WBB: Game #32 vs Chattanooga (NCAA)

Huskers Open NCAA Tournament Play with Lady Mocs in Texas

No. 24 Nebraska makes its second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament, when the Huskers take on Chattanooga on Saturday, March 23 at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.

Tip-off between the No. 6 seed Huskers (23-8, 12-4 Big Ten) and No. 11 seed Lady Mocs (29-3, 19-1 SoCon) will be at approximately 5:30 p.m.

The Huskers, who have won 11 of their last 13 games, were the Big Ten regular-season runner-up and advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals in their second season in the conference.

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

Chattanooga Lady Mocs

31 - Taylor Hall - 6-1 - Jr. - F

44 - Ashlen Dewart - 6-3 - RJr. - F

1 - Kayla Christopher - 5-9 - Sr. - G

21 - Alex Black - 5-8 - Jr. - G

22 - Kylie Lambert - 5-11 - Sr. - G

Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament Facts & Figures

• Nebraska is making its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance (1988, 1993,
  1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013).
  
• NU is 5-10 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
  
• The Huskers advanced to the 2010 NCAA Sweet Sixteen (No. 1 seed
  Midwest Regional/Minneapolis)
  
• NU advanced to the NCAA second round in 1993, 1998 and 2008.
  
• Nebraska Coach Connie Yori is 4-6 all-time in the NCAA Tournament,
  including 3-4 at Nebraska. She went 1-2 as Creighton’s head coach during
  NCAA Tournament trips in 1993 (1-1) and 2002 (0-1).
  
• Yori was the 2013 Big Ten Coach of the Year. She was the 2010 Big
  12 Coach of the Year and the 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the
  Year. She was also the WBCA, Kay Yow, Naismith, AP and USWBA National
  Coach of the Year in 2010.
  
• Nebraska is one of six Big Ten teams in the 2013 NCAA Tournament
  (Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa).
  
• The Huskers own an 8-7 record against the 2013 NCAA Tournament
  field, including wins over Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa (3), Florida
  State, South Florida and Oral Roberts. NU suffered losses to Penn State
  (2), Purdue (2), Maryland, Creighton and South Dakota State.
  
• Nebraska enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 16 RPI team in the
  nation according to the NCAA, with the No. 12 Strength of Schedule
  nationally, according to RealTimeRPI.com.
  
• The Big Ten is the nation’s No. 2 RPI conference this season, trailing
  only the Big 12. The SEC ranked third, while the Missouri Valley was 10th
  and the Southern Conference was 22nd.
  
• Nebraska went 18-8 this year against NCAA Top 125 RPI teams, 5-0
  against teams 125 and below.
  
• Chattanooga went 7-2 against NCAA Top 125 RPI teams, 22-1 against
  teams 125 and below.
  
• NU is 0-1 all-time against Chattanooga, dating back to a 79-64 loss
  in Chattanooga on Nov. 21, 1979. The Huskers are 7-0 all-time against
  Wichita State and 14-9 all-time against Texas A&M.
  
• Nebraska will play an NCAA Tournament game in the state of Texas
  for the first time.
  
• NU’s last game in the state of Texas was played at Reed Arena in
  College Station on March 5, 2011. It was Nebraska’s last regular-season
  game as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
  
• Husker sophomore starter Hailie Sample is a native of Flower Mound,
  Texas (Marcus High School). The 6-1 forward is expected to start her 65th
  straight game in the Husker lineup, dating back to the start of her
  college career.
  

Coach Wes Moore leads the historically successful Chattanooga Lady Mocs back to the NCAA Tournament as the Southern Conference regular-season and tournament champion in 2013. The Lady Mocs own the nation’s seventh-longest winning streak at 19 games entering the tournament. Chattanooga has not lost since suffering a 70-60 overtime loss at Elon on Jan. 7.

On the court, Chattanooga is led by junior Ashlen Dewart. The 6-3 transfer from Appalachian State is averaging 15.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while shooting 53.1 percent from the field.

As a team, Chattanooga is averaging 68.8 points while shooting 42.3 percent from the field. The Lady Mocs have hit 31.2 percent of their threes (198-634), outscoring the opposition by 237 points (7.4 ppg) from beyond the arc. They have held opponents to 54.3 points per game and just 36.6 percent shooting, including 25.8 percent success from long range.

Huskers Open NCAA Play with Lady Mocs .................Huskers.com.