Huskers Shoot for Win Over No. 22 Iowa

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten)

vs. 22/21 Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten)

Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, 1 p.m. (CT)

Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska

Tickets: Huskers.com (800-8-BIG-RED)
Live TV: FS1 (Sloane Martin, Christy Winters Scott)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (12:45 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (107.3 FM), Omaha (ESPN 590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App

Huskers Hope to Shoot Down No. 22 Hawkeyes 

The Nebraska women’s basketball team continues Big Ten Conference home action when the Huskers play host to No. 22/21 Iowa on Sunday in Lincoln.

The game between the Huskers (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten) and the Hawkeyes (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) is set for 1 p.m. (CT) at Pinnacle Bank Arena with tickets available at Huskers.com, by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED or on game day at the arena box office.

Sloane Martin and Christy Winters Scott will have the television call on FS1 while Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will provide the call for the Huskers Radio Network (B107.3 FM, Lincoln; ESPN 590 AM, Omaha), Huskers.com and the Huskers App.

The Huskers will be shooting for their second straight win over an Associated Press Top 25 opponent, following a resounding 79-58 victory over No. 8 Michigan at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Freshman Alexis Markowski, who was making her first career start in place of an injured Bella Cravens (ankle sprain), erupted for a career-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds to help the Huskers match their largest victory margin ever against a top-10 opponent (also 21 vs. Oklahoma State, 88-67, Feb. 3, 2010).

Jaz Shelley, who was mentioned by ESPN.com (Jan. 6) as the No. 2 transfer in the nation so far this, added her fourth double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against the Wolverines. Fellow Australian Isabelle Bourne (11 points) and second-team All-Big Ten guard Sam Haiby (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals) gave Nebraska four players in double figures against Michigan. 

Allison Weidner (7), Kendall Coley (7) and Annika Stewart (6) provided strong contributions off the bench for the Big Red, who continue to get outstanding play from the bench. 

Stewart (6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and Coley (3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg) both have strong connections to the Iowa programs as their older sisters, Hannah Stewart and Chase Coley, were teammates at Iowa from 2015-16 to 2017-18.

Iowa comes to Lincoln looking to bounce back from a 77-69 home loss to Northwestern on Thursday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Caitilin Clark had 30 points and All-Big Ten teammate Monika Czinano added 20 in the loss.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-1, 2-1 Big Ten)

40 – Alexis Markowski – 6-3 – Fr. – F/C – 9.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg

34 – Isabelle Bourne – 6-2 – So. – F – 10.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg

0 – Ashley Scoggin – 5-7 – RSo. – G – 8.9 ppg, 1.1 rpg

1 – Jaz Shelley – 5-9 – So. – G – 13.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg

4 – Sam Haiby – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 10.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg

Off the Bench

14 – Bella Cravens – 6-3 – Jr. – F – 7.5 ppg, 6.4 rpg

21 – Annika Stewart – 6-3 – Fr. – F – 6.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg    

3 – Allison Weidner – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 5.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg

32 – Kendall Coley – 6-2 – Fr. – F/G – 3.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg

11 – Ruby Porter – 5-10 – Fr. – G – 2.8 ppg, 0.9 rpg

5 – MiCole Cayton – 5-9 – Gr. – G – 2.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg

15 – Kendall Moriarty – 6-1 – Fr. – G – 1.6 ppg, 0.4 rpg

10 – Whitney Brown – 5-8 – Fr. – G – 1.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Sixth Season at Nebraska (85-76); 15th Season Overall (278-185)

#22/21 Iowa Hawkeyes (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten)

14 – McKenna Warnock – 6-1 – Jr. – G/F – 12.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg

25 – Monika Czinano – 6-3 – Sr. – F/C – 18.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg

20 – Kate Martin – 6-0 – RJr. – G – 6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg

22 – Caitlin Clark – 6-0 – So. – G – 24.7 ppg, 8.1 rpg

24 – Gabbie Marshall – 5-9 – Jr. – G – 6.5 ppg, 1.7 rpg

Off the Bench

4 – Kylie Feuerbach – 6-0 – So. – G – 4.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg

44 – Addison O’Grady – 6-4 – Fr. – F/C – 3.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg

1 – Tomi Taiwo – 5-10 – Sr. – G – 3.6 ppg, 1.5 rpg

3 – Sydney Affolter – 5-11 – Fr. – G – 2.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg

34 – AJ Ediger – 6-2 – Fr. – F – 1.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg

23 – Logan Cook – 6-1 – Sr. – F – 1.1 ppg, 2.5 rpg

Head Coach: Lisa Bluder (Northern Iowa, 1983)

22nd Season at Iowa (446-238); 38th Season Overall (802-380)

Nebraska Numbers to Watch

• Through games Jan. 6, the Huskers ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in scoring margin (2nd, +25.4 ppg), defensive rebounds per game (4th, 31.4 rpg), win-loss percentage (5th, .929), free throws made (7th, 211), assists (8th, 255), three-point field goal percentage defense (9th, .234), scoring offense (10th, 82.1 ppg), field goal percentage defense (10th, .336), assists per game (13th, 18.2 apg), blocked shots (13th, 74), field goal percentage (13th, .468), rebounds (14th, 617), rebounds per game (14th, 44.1 rpg), three-point field goals made (14th, 121), free throw attempts (14th, 294), assist-to-turnover ratio (16th, 1.27) and three-point field goal percentage (19th, .370).  

• Nebraska leads the Big Ten in scoring margin (+25.4 ppg), rebound margin (+8.6 rpg), rebounds (44.1 rpg), defensive rebounds (31.4 rpg), field goal percentage defense (.336) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.234).

• Nebraska guard Jaz Shelley ranks among the top 20 players in the Big Ten in scoring (17th, 13.6 ppg), rebounding (10th, 7.1 rpg), assists (8th, 4.6 apg), blocked shots (4th, 1.2 bpg), steals (9th, 1.7 spg), three-point field goal percentage (2nd, .463), three-pointers made per game (5th, 2.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 2.2).

• Jaz Shelley is the only Big Ten player to rank among the top 20 in the conference in all five major statistical categories: scoring (17th), rebounding (10th), assists (8th), blocks (4th), steals (9th).

• Huskers Jaz Shelley (5th, 2.7 pg) and Ashley Scoggin (10th, 2.1 pg) rank among the top players in the Big Ten in three-point field goals made per game. 

• Nebraska is one of just two teams (also Abilene Christian) in the nation with two shooters (Shelley, 14th; Scoggin, 25th) ranked among the top 25 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage.

• Nebraska’s backcourt has taken care of the ball while creating opportunities. Jaz Shelley (2.2) and Sam Haiby (2.0) rank No. 5 and 7, respectively in the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio based on the NCAA minimum of 3.0 assists per game. Husker reserves Ruby Porter (3.3) and Allison Weidner (3.0), who don’t meet the NCAA minimums, own better assist-to-turnover ratios.

• Nebraska ranks 10th nationally in scoring offense with 82.1 points per game. The only time in the last 25 years NU has averaged more than 75 points per game in a season came in 2009-10 (77.4 ppg). That Husker team went unbeaten in the regular season, won the Big 12 regular-season title and advanced to Nebraska’s first NCAA Sweet Sixteen as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.    

• Sophomore point guard Jaz Shelley has pulled down 100 total rebounds in 392 minutes this season. In two seasons (971 minutes) at Oregon (2019-20, 2020-21), the 5-9 Shelley totaled 70 rebounds.

• Jaz Shelley leads Nebraska with 17 blocked shots through 14 games. She had six blocks in 55 games over two seasons at Oregon. 

Scouting The Iowa Hawkeyes

• Iowa comes to Lincoln with a 7-4 overall record and a 1-1 Big Ten mark after a 77-69 home loss to Northwestern on Thursday night. The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 22 by the Associated Press and No. 21 by the coaches but slipped to No. 40 in the NET ranking with the loss.

• Last season, Iowa advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen before falling to UConn (92-72) in San Antonio. The Hawkeyes (20-10, 11-8 Big Ten) also advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game.

• The Hawkeyes missed three non-conference contests (Drake, Seton Hall, USC) because of COVID cancellations and have had two Big Ten games (Penn State, Illinois) postponed by protocols.

• Iowa starters Monika Czinano (18.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and McKenna Warnock (12.5 ppg, 7.4 rpg) did not play in Iowa’s 93-56 win over Evansville (Jan. 2) because of COVID protocols, but returned with strong efforts in the loss at Northwestern. Czinano had 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, while Warnock had 14 points and eight boards while hitting 4-of-6 threes against the Wildcats.

• Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Caitlin Clark leads the Hawkeyes with 24.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game after going for 30 points in the loss to Northwestern. Clark averages 19 field goal attempts per game for the Hawkeyes and is shooting 90.5 percent (67-74) from the free throw line. This season, she has hit just 24.3 percent (25-103) of her three-point attempts. Last season as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Clark hit 40.6 percent (116-286) of her three-point tries. Over the last eight games, Clark has hit just 20 percent (15-75) of her long-range attempts.

• Clark scored a season-high 44 points on 18-for-26 shooting and dished out eight assists in the win over Evansville (Jan. 2).

• Gabbie Marshall (6.5 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.6 spg) and Kate Martin (6.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.5 spg) do tons of little things to make Iowa better on both ends of the court. Marshall is a 40 percent (18-45) three-point shooter and has hit nearly 90 percent of her free throws (8-9).

• Freshman Addison O’Grady stepped up in Czinano’s absence against Evansville to produce 14 points and 12 rebounds. The 6-4 center from Colorado is averaging 3.9 points and 3.3 rebounds.

• Iowa State transfer Kylie Feuerbach has bolstered the Hawkeye bench with 4.1 points and 1.4 rebounds, while experienced guard Tomi Taiwo has added 3.6 points and 1.5 boards. Taiwo is shooting 38.1 percent (8-21) from three-point range.

• Fellow senior Logan Cook has played in 10 games and joined Taiwo in the starting five against Evansville. Cook averages 1.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

• Iowa continues to possess one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, averaging 79.9 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and a scorching 85.2 percent from the free throw line. The Hawkeyes have struggled from long range (.294) but are out-rebounding their opponents (39.6-36.5). In addition to their plus-3.1 rebound margin, the Hawkeyes hold a plus-0.9 turnover margin. They are surrendering 65.2 points per game.

Nebraska vs. Iowa Series History

• Iowa leads the all-time series with Nebraska 17-15, including a sweep of the season series in 2020-21. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting, 83-75, in Iowa City (March 6, 2021), after posting an 88-81 win over the Huskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Feb. 11, 2021). 

• The Huskers defeated Iowa 78-69 (Dec. 28, 2019) in Lincoln, before Iowa salvaged a season split with a 76-60 victory at Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Feb. 6, 2020). Overall, Iowa has won three straight games in the series.

• Last season in Lincoln, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scored a Pinnacle Bank Arena record 39 points on 12-of-18 shooting. She hit 6-of-10 threes and all nine of her free throw attempts. Clark added 10 rebounds and seven assists.

• The Huskers are 11-10 against the Hawkeyes as Big Ten foes since Nebraska joined the conference in 2011-12. NU won the first eight meetings as Big Ten opponents capped off by a 72-65 win over the Hawkeyes in the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

• Iowa won the next five meetings and is 5-3 over the past eight contests.

• The Huskers are 6-7 all-time against Iowa in Lincoln, dating back to a 67-66 win over the Hawkeyes at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Dec. 22, 1979.

• The Huskers are 4-8 all-time against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. 

• Nebraska is 5-2 all-time against Iowa on neutral courts dating back to the first meeting in the series, a 71-63 Husker win at the Jennies’ Classic in Warrensburg, Mo., on Jan. 13, 1978.

Nebraska Streaks

• The Huskers own a 10-game home winning streak, dating back to an 87-72 victory over Penn State in last year’s regular-season home finale at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 21, 2021. 

• The last time Nebraska had a 10-game home winning streak came with a 12-game home winning streak with five wins to close 2013-14 before opening with seven home wins in 2014-15.

• Nebraska’s game with Iowa will be the fourth of seven straight games against 2021 NCAA Tournament qualifiers for the Huskers. It will be fifth of eight consecutive games versus 2021 postseason tournament qualifiers.

• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three in 412 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 291 consecutive games.

Deep Bench Boosts Big Red

• The Husker bench has outscored opponent reserves 439-212 (+16.2 ppg) through 14 games, including a 330-164 edge (+18.4 ppg) in nine games at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

• On the flip side, Iowa’s bench has been outscored by its opponents (194-153) through 11 games, a negative-3.7 points per game. In four games against Power Five opponents (Duke-2, Iowa State-4, Michigan State-9, Northwestern-0) Iowa’s bench has totaled 15 points.

• A total of 11 Huskers are averaging better than 10.0 points per 40 minutes, including three Huskers (Annika Stewart, 27.8 pp40; Alexis Markowski, 25.5 pp40; Isabelle Bourne, 20.2 pp40) who are averaging better than 20 points per 40 minutes. 

• No Husker ranks among the top 25 players in the conference in minutes per game. Jaz Shelley leads Nebraska with 28.0 minutes per game, while Mimi Collins from Maryland ranks 25th in the conference (30.1 mpg).