Coatney's Call: Alabama Preview

#12 Nebraska at Alabama
Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m. (central)
Foster Auditorium (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Live Video: SEC Network +
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney-PBP; Jeff Griesch-Analyst)
107.3 FM, Lincoln; 93.3 FM, Omaha; 93.9 FM, 880 AM, Lexington; 102.1 FM, McCook; 1230 AM, Hastings; 1400 AM, Ainsworth; 94.1 FM, Scottsbluff; 1310 AM, Beatrice/Fairbury
Internet: Free live audio on Huskers.com

No. 12 Huskers Head to Alabama to Face Crimson Tide
I think most sportscasters start as little kids walking around with a spoon pretending to announce the big, exciting games into their fake microphone, hoping one day they can be calling a great game with a big crowd. With that background, you’ll know that I got to live out a childhood dream this past Wednesday night when the 12th-ranked Nebraska women’s basketball team knocked off No. 9 Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.

It was certainly the “Game of the Night” in major women’s college basketball pitting two teams with great traditions and a history of success matching up in front of a large, loud and boisterous crowd and a game that was close down to the wire. Nebraska’s 60-54 win snapped the Blue Devils’ six-game winning streak in the Challenge and gave the Huskers their first win in four tries since joining the league. It also kept Nebraska undefeated with a 7-0 start that is their best since the 2009-10 team went 30-0 en route a conference title and a perfect regular season. It also was Nebraska’s first win over a ranked non-conference opponent in the regular season since that same Husker bunch rolled to a 77-63 win over No. 5 LSU on Dec. 20, 2009, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

With injuries to three Huskers limiting bench strength, All-Big Ten Defensive Team member Hailie Sample and All-America point guard Rachel Theriot played all 40 minutes for the Big Red. Theriot led NU with a game-high 17 points, including a pair of free throws with four seconds left to clinch the win. Sample was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and matched her season high with 16 points.

Senior forward Emily Cady added her third double-double of the season with 13 points, a game-high 11 rebounds and four assists without a turnover against Duke’s zone defense. Cady added a pair of huge steals and may have made the game’s biggest play with her offensive rebound and putback to give NU a 57-52 lead with 50 seconds left. It was Nebraska’s only putback of the second half, as Duke outscored NU, 21-6 on second-chance points for the game.

With the huge win, the Huskers start a two-game road trip when they face the Alabama Crimson Tide at 2 p.m. (central) Sunday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

It’s hard for me to believe that Alabama will be playing their 11th game of the season already when the Tide faces Nebraska Sunday. Alabama is 7-3 on the season after defeating Tennessee-Martin 68-55 Thursday night.

In addition to the win over the Skyhawks, Alabama owns victories over Florida A&M, Georgetown, Temple, Alabama A&M, USC Upstate and an impressive road win 85-80 at Kansas. The Crimson Tide suffered a 50-point loss (90-40) to Duke in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 16 and fell two nights later at home to Jacksonville State, 64-62. The Tide also lost 73-66 against Quinnipiac in a neutral site game in Connecticut on Nov. 30.

Alabama finished 14-16 last season and lost its top two scorers from a year ago. Sophomore forward Ashley Williams leads the team and the SEC in scoring (17.5 ppg) and adds 6.4 rebounds per game. She was named the SEC Player of the Week on Nov. 24, as she averaged 21.3 points and 8.3 rebounds as Alabama went undefeated at the Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge in Lawrence, Kan., picking up wins against Kansas, Georgetown and Temple.

Freshman Hannah Cook, a 6-0 guard, has started nine of the 10 games this year and has emerged as a legitimate scoring threat from long-range, leading the team with 19 triples. She had a career-high 23 points and four three-pointers in the win over Tennessee-Martin Thursday night. Cook hails from Ozark, Mo., a stone’s throw from my hometown of Springfield, and was coached for three of her four prep seasons by Yancey Little, son of Springfield fast-pitch softball coaching legend Jim Little, a former television color analyst and broadcast partner of mine from many years ago.

Sophomore Briana Hutchen, a 5-8 guard, has started every game and leads the team in rebounds (6.9 rpg) and adds 8.6 points per game. Nikki Hegstetter and Karyla Middlebrook round out Alabama’s probable starting lineup. They are the only two players in Alabama’s starting lineup who started against Nebraska last season.

Hegstetter, a 6-2 junior, averages 5.8 points and 5.3 rebounds, while Middlebrook, a 5-7 redshirt freshman, leads the team in assists and also adds 5.8 points. She started the first seven games last year before being sidelined for 21 of the last 23 games due to a lingering hip injury.

Alabama had also expected the return of 5-10 guard Daisha Simmons for her senior season. However, Simmons won a protracted, elongated and well-publicized transfer from Alabama late in the summer and now plays for Seton Hall. Simmons started in 29 of Alabama’s 30 games, posted Alabama’s first triple-double since 1998 and was the team’s leader in assists and steals and was second in scoring (13.8 ppg) last year.

Second-year Crimson Tide Head Coach Kristy Curry is no stranger to coaching against Nebraska. In addition to facing NU in Lincoln last year, Curry was the head coach of Texas Tech from 2006 to 2013 and was 2-3 against Nebraska in Big 12 play. Curry also was the head coach of Purdue for seven seasons and won two Big Ten regular-season titles. Her 2001 Boilermaker team was the NCAA runner-up.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Alabama 2-0. NU defeated the Crimson Tide 74-66 in 1997 and was victorious 62-48 last year at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Nov. 11, 2013. Emily Cady had a double-double with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Rachel Theriot had 13 points to pace the Huskers.

On a personal note, this will mark the longest time gap between radio broadcasts in a town for me in my women’s college basketball broadcasting career. The last time I broadcast a game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa was in my first season as the radio voice of the then-Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears, almost 29 years ago. Alabama defeated SMS 86-53 on Dec. 30, 1985, but it was in a different venue. Alabama played women’s basketball at Memorial Coliseum (now Coleman Coliseum) from 1975 to 2010 and then moved back into Foster Auditorium, their original home. Foster Auditorium was built in 1939 and underwent extensive renovations in 2009-10. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2005. It was the site of one of the most famous images and seminal moments of the Civil Rights Movement. Alabama Governor George Wallace blocked the entry way for two students attempting to enroll and President Kennedy sent the National Guard to forcibly, if necessary, allow the students to enter the building. The scene just outside Foster Auditorium was also depicted in the 1994 film Forrest Gump.

I cordially invite you to join Jeff Griesch and me for Nebraska women’s basketball on the Husker Sports Network. Our radio broadcast Sunday afternoon begins with the pre-game show at 1:45 p.m. (central) with the tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. on the Husker Sports Network including KBBK (B107.3) in Lincoln, KFFF 93.3 in Omaha, KZMC 102.1 in McCook, KBRB 1400 in Ainsworth, KNEB 94.1 in Scottsbluff, KHAS 1230 in Hastings, KGMT 1310 in Beatrice/Fairbury and many others. 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