Yori Adds Clark, Finch to Husker Staff

Lincoln - Nebraska Coach Connie Yori announced the addition of a pair of her former players to complete the Huskers’ 2004-05 women’s basketball staff on Tuesday, July 6.

Former Creighton players Stephanie Clark (administrative assistant/video specialist) and Dayna Finch (graduate assistant manager) will join Nebraska’s staff, which includes assistant coaches Cindy Fisher, Angela Timmons and LaKale Malone, and Director of Operations Aubrey Eblin, who all return after helping NU to one of the top turnarounds in the nation.

Yori said she was excited about adding both Clark and Finch to the Nebraska staff, after originally recruiting both of them as players to Creighton.

"I have known Steph for over 15 years and I’ve known Dayna for five or six years, so I feel like I have a good idea of their strengths and how they can help this basketball team," Yori said. "They are both outstanding people with high character. They were both great athletes, but they were also outstanding students with tremendous work ethics. I am confident they are going to help make Nebraska a better basketball program in the future."

Clark, a 1993 graduate of Creighton, brings extensive experience as a player and a coach. She began her coaching career as an assistant at Division II Angelo State in 1993. She helped Angelo State to a 23-6 record in 1993-94 and the school’s first national tournament appearance. Along the way, she also found time to earn a master’s degree at Angelo State.

After spending two seasons at the San Angelo, Texas, school, Clark spent one season as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at the University of Illinois-Chicago. She helped UIC to a 17-12 record. Clark then spent three seasons as the head coach at Odessa Junior College from 1996 to 1999, helping the club to a 16-11 record in her final season in 1998-99.

Clark left collegiate coaching following her third season at Odessa Junior College to focus more of her time on her family. She has spent the last two years as a fifth- and sixth-grade treacher at Pinewood Elementary School in Omaha.

A high school star at McCool Junction, the former Stephanie Thomas was a three-time Class D-1 all-stater in both basketball and volleyball. She was the honorary captain of the Class D-1 all-state teams and an all-class, all-state selection in both 1987 and 1988, after finishing her prep career with 1,743 points. She was also a three-time honorary captain of the Class D-1 all-state volleyball team. In track, she also set school records in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles, the long jump and the high jump. She set state meet records in the high jump and 100 hurdles. She was also a two-time first-team all-state selection as a softball player.

For her impressive prep career, Clark was inducted into the Nebraska High School Hall of Fame in 2003.

Finch was a standout at Creighton the past four seasons, starting 67 games in her career with 31 starts last season to help the Bluejays to a 24-9 overall record and the postseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament title. Finch earned a spot on the WNIT all-tournament team by averaging 17.0 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game during CU’s title run.

Last season, Finch led the Bluejays with 13.9 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. She added 2.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game, while ranking as one of the nation’s most prolific three-point shooters. She knocked down 98-of-250 trifectas on the season, connecting on 39.2 percent of her long-range attempts. Her 98 three-pointers last season ranked as the second-highest single-season total in school history, just ahead of the 91 three-pointers she made in 2001-02, giving her two of the top three seasons from long range in CU history. Finch ranked seventh in the nation with 3.1 three-pointers made per game, while ranking 27th nationally in three-point accuracy.

Finch’s 294 career three-pointers established the Missouri Valley Conference record. She also ranks among Creighton’s all-time top 15 players in points scored (1,260), three-point percentage (.384) and steals (182), while holding the CU record with 121 games played.

Finch was also a standout in the classroom. She was the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball and a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete First-Team selection. She also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honors in 2004. She graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and carried a 3.67 grade-point average.

Finch was recruited by Yori to attend Creighton after a spectacular prep career at Smith Center High School in Kansas. Finch was the Class 3A Player of the Year and a first-team all-class, all-state selection in both 1999 and 2000. She averaged 27 points, five rebounds and two assists per game as a senior. She was selected as an AAU All-American in 1999, and was an honorable-mention All-American by USA Today in both 1999 and 2000.