Coatney's Call - Northern Illinois Preview (Dec. 11)

The Nebraska Women’s Basketball team is ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll for the first time since February 2007. The Huskers remained undefeated (8-0) after handing the Miami Hurricanes their first loss of the season, 76-71 Saturday afternoon in Florida. Junior guard Dominique Kelley led five Huskers in double figures with 16 points and a key steal late in the game. Nebraska returns home with a chance to match the best start to a season (9-0) and longest winning streak in school history (9 games) as they battle the Creighton Bluejays Wednesday night in Lincoln.

Creighton is the pre-season pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference and has started the season 5-1. The Bluejays have three fifth-year seniors and are coming off a season in which they finished second in the Valley and just missed the NCAA Tournament. In the MVC Tournament Championship game, Evansville made a last-second shot in a 47-45 win, putting CU in the WNIT for a second-straight year.

5-11 senior forward Megan Neuvirth (NYE-worth) is the MVC’s pre-season Player of the Year and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year after last season. Neuvirth is among my most admired opposing players; she always seems to be around the ball. Her West Point Central Catholic team never lost a game in high school. Neuvirth is fourth on the all-time Creighton rebounding list and had a season-high 20 points in CU’s win over 69-58 win over St. Louis last Friday night. She is second on the team in scoring (13.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg) and leads the team in steals.

5-10 junior Kelsey Woodard is a sharp-shooting wing who comes from a basketball family. Her father Doug is the head boys basketball coach at Bellevue West and her sister Kristi is 17th on the all-time Bluejay career scoring list, playing from 2002-2006. Woodard leads the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and three-pointers (20-48, .417).

5-4 senior guard Chevelle Herring is a veteran point guard who was a high school teammate of Husker guard Yvonne Turner at Bellevue East. She is the third Jay who averages double-figure scoring numbers (10.7 ppg). 6-0 junior forward Sam Schuett (SHOE-it) returns to the court after missing all of 2008-09 after suffering a season-ending ankle injury on October 31, 2008. The last time Schuett faced the Huskers, she exploded for a career-high 30 points, making her first 10 field goal attempts and added 10 rebounds. Schuett averages 9.3 ppg and leads the team in rebounding (8.0 rpg). 6-3 junior center Kellie Nelson started the first four games of the season but has missed the last two games due to a minor injury. She averages 8.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg.

Eighth-year Creighton head coach Jim Flanery was a long-time assistant coach to Connie Yori during her tenure as the Bluejays’ mentor. Since Yori moved to the Nebraska bench, Flanery has taken Creighton to five postseason WNITs, including a victory in the 2004 WNIT championship.

Yori is one of only two Creighton women’s basketball players to have her uniform number retired. She still ranks third on the CU career scoring list, with 2,010 points between 1982-1986.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Creighton 24-10, and has beaten the Bluejays seven straight times at the Devaney Center. The Huskers have won four straight in the series and five of the last six, including last season’s 72-67 NU victory at Omaha’s Civic Auditorium.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and I for Nebraska Women’s Basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Thursday evening against Creighton begins with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 6:45 p.m (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on KFGE 98.1 FM (Froggy 98) in Lincoln, KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha and KRVN 880 AM in Lexington. All Husker Women’s Basketball broadcasts are also available for free worldwide on the internet at www.huskers.com. I hope you can join us.

Go Big Red! Matt