WBB: Game #7 @ Virginia Tech (ACC/B1G Challenge)

[Row6Seat10]

 
 NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS @ VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES

 

Thursday, Dec. 1, 6 p.m.  Blacksburg, Va.

Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (pbp Matt Coatney, color Jeff Griesch)
KBBK 107.3 FM - Lincoln; KKCD 105.9 FM - Omaha; KBRB 1400 AM - Ainsworth; KAMI 1580/100.1 AM/FM - Cozad; KRGI 1430 AM - Grand Island; KHAQ 98.5 FM - North Platte
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com/Huskers App
Live Video Stream: HokieVision

 

HUSKERS TO FACE HOKIES IN ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE

 

The Nebraska women’s basketball team will face its first true road opponent of the season when the Huskers journey to Blacksburg to battle Virginia Tech in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thursday.   Tip-off for the first-ever meeting between the 3-3 Huskers and the 6-0 Hokies is set for 6 p.m.

 

Virginia Tech enters Thursday’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge with a 6-0 record after a 67-63 win over thenNo. 17 Tennessee in Blacksburg Sunday. The Hokies were ranked No. 7 by RealTimeRPI.com Monday and received 33 votes (30th) in this week’s Associated Press Top 25.

 

Thursday’s game will feature a pair of first-year coaches for the schools, as Nebraska’s Amy Williams is leading a transition in the Husker program. Kenny Brooks is heading a new direction at Virginia Tech after 14 successful years as the head coach at his alma mater James Madison. Brooks guided JMU to 337 wins and 11 consecutive postseason appearances, including six NCAA Tournament bids. Last season, the Dukes went 27-6 and made their third straight NCAA trip. Virginia Tech went 18-14 in 2015-16, including 5-11 in the ACC, before advancing to the WNIT.

 

Nebraska’s game with Virginia Tech continues a challenging non-conference schedule for the Huskers. The Hokies will be NU’s second straight ACC foe, after falling to 5-1 Virginia Saturday. Thursday’s game will be the first of back-to-back games against unbeaten teams for the Big Red. The Huskers will take on 6-0 California on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

 

The only opponent Nebraska has faced this season that owns a sub-.500 record is 2016 Mountain West champ Colorado State, which has been dealt losses at top-15 foes Washington and Oklahoma, in addition to the Rams’ three-point setback to the Huskers.

 

Probable Starters:

 

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS 
32 Jessica Shepard 6-4 So. F
22 Allie Havers 6-5 Sr. C 
5 Nicea Eliely 6-1 Fr. G
11 Esther Ramacieri 5-8 Sr. G 
34 Jasmine Cincore 5-10 Jr. G

 

VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES
11 Regan Magarity 6-3 So. F
2 Sidney Cook 6-2 Sr. F
5 Vanessa Panousis 5-7 Sr. G 
12 Chanette Hicks 5-6 So. G
25 Samantha Hill 5-8 Sr. G

 

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH 

 

Virginia Tech enters the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against Nebraska off to its best start in more than a decade under first-year head coach Kenny Brooks. The Hokies improved to 6-0 on the young season with a 67-63 win over then-No. 17 Tennessee last Sunday.

 

Hokie guard Chanette Hicks earned espnW National Player-of-the-Week honors after producing 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and a whopping eight steals against the Vols.  For the season, Hicks leads four Hokies averaging in double figures with 18.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.7 steals per game.

 

She is shooting 50.7 percent (38-75) from the field, including 44.4 percent (4-9) from three-point range. The production by Hicks comes a year after averaging 8.5 points and 2.8 steals per game as a freshman starter last season.

 

Hicks is surrounded by 5-8 senior guard Samantha Hill (10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) and 5-7 senior guard Vanessa Panousis (6.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg) in an experienced Hokie backcourt. Panousis returns to the starting lineup with Hicks, while Hill played primarily off the bench a year ago.

 

Hill has replaced Hannah Young (10.3 ppg,4.5 rpg in 2015-16) in the starting five from last season. Young was the only Hokie to start all 32 games in 2015-16.

 

Sidney Cook, a 6-2 senior forward, gives the Hokies more experience in the post while averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game. Virginia Tech’s top returning scorer, Cook averaged 10.7 points and 5.8 rebounds as a part-time starter for the Hokies last season. Regan Magarity, a 6-2 sophomore forward, rounds out the starting five by averaging 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

 

HUSKER NUGGETS
• Virginia Tech (6-0) will be the first of back-to-back unbeaten opponents for the Huskers this week, joining 6-0 California, which Nebraska plays Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

• Jessica Shepard leads the Huskers with averages of 17.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game.
• Shepard leads Nebraska in three-point field goals made (9) and three-point field goal percentage (.500).
• Nebraska freshman Nicea Eliely ranks second on the team in scoring (7.0 ppg), tied for third in rebounding (4.0 rpg), first in assists (3.5 apg) and first in steals (1.8 spg) through the first six games of her collegiate career.
• Freshman guard Hannah Whitish is averaging 6.3 points per game and owns a 5.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
GAME NOTES:
BEAT THE HOKIES!
 

[Row6Seat10]

I apologize for the above post that is not like the usual game preview we've been used to, as we're in the process of doing some different things here on HHC. Some of the functions are yet to be figured out by yours truly. Once I get this figured out, things should be more closer to normal.  

[Bugeaters1]

I apologize for the above post that is not like the usual game preview we've been used to, as we're in the process of doing some different things here on HHC. Some of the functions are yet to be figured out by yours truly. Once I get this figured out, things should be more closer to normal.  

Is there a normal in husker Central

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[redsteve]

VT is pretty good...will be another tough one. As has been said a 100 times....tough schedule for the girls. Will need to step up our defense, and particularly the ball handling against VT.....they're ball thief's extraordinaire.  Have tough and talented guards

 

Learning the hard way....but it should pay off in the long run.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by redsteve

[Red Don]

HOKIE-VISION?   Love it R6S10!!!!! 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Red Don

[Bugeaters1]

http://www.espn.com/watchespn/index/_/id/2940648/nebraska-vs-virginia-tech-w-basketball

[Bugeaters1]

WOODY Huskers look good so far. Now if they can get through the 2nd qtr.

 

[Row6Seat10]

Huskers up 10 at the half 39-29.

 

Got to do a better job with the defensive rebounding. The Huskers could be 20 points ahead had they not given up so many second chance points. 

[Red Don]

Ladies have led by as much as 16 points!   Need a Good 2nd Half.  Nicea Eliley is deadly!

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by Red Don

[Red Don]

2nd Half is underway! 

 

The  Black on Red Unis are Cool! Can we call them 'BlackShirts?'

 

[huskerchode]

Hopefully we can keep up the hot shooting.

 

Anybody watching Ohio State/Miami?  OSU looks bad.  Not sure what is going on with them.

[Bugeaters1]

13 minutes ago, huskerchode said:

Hopefully we can keep up the hot shooting.

 

Anybody watching Ohio State/Miami?  OSU looks bad.  Not sure what is going on with them.

Mitchell not carrying them this season.

 

[Row6Seat10]

Turnovers absolutely killing us the 2nd half.

[redsteve]

TURNOVERS   !!!   .....kind of gave it away....dang

 

And too many fouls....shooting was better overall

 

We're getting there...young ones need to learn how to close the deal

Edited December 2, 2016 by redsteve

[Husker34]

 According to stats on ESPN we shot a higher field  goal percentage but VT was able to attempt 23 more shots than NEB due to turnovers and VT offensive rebounds. 

[huskerchode]

I think we had 25 turnovers to their 9 turnovers.

[Row6Seat10]

Hokies with 24 points off 25 Husker turnovers and 21 second chance points.

[Noah121]

Translation: We beat ourselves.

[Red Don]

We may have lost, nevertheless I like the talent on the floor and from the incoming class.  The first half proved we can hang with nearly anyone; but need to learn how to keep up the intensity and finish well. We could have used Rachel Blackburn in this game; hopefully she will be available and fully recovered next year.  

[Row6Seat10]

 

[KarlHessEatMy....]

I actually like the way Darrien is playing. I sure wish she got some playing time last year. I think she is a good body to have on the court sometimes.

[Row6Seat10]

Sure wish Allie would start to assert herself on the offensive end of the court. She's only taken 10 shots the past three games combined, that ain't enough. She has a really nice shot but rarely takes it. Hope the coaches notice this and devise some plays get her the ball to take more shots going forward.

[HUD]

One thing that bothers me is the assist to turnover ratio of our 3 posts.  After 7 games they have 19 assists and 49 turnovers between them.  I know everyone is collapsing on us in the paint but that must leave some one open.  Maybe we just aren't good passers at that position.  The worst part is that is coming from players who have been in the program 4 years, 3 years and two years with the latter a 5 star recruit.  We need a big improvement there as a lot of it comes down to decision making.

[redsteve]

3 hours ago, KarlHessEatMy.... said:

I actually like the way Darrien is playing. I sure wish she got some playing time last year. I think she is a good body to have on the court sometimes.

 

She does need playing time. She's a good rebounder, but fouls a lot...had an unneeded offensive foul late in game that just added to the turnovers.

Seems to still be a little uncomfortable out there. As said, we need bigs to control the lane better. I said it several times, and others too.....Rachel...we need you to heal up and take control of the lane like you do so well.

Edited December 2, 2016 by redsteve

[redsteve]

1 hour ago, HUD said:

One thing that bothers me is the assist to turnover ratio of our 3 posts.  After 7 games they have 19 assists and 49 turnovers between them.  I know everyone is collapsing on us in the paint but that must leave some one open.  Maybe we just aren't good passers at that position.  The worst part is that is coming from players who have been in the program 4 years, 3 years and two years with the latter a 5 star recruit.  We need a big improvement there as a lot of it comes down to decision making.

 

Jess had 9 turnovers, ball stolen easily from her, passes to players that simply went out of bounds, etc etc. It's not just her either, the whole team needs to take better care of ball. VT scored about 25 off of our turnovers. But Jess did a nice job of scoring for better percentage. So, while we're learning and getting better for sure...... the issues really show in the loss last night.

Edited December 2, 2016 by redsteve