Coatney's Call: USC Game Preview

Nebraska (2-0) vs. #23 USC (1-0)
Friday, Nov. 18, 7:05 p.m.
Bob Devaney Sports Center (Lincoln, Neb.)
Radio: 25-Station Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln); Twister 93.3 FM (Omaha); 880 AM-KRVN (Lexington); 1400 AM-KCOW (Alliance); 960 AM-KNEB (Scottsbluff); 1230 AM-KHAS (Hastings)
Internet: Huskers.com (free live audio)

Huskers Host No. 23 Women of Troy
It's definitely early in the season, but I am so impressed by this very young but talented Nebraska women's basketball team.  In Tuesday night's 99-53 win over Mississippi Valley State, 6-2 sophomore forward Jordan Hooper led four Huskers in double figures with her fourth career double-double. J-Hoop had 25 points and 10 rebounds, while junior point guard Lindsey Moore  posted one of the most impressive stat lines I've ever seen.  In 22 minutes, Moore was a perfect 7-7 from the field, a perfect 2-2 from three-point land, 2-2 at the foul line, scored 18 points, had a career-high tying 11 assists and perhaps most impressively - zero turnovers.  It was the third career double-double for 'Zeroes' and helped Nebraska improve to 2-0 on the young season. 

A very tough test comes up next for the Huskers as they host the 23rd-ranked USC Women of Troy this Friday night at the Devaney Center in Lincoln. Southern California has a rich and storied history in women's college basketball.  The impressive short list of all-time USC greats such as Pam and Paula McGee, Cheryl Miller, Lisa Leslie, Tina Thompson and Cynthia Cooper includes Olympic Gold Medal winners, WNBA MVP and champions, national television analysts, and successful coaches. 

The Women of Troy have 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, six conference titles and two national championships (1983, 1984) in their trophy case.  Yet, USC has largely been absent from the national stage for several years, and after winning 24 games last season, there was a feeling within the program that the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee snubbed them when they were passed over for an at-large bid.  Southern California had a solid RPI of 33, finishing fourth in the Pac-10 Conference last season.  They reached the WNIT final, despite playing all but one game in the tournament on the road.  Now focused on returning to the NCAA Tournament, USC returns four all-conference selections and is picked second in the league behind 11-time conference champion Stanford.

Southern California is 1-0 on the young season, winning at home over Fresno State 65-57 last Friday night.  Fresno State jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead before USC rallied for the win.  Senior guard Jacki Gemelos (jah-MEL-iss) had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the win.  Widely regarded as the top prospect in the nation when she entered school in 2006, Gemelos had five surgeries on four ACL injuries in a three year-period.  She tore and rehabilitated the ligaments in both knees, sitting out the first three seasons, until she finally took the floor on Feb. 4, 2010.  Now a nearly 23-year-old graduate student who is three classes away from obtaining her master's degree, she played an entire season of basketball last year and led the league in three-point field goal percentage (42.4 percent).  Gemelos  was invited to the U.S. Team Trials over the summer and was a finalist for the USA's 2011 World University Games team. A finalist for the V Foundation's Comeback Award, Gemelos was named honorable-mention All-Pac-10 at the end of last season. She was third on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and second in three-pointers made (52).

Briana Gilbreath, a 6-1 senior guard, is considered one of the top wing players in the country, and certainly one of the best lockdown defenders in all of Division I women's college basketball.  The 2010 Pac-10 Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Gilbreath was also named an Associated Press Honorable-Mention All-American at the end of last season, the first USC player since Tina Thompson in 1997 to gain the AP honor.  She led the team in scoring (14.4 ppg), rebounding (7.3 rpg), blocks and steals and was second on the team in assists. Gilbreath is 12th on the all-time USC career scoring list with 1,280 points.  She had 16 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots in last Friday night's win over Fresno State.

Cassie Harberts, a 6-2 sophomore forward, was the only player on her team to start all 37 games last season.  Her 31 points against Washington State in the Pac-10 Tournament were the most by a USC freshman in a single game since 1981.  One of the most powerful young post players in the nation, Harberts was named to the league's All-Freshman team last year.  Harberts had 14 points and seven rebounds in Friday night's win over Fresno State.  She averaged 10.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg last season. 

Senior guard Ashley Corral is USC's all-time leader in three-pointers.  A first-team all-conference pick last year, the 5-9 Corral was Team USA's starting guard at the 2008 FIBA Americas Championships in Argentina as a member of the U.S. Under-18 National Team.  She was second on the team in scoring (12.9 ppg) and led the team in assists and three-pointers (85) last season. 

Freshman forward Alexyz Vaioletama rounds out USC's probable starting lineup.   A McDonald's High School All-American at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Calif., the 6-1 Vaioletama was a member of the USA Under-16 National Team that won the gold medal at the 2009 FIBA Americas tournament.  Vaioletama had seven points and five assists in the win over Fresno State.

Third-year USC Head Coach Michael Cooper has had one of the most storied careers in basketball anyone could possibly imagine.  During his 12-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, he was member of the fabled "Showtime" teams of Coach Pat Riley and teamed with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and others to win five NBA titles.  The 1987 NBA Defensive Player of the Year went into coaching, first as a five-year NBA assistant, and then eight successful seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA.  The 2000 WNBA Coach of the Year led the Sparks to seven playoff appearances, five Western Conference titles and two WNBA Championships (2001 and 2002).

USC holds a 3-2 lead in the all-time series with Nebraska, but the Huskers have won the last two meetings.  The last Southern California win over Nebraska was in 1993 in Los Angeles in the NCAA Tournament.  The teams' last meeting was the only game in the series to be played in Lincoln, an 87-69 win for NU on Dec. 8, 2007.  Current Husker Kaitlyn Burke had seven points, five assists and four rebounds in her ninth collegiate game as a freshman.  Cory Montgomery came off the bench to score a then-career high 21 points and Danielle Page added 21 points, eight rebounds and five blocks to lead the Huskers to the victory.
 
I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women's basketball on the Husker Sports Network.  Our radio broadcast Friday evening beings with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 6:45 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 7:05 p.m. on the Husker Sports Network, including our new Lincoln affiliate KBBK 107.3 FM (B-107.3), KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 AM in Lexington, KCOW 1400 AM in Alliance, KNEB 960 AM in Scottsbluff, KHAS 1230 in Hastings, and available to our entire 25 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.  
 
There are a number of ways to get enhanced information about our broadcast and Husker women's basketball via social media.  You can learn more about the team on the Nebraska Women's Basketball Facebook page or follow the team on their official Twitter page @huskerswbb.  I also invite you to friend me on Facebook (Matt Coatney) or follow me on Twitter @coatman1.

Go Big Red! 

Matt