Honors & Awards
- Nebraska Defensive MVP (2017, 2019)
- Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2017, 2019; Spring 2020, 2021)
- Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
- No. 143 Player in the Nation (Blue Star, 2015)
- No. 25 Guard in the Nation (ESPN, 2015)
- Colorado Class 5A (Second Team, 2016)
- Colorado Class 5A (Third Team, 2015)
- Colorado Class 5A/4A All-Area (First Team, 2016; Second Team, 2014, 2015)
- All-Colorado Springs Metro League (First Team, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Senior (2019-20)
Nicea Eliely (pronounced ny-SEE-ah EE-ly-lee) proved herself as one of the Big Ten’s best defenders throughout her career. The 6-1 wing from Colorado Springs, became the 12th Husker in history to achieve the combined career milestones of 900 points (947), 400 rebounds (464) and 200 assists (258). She closed her career ranked 10th in school history with 115 starts.
Eliely averaged 8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game as a senior.
Eliely produced a career-high-tying 19 points at No. 20 Maryland (Jan. 16). She followed with 11 points, all in the second half, in Nebraska’s comeback win over Michigan (Jan. 19). She added 15 points and five boards against Purdue (Jan. 22). Eliely produced her first career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a win over Morgan State (Nov. 14). She added her second double-double with 13 points, 10 boards, three assists, two blocks and four steals in a win over SIUE (Nov. 17).
Eliely scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting at Michigan State (Dec. 31). She had 12 points in a win over USC (Nov. 29), and 10 in a win at Missouri (Nov. 10). Eliely had a career-high seven assists to go with six points, three steals and two blocks in a win over ORU (Dec. 14). She opened Big Ten play with 12 points and five assists in a win over Iowa (Dec. 28).
Junior (2018-19)
Eliely was one of Nebraska’s top perimeter defenders as a junior, ranking among the top five players in the Big Ten with 1.8 steals per game. Eliely, who joined Kate Cain as the only Huskers to start all 30 games in 2018-19, finished with 54 steals, the highest total by a Husker since All-American Lindsey Moore nabbed 60 steals as a senior in 2012-13.
Eliely averaged 7.9 points while shooting career bests of 47.8 percent from the field and 80.7 percent from the free throw line. She added 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
She scored in double figures nine times, including a season-high 18 points at No. 7 Maryland (Feb. 14). She followed with 10 points and four steals in a win over No. 24 Michigan State (Feb. 17).
Eliely opened Big Ten play with 14 points in back-to-back wins over Michigan (Dec. 28) and at Ohio State (Dec. 31). She fueled fourth-quarter comebacks in both games combining for 24 points in the final periods.
She added five of her career-high six steals in the fourth quarter in NU’s comeback win over No. 23 Minnesota (Jan. 20), helping the Huskers hold the Gophers without a field goal for the final six minutes.
Eliely also had 14 points in a win over Denver (Dec. 15). She had 12 points, five rebounds and five steals at Wisconsin (Jan. 27). She added 12 points at Purdue (Jan. 31). Eliely scored 10 against Drake (Nov. 7) and at No. 24 Miami (Nov. 23). She had a season-high eight rebounds to go along with nine points at Creighton (Dec. 2). She matched the eight rebounds in a win over Kansas (Dec. 5), when she set a career high with four blocks.
Sophomore (2017-18)
Eliely started Nebraska's final 26 games after missing the first three while recovering from an ankle injury that kept her off the court and out of practice for the month of October and the first part of November.
In 29 games, Eliely averaged 8.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals. She also ranked second on the team with 20 blocked shots on the season.
Eliely shot 52 percent (52-100) from the field in Big Ten play, including 42.3 percent (11-26) from three-point range to help Nebraska to an 11-5 mark and a tie for third in the conference standings. Overall, she hit 46.9 percent (90-192) of her shots from the floor, including 38 percent (19-50) of her threes.
Eliely was a major contributor in powering Nebraska to a spot in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals by scoring 12 points to go along with six rebounds, an assist, a block and two steals in a quarterfinal victory over Michigan in Indianapolis (March 2). It was her 12th double-figure scoring effort of the season.
Eliely was a key part of Nebraska's 14-game improvement in the win column from 2016-17, while helping the Huskers to eight more conference wins than 2016-17.
She produced a season-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds and two steals in a road win at Michigan State (Feb. 14). Eliely went 5-of-6 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three-point range against the Spartans.
Eliely scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting in a road win at Minnesota (Dec. 31). She added 13 points in a 24-point win over Purdue (Jan. 24), while producing 13-point games at San Jose State (Dec. 17) and against Arkansas Pine Bluff (Dec. 2). Eliely played an outstanding game with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go along with six rebounds in a win over Illinois (Feb. 1). She closed the regular season with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists at No. 13 Maryland (Feb. 25). She had 10-point efforts against No. 23 Michigan (Jan. 13), at Northwestern (Jan. 7) and against Florida Atlantic (Dec. 19), when she added a career-high-tying nine rebounds.
She managed three points, a rebound, a steal and three blocked shots against Arizona State (March 17) in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Austin, Texas.
One of Nebraska's best defenders, she played a key role in helping Nebraska lead the Big Ten in both field goal percentage defense and three-point field goal percentage defense.
Freshman (2016-17)
Eliely showed her all-around skills by starting all 29 games as a true freshman, averaging 7.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a team-leading 1.6 steals per game.
Eliely's 46 steals were the most by a Husker since All-American point guard Lindsey Moore had 60 in 2012-13. Eliely also became the first Husker freshman to lead the team in steals since 2000-01 (Shannon Howell, 36).
In addition to her steals, Eliely led the Huskers with 21 blocks, becoming just the third freshman to lead NU in blocks since 2002-03, joining four-time All-Big Ten selection Emily Cady (28, 2011-12) and 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Danielle Page (31, 2004-05).
Eliely also provided an offensive spark, leading the team with her 43.5 field goal percentage (81-186), including 36.4 percent (24-66) from three-point range. She ranked third on the team in scoring (7.7 ppg) and second in assists (2.6 apg).
Eliely finished the season with eight double-digit scoring efforts, including a career-high 19-point effort against California (Dec. 4), when she hit 8-of-13 shots from the field including 2-of-3 three-pointers.
She capped her freshman campaign with 14 points, five rebounds, a career-high-matching six assists, two steals and a block against Illinois (March 1) at the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Eliely hit 5-of-11 shots from the field, including a career-high four threes (4-8) against the Illini. It was her fourth double-figure scoring effort in Nebraska's final six games of the season, after producing just four double-digit efforts through NU's first 23 games.
Eliely played arguably her best game of the season in Nebraska's 67-64 win over Indiana (Feb. 19). She pumped in 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-4 threes, while adding a career-high-tying six assists with no turnovers. She also snagged three steals and blocked a shot in the win over the Hoosiers.
Her performance against Indiana followed 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting against No. 12 Ohio State (Feb. 16). She also had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting at Wisconsin (Feb. 9).
She produced the first of five double-figure scoring efforts in Big Ten play with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals at Iowa (Dec. 31). Eliely added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while tying her career high with four steals against Michigan (Jan. 22). She set a career high with nine rebounds while tying her career best with six assists at Illinois (Jan. 15). She added three steals against the Illini.
Eliely played a major role in Nebraska's win over San Jose State (Dec. 9) with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting. She also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and had a block and a steal against the Spartans.
In her first career game, Eliely scored nine points and led Nebraska with four assists and two steals while helping to slow down 2016 Western Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year Shawnte’ Goff in a win over UTRGV (Nov. 12). Eliely added nine points and a career-high four steals in a win over Omaha. She had eight points and eight rebounds against No. 25 Missouri (Nov. 14).
In a win over Colorado State (Nov. 17), Eliely had six points, six rebounds and team highs of six assists and three steals while slowing down 2016 Mountain West Player of the Year Ellen Nystrom.
Against No. 1 UConn, Eliely had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting while adding team highs with five rebounds and four assists. She also pitched in a block. In her Big Ten debut against Northwestern (Dec. 28), Eliely had seven points, seven rebounds and team highs with five assists, two blocks and two steals.
Eliely joined Hannah Whitish (9.0 ppg) as the first Husker freshman duo to each average better than 7.0 points per game since Angie Miller (14.6 ppg) and Stacy Imming (9.9 ppg) accomplished the feat in 1983-84.
Before Nebraska
Eliely was ranked as the No. 143 overall player in the nation by Blue Star while being ranked as the No. 25 guard in the country by ESPN. A second-team Colorado Class 5A selection as a senior in 2015-16, Eliely averaged 21.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. She ranked eighth in the state of Colorado across all classes in scoring in 2015-16. She also ranked 11th in the state in free throws made (115) while shooting 84.6 percent from the line.
Eliely closed her career with 1,366 points, 466 rebounds, 188 assists, 247 steals and 118 blocks for Coach Ashley Miller. A third-team Colorado Class 5A all-state selection at Rampart High School as a junior, Eliely averaged 16.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.7 steals and 1.2 blocks per game on her way to first-team All-Colorado Springs Metro League honors in 2015. She was also a second-team Gazette Class 5A/4A all-area selection as a junior.
Eliely helped Rampart advance to the Sweet 16 at the Colorado High School Athletic Association Class 5A state tournament and finish with a 20-5 record on the season under Coach Ashley Miller. As a sophomore for the Lady Rams, Eliely contributed 12.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.2 blocked shots to help Rampart advance to the Elite Eight of the CHSAA Class 5A state tournament and finish with a 20-6 record. She earned first-team All-Colorado Springs Metro League honors, while adding a second-team selection to the Gazette Class 5A/4A all-area team as a sophomore.
She was also a varsity contributor as a freshman in 2013, averaging 4.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game.
Eliely played for the Boulder Rockies club team that won the U.S. Junior National Nike Tournament in 2015 and the Blue Star Nationals title in 2014 for Coach Johnnie Bratton. Eliely was also a member of the all-star teams at both the USJN Battle of the Border and the USJN Windy City Classic.
An outstanding athlete, Eliely competed in volleyball at Rampart in 2012. Off the court, she was a first-team academic all-state selection and a member of the National Honor Society as a junior in 2015.
Personal
Queen Nicea Tyana Eliely was born July 12, 1998, in Colorado Springs. She is the daughter of Actual Allah and Yee Fong. Her father, Actual Allah, played basketball collegiately at Colorado State-Pueblo. Nicea earned her bachelor's degree as a business administration major at Nebraska in May of 2021. She was a four-time member of the Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll and a four-time Tom Osborne Citizenship Team selection.
Eliely chose Nebraska over Colorado, Wichita State, Colorado State, Northern Colorado and Denver.
Nicea Eliely's Career Bests
Points - 19 vs. California, Dec. 4, 2016
Rebounds - 15 vs. Morgan State, Nov. 14, 2019
Assists - 7 vs. Oral Roberts, Dec. 14, 2019
Steals - 6 vs. Minnesota, Jan. 20, 2019
Blocks - 4 vs. Kansas, Dec. 5, 2018
FGM - 8 vs. California, Dec. 4, 2016
FGA - 13 vs. California, Dec. 4, 2016
3FGM - 4 vs. Illinois, March 1, 2017
3FGA - 8 vs. Illinois, March 1, 2017
FTM - 7 vs. Michigan, Dec. 28, 2018
FTA - 8 Three times, most recent vs. Michigan, Dec. 28, 2018
Eliely'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 |
29-29 |
81-186 |
.435 |
24-66 |
.364 |
37-59 |
.627 |
107-3.7 |
70-3 |
74 |
70 |
21 |
46 |
223-7.7 |
|
2017-18 |
29-26 |
90-192 |
.469 |
19-50 |
.380 |
40-67 |
.597 |
115-4.0 |
63-1 |
49 |
63 |
20 |
36 |
239-8.2 |
|
2018-19 |
30-30 |
87-182 |
.478 |
17-51 |
.333 |
46-57 |
.807 |
115-3.8 |
70-0 |
62 |
66 |
18 |
54 |
237-7.9 |
| 2019-20 | 30-30 | 93-230 | .404 | 15-61 | .246 | 47-64 | .734 | 127-4.2 | 68-4 | 73 | 53 | 20 | 35 | 248-8.3 |
|
Career |
118-115 |
351-790 |
.444 |
75-228 |
.329 |
170-247 |
.688 |
464-3.9 |
261-8 |
258 |
252 |
79 |
171 |
947-8.0 |