Mavs Return Home for Fort Wayne, IUPUI
Jan 28, 2014 | Women's Basketball
The Omaha women's basketball team returns home this week for two Summit League matchups. On Thursday, the Mavericks host Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. at the Sapp Fieldhouse. Then on Saturday, IUPUI visits for a 2 p.m. game against the Mavs. Live webcasts, as well as live audio and live stats, will all be available at OMavs.com. Thursday's game against Fort Wayne will air on 1180 Zone 2 with Jon Green calling the action. This week's opponents are the final two Summit League teams the Mavs have yet to face this season.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 9-10 overall and 1-4 in the Summit League after suffering losses on the road at Denver and at South Dakota last week. Senior guard Ericka House ranks third in the league in scoring at 17.6 points per game. Mikaela Shaw adds 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Taijhe Kelly is averaging 7.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per game, which is 11th in the nation and leads the Summit. Madi Robson leads the team with 4.7 assists per game to rank fourth in the conference.
Fort Wayne (10-9, 3-2 Summit) is coming off a 70-68 loss at IUPUI last Saturday. The Mastodons boast the top scorer and reigning Summit League Player of the Year Amanda Hyde, who is putting up 22.8 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Hyde is shooting 56.7 percent overall and 46.0 percent from 3-point range to rank second in the league in both. Her backcourt partner, Haley Seibert, is averaging 15.1 ppg and shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point land.
IUPUI (14-6, 4-1 Summit) plays at Western Illinois Thursday night before traveling to Omaha. The Jaguars are led by DeAirra Goss, who is averaging 13.8 ppg and 4.2 rpg. Nevena Markovic contributes 10.2 points and 5.8 boards per game. IUPUI has the best overall record in the league and allows just 60.4 points per game in conference play, best in the conference. The Jaguars average a league-best 13.9 offensive rebounds per game for all games played.
Series History
UNO and Fort Wayne are tied 1-1 all-time. The Mavericks won the first matchup last season, 60-50, on Jan. 5 at the Sapp Fieldhouse. IPFW earned a 51-46 win in Fort Wayne on Jan. 31. IUPUI leads the series with UNO, 2-0, winning 60-49 in Indianapolis on Jan. 10 and 45-43 in Omaha on Feb. 9.
Up Next
The Mavericks begin the second half of the league schedule by playing just once next week when they visit Western Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 6 for a 7 p.m. contest.
Maverick Notes
• Ericka House's 17.6 ppg ranks third in the Summit League, and her 3.1 three-pointers made per game lead the league. House is shooting 88.6 percent (39-of-44) from the free throw line to rank second in the conference. The senior from Hot Springs, Ark., has seven 20-point games this year and has led UNO in scoring 12 times. Her streak of 17 straight games in double-figure scoring came to an end on Saturday with just five points at USD.
• Taijhe Kelly leads the league with 3.2 blocked shots per game and ranks 11th nationally. She ranks third in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game on the season and second with 3.2 offensive boards per game. The junior center has moved up to seventh in school history with 171 career offensive rebounds and is just one away from the top five.
• In conference play, freshman Mikaela Shaw is averaging 11.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg to raise her season averages to 9.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg.
• UNO is 8-2 when outscoring its opponent in the paint and 7-1 when winning the rebounding department.
Last Time Out
VERMILLION, S.D. - The Omaha women's basketball team fell at South Dakota, 75-51, last Saturday afternoon at the DakotaDome. Lanese Bough had 10 points and five rebounds for the Mavs. Sami Pawlak added nine points, four rebounds, an assist, block and steal - all in the second half. The Mavs committed 14 turnovers in the first half and shot just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from the floor while going 0-for-7 from 3-point range and 0-for-3 from the free throw line, as USD built a 42-16 lead at the break. In the second half, the Mavs fell down 54-22 but responded with a 12-2 run to get within 56-34 at the 8:38 mark. That was as close as UNO could close the gap. The Mavs matched their season high with 23 turnovers, although they forced a season-high 23 turnovers by USD, including 15 in the second half. The Mavs' leading scorer, Ericka House, was held to five points, only the second time this season she couldn't reach double figures.
Youth Movement
The Mavericks are by far the least experienced team in The Summit League this season. Seven of the 10 Mavericks who have played this season are first-year Division I players - five freshmen and two junior transfers. As of Jan. 27, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 69.6 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 26.7 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 60.0 percent of the Mavericks' points, 63.6 percent of rebounds and 87.1 percent of assists entering Thursday's game vs. Fort Wayne.
Kelly Moving Up All-Time Blocks Chart
Junior center Taijhe Kelly is climbing her way up the career blocked shots chart at UNO. Kelly has 177 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. Kelly is tied for the school record with seven blocked shots in one game, which she did on Feb. 7, 2013 against Western Illinois.
The Teams
The Mavericks are 9-10 overall and 1-4 in the Summit League after suffering losses on the road at Denver and at South Dakota last week. Senior guard Ericka House ranks third in the league in scoring at 17.6 points per game. Mikaela Shaw adds 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Taijhe Kelly is averaging 7.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 blocked shots per game, which is 11th in the nation and leads the Summit. Madi Robson leads the team with 4.7 assists per game to rank fourth in the conference.
Fort Wayne (10-9, 3-2 Summit) is coming off a 70-68 loss at IUPUI last Saturday. The Mastodons boast the top scorer and reigning Summit League Player of the Year Amanda Hyde, who is putting up 22.8 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Hyde is shooting 56.7 percent overall and 46.0 percent from 3-point range to rank second in the league in both. Her backcourt partner, Haley Seibert, is averaging 15.1 ppg and shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point land.
IUPUI (14-6, 4-1 Summit) plays at Western Illinois Thursday night before traveling to Omaha. The Jaguars are led by DeAirra Goss, who is averaging 13.8 ppg and 4.2 rpg. Nevena Markovic contributes 10.2 points and 5.8 boards per game. IUPUI has the best overall record in the league and allows just 60.4 points per game in conference play, best in the conference. The Jaguars average a league-best 13.9 offensive rebounds per game for all games played.
Series History
UNO and Fort Wayne are tied 1-1 all-time. The Mavericks won the first matchup last season, 60-50, on Jan. 5 at the Sapp Fieldhouse. IPFW earned a 51-46 win in Fort Wayne on Jan. 31. IUPUI leads the series with UNO, 2-0, winning 60-49 in Indianapolis on Jan. 10 and 45-43 in Omaha on Feb. 9.
Up Next
The Mavericks begin the second half of the league schedule by playing just once next week when they visit Western Illinois on Thursday, Feb. 6 for a 7 p.m. contest.
Maverick Notes
• Ericka House's 17.6 ppg ranks third in the Summit League, and her 3.1 three-pointers made per game lead the league. House is shooting 88.6 percent (39-of-44) from the free throw line to rank second in the conference. The senior from Hot Springs, Ark., has seven 20-point games this year and has led UNO in scoring 12 times. Her streak of 17 straight games in double-figure scoring came to an end on Saturday with just five points at USD.
• Taijhe Kelly leads the league with 3.2 blocked shots per game and ranks 11th nationally. She ranks third in the league with 7.1 rebounds per game on the season and second with 3.2 offensive boards per game. The junior center has moved up to seventh in school history with 171 career offensive rebounds and is just one away from the top five.
• In conference play, freshman Mikaela Shaw is averaging 11.6 ppg and 6.8 rpg to raise her season averages to 9.5 ppg and 6.5 rpg.
• UNO is 8-2 when outscoring its opponent in the paint and 7-1 when winning the rebounding department.
Last Time Out
VERMILLION, S.D. - The Omaha women's basketball team fell at South Dakota, 75-51, last Saturday afternoon at the DakotaDome. Lanese Bough had 10 points and five rebounds for the Mavs. Sami Pawlak added nine points, four rebounds, an assist, block and steal - all in the second half. The Mavs committed 14 turnovers in the first half and shot just 32.0 percent (8-of-25) from the floor while going 0-for-7 from 3-point range and 0-for-3 from the free throw line, as USD built a 42-16 lead at the break. In the second half, the Mavs fell down 54-22 but responded with a 12-2 run to get within 56-34 at the 8:38 mark. That was as close as UNO could close the gap. The Mavs matched their season high with 23 turnovers, although they forced a season-high 23 turnovers by USD, including 15 in the second half. The Mavs' leading scorer, Ericka House, was held to five points, only the second time this season she couldn't reach double figures.
Youth Movement
The Mavericks are by far the least experienced team in The Summit League this season. Seven of the 10 Mavericks who have played this season are first-year Division I players - five freshmen and two junior transfers. As of Jan. 27, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 69.6 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 26.7 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 60.0 percent of the Mavericks' points, 63.6 percent of rebounds and 87.1 percent of assists entering Thursday's game vs. Fort Wayne.
Kelly Moving Up All-Time Blocks Chart
Junior center Taijhe Kelly is climbing her way up the career blocked shots chart at UNO. Kelly has 177 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. Kelly is tied for the school record with seven blocked shots in one game, which she did on Feb. 7, 2013 against Western Illinois.
Players Mentioned
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