Mavs Visit California for Pair of Games
Nov 27, 2013 | Women's Basketball
The Omaha women's basketball will spend the Thanksgiving weekend in California, visiting CSU Bakersfield and Long Beach State. The Mavericks are coming off three straight wins at home and will be playing on the road for the first time since Nov. 10. On Saturday, the Mavericks will play at CSU Bakersfield at 3 p.m. (Central). UNO then makes a two-hour trip to play at Long Beach State on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. (Central). Only live stats will be available for the CSU Bakersfield game. Live stats, live audio and a live webcast will be available at OMavs.com for the Long Beach State game.
The Teams
The Mavericks (3-2) won three straight home games after dropping two road contests to begin the season. Omaha has won four straight games once in each of the past two seasons, but the Mavs have not won five in a row since a six-game win streak in February 2009. UNO is coming off a 76-48 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Saturday at the Sapp Fieldhouse. The Mavericks are led by Ericka House's 15.8 points per game. Mikaela Shaw averages 9.0 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. The Mavericks rank first in the Summit League in fewest points allowed (58.4) and opponents' field goal percentage (31.3). They rank second in opponents' 3-point percentage (24.2). On the offensive end, UNO's 74.8 points per game rank second among league teams.
CSU Bakersfield (1-3) recorded its lone win on Nov. 20 over Concordia-Irvine, 84-79. The Roadrunners have lost to Oregon (131-91), Oregon State (80-49) and UNLV (76-74). Now a member of the WAC, Bakersfield is led by Tyonna Outland's 20.5 points per game. Dajy Vines adds 12.3 ppg and 4.5 rebounds per game. Batabe Zempare chips in 10.3 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. The Roadrunners are giving up 52.8 rebounds per game to opponents.
Long Beach State is 2-2 entering a game on Saturday at home against Pepperdine. The 49ers opened with losses at California and Nevada but won at San Francisco in double overtime, 85-82, and against Loyola Marymount, 76-66. Lauren Spargo leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game. Raven Benton comes off the bench to contribute 11.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The 49ers are forcing 22.0 turnovers per game and holding opponents to 26.8 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Series History
The Mavericks have never met CSU Bakersfield or Long Beach State on the hardwood.
Up Next
UNO hits the road again next weekend for a 3 p.m. (Central) game at Northern Colorado next Saturday.
Maverick Notes
• Since becoming a starter on Nov. 14, freshman guard Madi Robson has recorded 24 assists and just two turnovers. Robson leads the Summit League in assists per game (5.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (5.6).
• Ericka House ranks fourth in the conference in scoring at 15.8 points per game. The senior guard leads the league with 3.2 made 3-pointers per game.
• Freshman Mikaela Shaw ranks fourth in the Summit League with 8.2 rebounds per game. A valuable all-around player, Shaw also averages 9.0 points and 4.2 assists per game.
• Taijhe Kelly ranks first in The Summit League with 3.2 blocked shots per game. The Mavs as a team rank second with 5.0 blocked shots per game.
• Sami Pawlak leads The Summit League in field goal percentage at 69.6 percent. The freshman forward is 16-of-23 from the floor on the season. Pawlak is averaging 7.0 points per game in just 11.8 minutes per game off the bench.
Last Time Out
OMAHA, Neb. - The Omaha women's basketball team won its third straight game with a 76-48 blowout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday afternoon at the Sapp Fieldhouse. Ericka House led the Mavs (3-2) with a season-high 20 points. Felicia Anderson added 15 points off the bench. Taijhe Kelly had 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She also blocked five shots to move into second place all-time in school history with 133 for her career. UAPB, coming off a 22-point loss at No. 11 Nebraska on Thursday as part of its two-game road trip through the state, dropped to 1-5. The Mavericks led for good after a layup by Kelly made it 6-5 with 16:04 to play. Two free throws by Victoria Trowbridge with 3:33 left in the first half gave UNO a 27-16 lead, capping a 16-5 Maverick run. The Mavs led by eight, 32-24, at the half. The Mavs led by as many as 30 late. UNO shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55), while UAPB shot just 29.0 percent (18-of-62). Omaha was 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from 3-point range, while the Golden Lions were 3-of-16 (18.8 percent). Madi Robson had nine points, five assists and five rebounds. Mikaela Shaw had another solid all-around game with eight points, eight assists and six rebounds. Sami Pawlak had six points and a career-high 12 rebounds. Lanese Bough handled most of the point guard duties, replacing the injured Brianna Bogard, and had six assists.
Kelly is a Block Machine
Junior center Taijhe Kelly is climbing her way up the career blocked shots chart at UNO. Kelly has 133 career blocks to rank second in school history. The school-record holder is Mary Henke-Anderson with 291 from 1979-83. Kelly swatted 74 shots in 2012-13, the third-highest single-season total in Maverick history. Only Henke-Anderson has had more blocked shots in a season (86 in 1980-81 and 75 in 1979-80). Kelly was first in The Summit League last season with her 2.6 blocks per game. Her 51 blocked shots in conference play were 26 more than the next closest competitor.
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