Huskers Tip Off Season at No. 13 ASU

Lincoln - The Nebraska women’s basketball team tips off the 2006-07 season with postseason-caliber competition when the Huskers take on No. 13 Arizona State at the Veterans Day Classic in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday.

Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. central time with live radio coverage provided by the Husker Sports Network, including 98.1-FM KFGE in Lincoln and worldwide on Huskers.com. Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will call all the action from Wells Fargo Arena this weekend, as the Huskers open one of the most aggressive non-conference schedules in school history.

Arizona State has been ranked in the top 15 by nearly every preseason publication, including a No. 12 ranking in the preseason USA Today/ESPN Poll and a No. 13 ranking by the AP. The Sun Devils posted a 25-7 record in 2005-06, including a 14-4 mark and a second-place finish in the Pac-10. ASU advanced to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils have been especially dominant at home, carrying a 22-game regular-season homecourt winning streak into the season.

Friday’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for Nebraska freshman Nicole Neals. The 5-6 guard from Chandler, Ariz., was a teammate of ASU freshmen Dymond Simon and Kayli Murphy at St. Mary’s High School last season. Neals is coming off a 16-point effort that included four three-pointers in the Huskers’ 97-59 exhibition win over Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday.

After opening the season with the Sun Devils, Nebraska will get a day off on Saturday to prepare for Florida Atlantic. The Owls earned a spot in the 2006 NCAA Tournament after notching a 20-11 overall record. NU will face FAU on Sunday, Nov. 12, at 4:30 p.m. central time.

The Huskers wrap up their tournament appearance in Tempe by taking on No. 18 New Mexico on Monday, Nov. 13, at 4 p.m. central time. The Lobos advanced to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 22-10 overall record. UNM closed with an 11-5 mark in a tie for third in the Mountain West.

Huskers Show Explosiveness in Exhibition Victories
The Nebraska women’s basketball team completed an impressive two-game exhibition season with a 97-59 win over Nebraska-Omaha at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Huskers put up 97 points on the Mavericks, despite struggling to shoot just 36.8 percent in the first half. The Division II Mavs, who won 20 games as a member of the powerful North Central Conference in 2005-06, had struggles of their own in the first half, as Nebraska held UNO without a field goal for more than 12 minutes to build a 46-23 halftime lead.

The offenses got rolling in the second half, as the Huskers hit 61.1 percent from the field and put up 51 points in the period, while UNO shot 41.9 percent from the field, including a 5-for-8 effort from three-point range after hitting just 4-of-23 shots from the field in the first half.

Freshman Nicole Neals led the Huskers with 16 points, including a 4-for-4 shooting performance from three-point range. The 5-6 guard from Chandler, Ariz., also helped the Huskers with four steals, as Nebraska forced 33 turnovers by the Mavericks.

Junior Danielle Page also enjoyed a big day for the Huskers. The 6-2 forward from Monument, Colo., made her first appearance on the court two months earlier than originally expected after undergoing ACL surgery on June 29. Page pumped in 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds in just 15 minutes of action off the bench. She added an assist, a steal and a blocked shot in an outstanding all-around effort.

Jelena Spiric and Kiera Hardy also added double figures for the Huskers, who averaged 109.5 points per game in their two exhibition victories.

In Nebraska’s 122-55 exhibition-opening win over Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, Nov. 1, the Huskers were nothing short of dominant on the offensive end.

Had NU’s exhibition opener against Nebraska-Kearney been a regular-season contest, the Huskers’ 122 points would have tied for the second-highest scoring total in school history, trailing only 123 points against Howard on Dec. 11, 1992. NU scored 122 points against InterAmerican on Dec. 21, 1993.

Nebraska’s 67-point victory against UNK would rank as the fifth-largest in school history and its largest since 1995. The Huskers shot 65.7 percent from the field against the Lopers, which also would have been the fifth-best shooting percentage in school history. Nebraska’s nine three-pointers were also tied for the seventh-most in school history, despite playing on the extended experimental three-point line against UNK.

The Huskers had six players produce double figures in the opener, including a monster 35-point, 13-rebound effort in just 22 minutes from sophomore forward Kelsey Griffin.

Nebraska’s improved talent and depth were apparent in its exhibition wins. Nine different Huskers posted double-figure scoring performances, including Spiric who was the only Husker to score 10 or more points in both games.

Chelsea Aubry, Cory Montgomery, Yvonne Turner and TK LaFleur joined Griffin and Spiric in double figures in the opener against UNK.

Scouting the Arizona State Sun Devils
Arizona State has developed into one of the nation’s top 20 programs in Coach Charli Turner Thorne’s 13 years in Tempe. The Sun Devils advanced to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament in 2006, and enter the 2006-07 season ranked No. 13 nationally in the Associated Press Poll. ASU has earned seven straight postseason berths, including four NCAA Tournament appearances with a Sweet 16 bid in 2004-05.

ASU’s high preseason ranking comes with the return of four experienced starters led by senior Emily Westerberg. The 6-0 senior forward averaged 10.8 points and 5.1 rebounds a year ago, while starting all 32 games.

Westerberg is rejoined in the ASU starting lineup by fellow seniors Aubree Johnson and Jill Noe. Johnson, a 6-2 forward averaged 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, while Noe contributed 7.8 points and 3.2 boards per contest.

The senior trio is joined in the starting lineup by junior Reagan Pariseau, who averaged 4.9 points and 2.2 rebounds while making all 32 starts a year ago.

Several players are in the running for the fifth starting spot in ASU’s lineup, including two former high school teammates of Nebraska freshman guard Nicole Neals.

Kayli Murphy, a 6-2 freshman forward/center from St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix, started ASU’s exhibition-opening victory over Love & Basketball and led the Sun Devils with a game-high nine rebounds. High school All-American Dymond Simon, a 5-5 freshman from St. Mary’s, was one of the first Sun Devils off the bench and scored eight points to go along with three rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes of action in the exhibition opener.

Kate Engelbrecht, a 5-10 guard from Tucson, Ariz., earned a start in the first exhibition and scored six points to go along with four rebounds. Briann January started ASU’s 94-49 exhibition win over Vanguard on Monday. The 5-8 sophomore guard had four points and nine assists.

Arizona State brings a balanced approach to the court. In the 72-46 win over Love & Basketball, 11 players earned playing time, including 10 players who spent at least 10 minutes on the floor. In the 45-point romp past Vanguard, 11 Sun Devils played at least 11 minutes.

Last season, ASU averaged 70.9 points per game while holding the opposition to 60.8 points per contest. The Sun Devils were an efficient offensive team, hitting 45.5 percent of their field goals and 73.6 percent of their free throw attempts. They also knocked down 32.3 percent (120-371) of their three-point attempts, although no ASU player hit 30 three-pointers on the year.

Arizona State put possessions at a premium for opponents last year. Not only did the Sun Devils produce a strong plus-6.4 team rebounding margin, they also posted a solid plus-2.0 team turnover margin, giving them an average of 3.5 more field goal attempts and 2.2 free throw attempts per game than the opposition.

A win by the Huskers at Wells Fargo Arena would be a landmark victory for the Nebraska program. Not only would it mark the highest-ranked team that NU has defeated on the road since knocking off a top-10 Iowa team in Hawaii on Dec. 8, 1996, it would also end Arizona State’s 22-game regular-season homecourt winning streak.

ASU has not lost a regular-season home game to a non-conference opponent since losing to Notre Dame on Dec. 7, 2002. The Sun Devils are 40-2 at home since the start of 2003-04 season, including a win over perennial power Connecticut. ASU’s last loss at home came to North Carolina in the NCAA Sweet 16 on March 26, 2005.

Nebraska vs. Arizona State Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Arizona State 3-2, including an 87-60 victory over the Sun Devils in the last meeting between the two teams on Jan. 4, 1994, in Tempe, Ariz. Former Husker Nafeesah Brown scorched the Sun Devils for 27 points and nine rebounds, while Meggan Yedsena scored 10 points and dished out 12 assists in the victory. That ASU team finished with a 4-22 record under Jacqueline Hullah, while the 1993-94 Nebraska squad went 17-13 under Coach Angela Beck.

Nebraska also worked its way to an 86-79 win over Arizona State in Lincoln on Dec. 1, 1992. In what was the season opener for the Huskers in 1992-93, All-American Karen Jennings notched a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. NU went on to finish the season in the NCAA Tournament with a 23-7 record. Coach Maura McHugh led ASU to a 17-10 record in 1992-93.

Arizona State’s last win against the Huskers came with a 107-79 win in Tempe on Jan. 6, 1982, and the Sun Devils went on to the NCAA Sweet 16 that year. ASU also squeezed out an 88-83 overtime win over NU in Lincoln on March 6, 1981.

Nebraska and Arizona State met for the first time on Nov. 29, 1979, at the California Invitational. The Huskers managed a 71-69 win.

Talented Nucleus Leads Huskers into 2006-07
Preseason honorable-mention All-American Kiera Hardy headlines the list of four returning starters for the Huskers. Hardy, a two-time, first-team All-Big 12 selection, ranks 10th on Nebraska’s all-time scoring list with 1,416 career points. The 5-6 shooting guard from Kansas City, Mo., is also NU’s career leader with 196 three-pointers. She needs just four more threes to become the 12th player in Big 12 Conference history to reach the 200 mark.

Fellow seniors Jelena Spiric and Chelsea Aubry could help make substantial improvements in Nebraska’s lineup this season. Spiric, the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, returns from a major knee injury that sidelined her for the entire 2005-06 season. The 6-0 forward from Belgrade, Serbia, is in the best playing condition of her career.

In Nebraska’s exhibition opener, Spiric had 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 22 minutes of action. She hit 5-of-7 field goal attempts, including 2-of-4 three-pointers. She also knocked down 5-of-6 free throws. Spiric added 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, while adding six rebounds against UNO.

The return of Spiric will also allow Aubry to return to her natural power forward position. Aubry, a member of the Canadian National Team and a two-year starter for the Huskers, played on the wing last season, which reduced her scoring and rebounding numbers.

In the exhibition-opening win over Nebraska-Kearney, Aubry erupted for 15 points and six rebounds, while burying all three of her three-point attempts.

Dallas Morning News Big 12 Freshman of the Year Kelsey Griffin should also benefit from the comfort levels provided by Hardy, Spiric and Aubry. Griffin, a 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons in school history by averaging 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds a year ago. With a year of experience and an expanded game away from the basket, Griffin could be set for even bigger and better things as a sophomore.

Griffin put on an exhibition in the opener against the Lopers, scoring 35 points on 14-of-16 shooting, while pulling down 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes.

Ford Adds More Experience to Starting Lineup
Joining the four returning starters in Nebraska’s probable starting lineup against Arizona State will be senior point guard Ashley Ford. The Lincoln Northeast graduate has had an excellent offseason and has not only expanded her knowledge of Nebraska’s system but improved her offensive game.

In the exhibition victory over Nebraska-Omaha, Ford scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds, while also dishing out two assists and grabbing one steal in just 18 minutes.

Page Making Miraculous Return from Knee Injury
Junior Danielle Page has made a remarkably fast recovery from an ACL injury in mid-June and returned to a full practice schedule on Monday, Oct. 30.

Page who underwent surgery on her right knee on June 29, spent an efficient four months rehabilitating her knee and has looked strong in practice. The 6-2 forward from Monument, Colo., has continued to increase her activity in practice and was given the green light for full participation at the start of last week.

Although she was not expected to be ready for a full return until the start of the Big 12 Conference season in January, Page saw game action in Nebraska’s exhibition finale against Nebraska-Omaha.

Page showed no ill-effects of her injury. In fact, Page not only showed the exceptional lateral quickness that has made her one of Nebraska’s top shot-blockers in school history, she also connected on three mid-range jumpshots on her way to scoring 10 points. She added seven rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist in just 15 minutes of action off the bench.

A dominant defender in the post, Page is one of the leading shot-blockers in Nebraska history, ranking No. 7 on the Husker career block chart with 69 in just two seasons. She also averaged five points and four rebounds per game in her first two seasons for the Huskers.

Page’s early return is particularly important for the Huskers who lack experienced depth on the interior behind starters Chelsea Aubry and Kelsey Griffin. Page will be joined off the bench by freshmen Cory Montgomery and Nikki Bober in the paint.

LaFleur Ready to Make Greater Impact as Sophomore
Sophomore TK LaFleur will also see significant minutes after surging down the stretch in her freshman campaign. The 5-8 guard from Houston averaged 7.3 points and 2.6 rebounds in NU’s final 10 games and had an excellent offseason. LaFleur provides the Huskers with an athletic presence on the wing, along with solid defensive skills, while she continues to expand her offensive game.

Although she did not earn a start in her freshman season, LaFleur averaged nearly 17 minutes per game off the bench, including 21 minutes per contest during the final 10 games. She averaged 5.4 points per game on the year, while ranking third on the team with 20 made three-pointers (32.3 percent).

In the exhibition win over Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 1, LaFleur scored 10 points, while adding two assists and two steals for the Huskers in 19 minutes of action. She added seven points and four boards in the win over UNO.

Five Freshmen Perform Well in First Collegiate Action
Nebraska’s exhibition opener against Nebraska-Kearney featured the unveiling of the Huskers’ five-player freshman class that is widely considered the best group in Yori’s tenure in Lincoln.

The group is led by WBCA High School All-American Yvonne Turner. The Omaha native led Bellevue East to a state title a year ago and could make an instant impact on Nebraska’s lineup despite spending eight weeks during the offseason in a walking boot while nursing a left foot injury. Turner can play all three guard spots and provides an electric defensive presence on the floor.

Turner averaged 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.7 steals per game as a senior while being named the captain of the All-Nebraska first-team.

She showed few signs of lingering effects of her foot injury against UNK, scoring 10 points, dishing out three assists and blocking a pair of shots in 18 minutes. She added seven points and three steals against UNO.

While Turner has earned top billing, a trio of other NU freshmen actually produced more staggering numbers during their prep careers.

Des Moines Register Iowa Female Athlete-of-the-Year Kala Kuhlmann finished her career as the fourth-leading scorer in Iowa High School history with 2,337 points. As a sophomore at Charter Oak-Ute, Kuhlmann led the state by averaging 28 points per game. She earned Iowa Class 1A state Player-of-the-Year honors in both 2005 and 2006, and was also the Class 1A softball pitcher of the year in her junior and senior seasons.

Kuhlmann’s athleticism, intelligence and competitiveness could help her find playing time in Nebraska’s deep playing rotation this season. She scored eight points with two steals and two assists in the win over UNO.

All-Arizona guard Nicole Neals added a school-record 2,298 points at national high school power St. Mary’s of Phoenix during her prep career. Neals’ career scoring crown is even more impressive considering her high school teammates included All-American Dymond Simon, a freshman at Arizona State, Kayli Murphy, a freshman at ASU, and Taylor Schneider, a freshman at Texas-Pan American. Neals has a quick trigger from long range and knocked down 195 three-pointers during her high school career.

Neals led the Huskers with a game-high 16 points, including a 4-for-4 shooting effort from three-point range in the exhibition win over Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 4. She also led the Huskers with four steals against UNO.

Nebraska’s third freshman 2,000-point scorer is Cory Montgomery from Cannon Falls, Minn. Montgomery was a five-year varsity MVP at Cannon Falls and one of the top-10 players in the state of Minnesota a year ago. The 6-2 forward scored 2,238 points, grabbed 1,240 rebounds, blocked 387 shots and dished out 261 assists to establish school records in all four categories.

Montgomery provided a strong offensive option against UNK in her debut with 16 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes of action. She added seven points and eight rebounds in the win over UNO.

All-Nebraska center Nikki Bober rounds out NU’s newcomers. The tallest player on the Husker roster, the 6-4 post player from Elmwood-Murdock averaged 17 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a senior, after rebounding from a season-ending knee injury early in her junior season. Bober’s size could help give the Huskers a different look against some of the larger post players in the Big 12.

Bober was solid in her exhibition debut as well, scoring seven points, grabbing three boards and blocking a pair of shots in 15 minutes of playing time. She added two more blocks against UNO.

Huskers Take Best Shot at Top 25 Foes in Arizona
Nebraska will face three 2006 NCAA Tournament teams at the Veterans Day Classic in Arizona, including a pair of preseason top 25 opponents.

The Huskers have not defeated a top-25 team away from the Devaney Center since beating No. 21 Kansas in Lawrence on Jan. 11, 2000. Nebraska has not knocked off a top-25 non-conference opponent away from home since beating No. 16 Western Kentucky, 84-70, in Storrs, Conn., in the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 20, 1997.

If the Huskers can pull an upset of No. 13 Arizona State in the season opener at Tempe, it would mark the highest-ranked opponent NU had beaten away from home since knocking off No. 9 Iowa, 73-67, at the Big Kona Classic in Kona, Hawaii, on Dec. 8, 1996.

Nebraska will get a second shot at a top 25 opponent just three days after facing the Sun Devils when the Huskers take on No. 18 New Mexico on Nov. 13.

Coach Don Flanagan led the Lobos to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Lobos finished with a 22-10 record and an 11-5 mark in the Mountain West. UNM returns three starters, including senior guard Katie Montgomery from Lincoln Pius X. Montgomery averaged 10.8 points per game last season.

Huskers Tackle Challenging 2006-07 Schedule
After playing 16 games against teams that advanced to postseason play in 2005-06, Nebraska will face an even more challenging road during the 2006-07 campaign.

Nebraska’s regular-season schedule could include as many as 18 games against 2006 postseason qualifiers with as many as seven non-conference games against some of the nation’s best teams. Among the Huskers’ eight road non-conference games this season, as many as six could come against 2006 NCAA teams.

The Huskers dive headfirst into the postseason-caliber action with three games against 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifiers on the road in the opening weekend of the season. Nebraska tips off the season against a top-25 Arizona State team at the Veterans Day Classic in Tempe, Ariz, on Nov. 10. NU will then face NCAA qualifier Florida Atlantic in the second game of the tournament on Nov. 12, before facing another NCAA Tournament and potential top-25 team with New Mexico on Nov. 13.

On Nov. 26, the Huskers will likely face a third top-25 squad at USC. The Women of Troy joined Arizona State and New Mexico in advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

The Huskers will welcome 2006 NCAA qualifier Minnesota to the Devaney Center on Dec. 5. The Golden Gophers will be the only NCAA team that ventures to Lincoln during the non-conference season. The game with Minnesota will also be the second of six straight contests NU will play in Nebraska from the week after Thanksgiving through Christmas.

The Huskers will get ready for Big 12 play by facing 2006 NCAA qualifier NC State at the State Farm Classic in Gainesville, Fla., on Dec. 28. If the Huskers can get past the Wolfpack, they could see the hosts from Florida in the championship game on Dec. 29. The Gators earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament last year and have received preseason top-25 consideration.

While the Huskers could play seven of their first 14 games against 2006 postseason qualifiers, their 16-game Big 12 Conference schedule will only offer more challenges with 11 games against postseason competition. Nebraska opens the Big 12 slate at Texas, a perennial national power that did not advance to postseason play in 2006.

The Huskers play their Big 12 home opener against defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma on Jan. 6. The home game with the Sooners will start a stretch of nine consecutive games against 2006 postseason clubs for the Huskers.

The nine-game stretch will include a game with 2005 NCAA and Big 12 champion Baylor at the Devaney Center on Feb. 3, along with road contests at 2006 NCAA qualifiers Missouri (Jan. 20) and Texas A&M (Jan. 24). Big 12 North series with 2006 WNIT champion Kansas State and WNIT qualifier Kansas will be completed during the run, while the Huskers will also face WNIT qualifier Iowa State at home on Jan. 31.

If Nebraska can capitalize on its opportunities during the first 10 games of the Big 12 schedule, the Huskers could have a chance to build momentum heading into the postseason with four of their last six league games coming against teams that did not advance to postseason play a year ago.

The Huskers will honor their four-player senior class on Feb. 27 in the regular-season finale against Colorado, before heading to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at the COX Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., March 6-10.

Huskers Sixth in Preseason Big 12 Poll
The Nebraska women’s basketball team was tabbed as the No. 6 team in the Big 12 by the league coaches, the conference office announced in its preseason poll on Tuesday, Oct. 17.

Defending conference champion Oklahoma was picked to win its second consecutive conference title in 2006-07. The Sooners received all 11 possible first-place votes for a total of 121 points. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.

Texas A&M was selected second (107 points), followed by Texas in third (101 points), Baylor fourth (94 points) and Iowa State fifth (68 points), with the Huskers just two points behind the Cyclones in sixth with 66 points.

The second tier of conference teams opened with a tie for seventh between Kansas State and Texas Tech with 57 points. Missouri (ninth, 43 points), Kansas (10th, 36 points), Colorado (11th, 26 points) and Oklahoma State (12th, 16 points) rounded out the preseason ballot.

Oklahoma is ranked as high as second nationally in preseason publications, while Texas A&M, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas, Kansas State and Texas Tech have also received recognition in preseason polls. Nebraska has received votes in several preseason publications.

Baylor and Oklahoma advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2005-06 and were joined in the NCAA Tournament by Texas A&M and Missouri. Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Nebraska competed in the WNIT.

Yori Leading New Growth in Nebraska Program
Now in her fifth season at Nebraska, Coach Connie Yori hopes to have the Huskers heading into the growth stage of what began as a major rebuilding project in 2002.

Yori arrived in Lincoln on June 24, 2002, and was left with only a handful of healthy scholarship players and three consecutive losing seasons behind the existing players. After a challenging first season, Yori guided the Huskers to one of the nation’s top turnarounds in 2003-04.

Nebraska finished the season with an 18-12 record and 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 final 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 may have been 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 in 2004-05 by replacing four senior starters from 2003-04 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 kept building in 2005-06 by winning two postseason games for the first time in school history. NU’s 19-13 record also marked the Huskers’ most victories since the 1998-99 campaign. The Huskers finished with an 8-8 league mark for the second straight year and won a game in the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive season.

Perhaps most impressively, the Huskers went 5-0 in regular-season rematches with Big 12 North Division opponents and completed the first three-game sweep of Colorado in school history. Overall, Nebraska posted a 7-3 regular-season mark against Big 12 North foes.

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 43-year-old Yori is married to Kirk Helms, and the couple had their first child, Lukas, in early July of 2004.

Hardy Set to Ascend Husker Career Scoring Ladder
One of the leading scorers in school history, senior Kiera Hardy enters her final season at Nebraska already ranked in the top 10 on the career scoring list. The 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., has amassed 1,416 points in her first three seasons in Nebraska’s lineup to rank No. 10 on the list.

Hardy should climb another rung on the ladder during the Huskers’ three-game opening weekend at the Veterans Day Classic in Tempe, Ariz. She needs just 17 points to catch Diane DelVigna at No. 9 on the list with 1,433 points. No. 8 Angie Miller is also well within striking distance during NU’s 14-game non-conference season at 1,541, just 125 points ahead of Hardy.

A preseason honorable-mention All-American by Street & Smith’s and a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, Hardy averaged 17.5 points per game last season, after pouring in 19.0 points per contest as a sophomore. In her first three seasons at Nebraska, Hardy has averaged 15.6 points per contest.

Hardy scored a career-high 37 points in Nebraska’s 103-99 triple overtime victory over eventual national champion Baylor on Jan. 12, 2005. It is one of three 30-point performances in Hardy’s career. She has scored 20 or more points on 27 occasions in her 91-game career.

Hardy Ranks Among Big 12’s Three-Point Elite
Along with her abilities as a pure scorer, Kiera Hardy has placed her name among the best long-range shooters in Big 12 Conference history.

Nebraska’s career three-point leader with 196 triples through her first three seasons, Hardy ranks 14th in league history. Her first three-pointer of the year will move her into a three-way tie for 12th, and she needs just seven to move into a tie for 11th. The league’s top-10 list is just 18 threes away, and by the time Big 12 Conference play opens, Hardy could rank eighth all-time.

Hardy, who hit a school-record 85 three-pointers as a sophomore in 2004-05, and added 81 threes a year ago while leading the Big 12 with 2.53 made per game, could realistically climb to No. 2 on the all-time chart. Megan Taylor of Iowa State ranks second in league history with 287 career three-pointers as a four-year starter at Iowa State from 1998 to 2001. Laurie Koehn from Kansas State owns the Big 12 record with 392 three-pointers in her career from 2001 to 2005.

Hardy smashed Nebraska’s three-point record with six three-pointers against Texas on Jan. 18. She finished the night with 158 threes in 75 games, shooting past current WNBA All-Star Anna DeForge’s previous mark of 155 three-pointers in 117 career games.

With seven three-pointers against Iowa on March 21, 2005, Hardy shares Nebraska’s single-game record and has hit six or more three-pointers in a game on five occasions.

Griffin Gunning for Spectacular Sophomore Season
After a record-breaking start to her Nebraska career in 2005-06, Kelsey Griffin wants to show the Big 12 and the nation that her best is yet to come for the Huskers.

The 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, captured Big 12 Freshman-of-the-Year honors from the Dallas Morning News and was one five players chosen to the coaches Big 12 All-Rookie team a year ago. Griffin averaged 13.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a true freshman, despite being limited by illness during Nebraska’s final nine games of the season. She also managed to battle through her condition to start all 32 games for the Huskers, becoming the first NU freshman since Meggan Yedsena in 1990-91 to start every game of her rookie campaign. Griffin is just the fourth Husker freshman in history to start every game in her first year.

She finished the year with 424 points, to rank as the fourth-best total by a freshman in school history. Her 54.1 field goal percentage ranked third among all freshmen in school history, while her 121 made free throws set NU’s freshman record.

Griffin produced one of the best rookie performances in Nebraska history with 31 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 27, 2005. She also tied the school record with 18 free throw attempts against the Islanders. She added 28 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots at Kansas State on Feb. 4.

The 2005 Gatorade Alaska High School Player of the Year put up an even better performance in Nebraska’s exhibition opener against Nebraska-Kearney to open her sophomore campaign on Nov. 1. Griffin poured in 35 points on 14-of-16 shooting from the field and pulled down 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes of action.

Spiric Set for Strong Senior Season After Knee Injury
Jelena Spiric returns for the 2006-07 season after missing all of 2005-06 with a knee injury. The 6-0 senior from Belgrade, Serbia, suffered a torn right ACL in practice on Oct. 18, 2005, just days after the start of fall practice. Spiric’s injury sidelined her for the duration of her second season at Nebraska.

An outstanding student and experienced international player, Spiric considered returning to Europe to pursue a professional career after earning her bachelor’s degree as a biochemistry major in May of 2006.

Spiric chose to return for her final season at Nebraska, and the Huskers are planning to make it a memorable one for the 2005 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Spiric enters her final season at Nebraska in the best playing condition of her career and it showed in the Huskers’ 122-55 exhibition-opening win over Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 1. Spiric poured in 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-4 night from three-point range, while adding four rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Huskers. She added 13 points and six boards in a 97-59 win over UNO.

As a junior in 2004-05, Spiric averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game on the year, but increased her averages to 9.3 points and 4.6 boards per game in conference action.

Spiric was slowed at the start of her Nebraska career after suffering a torn left ACL in the final game of her junior college career at Colby Community College. Spiric earned NJCAA first-team All-America honors in her only season at Colby, averaging 15.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

She opened her collegiate career at NCAA Division II UMass-Lowell, averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.5 steals per game for the River Hawks as a freshman in 2002-03.

Low Turnover Totals High on Husker Agenda
Over the past four seasons, Nebraska has produced four of the top five single-season turnover marks in school history. Last season, the Huskers turned the ball over just 435 times in 32 games for an average of 13.6 miscues per contest, the second-best average in school history.

NU’s turnover average last year continued a progression of successively lower turnover marks for the Huskers since Coach Connie Yori’s arrival in 2002. Yori’s first Husker squad averaged 17.8 turnovers per game, which at the time was the second-best mark in school history. The 2003-04 squad beat that number by averaging just 16.2 turnovers per game, before the 2004-05 team improved again with just 15.4 turnovers per contest.

Nebraska’s school record for lowest turnover average came in 1991-92, when the Huskers averaged just 11.5 turnovers per contest.

Huskers Continue to Rank among Big 12 Leaders at Line
Nebraska continued its recent tradition of ranking among the top Big 12 teams at the free throw line in 2005-06, hitting 72.2 percent of its free throws.

Nebraska ranked third in the Big 12, trailing only Colorado’s 74.0 percent accuracy and Iowa State’s 73.7 percent success rate at the line. The Huskers’ percentage ranked as the fifth-best in school history.

In 2004-05, Nebraska hit 74.9 percent of its shots from the line, after knocking down 74.0 percent of its free throw chances in 2003-04.

Fastbreakers Booster Club
The Nebraska Women’s Basketball Booster Club, the Fastbreakers, and Lil’ Breakers Booster Club provide dynamic support to the Huskers. Membership benefits include regular e-mail news flashes during the season, a free Nebraska Yearbook, game information, invitations to social activities, access to preferred parking, an invitation to the postseason awards banquet and much, much more.

For more information on the Fastbreakers and Lil’ Breakers Booster Club, please visit the Nebraska women’s basketball home page on Huskers.com, e-mail mgreen@fastbreakersonline.com or call the Nebraska women’s basketball office at (402) 472-6462.

Huskers Make Permanent Leap to Froggy
For the first time, all of Nebraska’s women’s basketball games this season will be available on the same Husker Sports Network station in Lincoln, Froggy 98.1 FM-KFGE.

All of Nebraska’s regular-season games, home and away, will be available on KFGE unless the game conflicts with a Nebraska football broadcast, including the Huskers’ Nov. 24 game at UC Irvine (Colorado football) and a potential bowl game conflict on Dec. 28 or Dec. 29.

In the past, the women’s basketball team’s primary station in Lincoln has been 1400 AM-KLIN, the sister station of KFGE. Nebraska’s games carried on the entire Husker Sports Network were aired on KLIN, but if conflicts with football, men’s basketball or volleyball existed, the women’s basketball games were moved to KFGE, forcing Husker fans in Lincoln to search their radio dials for broadcasts.

This season, the women’s basketball games will be heard exclusively on KFGE and continue to be available for free around the world on Huskers.com.

Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will team up for their sixth full season on the call of the game, with Coatney providing the play-by-play. The pregame show hits the air 25 minutes before each game.