Huskers Hope to Tame Lady Lions Saturday

The Nebraska women’s basketball team opens its 2015-16 regular season by taking on Arkansas Pine Bluff at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 11:30 a.m.

Season and single-game tickets are available now at Huskers.com or by calling the Nebraska

Athletic Ticket Office at 800-8-BIG-RED. Live radio coverage on select stations will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and CD105.9 FM in Omaha, with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch on the call.

The new-look Huskers ran to a 96-66 win over NCAA Division II No. 16 Winona State on Sunday. The game featured a 42-point, 12-rebound performance from Nebraska freshman Jessica Shepard.

The 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., hit 16-of-19 shots and all 10 of her free throws for Nebraska’s first 40-point exhibition game. It was the first time a Husker scored 40 in any game since 1993 National Player of the Year Karen Jennings erupted for a school-record 48 against Kansas State on Jan. 21, 1992. 

Perhaps the most impressive part of Shepard’s production was her 34 points in a combined 13 first and fourth-quarter minutes. The 2013 and 2014 Nebraska High School Player of the Year averaged 35.5 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes per game in exhibition play.

All-American Rachel Theriot added a pair of strong exhibition showings for the Huskers as well. The 6-0 point guard averaged 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 31 minutes per game for the Big Red. Shepard and Theriot combined for 59 points per game, while NU’s opponents were held to 60 per game in exhibition action.

Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Arkansas Pine Bluff Lady Lions
Saturday, Nov. 14, 11:30 a.m. - Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney, Jeff Griesch)
B107.3 FM, Lincoln; CD105.9 FM, Omaha
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com
Live Video Stream: HuskersNside
Halftime Entertainment: KC Disc Dogs

Nebraska Cornhuskers
(21-11, 10-8 Big Ten, 2014-15)
(2014-15 Statistics)
43 - Rachel Blackburn - 6-3 - Fr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
32 - Jessica Shepard - 6-4 - Fr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
4** - Kyndal Clark - 5-7 - RSr. - G - 19.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg
5 - Natalie Romeo - 5-7 - So. - G - 9.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg
33 - Rachel Theriot - 6-0 - Sr. - G - 16.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg
Off the Bench
11 - Esther Ramacieri - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 0.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg
12 - Emily Wood - 5-5 - So. - G - 0.2 ppg, 0.5 rpg
22 - Allie Havers - 6-5 - Jr. - C - 4.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg
24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
31 - Anya Kalenta - 6-3 - Sr. - F - 3.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg
34 - Jasmine Cincore - 5-10 - So. - G - 1.3 ppg, 0.2 rpg
50 - Darrien Washington - 6-2 - RFr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
52 - Alicia Ostrander - 6-3 - Sr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Head Coach: Connie Yori (Creighton, 1986)
14th Season at Nebraska (262-153); 26th Season Overall (457-293)
**2013-14 statistics at Drake

Arkansas Pine Bluff Lady Lions
(7-22, 5-13 SWAC)
(2014-15 Statistics)
30 - Attirah Munir - 6-1 - Sr. - F - 2.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg
33 - Hannah Roberts - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
1 - Destiny Brewton - 5-7 - So. - G - 8.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg
10 - Ajia Richardson - 5-5 - So. - G - 6.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg
24 - Diamond Richardson - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg
Off the Bench
3 - Mar’Shea Lewis - 5-6 - RFr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
4 - Kye Richardson - 5-3 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
5 - Tyjha McGhee - 6-0 - Jr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
12 - Erin Boothe - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
14 - Ashlee Daniel - 5-9 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
20 - Cassidy Wright - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 6.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
21 - Nia Sapp - 5-10 - Fr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
25 - Niya Head - 5-10 - Jr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
31 - Ashley Velasquez - 5-7 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
34 - Jasmine Johnson - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 0.3 ppg, 0.4 rpg
35 - Shawntayla Harris - 6-0 - Fr. - F - 0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg
Head Coach: Nate Kilbert (Mississippi Valley State, 1987)
Fourth Season at UAPB (23-66); 12th Season Overall (145-200)

Husker Nuggets
• Nebraska owns a 3-0 record in the all-time series with Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The last meeting between the two teams featured a 78-55 Husker win on Nov. 21, 2013. NU also defeated UAPB, 95-43, on Nov. 12, 2011, while knocking off the Lady Lions, 67-39, on Jan. 2, 2008, in the first meeting between the schools.
• Jessica Shepard’s 42 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes against Winona State on Nov. 8, 2015, marked the most productive exhibition game in school history. Her 42 points surpassed All-American Kelsey Griffin’s 35-point, 13-rebound effort in 22 minutes against UNK in 2006. The only other 30-point effort came with 32 points and nine rebounds from All-American Jordan Hooper against UNK in 2012. Shepard’s 29 points and 12 rebounds in 17 minutes against UNK on Nov. 1, 2015, tied for the fourth-most points and fifth-most rebounds by a Husker in an exhibition game under Coach Yori at NU.
• Nebraska has never lost an exhibition game under Coach Connie Yori. The Huskers are 28-0 in exhibition play since Yori’s first season in 2002-03. The closest final outcome was an 11-point (80-69) victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 5, 2008, at the Heartland Events Center in Grand Island.
• Arkansas Pine Bluff Coach Nate Kilbert is leading a team to Lincoln for the third time. He was on the sideline for UAPB’s loss on Nov. 21, 2013, and he also coached his alma mater, Mississippi Valley State, in a 99-53 setback to the Huskers on Nov. 15, 2011.

Fast Five: Husker Quick Hitters
#33, Rachel Theriot, 6-0, Sr., G, Middleburg Heights, Ohio (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
• Theriot is a national player-of-the-year, All-America, Lieberman Award, Senior CLASS Award, Academic All-America and WBCA Allstate Good Works Team candidate as a senior.
• A two-time preseason first-team All-Big Ten choice (2014, 2015), Theriot was an honorable-mention AP All-American as a sophomore in 2014, after leading the Big Red to their first Big Ten Tournament title as the MVP. She was a first-team All-Big Ten pick in 2014, and a Big Ten All-Freshman pick as a starter on Nebraska’s 2013 NCAA Sweet 16 team.
• Theriot set the Nebraska single-season record with 234 assists as a sophomore in 2013-14. She needs 255 assists this year to match All-American Lindsey Moore’s school career record (699, 2010-13).
• Theriot averaged 16.5 ppg as a junior, and is ranked No. 30 in career points at Nebraska with 1,023. She needs 12 points to tie Alexa Johnson (1,035, 2001-04) at No. 29, 13 to match Stacy Imming (1,036, 1984-87) at No. 28 and 25 to catch Cathy Owen (1,048, 1982-85) at No. 27 on NU’s all-time list.
• Nebraska’s most experienced player, Theriot will be making her 83rd start in a Husker uniform.

#4, Kyndal Clark, 5-7, Sr., G, Webb City, Mo. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
• The 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a junior, Clark was a two-time all-conference player at Drake (2013, 2014). She was also an MVC All-Defensive choice as a sophomore in 2013, after earning a spot on the Valley All-Freshman Team in 2012.
• Clark was a member of the 2015 WBCA Allstate Good Works Team.
• Clark suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of her senior season at Drake (vs. South Dakota, Nov. 14, 2014). She graduated from Drake in May of 2015, after majoring in information systems.
• Clark will be making her 99th collegiate start on Saturday. She scored 1,418 points and hit 222 three-pointers in her three seasons plus one game at Drake. She averaged 19.3 points per game and set the Missouri Valley Conference single-season record with 116 threes in 2013-14.
• Clark did not hit a three but did record four steals in each of Nebraska’s exhibition wins.

#5, Natalie Romeo, 5-7, So., G, Martinez, Calif. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
• Romeo started Nebraska’s final 10 games of 2014-15 in place of the injured Rachel Theriot. Over the final eight games, she led the Big Red with 15.4 points per game.
• She is expected to make her 13th career start in Saturday’s season opener. Romeo has averaged 13.7 points while hitting 40-of-104 threes (.385) as a starter for the Huskers.
• Romeo finished with 51 three-pointers in 2014-15 to produce the second-highest total by a freshman in Nebraska history, trailing only school-record holder Jordan Hooper (67, 2010-11). Romeo achieved her total despite going 3-for-9 in non-conference play while missing eight games with an injury (stress fracture, foot, Nov. 28-Dec. 29, 2014).
• Romeo led Nebraska by averaging 20.0 points in a pair of Big Ten Tournament games, including a career-high 26 points in a win over Illinois March 5. She tied a school record with seven threes against the Illini to set Nebraska’s all-time conference tournament record.
• Romeo tied the Nebraska NCAA Tournament record with five three-pointers in a 72-69 loss to Syracuse on March 20, 2015. She finished with 15 points against the Orange.

#32, Jessica Shepard, 6-4, Fr., F, Fremont, Neb. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
• The top recruit in Nebraska history, Shepard was the No. 1 ranked post and No. 3 overall recruit in the nation by ESPN last season. A first-team Parade All-American as a senior despite missing nearly all of her final year (ACL tear, Dec. 29, 2014), Shepard was the 2013 and 2014 Nebraska High School Player of the Year.
• Shepard averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 rebounds while helping the USA Basketball U18 Team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas Championship.
• Shepard totaled 71 points and 24 rebounds in 42 minutes in a pair of exhibition wins to open her career. Her 42 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes against NCAA Division II No. 16 Winona State on Nov. 8, came against former Iowa post Kayla Timmerman, a 6-3 center. Shepard hit 16-of-19 shots and all 10 of her free throws against the Warriors, scoring 34 points in the first and fourth quarters combined.
• Shepard’s exhibition scoring efforts were two of the top five in Husker history (42, 1st; 29, T4th). Her 29 points and 12 rebounds against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 1 came in 17 minutes.
• Shepard participated in her first full-court 5-on-5 practice on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

#43, Rachel Blackburn, 6-3, Fr., F, Leavenworth, Kan. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg, 0.0 apg)
• The No. 63 player in the nation by Blue Star and No. 69 player by Prospects Nation, Blackburn was ranked as the No. 17 post player in the country by ESPN coming out of high school last year.
• Blackburn earned starts alongside Shepard in Nebraska’s two exhibition games, averaging 5.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. She scored 11 points in the opener against Nebraska-Kearney, before grabbing 12 rebounds against Winona State on Nov. 8.
• Blackburn averaged 7.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game in Nebraska’s four-game tour of Australia in August of 2015. She led the Huskers by shooting 65 percent from the field.
• Blackburn led Leavenworth High School to back-to-back Kansas Class 5A state titles in 2014 and 2015.
• She set the Leavenworth High School record with a career 67.5 field goal percentage.

A Look at the Lady Lions: Scouting Arkansas Pine Bluff
Coach Nate Kilbert brings Arkansas Pine Bluff to Lincoln trying to improve on a 7-22 season a year ago. The Lady Lions return three starters from a team that went 5-13 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in 2014-15. Senior Diamond Richardson is a leader for UAPB, as the 5-6 guard averaged 5.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game last season.

Sophomores Destiny Brewton (8.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg) and Ajia Richardson (6.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg) added starting experience alongside Diamond Richardson in the backcourt.

Inside, 6-1 senior Attirah Munir averaged 2.0 points and 2.6 rebounds while also making a pair of starts last season for the Lady Lions.

While Arkansas Pine Bluff has some experience, the Lady Lions lost 10 letterwinners from last year’s team and feature eight newcomers. Junior college transfer Hannah Roberts leads that list. The 6-2 Roberts is the only Lion taller than 6-1. She spent last season as a sophomore at Southeast Community College in Nebraska, where she averaged 3.1 points and 4.8 rebounds for a team that finished 22-8.

Arkansas Pine Bluff’s group of newcomers includes four junior college transfers, three true freshmen and one redshirt freshman.

The Huskers own a 3-0 record in the all-time series with UAPB, including a 78-55 win over the Lady Lions on Nov. 21, 2013. NU added a 95-43 victory on Nov. 12, 2011, after opening the series with a 67-39 win on Jan. 2, 2008.

Second Track of Shepard Even Better than First
After producing the best exhibition effort by a freshman in school history with 29 points and 12 rebounds in just 17 minutes against Nebraska-Kearney on Nov. 1, Jessica Shepard wasted no time in improving on that performance.

In her second appearance in a Husker uniform, the high school All-American exploded for 42 points and 12 boards in 25 minutes against Winona State on Nov. 8. Shepard went 16-for-19 from the floor and 10-for-10 at the free throw line to to produce the best performance by any Husker, regardless of class, in exhibition play.

In two exhibition games, Shepard averaged 35.5 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes per game, while shooting 71.1 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line.

Only first-team All-Americans Kelsey Griffin (2010) and Jordan Hooper (2014) produced comparable single-game exhibition totals in their careers. Griffin put up 35 points on 14-of-16 shooting from the field while adding 13 rebounds in 22 minutes of action in a win over UNK in 2006.

Hooper erupted for 32 points and nine rebounds in an exhibition win over UNK in 2012, but Hooper’s production came in 32 minutes of work. Hooper scored at least 20 points in seven of her eight career exhibition games. Griffin’s 35-point effort against UNK marked the only time in her career that she scored 20 points in an exhibition game for the Huskers.

Since 2004-05, the only Huskers to score 24 or more points in an exhibition game were first-team all-conference players (Kiera Hardy, 26 vs. UNK, 2004; 27 vs. UNO, 2005; Yvonne Turner, 28 vs. UNK, 2008; Rachel Theriot, 24 vs. UNK, 2015).

Huskers Have History of Home-Opening Success
Nebraska owns a history of season-opening success on the Huskers’ homecourt. Nebraska will shoot for its 40th win in 42 all-time home openers when the Big Red take on Arkansas Pine Bluff.

NU is 2-0 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in season openers, including a 100-65 victory over Pepperdine on Nov. 15, 2014, and a 77-49 win over UCLA in the first regular-season basketball game in the history of the building on Nov. 8, 2013.

Nebraska’s last loss in a home opener came to South Dakota State on Nov. 19, 2005. NU’s only other home-opening loss was to Kansas (88-56) on Nov. 21, 1980.

Nebraska has been strong in its first six home games every season. In fact, NU is 211-34 over the past 41 years in its first six home contests (.861), including 35-6 in Game No. 2. The Huskers have won 15 straight in their second home games of the year. Nebraska is 33-8 in Game No. 3, 35-6 in Game No. 4, 36-5 in Game No. 5 and 33-7 in Game 6. The Huskers only played five total home games in their first season in 1974-75.

Setting the Stage for Shepard
Nebraska’s record book could be under assault this season from freshman Jessica Shepard.

Here’s a few of the most vulnerable records:
Freshman Game Records
Points, Game: 34, Debra Powell at Notre Dame, Feb. 25, 1982 (98-88, 2OT)
Points, Game (Regulation): 31, Jordan Hooper, at Missouri, Feb. 2, 2011
Kelsey Griffin, vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nov. 27, 2005 (Miami)
Rebounds, Game: 22, Angie Miller, UMKC, Dec. 7, 1983
Freshman Season Records
Total Points: 461, Debra Powell (1981-82)
Points Per Game: 15.4, Debra Powell (1981-82)
Total Rebounds: 277, Kathy Hagerstrom (1979-80)
Rebounds Per Game: 7.6, Debra Powell (1981-82)
Field Goals Made: 201, Darcy Williamson (1975-76)
Field Goal Percentage: .582 (78-134), Charlie Rogers (1996-97)
Free Throws Made: 121, Kelsey Griffin (2005-06)

Best of the Fresh: Big Red Freshman Classes
Nebraska’s four-player freshman class of Jessica Shepard, Rachel Blackburn, Maddie Simon and Darrien Washington could be poised to be the most productive in school history. With Shepard and Blackburn slated to start and Simon and Washington (a redshirt freshman in 2015-16) ready to play significant roles, the Husker production could rival the best groups in NU history.

Consider that Nebraska’s 2011-12 freshman class of Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample led the Big Ten by a significant margin with 26.5 points and 17.7 rebounds per game in their first seasons, before going on to be the most successful class in school history with four straight NCAA Tournament bids.

That group, which also included redshirt freshman Katie Simon, is the only freshman class at Nebraska under Coach Connie Yori to average 20 points and 15 rebounds per game. In fact, the only other freshman class to combine to average a double-double was the 2005-06 group featuring first-team All-American Kelsey Griffin, which managed 18.8 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

The 2003-04 class averaged 19.5 points and 9.0 rebounds, while featuring three-time first-team All-Big 12 shooting guard Kiera Hardy and future Canadian Olympian Chelsea Aubry.

2015 Seniors Leave Big Shoes to Fill
Nebraska’s seven returning letterwinners and six newcomers will look to overcome significant losses in all areas of production in 2015-16 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 2015 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 in 2014-15.

Pump up the Program
• Nebraska earned its fourth straight NCAA Tournament bid and its seventh in the past nine seasons in 2015. NU 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).
• Nebraska Coach Connie Yori owns more wins (262) than any other women’s basketball coach in school history. She has averaged 20 victories per season in her first 13 seasons at the helm of the Huskers.
• 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.
• Nebraska is the only team in the Big Ten to record 10 or more league wins in each of the last four years. The Huskers are the only team 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.
• Nebraska has ranked No. 11 nationally in average home attendance in each of the Huskers’ first two seasons at Pinnacle Bank Arena. NU has averaged more than 6,000 fans per game at the arena.
• Every Husker on the roster has earned a spot on Nebraska’s Tom Osborne Citizenship Team in each of the first two years of NU’s all-sports, community service recognition program.

Whole New Ballgame: 2015-16 Rule Changes
NCAA Division I women’s college basketball will have a whole new look in 2015-16, with sweeping rule changes that will create distinct differences from the men’s game, while more closely falling in line with both WNBA and international rules.

New in 2015-16, NCAA Division I women’s basketball games:
• Games will feature four, 10-minute quarters, rather than two, 20-minute halves.
• A team will reach the bonus after five team fouls in each quarter. The fouls will reset each quarter.
• Once the team reaches the bonus (5 fouls, quarter), a common foul will result in two free throws
(no more 1-and-1 in women’s basketball).
• Only one standard media timeout exists in each quarter, and will occur at the 5:00 mark or under in each quarter, or whenever the first coach-called timeout of the quarter occurs. In the second half, the first called timeout will become an extra media timeout.
• When a timeout is charged to the offensive team in the final 59.9 seconds of the fourth quarter (and any overtimes), the team has the option to advance the throw-in spot (as long as no attempt to advance has occurred) to the 28-foot line in the front court on the scorer’s table side.
• The 10-second count in the backcourt shall reset on all stoppages of the game clock except when the defense causes the ball to be out of bounds, the offense retains possession after a held ball, or there is a technical foul assessed to the offensive team.

Theriot Earns Preseason All-Big Ten Honor
Nebraska’s Rachel Theriot earned preseason All-Big Ten honors for the second straight year when the conference announced its preseason awards on Oct. 14.

Theriot, a senior point guard from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, was one of nine players to earn recognition from both the coaches and media on their 10-player teams. Theriot, who was a first-team preseason All-Big Ten choice in 2014-15, averaged 16.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists while starting Nebraska’s first 21 games a year ago. Theriot led the Huskers to a top-15 national ranking and a 17-4 record heading into February, before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in practice on Feb. 3.

She was a second-team All-Big Ten choice a year ago despite missing the second half of the conference season.

Theriot, a preseason candidate for the Wade, Naismith and Wooden national player-of-the-year awards in 2014-15, was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore for the Huskers in 2013-14. She led Nebraska to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after earning Big Ten Tournament MVP honors in 2014. She averaged 18.0 points and a Big Ten-record 10.0 assists while leading the Huskers to their first-ever conference tournament title in 2014. She was also an honorable-mention Associated Press All-American after setting the Nebraska single-season record with 234 assists in 2013-14.

Theriot is expected to be a national player-of-the-year candidate again in 2015-16, while also being a candidate for CoSIDA Academic All-America and Senior CLASS Award accolades.

Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kelsey Mitchell from Ohio State led the voting, while her backcourt mate Ameryst Alston also earned a spot. Defending Big Ten champion and preseason favorite Maryland added a pair of honorees with Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough.

Michigan State’s Aerial Powers, Northwestern’s Nia Coffey, Kahleah Copper from Rutgers and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham were all chosen to both teams. Banham was the 2014-15 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, before suffering a season-ending knee injury early in her senior season with the Gophers.

Iowa’s Ally Disterhoft added recognition from the conference coaches, while Tori Jankoska earned a spot on the media’s preseason team.

Shepard Claims Preseason Big Ten Freshman Honor
Nebraska’s Jessica Shepard was named the Preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year for women’s basketball in 2015-16 by College Sports Madness.

Shepard, a 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., is the highest ranked recruit in Nebraska history and arguably the best high school player the state has ever produced, Shepard competed on the gold-medal winning USA Basketball team at the 2014 FIBA Americas U18 Championships. She was the No. 3 overall recruit in the freshman class of 2015-16, according to ESPN.

A two-time Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year (2013, 2014) and four-time first-team Super-State (Lincoln Journal Star) and All-Nebraska (Omaha World-Herald) selection, Shepard missed most of her senior season after suffering an ACL tear on Dec. 29, 2014.

A Naismith Trophy Preseason National High School Player-of-the-Year candidate, Shepard earned first-team Parade All-America honors in 2015. 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, including 36 against national power Long Beach Poly.

As a high school senior, she shot 71 percent from the field, including 41 percent from three-point range. Despite missing most of her senior season, Shepard finished fourth in Nebraska high school history with 2,227 career points, which was the Class A (largest) all-time record. She also finished No. 15 in state history with 1,031 rebounds, just 16 shy of the Nebraska Class A career record.

As a junior in 2013-14, Shepard averaged a Class A state record 30.4 points per game to go along with 15.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists in leading Fremont to a 22-4 record and a state tournament berth for Coach Tony Weinandt. Her performances included four 40-point games, including a career-high 46.

Romeo Returns: Soph Shoots for Super Season
Over Nebraska’s final eight games of 2014-15, Natalie Romeo led the Huskers in scoring with 15.4 points per game. The 5-7 guard from Martinez, Calif., added 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game in a team-best 35.8 minutes per contest down the stretch in her freshman campaign. She also hit 39.7 percent (31-78) of her threes while averaging 3.9 threes per game.

During the summer of 2015, Romeo averaged a team-best 19.8 points per game, while adding 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists during Nebraska’s four-game tour of Australia (Aug. 1-12).

In her first season as a Husker, Romeo averaged 9.0 points and 2.5 rebounds over 24 games. She missed eight games in mid-season with a stress reaction in her foot (Nov. 28-Dec. 29).

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.

She 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 threes against the Fighting Illini. She 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.

Big Red Benefit from Summer Down Under
Nebraska completed a 12-day Australian Tour (Aug. 1-12) that allowed the young Huskers to come together as a team, experience a new culture and practice throughout the summer.

The Big Red, who went 1-3 on the tour against a collection of Australian professional and semi-professional teams, played without 2014 All-American Rachel Theriot, 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Kyndal Clark, and the No. 1 recruit in Nebraska history, Jessica Shepard, during the journey down under. All three made the trip but did not play while recovering from major injuries in 2014-15.

Despite missing three of its top offensive weapons, the Huskers still performed well overseas. Nebraska was led on the tour by sophomore Natalie Romeo. The 5-7 guard from Martinez, Calif., averaged 19.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Fellow sophomore guard Jasmine Cincore added a solid tour, averaging 10.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, including a breakout 15-point, nine-rebound, four-assist effort in the win over Sydney on Aug. 10.

Freshman Rachel Blackburn provided big contributions for the Big Red as the team’s third-leading scorer and rebounder. The 6-3 forward from Leavenworth, Kan., averaged 7.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game.

Allie Havers, a 6-5 junior center from Mattawan, Mich., added 7.0 points and a team-best 10.0 rebounds per game, while 6-2 redshirt freshman forward Darrien Washington from Oakland, Calif., added 5.5 points and a whopping 7.3 boards in just 17.3 minutes per contest.

Maddie Simon, the 2015 Nebraska High School Player of the Year out of Lincoln Pius X, contributed 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist while playing nearly 30 minutes per game as the Huskers’ fifth-leading scorer and rebounder on the trip.

Sophomore Emily Wood, a 5-5 former walk-on guard from Salina, Kan., added 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists while filling Theriot’s role in Nebraska’s starting backcourt. Senior Anya Kalenta, a 6-3 forward from Minsk, Belarus, rounded out the Big Red contributors on the tour with 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.6 minutes per contest off the bench.

Husker Health Improving as Season Nears
The health of the Husker roster has been on the upswing throughout the offseason, as long rehabilitations to Rachel Theriot (ankle surgery, Feb. 19), Kyndal Clark (knee surgery at Drake) and Jessica Shepard (ACL tear, Dec. 29) allowed them to get back on the court.

Theriot has made steady progress and is nearing 100 percent for the start of the regular season. Clark’s recovery has been a pleasant surprise to Nebraska coaches. The 5-7 fifth-year senior out of Webb City, Mo., has shown impressive quickness and fitness, despite being kept from running for six months. Clark is at full speed for the start of the regular season and expected to start alongside Theriot.

Shepard’s recovery went a bit slower than hoped but the high school All-American from Fremont was cleared for 100 percent participation on Monday, Oct. 26.

Sophomore Jasmine Cincore, who was one of Nebraska’s top players this summer in Australia, after battling foot injuries for much of her freshman season, was sidelined for several weeks in September and October by a stress reaction in her foot. Cincore returned to the court the week of Oct. 26, and competed in Nebraska’s second exhibition game against Winona State on Nov. 8.

Junior Esther Ramacieri also was sidelined for all of August and September with a knee injury before returning to action in late-October. Ramacieri is hoping to be active this weekend for Nebraska’s regular-season opener.

Clark Fires Way into Starting Five
Kyndal Clark has exceeded Nebraska’s expectations since arriving on campus in June. The transfer from Drake who earned her bachelor’s degree from the Des Moines, Iowa, school before joining the Huskers for a fifth season of eligibility, came to Nebraska in the middle of a long rehab from surgery after suffering a microfracture of her kneecap in the first game of her senior season at Drake on Nov. 14, 2014.

Unable to run when she first arrived at the Hendricks Training Complex, Clark has excelled in August, September and October, earning a spot in Nebraska’s starting five for the exhibition opener.

One of the best shooters in Nebraska history the day she set foot on campus, Clark knocked down 222 threes in 98 career starts at Drake, finishing with 1,418 points. She was the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, a two-time All-MVC selection, a member of the MVC All-Defensive Team (2013), and she was honored on the 2012 MVC All-Freshman Team in her only season playing for current Nebraska assistant coach Amy Stephens at Drake.

Since practice officially started in October, Clark has shown quick feet, excellent hands, and a high basketball IQ. Coupled with her experience, her outstanding long-range shooting, and her team-first approach at both ends of the court, Clark could join Rachel Theriot, Natalie Romeo, Maddie Simon, Jasmine Cincore, Esther Ramacieri and Emily Wood in giving Nebraska a talented, versatile and deep backcourt.

Big Red Add Cornhusker State Flavor
Nebraska welcomed the highest-ranked recruiting class in school history to Lincoln this summer, as Coach Connie Yori’s three-player class was ranked No. 8 nationally by ESPN. The class featured 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. Shepard tore her ACL on Dec. 29, 2014, while her Fremont team played at Lincoln North Star High School.

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.

A tremendous all-around athlete, Simon added gold medals in the Class A 100- and 300-meter hurdles at the 2015 Nebraska State Track and Field Championships in Omaha.

Blackburn Earns Exhibition Start
The least heralded of Nebraska’s three freshmen in 2015-16, Kansas prep star Rachel Blackburn earned a start in the Huskers’ exhibition opener against UNK. 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.

Blackburn performed well against UNK, producing 11 points and four rebounds in 28 minutes. She made the most of her opportunity inside this summer, averaging 7.5 points and 6.8 rebounds in just 23.5 minutes per game while shooting a team-best 65 percent from the field over four games in Australia. She has continued to grow in practice the last three months, and provides Nebraska with a smart, tough, aggressive and team-first attitude on the court.

Blackburn 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 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.

Huskers More than Fair in Foul Department
The Huskers ended last 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.

Season Ticket Sales Reach All-Time High
With more than one week left before the start of the regular season, Nebraska women’s basketball season ticket sales had reached 3,925, an increase of 23 tickets over NU’s previous all-time record high of 3,902 set last season.

Season tickets are still being actively sold on Huskers.com in advance of Nebraska’s 2015-16 regular-season tip-off against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, Nov. 14.

In Nebraska’s first season at Pinnacle Bank Arena in 2013-14, the Huskers shattered their 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.

Nebraska’s History of Home Success
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.

Husker Sports Network Covers World
The Husker Sports Network is its 22nd season of producing and marketing the live broadcasts of Nebraska women’s basketball in 2015-16. Women’s basketball play-by-play announcer Matt Coatney and color commentator Jeff Griesch team up for their 15th season together as the Huskers’ broadcast team.

The Husker Sports Network and Nebraska women’s basketball have teamed up for well over a decade to take every game, home and away, around the world for free on Huskers.com.

In addition to carrying every women’s basketball game free on Huskers.com, the Husker Sports Network flagship stations B107.3 FM-KBBK (Lincoln) and ESPN 590 AM-KXSP (Omaha) provide strong signals for Husker women’s basketball. When a network conflict occurs in Omaha, the Huskers also could be heard on CD105.9 FM-KKCD. 880-AM-KRVN (Lexington) also provides a huge AM signal statewide in central Nebraska, while more than 20 stations carry the Husker Sports Network’s women’s basketball coverage across the state and the Midwest.

Inside Pinnacle Bank Arena, fans can access the direct radio call of the game at 87.7 FM.

Nebraska Ranks Near Top in Attendance
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.

Nebraska Posts 11th Straight Perfect GSR
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 11 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 11 straight years.

The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report on Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2015, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 11th straight season, dating back to 2004-05.

Yori, who is in her 14th season at Nebraska in 2015-16, 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 11 years.

Nebraska was one of six Big Ten women’s basketball programs to post 100 percent rates in 2014-15, joining Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin. All 14 Big Ten women’s programs posted GSR rates above 80 percent last season. The Big Ten’s six teams with 100 percent GSR scores led the Big Five conferences, ahead of five each for the Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC, while the SEC managed four.

Theriot’s Triumphs
• Nebraska’s Offensive MVP for the second straight season, Rachel Theriot led the Huskers to a 17-4 record as a starter in 2014-15. Over the last two seasons, Nebraska is 43-11 with Theriot in the starting lineup. The Huskers went 4-7 without Theriot in the starting five to close 2014-15.
• Theriot’s 444 career assists are tied for fifth in Husker history. She needs one more to pass former Husker and current Nebraska assistant coach Amy Stephens (444, 1986-89) into sole possession of No. 5 on the NU career chart.
• She hit 92.6 percent (63-68) of her free throws on the year, which ranked as the second-best single-season average in Nebraska history.
• Theriot owns five career points-assists double-doubles, with the last coming with 18 points and 10 assists at Minnesota in the Big Ten opener on Dec. 29, 2014.
• Theriot has dished out 11 or more assists in a game five times in her career. No other Husker has done it more than four times. She owns seven career double-digit assist games.
• Theriot owns two career 30-point games (33, vs. Minnesota, Jan. 16, 2004; 31 vs. High Point, Dec. 20, 2014). She owns 11 career 20-point games and 51 career double-figure scoring efforts.
• She led Nebraska to its first conference tournament title as the Big Ten Tournament MVP. She averaged 18.7 points and a tournament-record 10.0 assists per game, with 30 total assists and just seven turnovers. Theriot hit 56.4 percent of her shots, including 5-of-10 threes, and went 7-for-8 at the line.
• Theriot’s 30 assists in the 2014 Big Ten Tournament were a Nebraska single-season conference tournament record. She produced arguably the best passing game in Big Ten history in Nebraska’s Big Ten quarterfinal win over Minnesota March 7, dishing out a tournament-record-shattering 18 assists against just one turnover. The previous tournament record was 12 set by Helen Darling of Penn State against Illinois in 2000. The most assists by a Big Ten player against a Big Ten foe came with Maggie Acuna’s 16 for Illinois against Wisconsin in 2006.
• Theriot’s 18 assists were the second-most in a game in Nebraska history, trailing only 19 assists by Kathy Hawkins on Feb. 17, 1976 against Kearney State (now Nebraska-Kearney). Theriot’s assists are the most ever by a Husker against an NCAA Division I opponent, and the most in the last 38 seasons, covering 1,250 games. Theriot’s 18 assists were the most in an NCAA Division I game in 2013-14.

Triple Threats: Three Things to Talk About
#11, Esther Ramacieri, 5-8, Jr., G, Repentigny, Quebec, Canada (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• Esther Ramacieri saw action in 17 games with one start (vs. Penn State, Jan. 15, 2015) as a sophomore, after appearing in 17 games as a freshman in 2013-14. She owns five points, 17 rebounds and two assists in 112 minutes in her career.
• Ramacieri missed much of the summer and preseason with a knee injury, but was cleared to play for the start of the 2015-16 regular season.
• Ramacieri is the fourth Canadian to play for the Huskers under Coach Yori, including Chelsea Aubry (2004-07), Kaitlyn Burke (2008-12) and Harleen Sidhu (2009-12).

#12, Emily Wood, 5-5, So., G, Salina, Kan. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• Emily Wood played in 10 games as a true freshman after walking on to the Nebraska program. She claimed Nebraska’s Teammate Award for her commitment to the Husker program in 2014-15.
• Wood had two points and five rebounds in 29 minutes as a freshman. During the summer of 2015, Wood started for the Huskers on their four-game Australian Tour, averaging 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 26 minutes per game.
• Wood was a first-team Kansas Class 5A all-state selection as a senior at Salina Central High School in 2014. Wood averaged 16.0 points per game as a senior, while hitting a school-record 91 threes. She hit 42.1 percent of her threes and 86.2 percent of her free throws as a senior.

#22, Allie Havers, 6-5, Jr., C, Mattawan, Mich. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• One of the tallest Nebraska women’s basketball players in history, Allie Havers averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds while playing 14.8 minutes per game as NU’s top post off the bench in 2014-15.
• Havers owns seven double-figure scoring games in her career, including five as a sophomore in 2014-15. Two double-figure efforts have come in the Big Ten Tournament, including a career-high 17 points in a semifinal win over No. 19 Michigan State on March 8, 2014.
• Havers was NU’s top post off the bench as a true freshman in 2013-14, averaging 3.2 points and 2.6 rebounds while playing in all 33 games. She averaged just over 10 minutes per contest.

#24, Maddie Simon, 6-2, Fr., G, Lincoln, Neb. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• The 2015 Nebraska High School Player of the Year, Maddie Simon was a two-time first-team Super-State selection while leading Lincoln Pius X to the 2015 Class B state championship. Simon was the No. 149 player in the nation according to Blue Star and the No. 22 guard nationally by ESPN in 2015.
• A tremendous all-around athlete, Simon won the Class A 100- and 300-meter hurdles championships at the 2015 Nebraska State Track & Field Championships. Her mother, Nicole Ali Simon, was the first female CoSIDA Academic All-American in the history of Nebraska athletics, competing for Coach Gary Pepin’s national champion Huskers in 1983 and 1984.
• Maddie Simon started Nebraska’s exhibition opener and ranked third among the Huskers in scoring with 7.5 points per game in exhibition play. She added 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steal in 20.5 minutes per game. Simon averaged 6.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist during Nebraska’s four-game summer tour of Australia in August of 2015.

#31, Anya Kalenta, 6-3, Sr., F, Minsk, Belarus (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• Anya Kalenta appeared in 12 games in her first season at Nebraska as a junior in 2014-15. She played in five of Nebraska’s first six games before missing NU’s next nine games with a stress fracture in her foot. She also suffered a broken nose in preseason practice (Oct. 29, 2014), and battled anemia throughout the year.
• She averaged 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds on opening weekend last year. She established career highs with 14 points and eight rebounds against Pepperdine on Nov. 15. She went 2-for-2 from three-point range against Alcorn State on Nov. 16.
• Kalenta earned third-team NJCAA All-America honors in 2013-14 at Vincennes University in Indiana. She transferred to Vincennes after spending her freshman season at Broward College in Florida in 2012-13. She ranked in the NJCAA’s top 25 in scoring (20.8 ppg, 13th), rebounding (10.7 rpg, 22nd) and blocked shots (2.1 bpg, 20th) in her only season with the Trailblazers at Vincennes in 2013-14.

#34, Jasmine Cincore, 5-10, So., G, Arlington, Tenn. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• Jasmine Cincore battled ankle and foot injuries to play in 20 games for the Huskers as a true freshman. She totaled 25 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 97 minutes on the season.
• During Nebraska’s 2015 summer tour of Australia, Cincore was NU’s second-leading scorer with 10.0 points per game, while adding 4.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists in four games against Australian pro teams.
• She was a two-time Tennessee Class 2-AA Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and earned first-team all-class, All-Tennessee honors from USA Today in 2014.

#50, Darrien Washington, 6-2, RFr., F, Oakland, Calif. (0.0 ppg, 0.0 rpg)
• Darrien Washington enjoyed a strong redshirt season in her first year with the Huskers in 2014-15.
• Washington played on the Cal Stars Elite with current Husker sophomore guard Natalie Romeo.
• A first-team All-Oakland performer at Skyline High School, Washington averaged 16.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.1 blocks per game as a senior. She scored 1,181 career points and came up just short of 1,000 career rebounds in high school.