Nebraska has Finals Week off from competition after flying to a 63-38 win over Creighton. Emily Cady led the Huskers with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a strong all-around effort. Hailie Sample added a season-high 13 points, while Brandi Jeffery contributed a season-high 11 points and a career-high-tying four assists.
Jordan Hooper had five points and a season-high 15 rebounds against Creighton. She leads the Big Ten with 11.2 rebounds per game, while ranking third in the conference with 19.9 points per contest. Hooper needs 16 points against South Dakota to reach 1,900 for her career. She enters the game with 1,884 points and 923 rebounds, which both rank among the top 10 totals for active NCAA Division I players.
South Dakota comes to Lincoln following a Thursday night contest in Vermillion against the College of Saint Mary. The Coyotes, under the direction of former Husker Amy (Gusso) Williams, enter Thursday night’s game on a four-game winning streak, including impressive wins over Utah State, Wyoming and Northern Iowa. USD has scored at least 80 points in each of its past four games after averaging 66.6 points in going 2-5 through its first seven contests, including losses to Creighton, Iowa State and Drake.
Probable Starters:
Nebraska Cornhuskers
3 - Hailie Sample - 6-1 - Jr. - F - 7.2 ppg
23 - Emily Cady - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 13.6
35 - Jordan Hooper - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 19.9
33 - Rachel Theriot - 6-0 - So. - G - 11.8
1 - Tear’a Laudermill - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 7.5
South Dakota Coyotes
33 - Polly Harrington - 5-11 - Sr. - F - 11.0
44 - Lisa Loeffler - 6-1 - Jr. - F - 7.2
4 - Tia Hemiller - 5-6 - So. - G - 7.8
35 - Nicole Seekamp - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 16.0
42 - Heidi Hoff - 5-10 - So. - G - 4.8
Jordan Hooper ranks No. 6 on NU’s career scoring list with 1,884 points, she needs 46 points to catch Kiera Hardy (1,930) at No. 5. Hooper ranks No. 8 nationally among all active NCAA Division I players.
Emily Cady is nearly averaging a double-double with 13.6 points and 9.2 rebounds. She owns four double-doubles this season (Alabama, Southern, Washington State, Utah State) and 12 in her career. Emily needs one more to crack Nebraska’s top-10 list in that category. Kathy Hagerstrom and Carol Garey are tied for ninth with 13.
Rachel Theriot ranks No. 3 in the Big Ten in free throw percentage (.929, 26-28) and No. 4 in assists (5.7 apg).
Nebraska ranks No. 7 nationally with 45,406 fans at home this season. The Huskers rank 12th nationally with an average home attendance of 5,676 per game.
Second-year coach and former Husker Amy (Gusso) Williams has the Coyotes firing on all cylinders as they come to Lincoln.
as a Husker..........
as Head Coach.
Williams, a native of Spearfish, S.D., was a four-year letterwinner at Nebraska. The 5-6 guard was originally a walk-on before earning a scholarship. She appeared in 57 games for the Huskers before embarking on a coaching career. She served as a graduate assistant at Nebraska-Kearney before earning her master’s degree in sports administration.
She was also an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio. Following her stop at UTSA, she spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State. She then spent two seasons at Tulsa, helping the Golden Hurricane to a 26-6 record and its first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Williams then spent her next five seasons as the first head women’s basketball coach in the history of Rogers State University. In her final season at the NAIA school, she led the Hillcats to the NAIA Final Eight.
In her first season at South Dakota, Williams guided the Coyotes to a 19-16 record and a 10-6 Summit League mark. Amy was a big fan favorite when she donned the scarlet and cream. As always "once a Husker always a Husker!"
As a team, South Dakota is shooting just 40.5 percent from the field, but a solid 33.2 percent from three-point range. The Coyotes are nearly plus-six in the rebounding department, but minus-2.5 in the turnover category.
USD is averaging 72.5 points per game, while allowing 68.7 points per contest. During their four-game winning streak heading into the week, South Dakota’s scoring average ballooned to 82.8 points per game.
Nebraska leads the all-time series with South Dakota, 9-1.
http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=29&SPID=25&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=209343929&DB_OEM_ID=100
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