Coatney's Call - Texas Game Preview

For anyone who thinks the intensity level of non-conference games is similar to a Big 12 matchup, think again! Saturday night’s league opener at Iowa State was a classic knockdown-drag out affair, with Nebraska emerging with a 57-49 victory over Iowa State. 5-8 senior guard Yvonne Turner led four Huskers in double figures with 14 points, while 6-2 senior All-America candidate Kelsey Griffin posted her sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and a game high 11 rebounds.

The win extended NU’s school record winning streak to 14 games and left the Huskers as the only undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference and one of five unbeaten teams in the country. It also gave Nebraska only their second win in the last 13 years in Ames. In the Associated Press poll released this afternoon, Nebraska was ranked 11th, their highest ranking in school history. Next up for the Huskers is the league home opener in Lincoln Tuesday night against the 19th-ranked Texas Longhorns.

Texas is 11-4 on the season. The Longhorns started Big 12 play by losing 91-70 at home to #8 Texas A&M Saturday. UT’s other losses this season are to #1 UConn, #4 Tennessee and to Southern California. 6-0 senior guard Brittainey Raven was a pre-season first team All-Big 12 selection. She has started the last five games after coming off the bench for the ten games of the season. She leads the Longhorns in scoring (14.8 ppg) and steals.

6-2 junior wing Kathleen ?Kat’ Nash is one of only two UT players to start all 15 games this season. She is second in the nation in three-point field goal percentage (52.2%) and is second on the team in scoring (13.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). Kat’s older sister Kristen, a 6-3 senior forward, has started the last three games 4.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg. 5-8 sophomore guard Ashleigh Fontenette has started 13 games this season and is third on the team in scoring (9.1 ppg) and leads the team in assists. She came off the bench to lead Texas in scoring with a then-career high 21 points in UT’s 74-60 win over Nebraska last year in Austin.

6-4 sophomore center Ashley Gayle has started the first 12 games of the season, but has come off the bench the last three. Gayle is second in the league in blocked shots (49 total; 3.3 bpg) and leads the team in rebounding (7.4 rpg) while adding 7.0 ppg. Rounding out the Longhorns’ probable starting lineup is 5-10 senior guard Erika Arriaran (uh-REAR-err-ron). The former high school National Player of the Year is playing the point guard position and along with Kat Nash has started all15 games this season. She adds 8.7 ppg.

Third-year Texas head coach Gail Goestenkors is the sixth all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history. Combined with her 15 season at Duke, Goestenkors has won 450 games and 15 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Texas leads the all-time series with Nebraska 13-5, including last season’s game in Austin. Nebraska had won the two previous meetings, including a 56-45 decision in Lincoln two seasons ago.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and I for Nebraska Women’s Basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Tuesday night vs. Texas begins with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on KFGE 98.1 FM (Froggy 98) in Lincoln, KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 in Lexington and available to our entire 21-station radio network. 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.