Feature Story - Huskers Connect and Compete. (MiCole Cayton, 2021)
Feature Story - Huskers. Together. (MiCole Cayton, 2020)
Honors & Awards
- Nebraska Women's Basketball Lifter of the Year (2021)
- Pac-12 All-Freshman (HM, 2016-17)
- Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar (First Team, 2022)
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2022)
- Academic All-Big Ten (2022)
- Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2020, 2021; Spring 2021, 2022)
- Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2021, 2022)
- WBCA High School All-American (2016)
- No. 78 Player in the Nation (ESPN, 2016)
- No. 17 Guard in the Nation (ESPN, 2016)
Graduate/Redshirt Senior (2021-22)
MiCole (pronounced MY-coal) Cayton closed her Nebraska career by playing 26 games as a senior in 2021-22. The 5-9 guard from Stockton, Calif., averaged 2.4 points and 1.2 rebounds in eight minutes per game off the bench for the Huskers, who finished with a 24-9 overall record and a trip to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Cayton erupted for a Nebraska career-high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting with a pair of threes in a win at Wake Forest (Dec. 1). She scored all 12 points in the second quarter. Cayton added nine points including back-to-back second-quarter threes to help the Huskers to a 93-70 win over Minnesota (Feb. 20). She had six points on a pair of threes in a win over Drexel (Nov. 26) in San Diego.
She scored five points in back-to-back Big Ten Tournament games, including a 76-73 win over No. 10 Michigan (March 4). She added five points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal against No. 12 Iowa in the semifinals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis (March 5). She also scored five points in a win at Wisconsin (Feb. 23).
Cayton closed her Husker career with three points and two rebounds in 15 minutes against Gonzaga in the NCAA First Round.
In two seasons at Nebraska, Cayton played in 40 games and total 101 points, 43 rebounds, 34 assists and 19 steals.
Off the court, Cayton was one of nine Huskers to earn Academ All-Big Ten honors in 2022.
Graduate/Redshirt Junior (2020-21)
Cayton overcame multiple knee injuries to help the Huskers late in the season after transferring following her graduation from California.
After missing Nebraska's first 12 games of 2020-21 while recovering from offseason knee surgery, Cayton was cleared for full-court, full-contact practice for the first time at Nebraska on Jan. 22. She played her first game as a Husker in a win at Illinois (Jan. 25). Cayton played 19 minutes off the bench and made a key steal with 11 seconds left. She went 3-for-4 at the free throw line to help Nebraska seal the win against the Illini. It was Cayton’s first game since Nov. 24, 2018 (at San Diego).
Cayton scored a Nebraska career-best 10 points by hitting 4-of-6 shots from the field in a win over UT Martin in the opening round of the Postseason WNIT (March 19). The following night, she added six points on a pair of three-pointers against Colorado (March 20). She averaged 8.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while hitting 66.7 percent (6-9) of her field goals, including 75 percent (3-4) of her three-point attempts in the 2021 Postseason WNIT.
She had four assists in a win over Wisconsin (Jan. 28). She added four more assists and two steals at Penn State (Feb. 4).
Cayton scored six points and hit 4-of-6 free throws at Rutgers (Feb. 7). She added two more assists against the Scarlet Knights. She pitched in five points and her first three as a Husker against Iowa (Feb. 11), before adding four points and an assist in a win over Penn State (Feb. 21).
Redshirt Sophomore (California, 2019-20)
Cayton missed the entire 2019-20 season with a knee injury. She earned her bachelor's degree from California in May of 2020.
Redshirt Sophomore (California, 2018-19)
As a redshirt sophomore in 2018-19, Cayton returned to the court for eight minutes in a debut against her hometown school, Pacific (Nov. 18), before playing two minutes against Tulane (Nov. 23) and scoring her only points of the season in a win at San Diego (Nov. 24). She played three total games in her third year before undergoing surgery to repair cartilage damage in her right knee.
Sophomore (California, 2017-18)
She opened her sophomore season with 13 points, including a career-high-tying three three-pointers in a win over Saint Mary's (Nov. 10), but missed the remainder of the year after suffering a torn ACL. Cayton did not play the rest of the season.
Freshman (California, 2016-17)
Cayton earned an honorable-mention selection to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team by starting 13 games for California. For the season, she averaged 5.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steal per contest for the Bears. She finished second on the team in steals (34) and third in assists (73).
Cayton started each of the last 12 games of the season for Cal, beginning with a career-high 18 points in a win over No. 13 UCLA. She had 11 of her 18 points in the first quarter against the Bruins, and tied her career high with three three-pointers.
In the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, Cayton had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals in a win over USC (March 1). She also had nine points, including a pair of free throws with 8.8 seconds left to seal Cal's win over Oregon (Feb. 24).
She scored in double figures six times as a freshman, including 13 points against CSU Bakersfield (Nov. 20), going 5-for-7 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. She notched her second double-figure scoring performance of her career with 11 points and five assists in 25 minutes off the bench in a win at Nebraska (Dec. 4).
Cayton also had 10 points against Arizona (Jan. 22) and 11 points in a career-high 37 minutes against No. 10 Stanford (Feb. 16).
She recorded career highs with six rebounds and nine assists in a win over Lehigh (Dec. 11). Cayton also notched a career-high four steals against Utah (Feb. 10).
She had four points and five assists in a first-round NCAA Tournament win over LSU, before adding two points and three rebounds in a season-ending loss at Baylor in the NCAA second round.
High School
Cayton was rated as the No. 78 player overall in the nation and the No. 17 guard by ESPN. The WBCA High School All-American averaged 12.0 points and 2.0 steals per game as a senior, while leading St. Mary's (Stockton) to a 28-1 record and a No. 2 final national ranking in the espnW 25 Power Rankings.
She was one of six finalists for Cal-Hi Sports State Player of the Year. She led all scorers with 21 points to power St. Mary's to a CIF section title over Mater Dei and former UConn star Katie Lou Samuelson.
Cayton was a Cal-Hi Sports Elite All-State, All State Division I, Underclass Junior and Underclass Sophomore selection. Cayton was also the Northern California preps Player of the Year.
She played club basketball for the California Storm under Coach George Quintero, and she was a member of the Nike Tournament of Champions All-Tournament Team.
Personal
The daughter of Michael Cayton and Karen Mercado Cayton, MiCole was born July 31, 1998. She earned her bachelor's degree in legal studies from California in May of 2020, before claiming a master's degree in applied science from Nebraska in May of 2022.
A first-team Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar, Cayton was also a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and an Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2022. She was a four-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selection. She was also a member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team in 2021 and 2022 before transferring to Minnesota following the completion of her master's degree from Nebraska. She was on the board of the Black Student-Athletes Committee at California.
MiCole Cayton's Career Bests
Points - 18 vs. UCLA, Feb. 3, 2017
Rebounds - 6 vs. Lehigh, Dec. 11, 2016
Assists - 9 vs. Lehigh, Dec. 11, 2016
Steals - 4 vs. Utah, Feb. 10, 2017
Blocks - 1, Five Times, most recent vs. Alabama A&M, 2021
FGM - 7 vs. UCLA, Feb. 3, 2017
FGA - 11 vs. UCLA, Feb. 3, 2017
3FGM - 3 Three Times, last vs. Saint Mary's, Nov. 10, 2017
3FGA - 6 vs. San Francisco, Nov. 25, 2016
FTM - 4 vs. Rutgers, Feb. 7, 2021; at Washington, Jan. 27, 2017
FTA - 8 vs. Arizona, Jan. 22, 2017
Cayton's Career Statistics
| Year | G-GS | FG-FGA | Pct. | 3FG-3FGA | Pct. | FT-FTA | Pct. | TRB-Avg. | PF-D | A | TO | Blk | ST | Pts.-Avg |
| 2016-17 | 34-13 | 71-177 | .401 | 17-63 | .270 | 31-55 | .564 | 82-2.4 | 79-2 | 73 | 63 | 4 | 34 | 190-5.6 |
| 2017-18 | 1-1 | 4-11 | .308 | 3-9 | .333 | 2-2 | 1.000 | 1-1.0 | 2-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 13-13.0 |
| 2018-19 | 3-0 | 1-3 | .333 | 0-1 | .000 | 0-0 | .000 | 1-0.3 | 1-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2-0.7 |
| 2019-20 | DNP | (Cal) | ||||||||||||
| 2020-21 | 14-0 | 10-31 | .323 | 5-19 | .263 | 13-23 | .565 | 12-0.9 | 17-0 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 38-2.7 |
| 2021-22 | 26-0 | 21-63 | .333 | 13-40 | .325 | 8-12 | .667 | 31-1.2 | 19-0 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 13 | 63-2.4 |
| Totals | 78-14 | 107-287 | .373 | 38-132 | .288 | 54-92 | .587 | 127-1.6 | 118-2 | 109 | 94 | 5 | 55 | 306-3.9 |