Big Red Review: Huskers Earn Fourth Straight NCAA Bid

The Nebraska women's basketball team completed its fourth consecutive 20-win season by making its fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2015. Nebraska is just one of eight programs nationally to carry a 100 percent Graduation Success Rate into each of the last four NCAA tournaments.

Nebraska is one of only 21 schools in the nation to advance to each of the last four NCAA tournaments. The Huskers will graduate a four-player senior class (Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear'a Laudermill, Hailie Sample) that won more games (96) than any other class in school history, averaging 24 wins per season over the last four years.

While the Huskers will lose nearly two-thirds of their production across all statistical categories from the seniors as NU heads into 2015-16, Nebraska expects the healthy return of 2014 All-American and first-team All-Big Ten point guard Rachel Theriot. A National Player-of-the-Year candidate entering the 2014-15 season, Theriot missed Nebraska's final 11 games of the year with an ankle injury. She is expected to be a candidate for All-America honors on and off the court in 2015-16.

The Huskers also return emerging backcourt star Natalie Romeo, who led the Huskers with 15.4 points per game over her last eight games as a freshman, when she replaced Theriot in the starting five. Romeo produced the second-highest three-point total (51) by a freshman in school history, despite missing eight games with a mid-season injury.

Nebraska also welcomes the top-ranked recruiting class in school history (No. 8 by ESPN) in 2015-16, led by two-time (2013, 2014) Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year Jessica Shepard. The 6-4 forward was ranked as the No. 1 high school post player in the nation last year. Her senior season in high school was cut short by a knee injury after averaging 33.0 points per game through the first nine games, including 36 points against traditional national power Long Beach Poly.

A member of the USA Basketball U18 National Team, Shepard will be joined in the Husker class by 2015 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year Maddie Simon. The 6-2 guard led Lincoln Pius X to a state title as a senior while finishing as the school's all-time leading scorer. The Nebraskans add 6-3 Kansas forward Rachel Blackburn, who was ranked as one of the nation's top-20 posts.

The newest crop of Huskers join a 2015-16 sophomore class that was ranked as the No. 9 recruiting class in the nation by ESPN in the fall of 2013. Romeo, Chandler Smith, Jasmine Cincore and Emily Wood all contributed for the Huskers as freshmen, while 6-3 post player Darrien Washington made good use of a redshirt season and should bolster a young but talented inside game for Nebraska in 2015-16.

Theriot and Anya Kalenta will lead Nebraska's senior class in 2015-16, while juniors Allie Havers and Esther Ramacieri will take on greater roles both on and off the court for the Huskers in their third seasons in the program.

Coach Connie Yori, a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and the 2010 National Coach of the Year, expects to lead the young Huskers against a Big Ten Conference that sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2015. Entering her 14th season at Nebraska, Yori has won more games than any other coach in Nebraska women's basketball history while guiding the Huskers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in the last nine years, including NCAA Sweet Sixteen bids in 2010 and 2013.

Nebraska Team Highlights

• 13th NCAA Tournament Appearance in School History (Seventh NCAA Bid in Past Nine Seasons)
• Four Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances (Longest Streak in Nebraska History)
• Four Consecutive 20-Win Seasons (First Time in School History)
• Averaged 24 Wins Per Season (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 - Best Stretch in NU History)
• Senior Class Produced 96 Wins in Four Seasons (Nebraska Record)
• Huskers Stretched School Record to 43 Consecutive Weeks in USA Today/Coaches Top 25
• Nebraska Spent First 17 Weeks in USA Today/Coaches Top 25 in 2014-15 (Ending March 2, 2015)
• Huskers Extended School Record to 22 Consecutive Weeks in Associated Press Top 25
• Nebraska Spent First 15 Weeks in AP Top 25 in 2014-15 (Ending Feb. 23, 2015)
• Huskers Averaged More Than 6,000 Fans Per Game at Pinnacle Bank Arena for Second Straight Season
• Nebraska Ranked 11th Nationally in Average Home Attendance (5,857)
• NU Averaged 6,483 Fans per Big Ten Home Game in 2014-15
• Huskers Led Big Ten in Scoring Defense (60.9 ppg)
• Nebraska Ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division I in Fewest Personal Fouls Per Game (13.2)
• Huskers Finished No. 36 in Final NCAA RPI
• Nebraska Finished Season 21-11 Overall, 10-8 Big Ten

Streaks, Stats & Milestones

• Nebraska earned its fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid and its seventh in the past nine seasons when the Huskers claimed the No. 9 seed in Columbia, S.C. NU fell to No. 8 seed Syracuse, 72-69 in the first round on March 20.
• NU went 3-4 in NCAA Tournament play during the careers of seniors Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample. The Huskers advanced to the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 as a No. 6 seed and the 2014 NCAA second round as a No. 4 seed.
• The Husker seniors finished with a school-record 96 wins over the past four seasons together. They are the only class in school history to produce four straight 20-win seasons. Before their arrival, Nebraska produced only one season with more than 23 wins (32, 2009-10). The 2014-15 seniors averaged 24 wins.
• Nebraska is one of just 21 Division I teams to earn four consecutive NCAA Tournament bids.
• The Huskers also have owned a perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rate every season they have been in the NCAA Tournament under Coach Connie Yori (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).
• The Huskers have produced seven 20-win seasons in the last nine years. Prior to Coach Connie Yori’s arrival in Lincoln in 2002-03, Nebraska had nine 20-win seasons in the first 28 years of the program.
• With 10 conference wins this season, Nebraska is the only team in the Big Ten to record 10 or more league wins in each of the last four years.
• Nebraska is the only school to post four straight winning Big Ten regular seasons (2012-15).
• The Huskers, who joined the Big Ten in 2011-12 for the start of the careers of its 2015 seniors, are a Big Ten-best 44-22 in Big Ten regular-season play the last four years (tied with Iowa). The Big Red have added a conference-best eight Big Ten Tournament wins for 52 total victories over Big Ten foes.

Husker Heroes - Individual Accomplishments

• Senior forward Emily Cady tied a school record with 132 career starts. She started every game for Nebraska the last four years, matching Lindsey Moore (2010-13), who started all 132 games of her career.
• Senior forward Hailie Sample tied Jordan Hooper (131, 2011-14) for third on the Nebraska career starts list with 131.
• Cady finished her career No. 2 in Nebraska history and No. 9 all-time in the Big Ten with 1,114 rebounds. Her 10.2 rebounds per game as a senior ranked as the third-best season in Husker history.
• Cady finished fourth in NU history with 33 career double-doubles. Her 11 double-doubles as a senior ranked eighth on the Husker season chart.
• Cady closed her career with 1,461 points (13th at NU), 1,114 rebounds (2nd), 305 assists (T11th), 140 steals and 115 blocked shots (5th). She is the only Husker in history to reach the combined career milestones of 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 300 assists.
• Cady, who earned second-team All-Big Ten honors for the second straight season, claimed Nebraska’s Husker Award at the team’s season-ending banquet on April 9.
• Cady and Sample (739 points, 717 rebounds, 227 assists) are two of only five Huskers in history to reach combined career milestones of 700 points, 700 rebounds and 200 blocks.
• Sample set a Nebraska single-season record by shooting 61.1 percent from the field as a senior. She finished second in the Big Ten, trailing only Ohio State’s Alexa Hart.
• Senior guard Tear’a Laudermill finished No. 5 in Nebraska history with 157 career threes, including a school-record-tying seven threes in a game for the second time in her career at Alabama on Dec. 7, 2014. Laudermill’s 1,133 career points ranked No. 19 in Husker history.
• Laudermill, who set a personal best with 45 steals on the season, was named Nebraska’s Defensive MVP at the team’s year-end awards banquet on April 9.
• Brandi Jeffery transformed herself into one of the Big Ten’s best rebounders as a senior. The 5-7 guard grabbed 209 rebounds, surpassing her combined career total (184) entering 2014-15. Jeffery ranked third among the Huskers and just outside the top 20 in the Big Ten with 6.7 boards per game. She produced her first career double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds in the regular-season finale against Ohio State on March 1.
• Jeffery earned the Kathy Branchaud Nebraska Most Improved Rebounder Award by improving her season rebounding average (6.7 rpg) by 4.8 rebounds per game over her 2013-14 production (1.9 rpg).
• Junior All-America guard Rachel Theriot became the 30th 1,000-point scorer in Nebraska women’s basketball history when she scored her first field goal of the night against Illinois Jan. 29. She has 1,023 career points and is tied for fifth in Husker history with 444 career assists.
• Theriot, who earned second-team All-Big Ten honors despite missing Nebraska’s final 11 games of the season, underwent season-ending ankle surgery on Feb. 19. She originally injured the ankle in practice on Feb. 3.
• Theriot was named Nebraska’s Offensive MVP at the team’s season-ending awards banquet on April 9. She led the Huskers with 16.5 points and 5.2 assists per game.
• Theriot hit 92.6 percent of her free throws on the season, which ranked No. 2 in Nebraska history. She also connected on 40.8 percent of her three-pointers on the year.
• Over Nebraska’s final eight games of 2014-15, freshman Natalie Romeo led the Huskers in scoring with 15.4 points per game. She added 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game in a team-best 35.8 minutes per contest. She also hit 39.7 percent (31-78) of her threes while averaging 3.9 threes per game.
• Romeo started Nebraska’s final 10 games in place of the injured Rachel Theriot. In 12 games as a starter in 2014-15, Romeo averaged 13.7 points per game, while adding 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists. She produced double figures in seven of her starts, including each of Nebraska’s final three games.
• Romeo erupted for a career-high 26 points with a school-record-tying seven three-pointers in a Big Ten Tournament win over Illinois March 5. She added 21-point efforts in wins over Wisconsin (Feb. 15) and Minnesota (Feb. 24). She hit six threes against Penn State (Jan. 15) and Minnesota (Feb. 24).
• Romeo tied a school record and smashed the Nebraska conference tournament record with seven three-pointers against the Fighting Illini. Romeo hit seven of her first nine attempts in the first 24 minutes of the game against the Illini. The previous NU conference tournament record was four, which had been accomplished four times (Jordan Hooper, Lindsey Moore, Amanda Went, Amy Stephens).
• Romeo added four threes against Iowa at the Big Ten Tournament on March 6. Her 11 threes match Nebraska’s career Big Ten Tournament record. She is 11-for-22 in two career games.
• Romeo tied Nebraska’s single-game NCAA Tournament record with five threes against Syracuse on March 20.

Huskers Hand Out Awards at Annual Banquet
The Nebraska women’s basketball team celebrated the careers of four outstanding seniors while gathering to remember a successful season at the annual awards banquet at Lincoln Station on Thursday, April 9.

Approximately 300 family and friends of the Husker program cheered Nebraska’s four seniors - Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample - for one last time together. The quartet finished their careers with a school-record 96 wins while becoming the first class in NU history to lead the Big Red to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and four straight 20-win seasons.

Cady, a 6-2 forward from Seward, Neb., was recognized as a four-time All-Big Ten selection, including a pair of second-team honors as a junior and senior. She also earned the team’s Husker Award for her leadership throughout the season.

Laudermill, a 5-9 guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., was a two-time All-Big Ten choice on the court, including second-team honors as a junior in 2013-14 and honorable-mention accolades as a senior. She claimed Nebraska’s Defensive MVP award after leading NU with 45 steals as a senior.

Sample, a 6-1 senior forward from Flower Mound, Texas, claimed the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. She also delivered the invocation at the event.

Jeffery, a 5-7 guard from Vacherie, La., claimed Nebraska’s Kathy Branchaud Most Improved Rebounder Award by increasing her rebounding average by 4.8 boards per game. The 5-7 Jeffery finished the 2014-15 season averaging 6.7 rebounds per game, after grabbing just 1.9 rebounds per game in 2013-14.

Junior point guard Rachel Theriot earned Nebraska’s Offensive MVP award despite missing the final 11 games of the 2014-15 campaign with an ankle injury. Theriot averaged team bests of 16.5 points and 5.2 assists per game while leading NU to a 17-4 start to the season.

Freshman guard Emily Wood captured Nebraska’s Teammate Award. The 5-5 walk-on from Salina, Kan., competed in 10 games as a freshman, including NU’s Big Ten Tournament games against Illinois and Iowa.

WNBA Draft Set for April 16
The WNBA Draft will be held on Thursday, April 16 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The first round of the draft will be televised live by ESPN2 beginning at 6 p.m. (CT), and ESPN3 will carry the second and third rounds starting at 7 p.m. (CT).

Seattle owns the No. 1 and No. 3 picks in this year’s draft, while the Tulsa Shock carry the No. 2 pick. Connecticut, Chicago, Indiana, Los Angeles, Washington, San Antonio, Atlanta, Minnesota and Phoenix round out the draft order for the 12 first-round selections in the three-round draft.
Nebraska senior guard Tear’a Laudermill has been listed on draft boards by several websites. She was the No. 12 pick on the ProspectsNation.com site as of April 7.

CollegeSportsMadness.com ranked Laudermill as the No. 24 player in the draft. In the summer of 2014, Laudermill slotted as the No. 10 pick by DraftSite.com.

Jordan Hooper became the third Husker in the last five years taken in the top 13 picks of the WNBA Draft, when she was chosen by the Tulsa Shock with the first pick of the second round of the 2014 WNBA Draft. She was the fourth Husker selected among the top 25 picks in the draft in the same span. Lindsey Moore (2013, Minnesota Lynx) was NU’s most recent first-round pick. Kelsey Griffin (2010, Minnesota Lynx) was the No. 3 overall pick in 2010 and has spent five seasons with Connecticut.

Nebraska Coach Connie Yori also has helped guide Cory Montgomery, Yvonne Turner, Danielle Page, and Kiera Hardy to stints in the WNBA since 2007. Hardy and Montgomery were third-round WNBA Draft choices, while Page and Turner signed free agent contracts.

Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery and Hailie Sample are not expected to be chosen in the WNBA Draft, but are interested in continuing their basketball careers. All three are expected to graduate from Nebraska in May. Laudermill is on track to graduate from Nebraska in August.

Seniors Leave Big Shoes, Production for Huskers to Fill
Nebraska’s eight returning letterwinners and three incoming freshmen will look to overcome significant losses in all areas of production next year following the departures of the Huskers’ four senior starters.

The four seniors (Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill, Hailie Sample) accounted for 61.9 percent of Nebraska’s points (1,330 of 2,148) in 2014-15. They also pulled down 66.2 percent (869 of 1,313) of NU’s rebounds on the year, while accumulating 61.7 percent of the Big Red’s assists. The seniors amassed 72.2 percent (138 of 191) of Nebraska’s 2014-15 steals and 63.3 percent (57 of 90) of NU’s blocks, while playing 63.3 percent (4,068 of 6,425) of the Huskers’ minutes on the season.

Nebraskans Shepard, Simon Headline Husker Newcomers
For the second straight season, Nebraska welcomes the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history to Lincoln. Coach Connie Yori’s three-player class was ranked No. 8 nationally by ESPN and features the highest profile recruit in Husker basketball history - two-time state Gatorade High School Player of the Year Jessica Shepard - and 2015 Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year Maddie Simon.

Shepard, who averaged 12.6 points and 3.8 rebounds to help the USA Basketball U18 National Team to a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas Championships, was ranked as the No. 3 overall player and the No. 1 post in the country by ESPN. The 2013 and 2014 Gatorade Nebraska Player of the Year, Shepard was a three-time first-team All-Nebraska and Super-State selection.

In nine games as a senior, Shepard averaged 33.0 points and 14.3 rebounds. She scored 132 points in four games at the Nike Tournament of Champions in December, including 36 against national power Long Beach Poly. The 6-4 forward hit 71 percent of her field goals and 41 percent of her threes in an injury-shortened season.

A Naismith National High School Player-of-the-Year candidate as a senior, Shepard is nearly four months into her rehab after suffering a torn left ACL on Dec. 29. The injury, which occurred at Lincoln North Star High School, forced her to miss most of her senior season at Fremont High.
Shepard, who committed to Nebraska in 2011, averaged a Class A record 30.4 points per game as a junior in 2013-14, while adding 15.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for Fremont. She averaged 24.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.8 steals while leading Lincoln Southeast to the 2013 Class A state title, before moving with her family to Fremont in the summer of 2013. She averaged 17.8 points and 9.1 rebounds for the Class A runner-up Knights in 2012.

Lincoln native Maddie Simon captured Nebraska Gatorade High School Player of the Year honors in 2015. Simon led Lincoln Pius X to the 2015 Class B state title by averaging 18.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game as a senior. A two-time first-team Super-State selection, Simon finished as Pius X’s all-time leading scorer with 1,373 points.

A 6-2 guard, Simon was ranked as the No. 22 player in the nation at her position by ESPN, while being ranked No. 149 overall by Blue Star Basketball.

As a junior at Lincoln Pius X in 2013-14, Simon averaged 19.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists to lead Pius X to a Class B runner-up finish.

Simon was a second-team Class A all-stater as a sophomore after averaging 16.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 2012-13.

A tremendous all-around athlete, Simon expects to be a four-year letterwinner in both basketball and track and field, while adding three letters in golf. She was the Class A state runner-up in both the 100 and 300 hurdles in 2014. She also finished third in the 100, while adding a runner-up finish in the 300 in 2013. She was also a member of Pius X’s All-Class gold medal-winning 4x400 relay in 2013.

Kansas prep star Rachel Blackburn rounds out Nebraska’s fall signing class. The 6-3 forward out of Leavenworth High School was ranked as the No. 63 player in the nation by Blue Star and No. 69 by ProspectsNation. ESPN ranked her as the No. 17 post in the country.

The Easton, Kan., native averaged 10 points and 10 rebounds as a junior for the 2014 Class 5A state champions, while also leading the Sunflower League in the number of charges drawn.
Blackburn, who was a third-team Class 5A all-state selection as a senior, was an honorable-mention Class 5A all-state pick by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association in both 2014 and 2015, helping Leavenworth to another state title in 2015. She also was one of five finalists for the 2015 DiRenna Award, which honors the top player in the greater Kansas City area.

A talented all-around athlete, Blackburn set the Leavenworth school record with a javelin throw of 125-7 as a sophomore in 2013. She won the Sunflower League title and qualified for the state meet in the event.

Returning Huskers, Newcomers Excited for Australia Trip
Nebraska will be traveling to Australia at the start of August to get a jump start on the 2015-16 season. The young Huskers will enjoy a cultural experience while competing in several games down under.

The overseas journey also will give the young Huskers the ability to practice several times during the summer months to prepare for the trip. Newcomers Jessica Shepard, Maddie Simon will benefit from the early experience in a similar way that Nebraska’s 2015 senior class of Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample got a head start on their careers when they traveled to Europe in the summer of 2012.

Huskers Learn 2016 Big Ten Opponents
The Big Ten announced the matchups for the 2016 season on Thursday, Feb. 19. Nebraska will play home-and-home series with Indiana, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue and Rutgers in 2016, while adding single home games against Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

The Big Red will also play conference road games at Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State.

The 2015-16 campaign will mark Nebraska’s fifth season in the Big Ten and the second straight season with an 18-game conference schedule.

Sample Attends WBCA “So You Want To Be A Coach” Program
Nebraska senior forward Hailie Sample took part in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) 13th annual “So You Want To Be A Coach” program in conjunction with the 2015 WBCA Convention and NCAA Women’s Final Four in Tampa, Fla., April 3-5.

The program is designed to increase understanding and the application of necessary skills to secure coaching positions in women’s basketball. It is also intended to raise awareness of competencies necessary for success in coaching while introducing former female players to coaches and administrators.

Sample joins a recent string of former Huskers to the “So You Want To Be A Coach” Program, including current Nebraska graduate assistant Meghin Williams and former NU GA Dominque Kelley, who is now serving a full-time role at Drake.

Other Big Ten players in this year’s program include Indiana’s Andrea Mize and Penn State’s Tori Waldner.

Big Red Rankings
Nebraska finished the 2014-15 season at No. 36 in the official NCAA RPI. The Huskers also spent 17 weeks in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 during 2014-15, falling out of the poll for the first time on March 2. It ended a school-record streak of 43 consecutive weeks in the coaches poll.

The Huskers also spent the first 15 weeks of 2014-15 in the Associated Press Poll, falling out of the poll on Feb. 23. It ended a school-record streak of 22 consecutive weeks in the AP top 25.
Nebraska was ranked as high as No. 5 in the NCAA RPI on Jan. 1. NU spent five weeks at No. 12 in the AP Poll, while climbing as high as No. 14 in the USA Today/Coaches Top 25 during the season.

Before Nebraska Coach Connie Yori came to Nebraska for the 2002-03 season, the Huskers had spent only a handful of weeks in the rankings and had never finished a season ranked in the top 25 in either of the major polls or the RPI. The Huskers have finished in the AP top 25 in four of the last six seasons.

Big Red Lead Big Ten in Scoring Defense
Nebraska finished 2014-15 as the Big Ten Conference’s top defensive unit, allowing just 60.9 points per game. It marked the second straight season that the Huskers have led the conference in scoring defense, after surrendering a Big Ten-best 63.4 points per game in 2013-14.

In 2012-13 the Huskers allowed just 59.0 points per game on the way to the NCAA Sweet 16, but ranked fourth in the Big Ten in scoring defense.

Huskers More Than Fair in Foul Department
The Huskers ended the season ranked No. 5 in the final NCAA Division I statistics for fewest personal fouls per game. Nebraska committed just 13.2 fouls per game, including a school-record four fouls in the win over Bakersfield Dec. 13. Nebraska’s 422 total fouls on the season were the fewest in school history.

In 2013-14, NU led the Big Ten and ranked second nationally by committing just 13.1 fouls per game. Nebraska continued a non-fouling trend from 2012-13. The Huskers were whistled for a school-record 12.8 fouls per game in 2012-13, including 11 fouls per game in Big Ten regular-season games.

Huskers Rank Among National Attendance Leaders
Nebraska closed the 2014-15 season ranked No. 11 nationally in average home attendance with 5,857 fans per game. The Huskers averaged 6,483 fans per Big Ten Conference game.
The Huskers played 15 home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2014-15, averaging 6,026 fans per game in the new arena. In 33 all-time home games at Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Huskers own an impressive 28-5 record (.848 winning percentage) while averaging 6,100 fans per game (201,278 total fans/33 games).

The Huskers also played one home game at Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2014-15, drawing 3,321 fans for a game against Utah on Nov. 23. The Utah game was not included in Nebraska’s 2014-15 season ticket package for logistical reasons.

In 18 home games in 2013-14, the Huskers attracted 110,892 fans including 10 of the top-16 largest home non-conference crowds in school history. Nebraska’s total home attendance of 110,892 ranked No. 8 nationally, while NU’s average home attendance of 6,161 ranked 11th in 2013-14.

Nebraska attracted a non-conference school-record crowd of 9,750 to open its stay in the building with a win over UCLA on Nov. 8, 2013. The Huskers have averaged more than 5,000 fans per non-conference game each of the first two seasons at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Before moving to the new arena, NU had never averaged more than 4,049 fans per game in non-conference home play.

Huskers Set Record for TV Exposure in 2014-15
Nebraska played a school record 19 nationally televised games in 2014-15, including a school-record 16 during the regular season.

Nebraska appeared 13 times on the Big Ten Network, twice on ESPN2, two more times on the Pac-12 Networks and once each on CBS and FoxSports1.

The Big Red appeared 11 times on BTN during the regular season, before adding two more appearances during the Big Ten Tournament. Prior to 2014-15, Nebraska had never made more than 11 regular-season television appearances in a year, and the record for nationally televised games was 15 (including conference and NCAA tournaments).

Husker Season Ticket Sales Reach Another All-Time High
Nebraska’s second season inside the spectacular Pinnacle Bank Arena featured frenzied fans on a nightly basis against in 2014-15.

Nebraska had sold a school-record 3,909 season tickets for the 2014-15 campaign. In their first season at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013-14, Nebraska shattered its previous season ticket sales record with more than 3,700. The previous record came in 2010-11, when NU sold approximately 2,700 season tickets.

Last season, Nebraska ranked No. 11 nationally with an average home attendance of 6,161 fans per game. The Huskers ranked No. 8 nationally in total attendance with 110,892 fans flocking to the arena to watch the Big Red roll to a 16-2 home record.

Nebraska Posts Perfect GSR for 10th Straight Season
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori would be the first to say that nobody’s perfect. However, in the eyes of the NCAA’s Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR), that’s exactly what her Husker program has been for 10 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 10 straight years.

The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report on Tuesday, Oct. 28, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 10th straight season, dating back to 2004-05.

Yori, who is in her 13th season at Nebraska, joined Coach Robin Krapfl’s women’s golf program, Coach Scott Jacobson’s women’s tennis program and Coach John Cook’s volleyball program as Nebraska teams who have produced perfect 100 percent rates each of the last 10 years.

Nebraska was one of five Big Ten women’s basketball programs to post 100 percent rates in 2013-14, joining Penn State, Purdue, Michigan and Illinois. All 14 Big Ten women’s programs posted GSR rates above 80 percent last season.

Nebraska’s History of Success at Home
Nebraska went 13-3 at home in 2014-15, including 12-3 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Huskers are 28-5 all-time at Pinnacle Bank Arena since the building opened for the 2013-14 campaign. The Big Red went 16-2 at home in 2013-14, suffering its only Big Ten loss to Purdue, 77-75, on Jan. 19, 2014.

Nebraska’s 16 home wins in 2013-14 tied the school record for single-season home victories.
The Huskers played the first regular-season basketball game in the history of the arena against USA Today No. 25 UCLA (Nov. 8) and rolled to a 77-49 win over the Bruins. NU’s first win over an AP Top 25 team came with a 76-56 win over No. 24 Michigan State on Feb. 8. The Huskers added their first-ever win over an AP Top 10 team at the arena with a 94-74 victory over No. 8 Penn State on Feb. 24.

NU won its first-ever Big Ten home game with a 66-65 thriller over Northwestern Jan. 2, before an 88-85 win over Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2014, marked the first overtime game in Pinnacle Bank Arena history.

NU suffered its first loss at the arena to Washington State (76-72) on Nov. 30, 2013.
The Huskers are 415-135 (.755) all-time at home. The Huskers have gone 151-39 (.795) over the last 12 seasons, posting double-figure home victory totals in each of the last 11 years, including 13-3 in 2014-15 and 16-2 in 2013-14. NU went a perfect 16-0 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center in 2009-10.

Nebraska played in the Devaney Center from 1976-77 through 2012-13, and added one appearance at Devaney against Utah on Nov. 23, 2014. The Huskers own a 389-130 record at the Devaney Center, including 146-88 (.624) mark in conference play. NU went 13-4 at home in 2012-13.