Coatney's Call: UNLV Game Preview

#20/#24 Nebraska vs. UNLV

Date: Tueday, November 30, 2010
Time: 7:05 p.m.(CST)
Site: Lincoln, Nebraska (Devaney Center)
Nebraska Radio: Husker Sports Network 
(Matt Coatney-Play-by-Play; Jeff Griesch-Color Analyst) -105.3 KLNC -Lincoln (WOW-FM); 93.3 KTWI (Twister 93.3 FM)-Omaha; 880 KRVN-Lexington; 1400 KCOW-Alliance and available to our entire 25-station network.
Internet: Live Radio on Huskers.com

Huskers Close Homestand with Lady Rebels

The Nebraska Women's Basketball team had Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday, but continued their early-season offensive 'feast' Friday by defeating Nebraska-Omaha 80-44 at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.  6-2 freshman  Jordan Hooper maintained her strong start to her Husker career by scoring a career-high 25 points on 12-of-14 shooting.  Senior guard Dominique Kelley added 13 points and a career-high eight assists.  NU closes out their short two-game home stand Tuesday night when they host UNLV at 7:05 p.m.
 
The Lady Rebels are 4-1 on the season after splitting two games in their Thanksgiving weekend tournament.  UNLV suffered their first loss of the season Friday night, falling to Oregon State 57-45 before defeating Pacific 56-44 Saturday to gain third place in the Lady Rebel Round-Up.
UNLV returns all five starters from last season's team that finished 13-18 overall and 6-10 in the Mountain West Conference.  They are picked to finish 7th in the MWC this year, the same place they finished in 2009-10.
 
6-0 junior Jamie Smith will be used in her more natural position on the wing this year.  She spent her first two seasons primarily at center and power forward because of her rebounding abilities.  But, with more options in the available in the paint, Smith  is expected to spend most of her time as a shooting guard and small forward.  Smith was named Honorable Mention-All MWC in 2009-10 after leading the league in rebounding (10.5 rpg) and averaging 8.5 ppg. She scored her 24th career double-double and second of the season with a game-high 17 points and 10 rebounds against Pacific Saturday night.  Smith also made a career-high 10-of-10 from the free throw line, which ties for the third best performance all-time in UNLV history.  She currently averages 9.4 ppg and leads the team in rebounding (9.0 rpg).

One of the reasons Smith can move to the perimeter is the arrival of 6-3 junior transfer Lenita Sanford.  A top-10 national recruit coming of of Lynwood (CA) High School in 2007, Sanford  was named to the McDonalds, Parade and Adidas All-American teams as a prep athlete.  She originally signed with the University of California, but then played her freshman season at Trinity Valley (TX) Community College.  After sustaining a knee injury that sidelined her in 2007-08, she transferred to Chipola (FL) Junior College, where she averaged eight points and six rebounds as a sophomore.  Sanford then spent a year away from basketball while enrolled in El Camino (CA) College.  This past January, she signed with Louisiana Tech, but after a coaching change there, Sanford decided to play at UNLV.  She has had a strong start to her junior season, averaging 9.6 ppg, 8.4 rpg and 2.8 blocks per game.
6-2 junior forward Sandrine Nzeukou (ZOO-koo) is another  veteran inside player for UNLV.  She averaged 6.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg last season.  6-0 sophomore guard Kelli Thompson  had 15 points in the Lady Rebels last game against Pacific and currently leads the team in scoring (14.4 ppg).  She averaged 12.3 ppg as a freshman.  5-6 sophomore guard Mia (MEE-uh) Bell  rounds out the probably Lady Rebel starting lineup.  She leads the team in assists (21) and averages 4.8 ppg.
UNLV Head coach Kathy Olivier  returned to her alma mater three years ago after 15 years running the UCLA program.  She took the 1999 Bruins to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
UNLV leads the all-time series with Nebraska 4-1.  Last season in Las Vegas, Dominique Kelley had a then-career high 17 points to lead the Huskers to a 73-51 win.  Catheryn Redmon just missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds for the Huskers.  Jamie Smith had a double-double 12 points and 11 rebounds while Kelli Thompson added 11 points to pace the Lady Rebels.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska Women's Basketball on the Husker Sports Network.  Our radio broadcast Tuesday night against UNLV 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 KLNC 105.3 FM (WOW-FM) in Lincoln, KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 AM in Lexington, KCOW 1400 AM in Alliance, and available to our entire twenty five network stations.  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