Coatney's Call: Oklahoma State Game Preview

#4 Nebraska vs #10 Oklahoma State
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Time: 7:05 p.m. (CST)
Site: Lincoln, Nebraska
Arena: Devaney Center
Television: Fox Sports Midwest (Greg Sharpe-Play-by-Play; Brenda VanLengen-Color Analyst); Time Warner Cable Channel 37-Lincoln; Cox Cable Channel 47-Omaha
Nebraska Radio:
Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-Play-by-Play; Jeff Griesch-Color Analyst) ?98.1 KFGE-Lincoln (Froggy 98), 93.3 KTWI-Omaha (Twister 93.3), 880 KRVN-Lexington and available to our entire 21-station radio network.
Internet: Free Live Audio and Video on Huskers.com

Back in November, who could have predicted this? Nebraska Women’s Basketball, pre-season picked sixth in the Big 12, undefeated at 19-0 and fourth-ranked in both major polls would be facing #10 Oklahoma State, pre-season picked ninth in the league, a team ranked in the top 10 for the first time in school history in a game that would feature two top 10 teams for the first time ever in men’s or women’s basketball within the borders of the state of Nebraska. Are you kidding me?

Besides the historical significance, the winner of Wednesday night’s game will be a battle for first place in the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska is 6-0 in the league after Saturday afternoon’s 80-64 win at Colorado. It’s the first time any Husker women’s basketball team has started league play with six straight wins. 6-2 senior All-American candidate Kelsey Griffin led NU with 24 points while 5-7 junior guard Dominique Kelley added 18 points and took two charges. 5-9 freshman point guard Lindsey Moore added seven assists and has 15 in her last two games. Nebraska joins Connecticut as the only unbeaten teams in the nation this season. However, the Huskers face arguably their toughest tests of the season this week in a two-game home stand. Next up for the Huskers are the Cowgirls of Oklahoma State Wednesday night followed by #12 Texas A&M Saturday.

Oklahoma State is one game behind Nebraska in the Big 12 standings. The Cowgirls have raced to an 18-3 overall record and are 6-1 in league play with their lone loss coming at Texas 77-63 on January 20. Any discussion of OSU women’s basketball begins with 5-5 senior guard Andrea Riley. She leads the nation in scoring (26.3 ppg) and is third nationally in assists (7.3 apg). She’s been even more productive in Big 12 games, averaging an astonishing 31.6 ppg. Kelsey Griffin is second in scoring in league games (19.7 ppg). Riley’s assist numbers in conference games are down to 6.0 apg, just ahead of Husker point guard Lindsey Moore’s 5.7 apg.

If you’ve never seen Oklahoma State or Riley play....well, let’s just say they play unlike any team you’ve ever seen. Riley is going to handle the ball a lot and shoot....a lot. She is very content to stand in the backcourt dribbling slowly for 20 seconds and then explode into the forecourt. She is a threat to hit a three from anywhere in the forecourt. Riley will shoot the ball. Here is a comparison of the two teams’ leading scorers and their field goal attempts: OSU’s Riley has attempted 207 field goal attempts in seven Big 12 games. NU’s Griffin has attempted 223 field goals....in 19 overall games! One of the reason’s Riley has the green light to fire it from anywhere is OSU leads the conference in league play with 15.4 offensive rebounds per game. She is only two points shy of former Baylor great Sophia Young for second on the all-time Big 12 career scoring list. The current Big 12 Player of the Week, Riley got in early foul trouble Sunday and only scored four first-half points at then-#8 Texas A&M. However, she exploded for 27 second-half points to lead OSU to a 67-63 win, only their third-ever road victory over a Top 10 team in school history.

It’s easy to forget about the rest of the Cowgirl team, but they are formidable. The main recipient of Riley’s assists is 6-1 senior wing Tegan Cunningham. The Australia native is second on the team in scoring (17.8 ppg) and leads the team with 48 three-pointers, three more than Riley. The combination of Riley and Cunningham shooting three’s will be a significant challenge for a Nebraska team that has been stingy giving up the long ball. NU is currently ranked second nationally in three-point field goal percentage defense (24.5%).

6-0 junior forward Precious Robinson is one of ten newcomers to this season’s roster and is one of three junior-college transfers. She leads the team in rebounding (8.3 ppg) and is third on the team in scoring (8.7 ppg). 5-5 junior guard Lakyn Garrison has started all but three games and adds 6.7 ppg. 6-2 senior center Megan Byford rounds out Oklahoma State’s probable starting lineup. Nicknamed "Country" after former OSU men’s center Bryant Reeves, Byford has started nine games and averages 3.4 ppg.

Fifth-year Cowgirl Head Coach Kurt Budke led OSU to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 three years ago. Prior to coming to Stillwater, he won four national junior college titles in seven seasons at Trinity Valley Community College and led Louisiana Tech to an 80-13 record and three NCAA Tournament appearances in three seasons.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with OSU 31-25, including an 82-74 win in Stillwater in the final regular season game last season. With Andrea Riley sitting out due to a team suspension, Cory Montgomery erupted for a career-high 30 points while Yvonne Turner added a career-high 26 points. Two seasons ago in Lincoln, OSU raced to a 31-point second half lead and defeated the Huskers 92-81.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska Women’s Basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Wednesday night vs. Oklahoma State 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 AM 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.

Go Big Red! Matt