Photo Credit: NU Athletic Communications
The Nebraska women’s basketball team shoots for its first 4-0 start to Big Ten Conference play since 2011-12, when the Huskers take on fellow Big Ten unbeaten Indiana on Sunday afternoon.
Tip-off between Nebraska (11-3, 3-0) and the No. 14 Hoosiers (12-1, 3-0 Big Ten) at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln is set for 1 p.m. (CT) with tickets on sale now at Huskers.com.
The game will be televised live by the Big Ten Network with Sloane Martin and Meghan McKeown calling the action. A live stream also will be available on the Fox Sports App.
Nebraska fans can listen across the Huskers Radio Network, including B107.3 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. Pregame starts at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
Prior to the clash between the NCAA NET No. 24 Huskers and NET No. 15 Hoosiers, Nebraska will honor 2014 first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year Jordan Hooper with the retirement of her No. 35 jersey. Fans should plan to be in their seats by 12:40 p.m. to watch the ceremony, as the Huskers raise Hooper’s banner inside the arena. Doors at PBA open at 11:30 a.m.
Hooper’s jersey retirement tips off a nostalgic day at Nebraska that includes special recognition on the 10th anniversary of its 2014 Big Ten Tournament Championship that featured Hooper, along with recognition of its 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen squad. Nebraska also will honor all of the approximately 40 Alumni in attendance during special halftime recognition on the court.
While Nebraska celebrates its tradition, the Huskers hope to make some more history by matching the best Big Ten start in program history. NU’s inaugural Big Ten team started 4-0 in NU’s first season in the conference in 2011-12 with road wins at Penn State, Iowa and Wisconsin around a home win over Indiana.
The Huskers opened Big Ten play with an 80-74 road win at current NET No. 13 Michigan State (Dec. 9), before adding an 87-81 win over NET No. 33 Maryland (Dec. 31) in their last home game at PBA. Nebraska is coming off a 69-57 win at Wisconsin Thursday in Madison.
Alexis Markowski posted her Big Ten-leading ninth double-double of the year and 30th of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds at Wisconsin. She has produced double-doubles in each of Nebraska’s three Big Ten games, including 20 points and 10 rebounds against Maryland. The two-time Lisa Leslie Award candidate has scored in double figures in 14 straight games, including four 20-point performances. The preseason first-team All-Big Ten pick leads the league in rebounding (9.9) and ranks fifth in scoring (17.2 ppg). Through three Big Ten contests, she is averaging 15.3 points and a conference-best 12.7 rebounds.
Two-time Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award candidate Jaz Shelley has added 12.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and team bests of 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals. She posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 assists in the win over Maryland. The 5-9 guard from Moe (pronounced MOE-ee), Australia, is the first Husker in history to record multiple career triple-doubles after getting 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in a win over UNCW (Dec. 5). Shelley ranks fourth on Nebraska’s career three-point list with 189 and ninth in career assists (439) despite playing just two-plus seasons as a Husker.
Three-time Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week Natalie Potts is leading all conference freshmen in scoring (11.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg) after erupting for 16 second-half points at Wisconsin. In Big Ten play, Potts is averaging 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds, including 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against Maryland. The two-time Missouri MaxPreps High School Player of the Year out of Incarnate Word Academy has scored in double figures in all three Big Ten contests and owns 10 double-digit scoring efforts this year.
Callin Hake has provided a consistent spark off the bench for Nebraska in Big Ten play, ranking third among the Huskers in scoring (11.0 ppg). She has hit 57.1 percent (8-14) of her three-point tries in conference action while playing 19 minutes per game.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten)
vs. 14/14 Indiana Hoosiers (12-1, 3-0 Big Ten)
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024, 1 p.m. (CT)
Pinnacle Bank Arena - Lincoln, Nebraska
Tickets: Huskers.com/Tickets
TV: BTN (FoxSportsApp)
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (12:30 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
B107.3 FM (Lincoln), 590 AM (Omaha), Huskers.com, Huskers App
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Pregame Ceremony: Jordan Hooper Jersey Retirement (12:40 p.m.)
1st Quarter: 2013 & 2014 Team Recognition
Halftime: Alumni Day Recognition
Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten - NCAA NET 24)
22 - Natalie Potts - 6-2 - Fr. - F/G - 11.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg
40 - Alexis Markowski - 6-3 - Jr. - C/F - 17.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg
0 - Darian White - 5-6 - Gr. - G - 8.7 ppg, 5.1 rpg
1 - Jaz Shelley - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 12.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg
42 - Maddie Krull - 5-9 - Gr. - G - 3.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg
Off the Bench
14 - Callin Hake - 5-9 - So. - G - 7.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg
2 - Logan Nissley - 6-0 - Fr. - G - 6.5 ppg, 1.9 rpg
12 - Jessica Petrie - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 4.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg
21 - Annika Stewart - 6-3 - Sr. - F - 4.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg
32 - Kendall Coley - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 3.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg
15 - Kendall Moriarty - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 2.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Eighth Season at Nebraska (125-102); 17th Season Overall (318-211)
14/14 Indiana Hoosiers (12-1, 3-0 Big Ten - NCAA NET 15)
54 - Mackenzie Holmes - 6-3 - Gr. - F - 19.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg
12 - Yarden Garzon - 6-3 - So. - G - 12.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg
14 - Sara Scalia - 5-10 - 5th - G - 15.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg
22 - Chloe Moore-McNeil - 5-11 - Sr. - G - 8.8 ppg, 3.1 rpg
33 - Sydney Parrish - 6-2 - Sr. - G - 9.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg
Off the Bench
52 - Lilly Meister - 6-3 - So. - F - 4.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg
5 - Lenee Beaumont - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 4.3 ppg, 0.8 rpg
1 - Lexus Bargesser - 5-9 - So. - G - 4.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg
20 - Julianna LaMendola - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 1.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg
21 - Henna Sandvik - 6-0 - So. - G - 0.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg
Head Coach: Teri Moren (Purdue, 1992)
10th Season at Indiana (212-94); 21st Season Overall (411-224)
Scouting the No. 14/14 Indiana Hoosiers
Coach Teri Moren brings her Indiana team to Lincoln riding an 11-game winning streak that includes a 3-0 start in Big Ten play. The No. 14 Hoosiers are coming off an 80-59 win over Michigan in Bloomington on Thursday night.
Indiana is led on the court by first-team All-Big Ten post Mackenzie Holmes, who is averaging team bests of 19.5 points and 6.8 rebounds while shooting a sizzling 66.4 percent from the field. The 6-3 center also leads the Hoosiers with 18 blocked shots. Holmes led Indiana with 22 points and 10 rebounds in last season’s overtime win over the Huskers at Assembly Hall.
IU has featured a consistent starting five for all 13 games this season, including strong production from fifth-year guard Sara Scalia. The former Minnesota starter who is in her second year with the Hoosiers is averaging 15.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting 45.3 percent (39-86) from three-point range. Scalia also has been nearly perfect at the free throw line, connecting on 30-of-31 attempts (.968).
Sophomore Yarden Garzon owns an even better three-point percentage (.455) than Scalia, while averaging 12.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Garzon produced double figures with 11 points and five rebounds to go with three steals in IU’s win over NU last season.
Senior Sydney Parrish, a former teammate of Nebraska’s Jaz Shelley at Oregon, has added 9.1 points and 5.9 rebounds in her second season since returning to her home state to play for the Hoosiers. Parrish was the 2020 Indiana Miss Basketball and a McDonald’s All-American at Hamilton Southeastern High School. She was a difference-maker in IU’s overtime win over the Huskers last season, contributing 16 points on a trio of three-pointers.
All-Big Ten guard Chloe Moore-McNeil rounds out Indiana’s starting five with 8.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and team bests of 4.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Moore-McNeil registered 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and a game-high five steals against Nebraska last season.
Lilly Meister (4.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg), Lenee Beaumont (4.3 ppg) and Lexus Bargesser (4.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg) round out Indiana’s regular eight-player rotation.
As a team, Indiana is averaging 80.5 points per game while shooting 51.5 percent from the field, including 37.6 percent from three-point range. IU’s tough defense has held opponents to just 57.8 points per game on 36.4 percent shooting, including just 26.1 percent success from long range.
Nebraska vs. Indiana Series History
Indiana leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 11-6, including a 74-62 overtime win at Assembly Hall in Bloomington last season (Jan. 1, 2023).
In a strange Big Ten scheduling quirk, four of the last five games in the series with the Hoosiers have been played in Bloomington, and Nebraska is 0-4 in those meetings.
In Lincoln, Nebraska leads the all-time series with Indiana, 5-4. The two teams have never met on a neutral court.
In the lone meeting in Lincoln since March of 2020, Nebraska rolled to a 72-55 win over then-No. 5 Indiana (Feb. 14, 2022). It marked NU’s largest margin of victory in history over a top-five opponent.
Nebraska’s win, which featured five Huskers in double figures led by 14 points from Jaz Shelley and Sam Haiby, snapped a six-game series winning streak by the Hoosiers. Alexis Markowski posted a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds, while Isabelle Bourne pitched in 10 points. Allison Weidner contributed 11 points off the bench.
The Huskers went 7-for-15 from three-point range in the win over IU, while the Hoosiers hit just 2-of-23 threes in their last appearance at PBA.
Prior to Nebraska’s 2022 win over Indiana, the three previous games in Lincoln had all gone down to the wire. On Feb. 9, 2020, Indiana escaped with a 57-53 victory, which followed an 82-78 road win for the Hoosiers on Feb. 3, 2019. Nebraska defeated Indiana, 67-64, in Lincoln on Feb. 19, 2017.
Sunday’s game will be the seventh consecutive game in the series between Nebraska and Indiana in which the Hoosiers have been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 at game time.
Nebraska Notes from Wisconsin
• Nebraska opened Big Ten play 3-0 for the first time since 2011-12 with its 69-57 win at Wisconsin Thursday. Alexis Markowski posted her ninth double-double of the year and 30th of her career with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Huskers secured their eighth straight win in the series with UW.
• Natalie Potts helped Nebraska hold off the Badgers in the second half by putting up all 16 of her points in the game after halftime. It was the 10th double-figure scoring effort of the season for Potts, including her third in Big Ten play. Potts also had a career-high three steals at UW.
• Callin Hake continued her strong contributions off the bench with eight points, four rebounds and two assists at Wisconsin. Hake is averaging 11.0 points per game in Big Ten play.
Huskers Honor Hooper, 2014 Champions, Alumni
The Huskers will celebrate Alumni Day on Sunday, Jan. 7 when they take on Indiana at 1 p.m. Nebraska will honor the 10th anniversary of its 2014 Big Ten Tournament Championship team while also recognizing its 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen team.
The 2014 Huskers were led by first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year Jordan Hooper, who will have her No. 35 jersey retired in a pregame ceremony. Hooper ranks No. 2 all-time at Nebraska with 2,357 points and No. 3 in career rebounds with 1,110. A three-time first-team All-Big Ten choice and a two-time member of the Big Ten All-Tournament Team (2012, 2014), Hooper was also a first-team Senior CLASS All-American in 2014. She was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft and spent four seasons in the league. She was also a star for nine seasons as an international professional with stops in Turkey, Australia, Belarus and most recently Israel.
Hooper, who was an All-Big Ten starter on Nebraska’s 2013 Sweet Sixteen squad, will be joined by 2013 All-America point guard Lindsey Moore in headlining the group. Moore was a first-round draft pick and WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx.
Hooper and Moore are joined by 2013 and 2014 starters Emily Cady, Hailie Sample and Big Ten Tournament MVP Rachel Theriot, along with Head Coach Connie Yori and Assistant Dayna Finch Weltmer. Graduate assistant Dominique Kelley (Johnson) who was also a star on Nebraska’s 2010 Big 12 Championship and NCAA Sweet Sixteen teams also will attend.
Allie Havers, who scored 16 points in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal win over Michigan State to propel Nebraska to the Championship Game, will also be in attendance, along with 2013 and 2014 guard Sadie Murren and 2013 guard Courtney Aitken.
Approximately 40 alumni across all years of Husker basketball are expected to attend, including retired jersey selections Karen Jennings and Maurtice Ivy. Five of the top seven scorers in school history (Jennings, Ivy, Hooper, Amy Stephens, Nicole Kubik) and seven of the top nine assist leaders (Moore, Theriot, Jina Johansen, Kubik, Sam Haiby, Stephens, Jaz Shelley) will be on hand.
Husker Numbers to Watch
• Jaz Shelley is 15 rebounds away from 500 in her career.
• Darian White is 16 rebounds away from 700 in her career.
• Alexis Markowski is 24 rebounds from 750, which would move her into a tie for No. 10 on the Nebraska career rebound list.
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 (30) after notching her ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the win at Wisconsin (Jan. 4). She needs three 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).
• Jaz Shelley (531) and Darian White (500) both own 500 assists in their college careers. Only five previous Huskers in history had totaled 500 collegiate assists (Lindsey Moore, Meggan Yedsena, Rachel Theriot, Jina Johansen, Nicole Kubik).
• Darian White is 162 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).
• 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).
• Callin Hake is proving herself as one of the Big Ten’s most improved players from a year ago. The 5-8 sophomore from Victoria, Minn., already owns more assists (+12), free throws made (+10), rebounds (+6), steals (+2) and blocks (+1) than all of last season in 149 fewer minutes. She is also shooting a team-best 47.7 percent (21-44) from three-point range while averaging 7.7 points per game compared to 4.3 points per game last season.
Husker Nuggets
• Natalie Potts earned her third Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award (Dec. 11). She won the first weekly honor (Nov. 13) before adding her second award (Nov. 27). Potts ranks among the top freshmen in the Big Ten in both scoring (11.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg). She scored all 16 of her points in the second half of NU’s win at Wisconsin on Thursday night.
• Alexis Markowski has been named to the Big Ten Weekly Honor Roll four times in 2023-24, including Jan. 2. She also earned a spot on the St. Pete Showcase All-Tournament Team (Nov. 25).
• Markowski leads the Big Ten in rebounding (9.9 rpg) while ranking fifth in scoring (17.2 ppg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.500).
• 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).
• Three Huskers (Alexis Markowski, Natalie Potts, Jaz Shelley) recorded double-doubles in the win over Maryland (Dec. 31), which is the first time a Husker trio notched doubles in the same game since Jordan Hooper (23 points, 11 rebounds), Emily Cady (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Rachel Theriot (10 points, 12 assists) did it in an NCAA first-round win over Fresno State in Los Angeles on March 22, 2014.
• The Huskers have hit at least one three in 478 straight games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008. Nebraska has hit at least two threes in 357 consecutive games.
• Nebraska has hit 10 or more threes 34 times in the last 86 games, including seven times in 2023-24. The Huskers hit a season-high 16 threes against UNCW (Dec. 5), and sank 12 triples vs. Southern (Dec. 17). NU hit 10 threes vs. Northwestern State (Nov. 6), Florida Atlantic (Nov. 29), Georgia Tech (Dec. 2), Michigan State (Dec. 9) and Maryland (Dec. 31).
• 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).
