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Nebraska (7-1) vs. Creighton (4-3)
Thursday, Dec. 8, 7:05 p.m.
Devaney Center (Lincoln, Neb.)
Radio: 25-Station Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln); Twister 93.3 FM-KTWI (Omaha); 880 AM-KRVN (Lexington); 1230 AM-KHAS (Hastings); 1400 AM-KCOW (Alliance); 94.1 FM-KNEB (Scottsbluff); 1450 AM-KWBE (Beatrice)
Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com
Television: Big Ten Network (Kevin Kugler-PBP; Mary Murphy-Analyst)
Twenty-seven points. For a football game, that's a pretty decent offensive output. For women's basketball, Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore got more points by themselves in single games last season. For a team - 27 points is a low number of points for a single half of basketball. However, for a single game, it's an extraordinarily low output and the 27 points Texas-Pan American scored last Sunday afternoon at Nebraska tied for the third fewest points ever scored in a single game by a Husker opponent.
If you throw out all the games played before the advent of NCAA Division I play (1982), the 27 points allowed by the Huskers are the fewest ever allowed. Hooper scored all of her game-high 16 points in the first half, Moore added 12 points and Brandi Jeffery chipped in 10 points for the Huskers who improved to 7-1 on the season. Next up for Nebraska is a home game Thursday night in their yearly showdown with the Creighton Bluejays.
Creighton is 4-3 on the season, coming off a 76-48 home-loss Sunday to third-ranked Notre Dame, who was last season's national runner-up. The Bluejays also lost 73-59 at Kansas and 56-53 in overtime to South Dakota. The Coyotes became the first non-conference team from outside of the six BCS conferences to win in Omaha since 1990. CU's four wins were at North Dakota, at North Dakota State, at Wyoming and at home against North Carolina State. The Bluejays, like the Huskers, are a young team, with one senior, two juniors, five sophomores, three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman on the roster.
Forward Sarah Nelson, a 6-0 sophomore, has been named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Player of the Week twice this season and leads the Jays in scoring (14.4 ppg), steals and rebounds (8.0 rpg). She is shooting .651 from the field, and was tied for seventh nationally in field goal percentage last week. Nelson has posted some impressive numbers this season, including a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds in the win over NC State and a career-high and arena record 17 rebounds against South Dakota. The 17 rebounds were the most by a Creighton player since 2003.
Sophomore Carli Tritz, a 5-11 guard, burst onto the collegiate scene last year in a big way. She was named MVC Freshman of the Year and is CU's active career leader in points, steals and assists. Tritz is the fastest Bluejay to reach 400 career points since Creighton-great Becky Flynn in 1993. Tritz ranks second on the team in scoring this season (11.2 ppg). She scored a career-high 23 points at Kansas earlier this season, topping her previous career-high of 21 against the Huskers last year.
Ally Jensen, a 5-6 junior guard, has started all but one game this season, missing the Wyoming game with a rib injury. She leads the team in assists and three-pointers (15) and is third on the squad in scoring (10.5 ppg). Jensen had a team-high 12 points in Sunday's loss to Notre Dame. Sophomore McKenzie Fujan is one of three Jays to start every game this season and adds 4.7 points per game. The only senior on the team, 5-10 forward DaNae Moore, rounds out CU's probable starting lineup. Moore adds 3.4 points per contest.
Two talented freshmen have been giving Creighton significant contributions off the bench. Taylor Johnson, a 5-11 forward, made 4-of-10 three-pointers against NC State after starting her career 1-or-14 from long range. She followed with a 4-for-7 performance from three-point land in the win at Wyoming, becoming the first Bluejay since 2008-09 to make at least four three-pointers in consecutive games. Johnson averages 6.1 points per game and ranks second on the team with 10 triples.
Alexis Akin-Otiko, another 5-11 forward, is averaging 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds off the bench in just 15.4 minutes per game.
Jim Flanery has led Creighton to seven WNIT postseason appearances and five 20-win seasons in his 10 years as head coach. A long-time assistant to current Husker Head Coach Connie Yori at Creighton, Flanery is one of seven coaches in MVC history with 100 league wins. He led CU to the 2004 WNIT Championship.
Creighton is 3-0 this season when scoring 70 points and is 1-3 when it fails to reach 70. The Bluejays are 100-19 (.840) all-time under Flanery when they score at least 70 points in a game.
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Creighton 26-10, and the Huskers have won the last six games, and seven of the last eight. CU has not defeated NU in Lincoln since 1993. In last season's game in Omaha, Lindsey Moore played the full 40 minutes for the first time in her Husker career. Moore and Jordan Hooper each had 14 points as NU prevailed 63-55.
I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women's basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Thursday 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 (B107.3), KTWI 93.3 FM (Twister 93.3) in Omaha, 880 KRVN in Lexington, 1450 KWBE in Beatrice, KHAS 1230 in Hastings, KCOW 1400 in Alliance, KNEB 94.1 FM in Scottsbluff 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