Coatney's Call: Northern Arizona Game Preview

Nebraska (8-1) at Northern Arizona (5-4)
Saturday, Dec. 10, 2:35 p.m. (central)
Rolle Activity Center (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
Radio: 25-Station Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln); Twister 93.3 FM-KTWI (Omaha); 1400 AM-KCOW (Alliance)
Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com
Television: Fox Sports Arizona Plus/Fox College Sports (Time Warner 321/DirecTV 695)
Free Live Video Stream: NAU.edu/nau-tv; BigSkyTV.org 

It was another classic Nebraska-Creighton showdown in Lincoln Thursday night. I've seen this game before many times when the Husker and Bluejays have gotten together.  With two teams that know each other so well, the defenses were solid and scoring points became very difficult. The Huskers managed to pull away down the stretch and handed CU a 66-55 loss. Four Huskers scored in double figures, including Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore, who combined to score the final 15 points of the game.

J-Hoop had 22 points, with 17 coming in the second half.  Freshman forward Emily Cady had a superb all-around game with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Cady was also a most impressive 5-5 from the free throw line. Senior guard Kaitlyn Burke was also perfect at the foul line (4-4) and added a season-high 10 points. With the win, Nebraska improves to 8-1 on the season, but has a very quick turnaround as they travel to Flagstaff to face Northern Arizona Saturday afternoon.

NAU is 5-4 this season, but is a perfect 5-0 at home in the Rolle Activity Center. The Lumberjacks should be well-rested for Saturday's game, after defeating Cal State Fullerton 64-54 last Sunday.  Northern Arizona's other wins have been against UC Riverside, Adams State, Utah Valley State and Kent State. Their 5-0 home start is their best season-opening home record since the 2006 team started 12-0 at home in a season that resulted in a Big Sky Championship.  NAU has road losses at Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa State and San Jose State.

5-10 guard Amy Patton  leads the team in scoring (13.4 ppg), rebounding (7.8 rpg), three pointers (15) and steals. She had her first-career scoreless game at San Jose State on December 1, but rallied for a game-high 21 points in NAU's win over CSF last Sunday.  Patton became the first player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points in just two season and is on pace to shatter the school career scoring record.  She is currently fifth on the all-time list.

5-9 senior point guard Caty Huntington is one of two seniors on the team.  She is second on the team in scoring (7.9 ppg).  6-2 junior center Aubrey Davis is coming off of career highs of 12 points and 18 rebounds in the win over CSF.  The 18 rebounds are the highest single-game rebounding total by a Lumberjack player since 2007 and tied for the ninth-highest in program history.  Davis averages 7.4 ppg and her 6.7 rpg leads the team.  5-9 sophomore Khyra Conerly leads the team in assists and adds 5.8 ppg.  6-0 forward Shay May rounds out NAU's probable starting lineup.  In last week's loss at San Jose State, May recorded her first-career double-double with career highs of 14 points and 12 rebounds.  She averages 5.2 points and rebounds per game.

Ninth-year head coach Laurie Kelly took NAU to their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever in 2006 and is the only coach in school history to lead a team to back to back 20-win seasons (2006 and 2007).  She started her coaching career in 1998 at Binghamton University where she had three twenty-win seasons in five years.  In 2006, Kelly was selected to the NCAA Division III 25th Anniversary Team and was a member of the 1991 University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) national championship squad.  As a center, Kelley scored 2,607 points and pulled down 1,204 rebounds and earned Kodak All-America honors three straight seasons.  She was the 1993 WBCA Division III National Player of the Year.

The Lumberjacks lead the Big Sky Conference and rank 52nd nationally with a plus-6.3 rebounding margin and have outrebounded all but two opponents this season.  NAU also ranks 51st nationally in assists per game and has totaled double-digit assists in every game this season.  Northern Arizona was picked to finish sixth pre-season in the Big Sky.

Nebraska won the only previous meeting with Northern Arizona.  Kiera Hardy had 32 points, including 23 in the second half, to lead the Huskers to a 70-56 win in Lincoln on New Year's Eve 2005.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska Women's Basketball on the Husker Sports Network.  Our radio broadcast Saturday afternoon beings with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 2:15 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 2:35 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, KCOW 1400 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. 
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