Huskers to Face Challenging 2006-07 Schedule

Lincoln - The Nebraska women’s basketball team will face three Big Ten teams at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in December before battling a home Big 12 schedule that features games against 2006 Big 12 champion Oklahoma, 2005 NCAA champion Baylor and 2006 WNIT champion Kansas State, Coach Connie Yori announced with the release of the Huskers’ tentative 2006-07 schedule on Friday.

 

For season ticket information, contact the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8BIGRED or visit Huskers.com. For the most current schedule information throughout the season, visit Huskers.com.

 

Overall, Nebraska’s schedule could feature as many as 18 games against 2006 postseason tournament qualifiers, including 12 games against 2006 NCAA Tournament teams, and six more contests against 2006 WNIT squads.

 

Nebraska’s non-conference schedule could feature as many as seven games against 2006 NCAA Tournament teams, including a home showdown with traditional Big Ten power Minnesota on Tuesday, Dec. 5, in Lincoln. The Huskers fell to the then-No. 10 Golden Gophers, 78-70, in Minneapolis last season. Minnesota finished the 2005-06 season ranked No. 25 nationally and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

 

The battle with Minnesota will be the first of three straight home games against Big Ten schools, including a matchup with Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 9, and clash with Northwestern on Saturday, Dec. 16.

 

Nebraska’s non-conference schedule includes battles with 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Arizona State, New Mexico, North CarolinaState, USC, Florida Atlantic, Minnesota, and the possibility of a matchup with Florida.

 

“We played a rugged non-conference schedule last year, but this will easily be the toughest non-conference schedule we have faced in my time at Nebraska,” Yori said. “We have aggressively scheduled some of the best teams from the best conferences in the country. We will bring a traditional Big Ten power to the DevaneyCenter with Minnesota, and then we will face two of the best teams in the Pac-10 (ArizonaState, USC) on the road, along with some of the top teams in the ACC (NC State), SEC (Florida) and Mountain West (New Mexico) all away from home.

 

“We are excited about the opportunities to play some of the nation’s best teams throughout the season, and we look forward to bringing some of these great teams to Lincoln in the next few years.”

 

Yori said that Nebraska’s postseason-caliber non-conference schedule should help the Huskers prepare for the rugged Big 12 Conference schedule that features home games against three more NCAA Tournament teams, including Big 12 champion Oklahoma (Jan. 6), Baylor (Feb. 3) and Missouri (Feb. 17), along with WNIT qualifiers Kansas State (Jan. 17), Kansas (Jan. 27) and Iowa State (Jan. 31).

 

“From top to bottom, the Big 12 will be one of the best conferences in the nation.” Yori said. “We open against two of the traditional powers in college basketball at Texas (Jan. 3) and at home against Oklahoma, and then the schedule just seems to be one great game after another.”

 

The Huskers, who made their third straight postseason appearance and advanced to the third round of the 2006 WNIT, finished with a 19-13 overall record and an 8-8 Big 12 mark a year ago. Nebraska returns three starters from last year’s club and a fourth starter from the 2005 lineup. The Huskers will feature a talented and experienced team that includes two-time first-team All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy, Big 12 All-Freshman selection Kelsey Griffin, 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Jelena Spiric, and two-year returning starter at forward Chelsea Aubry.

 

Nebraska also welcomes one of the best recruiting classes in recent memory with the addition of WBCA High School All-American Yvonne Turner from Bellevue East and three other newcomers who each scored more than 2,200 points during their prep careers (Nicole Neals, Cory Montgomery and Kala Kuhlmann).

 

After home exhibition games against Nebraska-Kearney (Nov. 1) and Nebraska-Omaha (Nov. 4), Nebraska will open the season on the road in Tempe, Ariz., against a trio of 2006 NCAA Tournament teams. The Huskers tip-off their season against NCAA Tournament qualifiers ArizonaState on Friday, Nov. 10, New Mexico (Nov. 12), and Florida Atlantic (Nov. 13).

 

The Huskers will open their regular-season home schedule against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Nov. 17, before heading West again to take on UC Irvine (Nov. 24), and 2006 NCAA Tournament participant USC (Nov. 26).

 

Nebraska returns to the DevaneyCenter to take on Texas-Pan American on Tuesday, Nov. 28 to open a four-game homestand that includes the three games against Big Ten teams. Following the four-game stand, the Huskers will make the short drive to the Civic Auditorium in Omaha to square off with Creighton on Tuesday, Dec. 19, before closing their home non-conference schedule against Nicholls State on Thursday, Dec. 21.

 

Nebraska will face its sixth NCAA Tournament team of the non-conference season when it takes on NC State at the State Farm Classic in Gainesville, Fla. (Dec. 28). The Huskers could face a seventh NCAA Tournament qualifier the following day if they take on the hosts from Florida (Dec. 29).

 

The Huskers remain on the road to tip-off the Big 12 season by clashing with Texas (Jan. 3), before coming home to face defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma on Saturday, Jan. 6.  The Sooners, who feature national player-of-the-year candidate Courtney Paris, went undefeated through the league season in 2006 and won the Big 12 Tournament title.

 

Nebraska will continue Big 12 play at Kansas (Jan. 13) before returning to the DevaneyCenter to collide with KansasState on Wednesday, Jan. 17. After back-to-back road games at 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifiers Missouri (Jan. 20) and Texas A&M (Jan. 24), the Huskers will play three straight home games against Kansas (Jan. 27), Iowa State (Jan. 31) and 2006 NCAA qualifier Baylor (Feb. 3).

 

The Huskers hit the road again for clashes at KansasState (Feb. 7) and Colorado (Feb. 10), before coming back to the DevaneyCenter for key home contests with Texas Tech (Feb. 14) and Missouri (Feb. 17). NU makes its final regular-season road trips to IowaState (Feb. 20) and OklahomaState (Feb. 24), before closing the regular season on Senior Night against Colorado (Feb. 27).

 

Nebraska heads to the COXConvention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship March 6-10, and NCAA Tournament play will begin the following weekend. The 2007 NCAA Women’s Final Four will be held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, April 1-3.