Coatney's Call: Kansas Game Preview

#17 Nebraska (24-8, 10-6 Big Ten) vs. Kansas (19-12, 8-10 Big 12)
Sunday, March 18, approx. 6:30 p.m. (central)
Jack Stephens Center (Little Rock, Ark.)
Radio: 25-Station Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln); 880 AM-KRVN (Lexington); The Wolf 93.3 FM-KFFF (Omaha); KCOW 1400 (Alliance), KHAS 1230 and KLIQ 94.5 (Hastings), KNEB 94.1 FM (Scottsbluff), KWBE 1450 and KUTT 99.5 FM (Beatrice/Fairbury) 
Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com
Television: ESPN2 (Holly Rowe-PBP; Fran Fraschilla-Analyst)

Put on your dancing shoes!  Nebraska is back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the past six years.  The Huskers were given the sixth-seed in the Des Moines Region and will face an old foe from their days in the Big Eight and Big 12 conferences.  Nebraska takes on the 11th-seeded Kansas Jayhawks Sunday evening at approximately 6:30 p.m. (central) in Little Rock, Ark. 

NU has faced KU in women's basketball more times than any opponent in school history and this will be the 81st all-time meeting between the two teams. The winner will face the winner of the No. 3-seed Delaware and No. 14-seed UALR Tuesday evening.

Nebraska is in the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history.  The Huskers (24-8) have the second-most wins in school history. They have been paced all season by the dynamic duo of Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore. Hooper was recently named to the WBCA All-Region 6 Team.  She averaged 19.8 points and 9.0 rebounds in Nebraska's run to the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Hooper joined Moore on the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.  Moore averaged 18.8 points and 4.8 assists and led NU with 27 points, playing all 50 minutes in the double-overtime championship game loss to Purdue. 

Kansas will be appearing in their 12th NCAA Tournament, but their first since 2000.  The Jayhawks sprinted to an 11-1 non-conference mark and were 17-6 after sweeping the season series from Texas on Feb. 8.  On Feb. 12, KU suffered a devastating loss when 6-3 junior forward Carolyn Davis went down with a season-ending knee injury.  Davis was a candidate for numerous national awards and was the Jayhawks' leading scorer and ranked in the top five nationally in field goal percentage at the time of her injury.  Davis posted 36 points against Nebraska last year in the last game between the two teams.  Without Davis, KU dropped six of its final eight games, including a 78-63 setback to Texas A&M at the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City last week.  Kansas did get two impressive road wins down the stretch, at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma to close out the regular season.

With Davis sidelined, Kansas has relied on 6-2 senior Aishah Sutherland for its scoring and inside play.  She has averaged 20.0 points over the last three games and has scored in double-figures 25 times this season. Named honorable-mention All-Big 12, Sutherland started all 31 games this year and averages 13.9 points per game. She also leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per game. Her 22 rebounds at Oklahoma State on Jan. 18 were the most by a Jayhawk in 31 years.

Junior point guard Angel Goodrich also has started every game this season and joins Husker Lindsey Moore as one of eight finalists for the prestigious Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation's top point guard. The 5-4 Goodrich set an Allen Fieldhouse record (men and women) with 16 assists against Texas on Feb. 8. Goodrich leads the nation in assists (7.5 apg) and her 233 assists this season are a school record.  She had eight points and 11 assists in the last meeting with Nebraska, and averages 13.1 points and leads the team in three-pointers (44).  

Freshman guard Natalie Knight is the third Jayhawk to start every game this year.  The 5-7 Knight had a career-high four three-pointers in the loss to Texas A&M last week and has made of eight of her last 18 attempts from long range. Knight had a career-high 18 points in the regular-season finale at Oklahoma and added 14 points against Texas A&M.  She averages 5.9 points per game. 

Junior Monica Engelman has started 21 games this year but has not started the last six. Sophomore CeCe Harper has stepped into the starting lineup for six of the 11 games Engelman has not started, and Harper averages 3.0 points per contest. Forward Chelsea Gardner rounds out KU's probable starting lineup. The 6-3 freshman has started every game since Davis' injury. She averages 3.7 points per game.

Eighth-year Kansas Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson is making her first NCAA appearance with the Jayhawks. In seven years as coach at Virginia Tech, she advanced to the NCAA's five times, making the Sweet Sixteen in 1999.

Nebraska has faced Kansas in women's basketball more times than any other team in program history. Sunday night will be the 81st meeting in the longest-running series in school history. NU has played KU every season since the Huskers have had a varsity team, 1974-75. The Jayhawks lead the all-time series 49-31, but the Huskers are 21-9 in the last 30 games. Last year in Nebraska's final season as a member of the Big 12 Conference, the teams split the season series, with Nebraska winning in overtime in Lincoln and Kansas emerging victorious in Lawrence. Kaitlyn Burke had a career-high 20 points in the win at the Devaney Center, and Lindsey Moore had a career-high 33 points at the Allen Field House. 

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women's basketball on the Husker Sports Network.  Our radio broadcast Sunday begins with the Husker Courtside pre-game show at 6 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. on the Husker Sports Network, including Lincoln affiliate KBBK 107.3 FM (B107.3), KFFF 93.3 FM (The Wolf 93.3) in Omaha, KRVN 880 in Lexington, KCOW 1400 in Alliance, KHAS 1230 and KLIQ 94.5 in Hastings, KNEB 94.1 FM in Scottsbluff, KWBE 1450 and KUTT 99.5 FM in Beatrice/Fairbury, 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