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Exhibition #2
Nebraska
vs.
Nebraska-Kearney
Bob Devaney Sports Center (13,595)
Sunday, Nov. 13
2:05 p.m.
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network (98.1 KFGE - Lincoln)
Series Record: Nebraska leads series, 6-0 (regular-season records only)
Last Meeting: Nebraska won 82-52, Oct. 31, 2004
The Nebraska women’s basketball team concludes its 2005-06 exhibition schedule by squaring off with the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2:05 p.m.
The game will represent the fifth consecutive season that NU has played UNK during the exhibition season, including the Huskers’ 82-52 win in Lincoln on Oct. 31, 2004. In last season’s meeting, Husker guard Kiera Hardy erupted for 26 points, while adding four assists and four rebounds against the Lopers. Elena Diaz, who hopes to make her first appearance of 2005-06 Sunday afternoon against UNK, added 16 points and four boards in 16 minutes off the bench. Kalee Modlin led the Lopers with 17 points, while Liz Fischer pitched in 14 points.
Along with last year’s 30-point NU victory margin, the Huskers defeated UNK in a high-scoring 99-80 exhibition win on Nov. 12, 2003. NU added a 65-52 win in a more defense-oriented confrontation on Nov. 17, 2002, after knocking off UNK 80-56 on Nov. 4, 2001.
In addition to the 4-0 mark against UNK in recent exhibition games, Nebraska also owns a perfect 6-0 record against UNK in regular-season contests with the last meeting coming on Dec. 8, 1982.
Nebraska will be looking to build on its 79-66 exhibition-opening victory over Nebraska-Omaha in Lincoln on Oct. 31. Hardy, a first-team All-Big 12 guard from Kansas City, sparked the Huskers against the Mavericks with 27 points, including 20 in the first half. She buried five three-pointers to go along with her five assists, four rebounds and three steals in a spectacular all-around effort.
True freshman Kelsey Griffin added another Husker highlight by pouring in 19 points in her starting debut. Griffin dominated the second half with 12 points and five rebounds in the second stanza to open her collegiate career. The 2005 Gatorade Alaska High School Player of the Year hit 9-of-10 shots from the field.
Although the Huskers met the Mavs without 2005 Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year Jelena Spiric (out for season with a knee injury) and returning starter Elena Diaz, Danielle Page (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Jessica Gerhart (10 points, 6 rebounds) added to Nebraska’s strong inside effort against UNO.
Nebraska-Kearney, which is coached by 1993 NU graduate and former Husker captain and assistant coach Carol Russell, opened its exhibition season with a 64-47 loss at Drake on Nov. 5. UNK was 14-14 a year ago.
Huskers Return Experienced Lineup in 2005-06
Despite a season-ending injury to 2005 Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year Jelena Spiric, Nebraska still returns a talented and experienced lineup to the court for 2005-06. The Huskers return four other starters who accounted for 76 percent of NU’s scoring and 69 percent of the Huskers’ rebounding during an 18-14 season in 2004-05.
Nebraska’s returning nucleus led the Big 12 Conference to pick the Huskers to finish fifth in its preseason coaches poll. It was NU’s highest preseason ranking within the conference since the 1999-2000 season.
In her fourth year at Nebraska, Coach Connie Yori believes her team is better equipped to compete against the Big 12’s best.
"People are taking Nebraska women’s basketball seriously again," Yori said. "Our expectations are higher because we have a better understanding of our team and the individuals that make up our team."
Headlining the list of Nebraska’s returning players is first-team All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy. The 5-6 junior from Kansas City, Mo., is the top returning scorer in the Big 12 this season after her record-breaking sophomore campaign. Hardy averaged 19.0 points per game last season, while breaking the Nebraska sophomore single-season scoring mark with 609 points. She was even better in conference play, leading the Big 12 with 20.9 points per game in 16 league contests, including a career-high 37 points in a 103-99 triple overtime victory over eventual national champion Baylor on Jan. 12.
In addition to the explosive scoring of Hardy, junior forward Chelsea Aubry lends leadership and starting experience to the NU lineup. Aubry played in all 30 games as a freshman and started 26 contests as a sophomore last season. The 6-2 forward from Kitchener, Ontario, also gained valuable international experience this summer playing on the Canadian Senior National Team that qualified for the 2006 World Championships. The qualifying spot for the Canadians will mark their first appearance at the World Championships since 1994.
Aubry may be a leading contender to pick up the scoring and rebounding load left by the absence of Spiric. Aubry averaged 9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last season, but showed the ability to put up bigger numbers at times during the season. She may need to contribute on a more consistent basis to help the Huskers in 2005-06.
Senior forward Elena Diaz was one of NU’s top players down the stretch in 2004-05, starting the Huskers’ final 18 games. The 6-1 native of Medellin, Colombia, averaged 6.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in Big 12 action and led the Huskers by shooting 55.6 percent from the field during league play.
Diaz stepped into Nebraska’s lineup after Jessica Gerhart battled illness midway through the Big 12 season. Gerhart was one of NU’s top players during non-conference action as a sophomore, averaging 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a starter through the Huskers’ first 14 games.
With Diaz and Spiric out for the exhibition game, Gerhart will step back into the starting lineup for the first time since making a start at Iowa State on Jan. 22.
In addition to the four returning starters, senior LaToya Howell played in 30 games and made six starts at point guard last season for the Huskers. Howell, who ranked second in the Big 12 in league play last season with 2.5 steals per game, will be asked to increase her offensive production in her second year in Lincoln. The 5-5 native of Chicago, Ill., certainly has experience as a scorer at the Division I level. In 2002-03, Howell averaged 17.4 points and 7.0 assists per game as a sophomore at Air Force. Last season, she contributed 3.7 points and 2.0 assists per game off the bench for the Huskers.
Sophomores Danielle Page, Heather Kephart and Sarah White and senior Ivana Drmanac have also seen significant playing time for the Huskers and will be counted on for contributions throughout the season.
Scouting the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers
Head Coach Carol Russell returns to her former homecourt while leading Nebraska-Kearney against the Huskers on Sunday. Russell, a 1993 graduate of Nebraska, was a Husker co-captain in 1992 when she helped NU to its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory over San Diego. She was also an assistant at Nebraska in 1994-95.
Now in her fourth season leading the Lopers, Russell owns a 64-26 record, including a pair of 25-win campaigns during her first two seasons. She was the 2002-03 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and led the Lopers to RMAC titles and NCAA Tournament appearances in 2003 and 2004, before battling to a 14-14 record a year ago.
The Lopers will be led on the court by senior Kalee Modlin. The 6-1 center from Knoxville, Iowa, averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for UNK last season. She added a team-high 31 blocks.
Against the Huskers in exhibition play last season, Modlin struck for 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the Lopers’ 82-52 loss to NU on Halloween 2004.
Liz Fischer, a 5-7 junior guard from Leigh, Neb., was the only other Loper to manage double figures against the Huskers last season, scoring 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. While Modlin and Fischer combined for 31 points and 13 field goals, the rest of the Lopers managed just 21 points and six field goals in the loss. Nebraska also dominated the glass against UNK, outrebounding the Lopers 49-28.
Melissa Hinkley, a 6-0 sophomore from Lincoln East had a solid freshman campaign for the Lopers, appearing in 27 games with one start, while averaging 7.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Erin Jones, a 5-10 senior from Lexington added 5.8 points and 3.7 boards per game a year ago, while sophomore Amy Mathis from Omaha (Millard North) ranked second on the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.0 points and 6.5 boards per contest as a freshman last season.
Those five Lopers earned starts earned starting assignments in UNK’s exhibition-opening loss at Drake on Sunday, Nov. 5. Drake ran to a 64-47 victory by placing four Bulldogs in double figures. Modlin scored 13 points as the only UNK starter to score more than five points, while freshman Jade Meads led all scorers with 14 points off the bench for UNK. Meads, a 5-9 guard from Elm Creek, hit 5-of-8 shots from the field and 4-of-6 free throws. She also pulled down four rebounds, nabbed two steals, had a block and dished out an assist in just 16 minutes of action.
As a team, the Lopers shot just 30.4 percent (14-46) from the field, including just 12.5 percent (1-8) from three-point range. UNK did match Drake on the boards, as both teams pulled down 37 rebounds. The Lopers committed 26 turnovers against the Bulldogs.
Nebraska vs. Nebraska-Kearney Series History
Sunday’s game between the Huskers and Lopers will represent the fifth consecutive season that NU has played UNK during the exhibition season, including the Huskers’ 82-52 win in Lincoln on Oct. 31, 2004. In last season’s meeting, Husker guard Kiera Hardy erupted for 26 points, while adding four assists and four rebounds against the Lopers. Elena Diaz, who could to make her first appearance of 2005-06 Sunday afternoon against UNK, added 16 points and four boards in 16 minutes off the bench. Kalee Modlin led the Lopers with 17 points, while Liz Fischer pitched in 14 points.
Along with last year’s 30-point NU victory margin, the Huskers defeated UNK in a high-scoring 99-80 exhibition win on Nov. 12, 2003. NU added a 65-52 win in a more defense-oriented confrontation on Nov. 17, 2002, after knocking off UNK 80-56 on Nov. 4, 2001.
In addition to the 4-0 mark against UNK in recent exhibition games, Nebraska also owns a perfect 6-0 record against UNK in regular-season contests with the last meeting coming on Dec. 8, 1982.
Huskers Open Season with 79-66 Win Over UNO
The Huskers tipped off their 2005-06 season with a 79-66 victory over visiting Nebraska-Omaha on Halloween night in Lincoln. Nebraska fans watched All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy put on an exhibition of her own by scorching the Mavericks for 27 points, including 20 in the first half. In an amazingly efficient effort for the 5-6 shooting guard from Kansas City, Mo., Hardy hit 11-of-18 shots from the field, including 5-of-9 three-pointers.
Hardy also displayed some of her offseason focus by dishing out five assists, while nabbing three steals in just 27 minutes of work.
While Hardy gave fans a fresh taste of the kind of performance they came to expect from her last season when she produced 15 games with 20 or more points, Kelsey Griffin gave fans a first look at the future.
Griffin, a 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, dominated at times in the paint against the Mavs. She finished with 19 points, five rebounds and one blocked shot while starting in the first game of her collegiate career.
Griffin picked up three fouls in the first half and played just 10 minutes in the opening period, but hit all three of her field goal attempts and a free throw to finish with seven first-half points.
She did not pick up another foul the rest of the way and controlled the second half by scoring 12 points and pulling down all five of her rebounds after halftime. She finished the game by hitting 9-of-10 shots from the field.
Griffin was not alone in producing inside for the Huskers against the Mavs. Sophomore Danielle Page scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots in 22 minutes off the bench.
Page’s performance was a breath of fresh air for the Huskers since the 6-2 forward from Monument, Colo., has been limited in practice throughout preseason workouts.
Junior forward Jess Gerhart added 10 points and five rebounds in a solid starting effort, while senior LaToya Howell provided some strong point guard play. She scored seven points, dished out five assists and recorded five steals in a team-high 29 minutes.
Hardy Earns Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 Honors
Nebraska junior guard Kiera Hardy captured one of five spots on the Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 squad voted on by the league coaches and announced by the Big 12 Conference office in Dallas on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
Hardy, a 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., joins Baylor’s Sophia Young, Texas’ Tiffany Jackson, Texas Tech’s Erin Grant and Oklahoma’s Leah Rush on the five-player preseason honor squad. Hardy, Grant, Jackson and Young, who was voted the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, all earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2004-05, while Rush claimed a spot on the second-team a year ago.
Hardy is the top returning scorer in the Big 12 Conference this season after averaging 19.0 points per game as a sophomore in 2004-05, including a league-leading 20.9 points per contest in conference games. She set Nebraska’s sophomore single-season scoring record with 609 points, while also tying the school record with 85 made three-pointers on the season.
Huskers Fifth in Preseason Big 12 Poll
The Nebraska women’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the 2005-06 Big 12 Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released by the league office in Dallas on Thursday, Oct. 13. The Huskers, who return four starters from last year’s club that advanced to the postseason for the second straight year, were picked higher than any other team from the Big 12 North Division.
Schools from the Big 12 South Division occupied the top four spots in the poll, with defending national champion Baylor (113) claiming the No. 1 position with six first-place votes from opposing coaches in the league. Texas (110) earned the No. 2 spot with two first-place votes, while Texas Tech (108) took the No. 3 spot with four first-place votes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the 1-12 predicted order of finish.
After the predicted log jam in the top three spots, Oklahoma, which tied Nebraska in sixth place in the final 2004-05 Big 12 standings, received the fourth-highest vote total with 91 points. Nebraska was picked to finish fifth with 70 points, while fellow Big 12 North foe Kansas was close behind with 66 points. The four schools ahead of the Huskers in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll have all received top 25 national rankings from several preseason publications.
Texas A&M (7th, 59 points), Kansas State (8th, 56 points), Iowa State (9th, 45 points), Missouri (10th, 37 points), Oklahoma State (11th, 23 points), and Colorado (12th, 14 points) rounded out the poll.
Huskers Face Loaded 2005-06 Schedule
Nebraska will have a pair of chances to knock off 2005 NCAA Women’s Final Four teams when the Huskers battle LSU and defending national champion Baylor this season.
Overall the Huskers play 13 games against 2005 postseason qualifiers, including 10 contests against NCAA Tournament teams. Six opponents were ranked among the top 25 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Preseason poll, including No. 3 LSU, No. 7 Baylor, No. 12, Texas, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 17 Minnesota and No. 25 Oklahoma.
"This is our toughest non-conference schedule since I have been at Nebraska," Head Coach Connie Yori said. "In making our schedule, we have always considered the quality and position of our program. We think this is the best team that we have been able to put on the floor in our time at Nebraska, so we are going to play our best schedule."
After opening against a tough South Dakota State squad on Nov. 19, Nebraska will get its first taste of postseason-caliber competition when the Huskers face Creighton at the Devaney Center on Nov. 21. The Bluejays posted 19 wins a year ago and earned a bid to the WNIT.
NU will hit the road for the first time at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic where they will face preseason No. 3 LSU on Nov. 25. The Tigers produced a 33-3 record while running the table to win the SEC title. The Tigers lost to Baylor in the Final Four to end their season.
Things won’t get much easier for NU two days later when the Huskers tangle with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Miami. The Islanders produced a 23-7 mark a year ago and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.
Nebraska remains on the road to start December when the Huskers battle Big Ten power Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Golden Gophers finished 26-8 last season and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where they lost to Baylor. Minnesota earned a trip to the Final Four in 2004.
After returning home to tackle Texas Southern, the Huskers continue their road trip through Big Ten cities by playing Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 10, before traveling to Ann Arbor to meet Michigan on Dec. 17.
The Huskers close non-conference competition with home contests against Texas State (Dec. 20), Grambling State (Dec. 29) and Northern Arizona (Dec. 31).
The Huskers open a rugged Big 12 schedule on the road at Colorado on Jan. 4, the site of their final conference regular-season game of the 2004-05 season. After battling the Buffaloes, Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center to face Kansas (Jan. 7) and Missouri (Jan. 11), before beginning a stretch in which the Huskers will face seven 2005 postseason teams in the next eight games.
Highlighting that eight-game stretch will be Devaney Center showdowns with 2005 NCAA qualifiers Texas (Jan. 18), and Iowa State (Feb. 1), along with Texas A&M (Feb. 11), which advanced to the third round of the 2005 WNIT. The Huskers start the eight-game stretch at Iowa State on Jan. 14, and also travel to 2005 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Texas Tech (Jan. 21), NCAA qualifier Kansas State (Feb. 4) and to 2005 NCAA champion Baylor (Feb. 8). The Huskers knocked off Baylor 103-99 in triple overtime at the Devaney Center last season.
The Huskers travel to Kansas on Feb. 15, before closing their home schedule against Kansas State (Feb. 18) and Oklahoma State on Senior Night (Feb. 21). Nebraska ends the regular season on the road with trips to Oklahoma (Feb. 26) and Missouri (March 1), before heading to Reunion Arena in Dallas for the Big 12 Championship (March 7-11).
Aubry Aids Canada’s Run to World Championships
Nebraska forward Chelsea Aubry scored eight points and hauled down six rebounds to help the Canadian National Team roll to an 89-57 victory over the hosts from the Dominican Republic in the final game of the FIBA Americas Tournament in Hato Mayor on Sept. 19.
With the victory, the Canadians finished third at the eight-team event and qualified for the 2006 World Championships in Brazil. The appearance at the 2006 World Championships will be the first for the Canadians since 1994. The Canadians finished the five-day tournament with a 3-2 record, while Cuba won the event with a perfect 5-0 mark. Brazil finished second with a 4-1 record, while Argentina captured the final spot in the World Championships by finishing fourth with a 2-3 mark.
Aubry, a 6-2 forward from Kitchener, Ontario, has spent the past two seasons as a member of the Canadian Senior National Team. She was also a member of the Canadian World University Games Team in 2003 as a member of the Canadian Under-20 National Team.
Yori Establishing Firm Foundation at Nebraska
Now in her fourth season at Nebraska, Coach Connie Yori has the Husker program moving in the right direction. After the Huskers suffered through four consecutive losing seasons, Yori helped Nebraska turn the corner in 2003-04 by producing one of the nation’s top turnarounds. The Huskers’ 10-game improvement tied for the ninth-best swing in NCAA Division I women’s basketball in 2003-04. More impressively, NU’s 18-12 record came against a powerful schedule that included 19 games against teams that advanced to postseason play.
The Huskers raced to a 10-1 non-conference record that included victories over No. 13 Ohio State and eventual WNIT champion Creighton, before notching one of the biggest wins in school history with an 81-63 victory over No. 9 Kansas State in league play. The Huskers finished with a 7-9 record in the Big 12 to finish in a tie for seventh place. NU was a two-point loss to Missouri or three-point loss to No. 13 Colorado away from earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.
The Huskers made their first postseason appearance since 2000 and played host to a postseason tournament game for the first time since 1993. Nebraska notched just the second home postseason victory in school history with a first-round WNIT win over Drake, before hosting just the third postseason game in school history in the second round against Oregon State.
Nebraska continued the momentum last year by replacing four senior starters from 2003-04 team and finishing with an 18-14 overall mark and its second straight postseason bid. The Huskers’ 8-8 Big 12 mark was their best finish since 2000, and included the biggest victory in school history, a 103-99 triple overtime win over eventual national champion and then-No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, 2005.
The Huskers also won their first Big 12 Tournament game since the 2000 campaign and continued their climb in the classroom as well. NU posted a team GPA of better than 3.0 during the spring 2005 semester, as 10 Huskers earned spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor.
Nebraska has also enjoyed a rejuvenation at the turnstiles, with attendance surging nearly 60 percent over the past two seasons. The Huskers ranked 25th nationally in average home attendance in 2004-05, averaging 4,022 fans per game. The increase represented a nearly 30 percent increase over the 2003-04 season, and included a pair of crowds of more than 12,400 at the Devaney Center with a season-high 13,023 against Kansas State. Nebraska averaged nearly 5,800 fans per game during Big 12 action at the Devaney Center.
The 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Yori led Creighton to a 24-7 overall mark and a 16-2 MVC record in 2001-02 to capture the league’s regular-season and tournament titles. Yori’s success at CU in 2001-02 capped a 170-115 career mark at Creighton. Her teams made two trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and 2002. Before taking over the top job with the Bluejays, Yori led NCAA Division III Loras College to a 25-25 record in two seasons from 1990 to 1992. She also served as an assistant coach at Creighton from 1986 to 1989.
Yori was one of the top players in Creighton history, and she still owns the school record for career scoring average at 20.3 points per game. She ranks as CU’s No. 3 all-time leading scorer with 2,010 points, and she had her No. 25 jersey retired. She was inducted into the Creighton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.
A native of Ankeny, Iowa, the 42-year-old Yori is married to Kirk Helms, and the couple had their first child, Lukas, in early July of 2004.