WBB: Game #7 vs Maryland

[Row6Seat10]

Big Ten/ACC Challenge

#21 Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1) vs. #11 Maryland Terrapins (3-1)

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 7 p.m.

Bob Devaney Sports Center (Lincoln, Neb.)

TV: Big Ten Network

(Kevin Kugler, Play-by-Play; Debbie Antonelli, Analyst)

Free Internet Audio: Huskers.com

Radio: 25-Station IMG College Husker Sports Network (PBP-Matt Coatney; Analyst-Jeff Griesch)

(KBBK 107.3 FM, Lincoln; KFFF 93.3 FM, Omaha; KRVN 880 AM, Lexington; KNEB 960 AM, Scottsbluff; KGMT 1310 AM, Fairbury; KWBE 1450 AM, Beatrice)

Huskers Take on Terps in Top 25 Battle in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

The No. 21 Nebraska women's basketball team returns to the Bob Devaney Sports Center for a top-25 clash with No. 11 Maryland in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Tip-off the between the Huskers (5-1) and Terrapins (3-1) is set for 7 p.m. at the Devaney Center with live national television coverage on the Big Ten Network.

The Huskers will try to improve to 5-0 at the Devaney Center this season, while notching their 10th victory over a top-15 opponent since December of 2009, when they face Maryland. NU's game with the 2012 ACC Tournament champion Terrapins will be the first regular-season meeting between Nebraska and Maryland, but the Huskers and Terps do have history. Maryland, which will join the Big Ten in 2014, knocked Nebraska out of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, defeated NU 76-64 in the NCAA second round.

Maryland, which advanced to the 2012 NCAA Elite Eight, returns four starters from a team that went 31-5. The Terrapins feature national player-of-the-year candidates Tianna Hawkins, Alyssa Thomas and Laurin Mincy. Nebraska adds a pair of national player-of-the-year candidates in Lindsey Moore and Jordan Hooper, putting five of the nation's top-50 players on the floor at the Devaney Center.

With three 40-plus point victories and a week's rest, the Terrapins will bring a high-powered offense with them to the Devaney Center. Coach Brenda Frese's lineup features three national player-of-the-year candidates in Tianna Hawkins, Alyssa Thomas and Laurin Mincy. Hawkins, a 6-3 senior forward, leads the Terps with 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting a sparkling 71.1 percent from the field. Thomas, a 6-2 junior forward, has pitched in 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds. Mincy, a 6-0 junior guard, has managed 6.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

The Terps add to their outstanding size with 6-4 senior center Alicia DeVaughn, who has contributed 13.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per contest while shooting 69 percent from the floor. For more strength inside, the Terrapins can turn to 6-4 freshman center Malina Howard, who has averaged 9.3 points and 5.5 boards,

Maryland returns four starters from a team that went 31-5 a year ago and captured the ACC Tournament title. The Terps went 12-4 in ACC regular-season action to tie for third in the final league standings.

Probable Starters:

#21 Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-1)

3 - Hailie Sample - 6-1 - So. - F

23 - Emily Cady - 6-2 - So. - F

35 - Jordan Hooper - 6-2 - Jr. - F

00 - Lindsey Moore - 5-9 - Sr. - G

13 - Brandi Jeffery - 5-7 - So. - G

#11 Maryland Terrapins (3-1)

21 - Tianna Hawkins - 6-3 - Sr. - F

25 - Alyssa Thomas - 6-2 - Jr. - F

13 - Alicia DeVaughn - 6-4 - Jr. - C

1 - Laurin Mincy - 6-0 - Jr. - G

15 - Chloe Pavlech - 5-9 - Fr. - G

Huskers Take on Terps in Top 25 Battle…….huskers.com

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[Row6Seat10]

ACC/Big 10 Challenge slate of games:

Wednesday, November 28

Iowa @ Florida State - 6pm - ESPN3

Clemson @ Indiana - 6pm

Northwestern @ Boston College - 6pm

#4 Duke @ Michigan - 6pm

#15 Ohio State @ #22 North Carolina - 6pm - ESPN3

Wisconsin @ Virginia Tech - 6pm

Georgia Tech @ #14 Purdue - 6pm

#11 Maryland @ #21 Nebraska - 7pm - BTN

Thursday, November 29

Michigan State @ North Carolina State - 6pm - ESPN3

#6 Penn State @ Miami (FL) - 6:05pm

Virginia @ Minnesota - 7pm - BTN

Wake Forest @ Illinois - 7pm

[Cazzie22]

Wow! Maryland was too big, too fast and too strong for Nebraska. We were out-athleted big time tonight. Scary thing is that UConn will probably toast them on Monday.

Saw some potential in Theriot and early on Sample was a threat. Huskers are going to be OK in the B1G except when they play Penn St. We just aren't athletic or big enough yet to step up with the truly elite teams. NU is still a fun team to watch and I'm not as distressed by this loss as the one at SDSU.

[Noah121]

Ugh. Terrapins 2, Noah 0. (Maryland's men's team crushed Northwestern yesterday.)

[Cazzie22]

Maryland and Rutgers are going to improve the B1G in Women's BB.

[Silverbacked1]

Noah you know if you wasn't cheering for the other NU, you'd only be 0-1.

[Row6Seat10]

I read this quote this morning in the Omaha paper and it's been clawing at me all day. I absolutely despise it. And I have to rant. Frankly, I'm surprised she said it.

“Is it a big surprise we lost by 19? No,” said Yori, who thinks Maryland could compete for the national title. “It’s not a big surprise, frankly. If you look at their personnel — their personnel’s better than ours. I’m a realist. Just the way it is.”

Why is their personnel better than ours? Who's fault is that? The Terps had an over abundance of players 6'5 and up yet we can't land one? The past two years now we've failed to land any kind of athletic big girl to help out in the middle. It was so obvious last night with about 4 minutes left in the first half one could see the tank was starting to run on E with some and we barely had enough to get us to the pit.

It's looking like they never took full advantage of the huge year Kelsey Griffin and company gave us. I've heard the program took hundreds of calls and got hundreds of different film on girls wanting to come here after that year but nothing to show for it taller than 6'4? Yeah, it's true Maryland's personnel is better than ours but I find it really puzzling and frustrating that she would say that.

Ok rant over!

[Silverbacked1]

I think it was just Connie blowing off some steam.

I went last night and thought that we looked out of control at many times. And then I thought they got very scared and everybody tried to take over and not do what Connie wanted them to do.

Helter Skelter works very nicely when both Helter and Skelter are working. I just saw a lot of Skelter.

Just my $.02.

[Cazzie22]

I saw what Connie saw. Maryland was clearly superior physically to NU. Hooper was helpless the first part of the game. NU is a gritty team but we are still a large cut below the best teams, even the year we had Griffin it showed when we played Kentucky. I would think that girls from all over would want to play the style that NU plays. I'm not going to knock Connie as I think she is doing a fine job and I like the fact she is using Nebraska girls wherever possible.

[HB]

Row 6, I understand where you're coming from. I try to be understanding of how hard it is to recruit here. And Connie deserves lots of credit for going out and getting players like Griffin and Moore. But I will never understand how it was that our November 2011 recruiting class had 1 player (Theriot). It was obvious that we needed some servicable post depth. And we signed no one. Zero. Nada. We lucked into Murren in the spring when her coach left WGB, so that class swelled to 2, but still no bigs. So, we know we need players, and have the opportunity of a generation with 3 great or potentiallyplayers. A great senior point guard doesn't happen often, with a national top 15 player in Hooper and a special player (who is in a bit of a sophomore slump but who will give us a lot). Those 3 with some post depth and another shooter could really be the deal. Theriot will ultimately be a very good player and point guards are everything in college ball. But how do we sign zero bigs. Have no idea how that happened.

[Row6Seat10]

Maryland's point guard #1 Lauren Mincy who had to be helped off the floor early in the second half ( if you can remember) suffered a season ending ACL tear.

[HB]

That's too bad. It didn't look good at the time.

[Bugeaters1]

My worry is that White won't sign with the huskers. And that will be another big that they lose out on. I have asked the question about the bigs to a guy that seems to have some connections to the program. And he has told me that Connie wont sign a player just to sign one. He said that Connie has a certain criteria before she will look at them.

[HB]

My worry is that White won't sign with the huskers. And that will be another big that they lose out on. I have asked the question about the bigs to a guy that seems to have some connections to the program. And he has told me that Connie wont sign a player just to sign one. He said that Connie has a certain criteria before she will look at them.

That is accurate. But there's a fine line between having certain standards and having a bare cupboard. Or being stubborn. Shimmy shows up presumably to coach the posts, and there are none. I suspect there will be some attempts to get Connie to be a little more flexible. White will either be a huge get, or a huge loss. She would have 3 years with Shepard, so we would have some post action going on with those two!

[Bugeaters1]

HB, refresh my memory about Shepard.

[HB]

HB, refresh my memory about Shepard.

Jess Shepard, sophomore at Lincoln Southeast. Committed just prior to her freshman year if you can believe that. A basketball family; I think her mom was a very good player at Lincoln Christian but I'm not sure about that. Her brother starts at guard at East and is 6'6. She is a very sturdy 6'2". I watched her in a few games last year and was very impressed. A true post player but is mobile and has skills. Would be perfect in Connie's system IMO.

[Bugeaters1]

Oh okay thanks HB

[Row6Seat10]

Shepard's going to turn out to be a steal for the Huskers should she keep her verbal commitment. She's usually at every Husker home game which leads me to think she's a pretty solid verbal. No doubt in the next couple of years she'll have a ton of offers from top schools from all over. If you get a chance to watch her do it, she was a great player as a freshman last season and she has a great set of hands and will catch just about anything thrown to her under the bucket and she'll just keep getting better. She scored 24 points in the season opening loss to Millard West last Friday. Southeast plays @ North Platte next Friday.

I also spoke with someone from Shelby after yesterday's game and they told me Chatrice White's home opener last Friday against Cross County drew a ton of division 1 coaches from all over. Penn State, Notre Dame, Purdue and others they couldn't identify along with Yori. I watched Shelby/Rising City play around half a dozen times last season and Yori was at every game I saw them play. This person seems to think White will most likely stay somewhere in the midwest and somewhat close to her family. If you'd like to watch her play, her next game is this coming Friday at Giltner just a few miles south of the interstate between Grand Island and Aurora.

[Bugeaters1]

I might have to drive over to Giltner. 13 miles from there my kids went to school there. I knew Giltner was playing them but thought it was last weekend.

[HB]

I might have to drive over to Giltner. 13 miles from there my kids went to school there. I knew Giltner was playing them but thought it was last weekend.

If you get to the game, give us your report! Thanks Bugeaters.

[Bugeaters1]

Will do HB