The Nebraska women’s basketball team continues its three-game home stand with one of its biggest non-conference games of the season when the Big Red battles Drake on Sunday in Lincoln.
Tip-off between the Huskers (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) and the Bulldogs (7-2) is set for Noon (CT) at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The game will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM and on kbbn.com
The Huskers are coming off a 78-50 win over Drake’s Missouri Valley Conference counterpart Indiana State on Saturday, Dec. 11. The win over the Sycamores gave NU just the second 10-0 start in school history, joining the Big Red’s 30-0 start by the 2009-10 team on its way to a Big 12 title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Only the 2009-10 team has ever produced an 11-game winning streak in the history of Nebraska women’s basketball.
The Huskers received 27 votes to rank No. 30 in the Associated Press Top 25 (Dec. 13), before climbing to No. 31 with 24 votes in the USA Today Coaches Top 25 (Dec. 14).
Through games Dec. 12, Nebraska was one of just 10 remaining unbeaten teams in NCAA Division I women’s basketball and joined No. 1 South Carolina as the only 10-0 teams.
The Huskers lead the nation in defensive rebounds per game (33.4 rpg) and rank No. 3 nationally in field goal percentage (.484), while ranking No. 4 in both scoring margin (+30.5 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.310). Overall, Nebraska ranks among the top 20 teams in the nation in 17 statistical categories, including scoring offense (6th, 84.1 ppg)
Sophomore transfer Jaz Shelley (Moe, Australia) continues the outstanding start to her Husker career by averaging team bests of 15.2 points, 4.7 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks while hitting 31-of-58 threes (.534). The 5-9 point guard also ranks second among the Huskers with 6.5 rebounds.
Shelley is the only Big Ten player to rank among the top 20 in the conference in all five major statistical categories.
First-year Drake Head Coach Allison Pohlman leads a red-hot Bulldogs team to Lincoln riding a six-game winning streak. Drake’s last loss came to nationally ranked Iowa State in Des Moines (98-76, Nov. 18). The Bulldogs also suffered a 61-46 loss to South Dakota at the Knapp Center, following an 82-79 home win over Creighton to open the season on Nov. 10.
