The No. 13 Nebraska women’s basketball team heads to Los Angeles as a No. 4 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Huskers will square off with Mountain West Tournament champion and No. 13 seed Fresno State in the first round on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Big Ten Tournament Champion Huskers enter the game as one of the nation’s hottest teams with 12 wins in their last 13 games, including four wins over top 25 foes.
All-American Jordan Hooper headlines a Husker starting five and has averaged 20.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season. Rachel Theriot averages to 14.3 points and 6.9 assists per game. Theriot dished out 18 assists against Minnesota on March 7, and owns a school-record 213 assists on the season.
Nebraska heads to Los Angeles hoping to fight its way to two wins so the Huskers can return home to Pinnacle Bank Arena for the NCAA Lincoln Regional. The Big Red, who have not played host to an NCAA Tournament game in Lincoln since 1993, will need to find a way to get past No. 13 seed Fresno State in the first round, before they can think about a second-round matchup with either No. 5 NC State or No. 12 seed BYU.
Nebraska’s NCAA first-round matchup with Fresno State will be the first meeting in history between the two schools in women’s basketball. The Huskers did face one Mountain West Conference opponent this season, as NU ran to a 95-75 win over Utah State in Lincoln. The only other common opponent for the two teams this season was Washington State. NU dropped a 76-72 decision to WSU, while Washington State defeated the Bulldogs 92-79.
All four teams in Los Angeles are formidable foes. Fresno State makes the short trip to UCLA riding an eight-game winning streak after running to the Mountain West Conference Tournament title for the second straight year under Coach Raegan Pebley. The Bulldogs are 22-10 overall after going 13-5 in regular-season Mountain West action. Fresno State finished No. 97 in the official NCAA RPI.
NC State earned the No. 5 seed in Los Angeles after an outstanding season in the ACC for Coach Wes Moore. If the Huskers can get past Fresno State and NC State can defeat No. 12 seed BYU, it would set up a rematch with Moore, who coached Chattanooga in an NCAA first-round clash with the Huskers last season.
NC State enters the tournament ranked No. 16 by the AP after closing the year as the No. 18 RPI team in the nation. The Wolfpack went 11-5 in the ACC, including a 3-4 record down the stretch. Two of those four losses came to NCAA No. 1 seed Notre Dame, while also losing to NCAA No. 2 seed Duke and NCAA No. 4 seed North Carolina.
BYU finished as the West Coast Conference runner-up behind NCAA No. 6 seed Gonzaga. Coach Jeff Judkins and the Cougars went 26-6 and finished No. 38 in the final NCAA RPI. BYU handed Gonzaga its only loss in the last 20 games, defeating the Bulldogs 62-52 , but Gonzaga avenged the loss with a 71-57 victory over the Cougars in the West Coast Conference Tournament.
Nebraska and BYU shared four common opponents this year. BYU defeated Washington State 80-73, before winning 52-51 at Creighton. The Cougars lost to Utah, 82-74 in double-overtime, before defeating Utah State, 84-74.
Probable Starters:
Nebraska Cornhuskers
3 - Hailie Sample - 6-1 - Jr. - F - 6.1 ppg
23 - Emily Cady - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 12.6
35 - Jordan Hooper - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 20.3
33 - Rachel Theriot - 6-0 - So. - G - 14.3
1 - Tear’a Laudermill - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 11.5
Fresno State Bulldogs
15 - Jacinta Vandenberg - 6-6 - So. - C - 5.8 ppg
5 - Bree Farley - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 13.8
11 - Alex Furr - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 5.0
22 - Robin Draper - 5-9 - Jr. - G - 5.9
33 - Taylor Thompson - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 14.3
Nebraska will be making its 12th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its sixth in the last eight seasons.
Nebraska’s No. 4 seed is its second-highest in school history, trailing only the No. 1 seed the Huskers earned on their way to their first NCAA Sweet 16 in 2010.
UCLA will serve as the host of the NCAA first and second rounds at Pauley Pavilion.
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