Mavs Finish Season in Indiana
Feb 25, 2014 | Women's Basketball
The Omaha women's basketball team ends its season on the road with a pair of games in Indiana this week. On Thursday, UNO faces IUPUI at 6 p.m. (CT). The Mavs then head to Fort Wayne to take on the Mastodons on Saturday at 1 p.m. (CT). Links to live stats, webcasts and audio for both games are available at OMavs.com.
The Teams
The Mavericks (12-14, 4-8 Summit League) have won three conference games in a row for the first time since February 2009, back when the Mavs were in the Division II MIAA. The Mavs are led by Ericka House's 17.2 ppg, which ranks third in the Summit League. Mikaela Shaw adds 10.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg. Taijhe Kelly puts up 9.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg and a league-best 3.6 bpg, which ranks seventh in the nation. In conference play, the Mavs are first in blocked shots per game (4.7) and second in steals per game (8.9). UNO is holding conference foes to 39.4 percent shooting from the field to rank third in the league. The Mavs are allowing conference opponents 68.2 points per game to rank third as well.
IUPUI (19-8, 9-3 Summit) has lost two league games in a row after a 9-1 start. The Jaguars lost at South Dakota, 74-56, on Feb. 15 and at Fort Wayne, 78-73, on Feb. 22. IUPUI is led by DeAirra Goss's 14.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg. Nevena Markovic contributes 10.7 points and 5.9 boards per game. The Jaguars allow just 61.1 points per game in conference play, best in the conference. The Jaguars average a league-best 14.0 offensive rebounds per game for all games played, and their 45.3 field goal percentage is best in the league. IUPUI is 5-0 in home conference games.
Fort Wayne (13-13, 6-6 Summit) hosts Western Illinois Thursday night. The Mastodons boast the top scorer and reigning Summit League Player of the Year Amanda Hyde, who is putting up 21.7 points per game, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Hyde is coming off a 36-point performance last Saturday in the Mastodons' win over IUPUI. Her backcourt partner, Haley Seibert, is averaging 16.5 ppg for the season but leads the team with 21.6 ppg in conference play.
Series History
IUPUI leads the series with UNO, 3-0, winning 77-45 in Omaha on Feb. 1, matching the Mavs' lowest scoring game of the season. Taijhe Kelly led UNO with eight points and eight rebounds. Nevena Markovic had 12 points to lead the Jaguars. Fort Wayne leads the all-time series, 2-1. IPFW topped the Mavs, 81-71, back on Jan. 30 at the Sapp Fieldhouse. Ericka House had 22 points, while IPFW's Haley Seibert tallied 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Last Time Out
OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavs led from start to finish in a 65-41 blowout win over Denver last Saturday on Senior Day. The Pioneers' 41 points was by far their season low - 13 points fewer than the 54 they scored at Marquette on Dec. 20. Freshman guard Mikaela Shaw had a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds to lead UNO.
Maverick Notes
• Senior guard Ericka House ranks third in the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg and is the league's top free throw shooter at 90.8 percent. House has led UNO in scoring 16 times this season.
• Taijhe Kelly scored a career-high 24 points and equaled her career-best eight blocked shots against South Dakota last Thursday. In the game, Kelly became the new single-season school-record holder for blocked shots, and she now has 93 on the season.
• Kelly has reached double-figure scoring in five straight games, the first time in her career she has achieved that. In conference play, Kelly is shooting 64.2 percent to lead all players. The junior center has moved up to fifth in school history with 189 career offensive rebounds and is 49 away from breaking the school record.
• Madi Robson ranks fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per game and she leads all Summit League freshmen.
• Mikaela Shaw scored a career-high 25 points last Saturday against Denver and is averaging 11.8 ppg and 7.1 rpg in conference games only.
Second Time Around
Five games into the second half of the league schedule, things are going much better for the young Maverick squad than in the first seven league games. The Mavs were 1-6 in their first trip through the league slate and led for a combined total of just 40:07 in those seven games, five of which were played at home. After seeing each team once, the Mavericks have played much better the second time around, despite the fact that three of the five have been played on the road. UNO is 3-2 since the midway point and has led for a combined total of 147:01.
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 Feb. 23, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 69.8 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 26.5 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 58.7 percent of the Mavericks' points, 62.6 percent of rebounds and 87.6 percent of assists entering Thursday's game at IUPUI.
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 210 career blocks to rank second in school history. The school-record holder is Mary Henke-Anderson with 291 from 1979-83. Kelly has a school-record 93 blocked shots this season, surpassing Henke-Anderson's 86 in 1980-81. On Feb. 13, 2014 at South Dakota State, Kelly became the school-record holder with eight blocked shots in a single game. She swatted eight shots again a week later on Feb. 20 against South Dakota.
The Teams
The Mavericks (12-14, 4-8 Summit League) have won three conference games in a row for the first time since February 2009, back when the Mavs were in the Division II MIAA. The Mavs are led by Ericka House's 17.2 ppg, which ranks third in the Summit League. Mikaela Shaw adds 10.2 ppg and 6.7 rpg. Taijhe Kelly puts up 9.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg and a league-best 3.6 bpg, which ranks seventh in the nation. In conference play, the Mavs are first in blocked shots per game (4.7) and second in steals per game (8.9). UNO is holding conference foes to 39.4 percent shooting from the field to rank third in the league. The Mavs are allowing conference opponents 68.2 points per game to rank third as well.
IUPUI (19-8, 9-3 Summit) has lost two league games in a row after a 9-1 start. The Jaguars lost at South Dakota, 74-56, on Feb. 15 and at Fort Wayne, 78-73, on Feb. 22. IUPUI is led by DeAirra Goss's 14.4 ppg and 3.9 rpg. Nevena Markovic contributes 10.7 points and 5.9 boards per game. The Jaguars allow just 61.1 points per game in conference play, best in the conference. The Jaguars average a league-best 14.0 offensive rebounds per game for all games played, and their 45.3 field goal percentage is best in the league. IUPUI is 5-0 in home conference games.
Fort Wayne (13-13, 6-6 Summit) hosts Western Illinois Thursday night. The Mastodons boast the top scorer and reigning Summit League Player of the Year Amanda Hyde, who is putting up 21.7 points per game, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Hyde is coming off a 36-point performance last Saturday in the Mastodons' win over IUPUI. Her backcourt partner, Haley Seibert, is averaging 16.5 ppg for the season but leads the team with 21.6 ppg in conference play.
Series History
IUPUI leads the series with UNO, 3-0, winning 77-45 in Omaha on Feb. 1, matching the Mavs' lowest scoring game of the season. Taijhe Kelly led UNO with eight points and eight rebounds. Nevena Markovic had 12 points to lead the Jaguars. Fort Wayne leads the all-time series, 2-1. IPFW topped the Mavs, 81-71, back on Jan. 30 at the Sapp Fieldhouse. Ericka House had 22 points, while IPFW's Haley Seibert tallied 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Last Time Out
OMAHA, Neb. - The Mavs led from start to finish in a 65-41 blowout win over Denver last Saturday on Senior Day. The Pioneers' 41 points was by far their season low - 13 points fewer than the 54 they scored at Marquette on Dec. 20. Freshman guard Mikaela Shaw had a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds to lead UNO.
Maverick Notes
• Senior guard Ericka House ranks third in the league in scoring at 17.2 ppg and is the league's top free throw shooter at 90.8 percent. House has led UNO in scoring 16 times this season.
• Taijhe Kelly scored a career-high 24 points and equaled her career-best eight blocked shots against South Dakota last Thursday. In the game, Kelly became the new single-season school-record holder for blocked shots, and she now has 93 on the season.
• Kelly has reached double-figure scoring in five straight games, the first time in her career she has achieved that. In conference play, Kelly is shooting 64.2 percent to lead all players. The junior center has moved up to fifth in school history with 189 career offensive rebounds and is 49 away from breaking the school record.
• Madi Robson ranks fifth in the league with 4.2 assists per game and she leads all Summit League freshmen.
• Mikaela Shaw scored a career-high 25 points last Saturday against Denver and is averaging 11.8 ppg and 7.1 rpg in conference games only.
Second Time Around
Five games into the second half of the league schedule, things are going much better for the young Maverick squad than in the first seven league games. The Mavs were 1-6 in their first trip through the league slate and led for a combined total of just 40:07 in those seven games, five of which were played at home. After seeing each team once, the Mavericks have played much better the second time around, despite the fact that three of the five have been played on the road. UNO is 3-2 since the midway point and has led for a combined total of 147:01.
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 Feb. 23, the Mavericks led all Summit League teams with 69.8 percent of their minutes played by first-year Division I players. The next closest was South Dakota at 26.5 percent. The seven Mavericks new to Division I have combined for 58.7 percent of the Mavericks' points, 62.6 percent of rebounds and 87.6 percent of assists entering Thursday's game at IUPUI.
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 210 career blocks to rank second in school history. The school-record holder is Mary Henke-Anderson with 291 from 1979-83. Kelly has a school-record 93 blocked shots this season, surpassing Henke-Anderson's 86 in 1980-81. On Feb. 13, 2014 at South Dakota State, Kelly became the school-record holder with eight blocked shots in a single game. She swatted eight shots again a week later on Feb. 20 against South Dakota.
Players Mentioned
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