Photo Credit: NU Athletic Communications
The Nebraska women’s basketball team opens Big Ten Conference play this Saturday afternoon when the Big Red travels to East Lansing to battle Michigan State.
Tip-off between the NCAA NET No. 21 Huskers (7-2) and NET No. 7 Spartans (7-1) at the Breslin Center is set for 1 p.m. (CT) with live television coverage from the Big Ten Network. Kylen Mills will be on the play-by-play call along with Christy Winters-Scott.
Nebraska fans can listen across the Huskers Radio Network, including 107.3 FM in Lincoln and 590 AM in Omaha, the Huskers App and Huskers.com, as Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch team up for their 23rd season together calling the action. Pregame starts at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
Nebraska enters Big Ten play with momentum after playing its most complete game of the season in a 108-35 win over UNC Wilmington at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln on Tuesday night. The Huskers tied a school record with 62 first-half points while holding the Seahawks to the second-fewest points by an opponent in a first half in history, taking a 62-12 lead to the half. Over the last three halves, the Huskers have scored 166 points, including a 58-point second half in an 80-72 win over Georgia Tech last Saturday.
Two-time Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award candidate Jaz Shelley notched her second career triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in 26 minutes against UNCW. The 5-9 guard from Moe (pronounced MOE-ee), Australia, is the first Husker in history to record multiple career triple-doubles (also vs. North Carolina Central, Nov. 20, 2021). Shelley needs two assists to reach 500 in her college career and three three-pointers to catch current WNBA player and 14-year international pro Yvonne Turner for fourth on the Nebraska career three-point list (183).
Two-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate Alexis Markowski posted her fourth consecutive double-double and fifth of the season with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the win over UNCW. Markowski, who ranks fifth in Husker history with 26 career double-doubles, owns team-best averages of 17.2 points and a Big Ten-best 9.6 rebounds.
Two-time Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week Natalie Potts continued her outstanding start to her career with 11 points and eight rebounds against UNCW. Potts is averaging 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds while hitting 79.6 percent (39-49) of her two-point field goal attempts and 80 percent (16-20) of her free throws. She leads the Big Ten in overall field goal percentage (.672).
Darian White, a four-year starter and three-time All-Big Sky performer at Montana State before transferring to Nebraska as a graduate student, gives Nebraska another potent weapon. The 5-6 guard is averaging 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists, which ranks ninth in the Big Ten.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2, 0-0 Big Ten - NET No. 21)
at Michigan State Spartans (7-1, 0-0 Big Ten - NET No. 7)
Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023, 1 p.m. (CT)
Breslin Center - East Lansing, Michigan
Television: BTN (Kylen Mills, Christy Winters-Scott)
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (12:30 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
Lincoln (107.3 FM), Omaha (590 AM), Huskers.com, Huskers App
Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-2, 0-0 Big Ten - NCAA NET No. 21)
22 - Natalie Potts - 6-2 - Fr. - F/G - 12.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg
40 - Alexis Markowski - 6-3 - Jr. - C/F - 17.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg
0 - Darian White - 5-6 - Gr. - G - 9.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg
1 - Jaz Shelley - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 14.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg
42 - Maddie Krull - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 2.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg
Off the Bench
21 - Annika Stewart - 6-3 - Sr. - F - 9.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg
14 - Callin Hake - 5-9 - So. - G - 6.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg
2 - Logan Nissley - 6-0 - Fr. - G - 6.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg
12 - Jessica Petrie - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 5.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg
32 - Kendall Coley - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 2.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg
15 - Kendall Moriarty - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 2.6 ppg, 1.3 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Eighth Season at Nebraska (121-101); 17th Season Overall (314-210)
Michigan State Spartans (7-1, 0-0 Big Ten - NCAA NET No. 7)
40 - Julia Ayrault - 6-2 - Gr. - G - 12.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg
0 - DeeDee Hagemann - 5-7 - Jr. - G - 14.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg
2 - Abbey Kimball - 5-10 - So. - G - 10.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg
11 - Jocelyn Tate - 5-10 - Jr. - G/F - 6.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg
22 - Moira Joiner - 5-10 - Gr. - G - 14.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg
Off the Bench
1 - Tory Ozment - 6-1 - Gr. - F - 9.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg
12 - Isaline Alexander - 6-3 - Jr. - F - 8.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg
3 - Gabby Elliott - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg
4 - Theryn Hallock - 5-10 - So. - G - 7.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg
21 - Mary Meng - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg
24 - Lauren Ross - 5-10 - RJr. - G/F - 4.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg
10 Bree Robinson 5-8 Fr. G 2.7 1.4
Head Coach: Robyn Fralick (Davidson, 2004)
First Season at Michigan State (7-1); Ninth Season Overall (199-77)
Scouting The Michigan State Spartans
Coach Robyn Fralick leads her first Michigan State team into Big Ten play with a 7-1 record. The former head coach at Bowling Green, Fralick has the Spartans playing fast with a smaller lineup than previous seasons, but a majority of Michigan State’s key contributors are returning players from last year’s team that finished 16-14 and 7-10 in the Big Ten.
Michigan State entered the first NET rankings of the season at No. 7 despite suffering an 83-69 loss to NET No. 14 Creighton in Cancun. The Huskers, who dropped a 79-75 decision to the Bluejays in Lincoln, were No. 35 in the rankings to start the week, but vaulted to No. 20 after a 73-point win over then-No. 349 UNCW on Tuesday. Nebraska’s other loss is to unbeaten and NET No. 30 TCU, 88-81 at the St. Pete Showcase.
MSU lost its top two scorers - Kamaria McDaniel (14.2 ppg) and Matilda Ekh (11.8 ppg) from a year ago. Gabby Elliott, who started MSU’s first 11 games last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Ohio State (Dec. 11, 2022) and Isaline Alexander, who started 19 of 30 games, also have missed at least half of MSU’s games early this season with injury. In addition, Taiyier Parks, who split starting time with Alexander, is also gone, leaving the Spartans with just two of their top seven scorers from a year ago in their regular lineup so far this year.
Despite the significant personnel losses, six of the top seven Spartan regulars through eight games this season are returning players, while Alexander (8.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg) and Elliott (7.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg) both rank among MSU’s current top eight players in both scoring and rebounding despite limited playing time because of injuries.
The production increases for returning Spartans are striking for a Michigan State offense that is leading the Big Ten in scoring (93.9 ppg), three-point percentage (.435), three-pointers per game (10.9) and ranks second in field goal percentage (.523).
The collection of active Spartan returning players have increased their average production over their final numbers from a year ago by a combined 39.0 points per game.
Junior point guard DeeDee Hagemann (+5.6 ppg) leads the Spartans with 14.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest. She has hit 57.7 percent of her field goals and a sizzling 55.2 percent of her three-pointers, after shooting 30.3 percent (33-109) from long range last year. The 5-7 Hagemann owns better than a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio early in the season.
Moira Joiner, a 5-10 graduate guard, has matched Hagemann (+4.8 ppg) with 14.9 points per game and also has been lights out from long range. Joiner has hit 54.7 percent of her overall field goal attempts, including 43.9 percent (18-41) of her threes after shooting 36.5 percent (46-126) last year. She is also a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw line. She has added 4.5 rebounds per game.
Sophomore Abbey Kimball (+8.3 ppg) has contributed 10.8 points while joining Hagemann, Joiner and junior Jocelyn Tate in the starting five for all eight games. The 5-10 Kimball has hit 43.6 percent (17-39) of her three-pointers after going just 9-of-44 from beyond the arc (.205) last year.
Graduate Julia Ayrault (+9.2 ppg) provides the biggest body for the Spartan starting five. The 6-2 guard is averaging 12.8 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds while hitting 52.8 percent of her field goals, including 33.3 percent of her threes. Ayrault, who ranks second in the Big Ten with 3.0 blocks per game, already owns five more total blocks (24) than she did all of last season (19), when she led the Spartans in the category. She has started six games since Alexander left the lineup with injury.
Forward Tory Ozment (+6.4 ppg) adds production and experience off the bench. The 6-1 graduate is averaging 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a team-best 1.6 steals per game. She is hitting 62.8 percent of her field goals, 50 percent (8-16) of her threes and 80 percent (16-20) of her free throws. Ozment went 8-for-40 from three-point range last season.
Theryn Hallock (+4.7 ppg) is averaging 7.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists as one of seven Spartans to play in all eight games. Freshmen Mary Meng (4.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and Bree Robinson (2.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg) and redshirt junior Lauren Ross (4.4 ppg, 1.4 rpg) have appeared in seven contests, Ross, a transfer from Western Michigan, and Jocelyn Tate, a 5-10 defensive wing who came with Coach Fralick from Bowling Green, are the only two transfers into the Spartan program. Tate has managed 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds as a starter, but has hit just 2-of-7 threes.
Although the Spartans have gone with a relatively small lineup, they own a plus-6.6 rebound margin and carry a plus-9.2 turnover margin.
Nebraska vs. Michigan State Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Michigan State 10-6 with all 16 meetings as Big Ten foes, but the Spartans won the most recent meeting with a 67-64 win in the second round of the 2023 Big Ten Tournament at the Target Center in Minneapolis (March 2). DeeDee Hagemann led MSU with 18 points, while Moira Joiner added 16 for the Spartans. Jaz Shelley led Nebraska with 24 points and five three-pointers, while Alexis Markowski had a double-double with 12 points and 13 boards.
Nebraska defeated MSU 71-67 (Feb. 2, 2023) to improve to 6-0 against the Spartans in Lincoln. Markowski notched a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Issie Bourne led NU with 20 points and nine boards. Sam Haiby contributed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Shelley had eight points, five boards and six assists. Hagemann led MSU with 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, while Joiner added 13 points, six boards and five steals.
The Huskers fought to a 68-64 win over the then-No. 23 Spartans in East Lansing on Jan. 10, 2021, which followed a 78-70 OT loss at MSU on Dec. 31, 2019.
The Huskers are 3-5 against Michigan State all-time in East Lansing, and 1-1 against the Spartans at the Big Ten Tournament.
Six of Nebraska’s 10 wins have been by 10 points or less, while each of MSU’s last three wins have been by single digits.
Husker Nuggets
• Natalie Potts earned her second Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award (Nov. 27). She won the inaugural weekly honor (Nov. 13). Potts leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage (.672) while ranking 23rd in the league in scoring (12.4 ppg).
• Alexis Markowski was named to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll three of the first four weeks of the 2023-24 season. She also earned a spot on the St. Pete Showcase All-Tournament Team after averaging 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds over two games in Florida.
• Markowski leads the Big Ten in rebounding (9.6 rpg) while ranking fifth in the league in scoring (17.2 ppg), ninth in field goal percentage (.533) and 18th in free throw percentage (.725).
• Markowski has averaged 11.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per game in three career meetings with Michigan State. She notched double-doubles in both meetings with the Spartans last season.
• The Huskers had seven players produce double figures in points against UNCW, which is believed to be the first time that has been accomplished in school history. It is the second time this season the Huskers have had six players score in double figures in a game (Northwestern State, Nov. 6).
• The Huskers have hit at least one three in 473 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two threes in 352 consecutive games.
• Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 31 times in the last 81 games, including four times in 2023-24. The Huskers are coming off a season-high 16 threes against UNCW (Dec. 5). NU hit 10 threes against Northwestern State (Nov. 6), Florida Atlantic (Nov. 29) and Georgia Tech (Dec. 2).
• Through the first 20 seasons with the three-point shot in women’s basketball (1988-2007), Nebraska hit 10 threes in a game just six times (591 games).
Notes from Nebraska’s Win Over UNCW
• Nebraska’s 108-35 win over UNCW on Tuesday left some significant marks in the Husker record book, starting with a 73-point victory margin that was the largest in school history over an NCAA Division I team. The only greater margins came with an 87-point win over NCAA Division III Nebraska Wesleyan (Jan. 22, 1975) in the fourth game in program history, prior to women’s basketball becoming a full varsity sport, and a 76-point win over InterAmerican (Dec. 21, 1993).
• NU’s 62 first-half points tied the school record (Oral Roberts, Dec. 29, 2013)
• The Big Red’s 12 points allowed to UNCW in the first half tied for the second fewest allowed by the Huskers in a first half in history, which also occurred earlier this season against Northwestern State (Nov. 6) and five other times.
• Nebraska’s 31 first-quarter points tied for the most in an opening quarter since the quarter system took effect (2015-16).
• NU’s 108 points scored tied for the 10th most in a game in school history and tied for the second-highest total under Coach Amy Williams at Nebraska (113 vs. NC Central, Nov. 20, 2021).
• Seven Huskers scored in double figures, which has not previously been recorded in Nebraska history. It is the second time this season that six different Huskers scored in double figures in a game.
• Jaz Shelley recorded the fifth triple-double in school history and became the first Husker to record two triple-doubles in a career with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Shelley had eight points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in 13 first-half minutes.
• Nebraska hit 16 three-pointers against the Seahawks, which tied for the second-highest total in a game in school history.
• The Huskers improved to 10-0 all-time at home against teams from the state of North Carolina, and stretched their overall winning streak to nine straight games against North Carolina schools (including wins over NC State, Duke (2) and Wake Forest) during that stretch.
Husker Numbers to Watch
• Darian White has scored in double figures 102 times in her college career (97, Montana State; 5, Nebraska). She scored a season-high 16 points against unbeaten TCU (Nov. 25).
• White is expected to make her 130th collegiate start at Michigan State. White and Jaz Shelley are both expected to play in their 130th college games on Saturday.
• Jaz Shelley is two assists away from 500 in her college career. Only five Huskers in history have totaled 500 collegiate assists (Lindsey Moore, Meggan Yedsena, Rachel Theriot, Jina Johansen, Nicole Kubik). Darian White is 12 assists away from 500 in her career.
• Jaz Shelley is three three-pointers from catching WNBA star Yvonne Turner (2007-10) at No. 4 on the Nebraska career three-point list (183). Shelley owns 180 threes as a Husker.
• Maddie Krull is expected to play in her 100th collegiate game on Saturday. She is 15 points away from 700 in her career.
• Alexis Markowski is 31 points (969) from reaching 1,000 career points.
• Markowski is 27 rebounds away from 700 in her career and just 77 rebounds from 750, which would move her into a tie for No. 10 on the Nebraska career rebound list.
• Callin Hake is four points away from 200 in her career.
• Annika Stewart is four points away from 500 in her career.
Nebraska Notables
• Two-time All-Big Ten center Alexis Markowski (Lincoln, Neb.) was the Big Ten’s top rebounder with 322 rebounds in 2022-23. She was the only Big Ten player to average a double-double (12.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg) during regular-season conference play.
• Alexis Markowski is No. 5 on Nebraska’s career double-doubles list (26) after notching her fifth double-double of the season in the win over UNCW. She needs seven double-doubles to catch Emily Cady at No. 4 (33). The Husker record for career double-doubles is 40 by first-team All-Americans Kelsey Griffin (2006-10) and Jordan Hooper (2011-14).
• Darian White is 197 points away from 2,000 in her college career.
• Natalie Potts reached 100 career points in her eighth career game. She is in line with some of the best Husker freshmen in recent history in the pace of reaching the 100-point mark, including Jordan Hooper (6th game), Kelsey Griffin (7th), Kate Cain (10th), Sam Haiby (10th), Alexis Markowski (12th), Emily Cady (14th), Isabelle Bourne (20th).
Nebraska Posts 19th Straight Perfect GSR
In the eyes of the NCAA’s Division I Graduation Success Rate (GSR), the Husker women’s basketball program has been perfect for 19 consecutive years. Nebraska is the only program among the 14 Big Ten Conference schools to accomplish the perfect score for 19 straight seasons.
The NCAA announced the release of its annual Graduation Success Rate report Dec. 6, 2023, and Nebraska was a national leader in women’s basketball for the 19th straight season, dating back to the initial public tracking of the GSR since 2004-05.
The Nebraska women’s basketball program joins the Husker women’s tennis and volleyball programs as Husker teams that have produced perfect 100 percent rates each of the last 19 years.
Overall, the Nebraska Athletic Department produced a GSR of 94 percent. In all, 11 Husker sports posted perfect 100 percent GSR last season, including softball, soccer, swimming and diving, women’s gymnastics, women’s golf, bowling, rifle and men’s tennis.
Nebraska continues to lead NCAA Division I in Academic All-Americans across all sports (351) and NCAA Today Top Ten Award winners (18). More than 100 Huskers have also earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships in history.
