Huskers Tip Big Ten with Hawkeyes New Year's Eve

Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-2, 0-0)
vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-2, 0-0)

Thursday, Dec. 31, 1 p.m. - Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
Tickets: Huskers.com  Doors Open/Arena Ticket Sales: 11:30 a.m.
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Matt Coatney, Jeff Griesch)

Thursday's Stations

• KBBK B107.3 FM, Lincoln
• KXSP 590 AM, Omaha
• KWBE 1450 AM, Beatrice
• KSWN 93.9 FM, McCook
• KHAQ 98.5 FM, North Platte
• KGFW 1340 AM, Kearney
• KAMI 1580 AM, Cozad
• KHAS 1230 AM, Hastings
• KSID 1340 AM, Sidney
• KRGI 1430 AM, Grand Island
• KNEB 94.1 FM, Scottsbluff
• KHUB 1340 AM, Fremont
• KNCY 1600 AM/105.5 FM, Nebraska City

Free Live Audio: Huskers.com
Live Premium Video: BTN Plus
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Huskers Tip Big Ten with Hawkeyes New Year’s Eve
The Nebraska women’s basketball team opens its Big Ten Conference season by colliding with Iowa on Thursday, Dec. 31. Tip-off between the Huskers (9-2) and Hawkeyes (10-2) is set for a special 1 p.m. tip on New Year’s Eve with tickets available now at Huskers.com. Tickets also can be purchased the day of the game at the arena box office beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, with the call by Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch also featured on the BTN Plus live premium video stream. The game can be heard on B107.3 FM in Lincoln and ESPN 590 AM in Omaha, along with free audio on Huskers.com.

The Huskers welcomed 10 days of rest from competition after working their way to a 79-71 win over a talented and experienced Arkansas State squad on Dec. 21. The Big Red closed non-conference home action with a 9-0 mark.

Over Nebraska’s past four games, six Huskers are averaging double figures, led by 19.5 points per game from freshman forward Jessica Shepard. Natalie Romeo (14.5 ppg), Rachel Theriot (13.3 ppg), Kyndal Clark (12.5 ppg), Rachel Blackburn (11.0 ppg) and Allie Havers (10.0 ppg) all provided punch down the stretch in non-conference play for a Husker offense that averaged 81.5 points per game.

Iowa, which is coming off an NCAA Sweet 16 bid in 2015, has a potent offense as well. The Hawkeyes, who are ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, averaged 76.2 points per game in non-conference play. Iowa features junior Ally Disterhoft (17.3 ppg) and Shepard’s Lincoln Southeast teammate Alexa Kastanek (12.6 ppg). Shepard and Kastanek led the Knights to the Class A state title in 2013.

Fast Five: Husker Quick Hitters
#33, Rachel Theriot, 6-0, Sr., G, Middleburg Heights, Ohio (12.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 7.0 apg)
• Rachel Theriot is a Naismith Trophy, 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. Her 15 assists at California on Dec. 12 marked the second-best performance of her career and tied for the fourth-best single-game total in school history. She owns 521 in her career, moving her within 178 assists of All-American Lindsey Moore’s school career record (699, 2010-13).
• Theriot is averaging 12.5 ppg as a senior, and ranks No. 19 in career points at Nebraska with 1,160. She needs 23 points to catch Jan Crouch (No. 18, 1,183, 1976-79) on NU’s all-time scoring list.
• Theriot produced her seventh career double-double and second of the season with 17 points and 15 assists at Cal on Dec. 12. She also had 20 points and 11 assists in NU’s win over NC State on Dec. 3. She owns 13 career 20-point efforts and nine career double-digit assist games. Her four career games with 12 or more assists are the most by a Husker in history.

#4, Kyndal Clark, 5-7, Sr., G, Webb City, Mo. (6.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.2 apg, 1.7 spg)
• The 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a junior, Kyndal 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. She 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.
• She produced a breakout performance with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range in the win over Evansville. Clark added a season-high four steals against the Purple Aces and matched that mark the next time out at California on Dec. 12. She put up three double-figure efforts in non-conference play, including a season-high 22 points in NU’s win over Arkansas State on Dec. 21.
• She owns 75 career double-figure scoring performances, including 25 20-point games and four career 30-point efforts with a career high of 41.
• 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.

#5, Natalie Romeo, 5-7, So., G, Martinez, Calif. (15.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 1.5 spg)
• A high-energy guard who brings intensity and toughness to both ends of the court, Natalie Romeo is growing into one of the Big Ten’s most explosive players. Romeo opened the season with 30 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 14. She has added three other 20-point games this season, including 24 points and six more threes in her return home to the Bay Area in an overtime loss at No. 22 Cal on Dec. 12. She closed non-conference play with 20 points and eight assists in a win over Arkansas State.
• Through 11 games this season, Romeo has set new career highs for points (30, UAPB), assists (10, Northern Arizona), and steals (4, at UConn, vs. Southern). She also leads the Huskers with 32 threes on 40.5 percent shooting from long range. She owns 47 assists against 26 turnovers this season, after managing 34 assists against 40 turnovers as a freshman. She has been Nebraska’s Big Ten Player-of-the-Week nominee three times in the first seven weeks of the season.
• 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 22nd career start in her 36th career game on Thursday against Iowa.
• Romeo finished with 51 threes in 2014-15 to produce the second-highest total by a freshman in NU 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 a foot injury, (Nov. 28-Dec. 29, 2014). She has hit six or more threes five times in 35 career games, including twice in 11 games this season.
• Romeo led Nebraska by averaging 20.0 points in a pair of Big Ten Tournament games, including a season-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. She also tied the Nebraska NCAA Tournament record with five threes in a 72-69 loss to Syracuse on March 20, 2015.

#32, Jessica Shepard, 6-4, Fr., F, Fremont, Neb. (19.5 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.2 spg)
• A five-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and the first freshman in school history to be named to a national player-of-the-year watch list (Naismith), Jessica Shepard won her first Big Ten Player-of-the-Week award on Dec. 21. She added National Freshman-of-the-Week honors from the USBWA on Dec. 22, while her a spot on the NCAA.com Starting Five. She won those honors after scoring a Nebraska freshman record 35 points against Northern Arizona on Dec. 19, when she also set a career high with four steals. Shepard owns five 20-point efforts, 10 double-figure scoring performances and four double-doubles.
• Shepard reached the 100-point (5 games) and 200-point (11 games) scoring marks faster than any Husker freshman in history. She leads NU in scoring (19.5 ppg) and rebounding (7.9 ppg), and both season numbers would be Nebraska freshman records (Debra Powell, 15.4 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1981-82).
• The top recruit in Nebraska history, Shepard was the No. 1 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 produced the best exhibition game by a Husker in history with 42 points and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes against NCAA Division II No. 16 Winona State on Nov. 8. Her production came against former Iowa post Kayla Timmerman, a 6-3 center. Shepard hit 16-of-19 shots and all 10 of her free throws.

#43, Rachel Blackburn, 6-3, Fr., F, Leavenworth, Kan. (6.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.9 apg)
• A fiery workhorse as a freshman, Rachel Blackburn has been a leader for the Big Red on the glass and on the defensive end but missed Nebraska’s games with Northern Arizona and Arkansas State because of illness. She was the first Husker to take four charges in a game (vs. NC State, Dec. 3) since All-American Kelsey Griffin did it at Baylor on Jan. 17, 2010. Blackburn also owns three double-figure rebound efforts.
• The No. 63 player in the nation by Blue Star and No. 69 by Prospects Nation, Blackburn was ranked as the No. 17 post in the country by ESPN coming out of high school last year.
• Blackburn erupted for a career-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting against Evansville on Dec. 8. She added six rebounds and three assists in just 23 minutes against the Purple Aces. Blackburn just missed double-doubles in wins over North Florida (8 points, 10 rebounds) and North Carolina Central (9 points, 9 rebounds). She was directly responsible for 10 first-half defensive stops to fuel a 20-0 second-quarter run in NU’s win over NC State Dec. 3.
• Blackburn averaged 5.5 points and 8.0 rebounds while starting both of NU’s exhibition wins. She 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.

Scouting The Iowa Hawkeyes
Coach Lisa Bluder brings her Iowa Hawkeyes to Lincoln to tip-off Big Ten play. The Hawkeyes have been ranked in the top 25 throughout non-conference play after advancing to the 2015 NCAA Sweet 16.

However, the 2015-16 Hawkeyes have a new look with departures to starting guards Samantha Logic and Melissa Dixon, and starting forward Brittany Doolittle. Each one of those Hawkeyes scored more than 1,000 points in their Iowa careers, while Logic is the school’s career assist leader and Dixon is the school’s career three-point leader.

Although the Hawkeyes lost three of their primary producers for the past several years, they still have an experienced nucleus of players that have helped them to a 10-2 record to open the season.

Three-year starter Ally Disterhoft leads the way with 17.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The 6-0 guard also leads the Hawkeyes with 3.3 assists per contest.

Fellow junior Alexa Kastanek, a high school teammate of Nebraska’s Jessica Shepard at Lincoln Southeast High School, has entered the starting five this season. The 5-10 Kastanek ranks second on the team with 12.6 points per game while providing Iowa with its most dangerous long-range threat. Kastanek is shooting 40.8 percent from three-point range, while knocking down 31 threes. The rest of the Hawkeyes have combined for 49 and are shooting just 28.3 percent.

Whitney Jennings, a 5-5 sophomore who started last season, has managed 7.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.9 assists while matching Kastanek for the team lead with 18 steals. Jennings has come off the bench the past two games with 5-4 freshman Tania Davis (6.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.2 apg) earning starts. Davis is just 4-for-29 from three-point range.

Inside, the Hawkeyes feature sophomore Chase Coley. The 6-3 forward is averaging 10.2 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds. The lone senior starter in the Iowa lineup is 6-1 forward Kali Peschel, who has added 6.5 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds per game.

The Hawkeyes swept the Huskers in three games a year ago, snapping Nebraska’s eight-game winning streak against Iowa to open its membership in the Big Ten Conference.

Disterhoft and Peschel did the most damage among the returning Hawkeyes against the Huskers last season. Disterhoft averaged 16.7 points, 9.7 points and 2.7 assists in three games, while Peschel came off the bench to provide 10.3 points and 3.7 boards in just 15.7 minutes per contest. Peschel hit 5-of-11 threes against the Huskers last season.

The Hawkeyes get help off the bench from freshman Megan Gustafson. The 6-3 forward is averaging 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting nearly 60 percent from the field.
Christina Buttenham, a 6-0 sophomore, was slowed by injury during the offseason but has returned to play in all 12 games, contributing 3.5 points and 1.9 rebounds per contest.

Claire Till, who has played significant roles off the bench against the Huskers the last two years, also returns as a senior. She has managed three points and nine fouls in 32 minutes this season, but has averaged double-figure minutes against NU the past two seasons.

Always a strong team at the offensive end, Iowa is averaging 76.2 points per game with 16.3 assists and just 15.7 turnovers per contest. Iowa is shooting 44 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from three-point range, while knocking down 77.1 percent of its free throws. Opponents are averaging 66 points per game.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Iowa, 12-10, but the Hawkeyes won all three meetings last season. The Huskers are 8-3 against Iowa since joining the Big Ten for the start of the 2011-12 season.

Huskers Putting Up Points at Pinnacle
Nebraska is averaging 85.7 points per game at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season, including three games with 90 or more points.

The Huskers own six games with 88 or more points at home this season, the most since the Huskers did it six times in 2009-10. The first, last and only time Nebraska scored 88 or more at home seven times in a season came in 1982-83.

Nebraska is shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from three-point range at home and carry a plus-12.2 rebounding margin (47.1-34.9) and a plus-5.4 turnover margin.

Overall, the Big Red is averaging 81.5 points through 11 games this season, and have reached 80 points eight times. Last season, the Huskers scored 80 points just six times. Nebraska has not scored 80 points more than eight times in the regular season since 2009-10 (13).

Huskers Shooting for Success
Nebraska has hit 50 percent or more of its shots from the field in five of 11 games this season. Last season, the Huskers hit 50 percent of their shots just four times in 32 games.

Through 11 games, the Huskers are hitting 48.4 percent of their shots from the field, which would rank as the fourth-best percentage in school history. In 2009-10, Coach Connie Yori’s Huskers shot 46.1 percent from the field, the best shooting percentage by a Yori-coached team at Nebraska.

The Big Red are also hitting 37.4 percent of their three-point attempts, which would rank third in school history and the highest percentage since 1988-89 (.396).

Nebraska’s History of Home Success
Nebraska is 9-0 at Pinnacle Bank Arena this season after going 12-3 (13-3 at home) last season. The Huskers are 37-5 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 their 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 425-135 (.759) all-time at home. The Huskers have gone 162-39 (.805) over the last 12-plus seasons, posting double-figure home victory totals in each of the last 11 years.
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.

Triple Threats: Three Things to Talk About
#11, Esther Ramacieri, 5-8, Jr., G, Repentigny, Quebec, Canada (0.7 ppg, 0.5 rpg)
• Esther Ramacieri had two points and two rebounds in two minutes against Northern Arizona on Dec. 19, in her return after missing four games with a concussion. She hit her first field goal (37th career game) in the closing minute of Nebraska’s win over North Carolina Central on Nov. 21. She tied her career high with one assist in Nebraska’s season-opening win over Arkansas Pine Bluff. Ramacieri appeared in 17 games in each of her first two seasons, with one career start (vs. Penn State, Jan. 15, 2015). She owns nine points, 20 rebounds, three assists and three steals in 142 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. She missed Nebraska’s wins over NC State, Creighton and Evansville with a concussion suffered outside of competition/practice. She did not play at No. 22 California but was available.
• 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. (1.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)
• Emily Wood is making solid, consistent and reliable contributions as a sophomore, producing 16 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals in 68 minutes off the bench. She enjoyed a career night with six points on the first two three-pointers of her career while adding two rebounds, an assist and a steal in Nebraska’s win over North Florida on Nov. 16. She added a three while notching career highs of five assists, three rebounds and 23 minutes played against Evansville on Dec. 8.
• Wood played in 10 games as a 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. In the summer of 2015, Wood started for NU on its 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. (7.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.2 bpg)
• One of the tallest Nebraska women’s basketball players in history, Allie Havers is turning up her production with 7.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and a team-leading 1.2 blocks through 11 games as a junior. Havers made the first two starts of her career in place of Rachel Blackburn (illness) in Nebraska’s wins over Northern (Dec. 19) and Arkansas State (Dec. 21). Havers had a career-high 18 points at No. 22 Cal on Dec. 12, when she played a career-high 37 minutes off the bench. That followed on the heels of her first career double-double 14 points while adding career bests with 12 rebounds in a win over Evansville (Dec. 8). She added eight points against Creighton (Dec. 6), NC State (Dec. 3) and North Carolina Central (Nov. 21), when she pitched in 10 rebounds and a career-high three assists.
• Havers, who averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game as NU’s top post off the bench in 2014-15, owns nine double-figure scoring games in her career, including five as a sophomore last season. Two of her 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. (5.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.7 apg)
• Maddie Simon was growing her game quickly as a key contributor in the Husker lineup before suffering a broken arm in a fall outside of basketball activities on Dec. 7. Her recovery is going well and she is hopeful to return to action very early in the Big Ten Conference season. Simon produced two double-figure efforts before the injury, including 11 points and three assists in a win over Southern (Nov. 23) and 10 points and three assists against NC State (Dec. 3).
• 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. 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. She was the No. 149 player in the nation according to Blue Star and the No. 22 guard 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.

#31, Anya Kalenta, 6-3, Sr., F, Minsk, Belarus (5.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
• Anya Kalenta produced a strong seven-point, 14-rebound effort in a win over Northern Arizona Dec. 19. She also had career bests with three blocks and 26 minutes. She produced the fourth double-figure scoring effort of her Nebraska career and second of the season with 11 points and six rebounds in a season-high 21 minutes off the bench in NU’s win over NC State (Dec. 3). She had 10 points and eight rebounds in just 13 minutes in a win over North Florida (Nov. 16). She had eight points, eight rebounds, two assists and her first career steal against Evansville (Dec. 8). She notched career highs with four assists and three blocks against North Carolina Central (Nov. 23) when she also had seven points and six boards.
• Kalenta owns more points (64/38), rebounds (56/17), assists (7/1) and blocks (6/3) than she did all of last season. She appeared in 12 games at Nebraska in 2014-15, competing in five of NU’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 established career highs with 14 points and eight rebounds in a season-opening win over Pepperdine Nov. 15, 2014.
• 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. (3.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.1 apg)
• A two-time Tennessee Class 2-AA Player of the Year (2013, 2014), 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.
• Cincore has opened her sophomore season strong, producing 39 points, 23 rebounds and 12 assists in 147 minutes. She has set or tied career bests in every category, including a career-high eight points against Southern Nov. 23. She had a career-high four steals while matching a career-best with three assists against North Florida on Nov. 16. She tipped off the year with six points and three assists while adding career bests in rebounds (4) and blocks (1) against Arkansas Pine Bluff on Nov. 14.
• 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.

#50, Darrien Washington, 6-2, RFr., F, Oakland, Calif. (3.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg)
• Darrien Washington produced six points, five rebounds and an assist in eight minutes off the bench in her career debut against Arkansas Pine Bluff after enjoying a strong redshirt season in 2014-15. She added three points, five rebounds and her first career steal in six productive minutes against North Florida on Nov. 16. She did not play in seven consecutive games (coach’s decision) before returning to action for one first-half minute against Northern Arizona on Dec. 19.
• 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.