WBB: Game #23 @ Northwestern

The Nebraska women's basketball team travels in search of its fourth Big Ten Conference road win of the season when the Huskers take on the Northwestern Wildcats Thursday night in Evanston, Ill. Tip-off between the Huskers and the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. from Welsh-Ryan Arena on the Northwestern campus.

Thursday's game features two of the Big Ten's hottest teams. The Huskers are riding a four-game winning streak after running to an 80-56 win over Minnesota. Northwestern has won three of its last five Big Ten games, including road wins at Illinois and Iowa. The Wildcats' two losses during the stretch came at Purdue and to Michigan State. Northwestern's lone Big Ten home win came with a victory over Indiana.

Big Ten Player-of-the-Year candidate Jordan Hooper has fueled the Huskers' recent surge, averaging 24.3 points over the last four contests. Jordan has produced double figures in all nine Big Ten games this season and is averaging 19.0 points and 8.6 boards on the year.

Hooper needs just three points to reach 1,500 in her career, while senior teammate Lindsey Moore is just 11 away from 1,500 career points as well. Moore leads the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.2) and is averaging 15.0 points, 3.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game on the year.

Northwestern brings arguably the Big Ten's biggest and most balanced lineup into Thursday night's clash with Nebraska. Kendall Hackney, a 6-2 senior forward, leads the Wildcats with 14.9 points per game, while ranking second on the team with 6.0 rebounds. Hackney is shooting 45 percent from the field, including 38 percent (30-79) from three-point range. Hackney will be playing in her 119th game while making her 107th career start.

Fellow senior Dannielle Diamant adds 12.2 points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per game.

Nebraska leads the all-time series with Northwestern, 5-2, after splitting a pair of games with the Wildcats last season.

Probable Starters:

Nebraska Cornhuskers

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

24 - Rachel Theriot - 6-0 - Fr. - G

Northwestern Wildcats

4 - Kendall Hackney - 6-2 - Sr. - F

11 - Lauren Douglas - 6-2 - Fr. - F

31 - Dannielle Diamant - 6-5 - Sr.

25 - Maggie Lyon - 6-1 - Fr. - F

42 - Karly Roser - 5-10 - So. - G

Senior All-America candidate Lindsey Moore is expected to make the 121st consecutive start of her career when the Huskers play Northwestern on Thursday.

Lindsey Moore moved into Nebraska's career top 10 in steals with the 190th steal of her career in the Huskers' win over Minnesota on Feb. 3. Moore tied Lis Brenden (190, 1993-96) at No. 10 on Nebraska's all-time list. With her next steal, Moore will catch Diane DelVigna at No. 9 in Husker history with 191 (1979-80), and Moore is on pace to become just the ninth player in Nebraska history with 200 career steals.

Lindsey Moore became just the second Husker in history to reach the 600-career assist mark. The 5-9 senior point guard from Covington, Wash., ranks No. 2 on the Husker all-time assist chart with 627, trailing only school record holder Meggan Yedsena (696). Moore is just the eighth player in Big Ten Conference history to reach 600 career assists. Moore, a Nancy Lieberman Award candidate, needs 69 assists to catch Yedsena at the top of the Husker assist list. Moore is averaging 5.6 assists.

Huskers Head to Northwestern………………..huskers.com