her third season as a starter at Alabama A&M. The 6-1 forward out of Omaha North High School spent her first season at Missouri State. She is averaging 6.5 points and team highs of 8.0 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots through two games this season. 

Last season, Lewis led the Bulldogs in scoring (17.8 ppg), rebounding (13.0 rpg) and blocks (2.1 bpg) while helping Alabama A&M to a 10-7 record. Her 13.0 rebounds per game ranked No. 2 in the final NCAA Division I statistics.

Lewis also led the team in all three categories as a sophomore in 2019-20, when she averaged 16.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. 

The Bulldogs return their top three scorers from a year ago in Lewis (17.8 ppg), Deshawna Harper (15.2 ppg) and Jones (10.1 ppg). The trio combined for more than 65 percent (732-of-1,122) of Alabama A&M’s points. The Bulldogs ranked third in the SWAC in scoring offense at 66.0 points per game in 2020-21. 

Nebraska vs. Alabama A&M Series History

Sunday’s game is the second meeting all-time between the Huskers and Bulldogs. Nebraska fought its way to a 68-46 win over Alabama A&M on Nov. 6, 2019. Sam Haiby (8 points) and Isabelle Bourne (2 points) are the only current Huskers who played in that game. Alabama A&M returns three starters from that contest, including Nigeria Jones (16 points, 6 rebounds), Deshawna Harper (15 points, 5 rebounds) and Dariauna Lewis (8 points, 9 rebounds). 

A fourth Bulldog, Lazurea Saunders, also saw 14 minutes of action with two points and five boards.

Overall, Alabama A&M returns 41 of its 46 points and 25 of its 45 rebounds from its first meeting with Nebraska. The Huskers return just 10 points and four rebounds of their 68 points and 50 total rebounds.

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 55-point margin in the win over Prairie View A&M gave the Huskers a 113-point combined spread in the first two games – the largest in a pair of season-opening contests in NU history.

• The Huskers have scored at least 20 points in all eight quarters this season, including a Nebraska-record 33 third-quarter points against Prairie View A&M and 30 third-quarter points against Maine. NU has scored 30 or more third-quarter points in each of its last three regular-season home games (also 30 vs. Penn State, Feb. 21, 2021).

• Nine different Huskers have scored in double figures through the season’s first two games.

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten in scoring (105 ppg), field goal percentage (.579), rebound margin (+24.5 rpg), total rebounds (52.5 rpg), defensive rebounds (39.5 drpg) and assists (26.0 apg).

• Sam Haiby is the 35th 1,000-point scorer in Husker history and increased her career total to 1,055 in the win over Prairie View A&M. She ranks No. 31 all time at NU and needs 14 points to join the top 30.

• Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 25 times in the last four seasons, including 11-of-22 threes in the win over Prairie View A&M (Nov. 11). NU has buried 10 or more threes 10 times in the last 48 contests and four times in the past 10 games. 

• 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 (312 games).

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 165-25 (.868) over 48 seasons in its first four home contests, including 41-7 in Game No. 2. 

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

Nebraska Streaks

• Sam Haiby has scored in 86 of 88 games in her Husker career. She has scored at least two points in 51 consecutive games for Nebraska, dating back to being held scoreless by USC at the South Point Shootout on Nov. 29, 2019. The Huskers won that game 67-54. She was also held scoreless in a 70-69 loss at Wisconsin on Jan. 27, 2018.

• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 400 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 279 consecutive games.

• Nebraska has hit seven or more three-pointers in 10 consecutive games, including four games with double-digit threes made during that stretch. 

• The Huskers have scored 70 or more points in seven consecutive games dating back to a 73-63 loss at Minnesota on Feb. 24, 2021.

Nebraska Numbers to Watch

• Nebraska has never scored 100 points in three consecutive games. The Huskers opened the year with 108 vs. Maine (Nov. 9) before scoring 102 in a win over Prairie View A&M (Nov. 11).

• Alabama A&M has allowed just 73 points in each of its first two games and has not surrendered 80 points since an 86-83 win at Denver  (Nov. 30, 2019) – a span of 42 games.

• The Bulldogs have not allowed 90 points since a 90-32 loss at Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 10, 2017. 

• Alabama A&M has never allowed 100 points under Head Coach Margaret Richards (97 at Alabama, Nov. 27, 2016). The Bulldogs have not allowed 100 points since giving up 103 at Ole Miss (Dec. 29, 2015), which followed a 112-69 loss at Morehead State (Dec. 21, 2015).

• A 25-point victory by Nebraska over Alabama A&M would give the Huskers their largest combined margin in any three-game stretch in school history (137 points, 1975-76). A 24-point win would give NU its largest combined margin in a season-opening three-game stretch (136, 2015-16).