Open Thread: Nebraska Women’s Basketball vs Kansas

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3) at Kansas Jayhawks (7-0)

Wednesday, Dec. 6, 7 p.m. (CT)

Allen Fieldhouse (Lawrence, Kansas)

Live Video: ESPN3

Live Radio: Husker Sports Network; Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst); Lincoln - 107.3 FM; Omaha - CD 105.9 FM

Free Live Audio: Huskers.com/Huskers App

Live Stats

Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-3, 0-0 Big Ten)

24 - Maddie Simon - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 7.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg

31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 10.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg

3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - So. - G - 8.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg

5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - So. - G - 7.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg

33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - Fr. - G - 14.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg

Off the Bench

34 - Jasmine Cincore - 5-10 - Sr. - F - 6.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg

12 - Emily Wood - 5-5 - Sr. - G - 5.8 ppg, 2.4 rpg

15 - Bria Stallworth - 5-6 - So. - G - 5.8 ppg, 2.0 rpg

14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - So. - F - 4.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg

13 - Janay Morton - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg

43 - Rachel Blackburn - 6-3 - So. - F - 2.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg

50 - Darrien Washington - 6-2 - Jr. - F - 1.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)

Second Season at Nebraska (12-25)

11th Season Overall (205-134)

Kansas Jayhawks (7-0, 0-0 Big 12)

14 - Austin Richardson - 6-0 - Jr. - F - 8.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg

35 - Bailey Helgren - 6-5 - Fr. - C - 1.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg

0 - Christalah Lyons - 5-5 - Jr. - G - 15.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg

2 - Brianna Osorio - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 11.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg

33 - Kylee Kopatich - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 19.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg

Off the Bench

55 - Tyler Johnson - 6-2 - So. - F - 6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg

12 - Micaela Wilson - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 5.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg

22 - Chayla Cheadle - 6-0 - Sr. - G - 5.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg

50 - Sara Boric - 6-5 - Jr. - C - 0.8 ppg, 1.5 rpg

1 - Chelsea Lott - 6-3 - Jr. - C - 1.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg

23 - Eboni Watts - 5-6 - Sr. - G - 0.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg

24 - Sydney Benoit - 5-10 - Sr. - G - 0.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg

Head Coach: Brandon Schneider (Wayland Baptist, 1995)

Third Season at Kansas (21-47)

20th Season Overall (422-185)

Scouting The Kansas Jayhawks

• Coach Brandon Schneider has Kansas off to a 7-0 start in his third season leading the Jayhawks.

• Kansas will be looking to match its season win total from a year ago, when the Jayhawks went 8-22 overall, including 2-16 in the Big 12.

• The Jayhawks are off to an unbeaten start despite playing without their top returning scorer from a year ago, Jessica Washington, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason practice. Washington, a 5-8 senior guard, averaged 17.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season.

• Wednesday’s game will be KU’s eighth game in a nine-game home stand at Allen Fieldhouse to open the season.

• KU’s starting lineup does not feature a senior, but four juniors have anchored the Jayhawks’ resurgence so far this season.

• Junior guard Kylee Kopatich leads the Jayhawks with 19.0 points per game, including a career-high 26 in Sunday’s win over Arkansas. The 5-10 Kopatich is shooting a sizzling 45.3 percent (24-53) from three-point range and a near-perfect 23-of-25 (.920) at the free throw line. She also ranks second among the Jayhawks with 2.8 assists and third on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.

• Fellow junior guard Christalah Lyons ranks second on the squad with 15.9 points per game while leading KU with 4.1 assists per contest.

• A third junior, Brianna Osorio, gives the Jayhawks three guards averaging in double figures. Osorio is averaging 11.0 points per game while matching Lyons for the team lead with 1.7 steals per game. Osorio ranks second among the Jayhawks with nine three-pointers.

• Junior forward Austin Richardson has added 8.4 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game. She is shooting less than 30 percent from the field, including 3-for-17 from three-point range.

• Bailey Helgren, a 6-5 freshman center, rounds out KU’s projected starting five with 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

• Kansas gets significant contributions off the bench from 6-2 sophomore forward Tyler Johnson (6.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and 6-2 freshman forward Micaela Wilson (5.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg)

. • Senior guard Chayla Cheadle has pitched in 5.0 points and 3.8 rebounds. Her twin sister, Kayla, was a member of the KU volleyball team that lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Missouri over the weekend. Kayla helped KU to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a loss to Nebraska in the NCAA semifinals in 2015. Kayla did not play in that match.

• As a team, Kansas owns a plus-17.8 points per game scoring margin (72.4-54-6) and a plus-11.7 team rebounding margin (46.9-35.1). However, the Jayhawks have a minus-0.6 team turnover margin. KU is shooting 43.3 percent from the field, including 33.3 percent from three-point range. The Jayhawks have hit 68.1 percent of their free throws and have outscored their opponents by 4.4 points per game at the line.

Cain Claims Second Big Ten Freshman Honor

• Kate Cain claimed the second Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week award of her young career when the conference announced its weekly honors on Monday.

• The 6-5 center from Middletown, N.Y., averaged 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocked shots in a pair of starts for the Big Red last week. In Saturday’s win over Arkansas Pine Bluff, Cain notched her second double-double with 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds while adding three blocks. Cain helped the Huskers hold UAPB to an opponent-record-low four first-quarter points, while also limiting the Lady Lions to an opponent-record-tying-low of 12 first-half points. In the first half, Cain had 10 points and six rebounds to help the Huskers take a 37-12 halftime lead. For the game, she hit 7-of-10 shots from the field.

• On Thursday, Cain produced 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots against Clemson. Cain’s six blocks tied the Nebraska freshman single-game record that was last achieved by Husker career block leader Janet Smith in January of 1979.

• Through eight games with seven starts, Cain is averaging 3.1 blocks per game. The last time a Husker averaged 1.0 or more blocks per game was Catheryn Redmon in 2010-11. Cain’s 25 total blocks on the season already rank as the seventh-best total by a Husker freshman in history.

• Cain ranks second among the Huskers in scoring (10.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg) while leading the Big Red in field goal percentage (.585).

Nebraska Streaks

• Sophomore guard Hannah Whitish (25) now owns the longest streak of consecutive starts by a Husker. Nebraska’s second-longest streak is seven games by freshman Kate Cain (7).

• Whitish is the only Husker to start all eight games this season.

• The Huskers have knocked down at least one three-pointer in 288 straight regular-season games dating back to a loss at UTEP on Dec. 20, 2008.

• Nebraska has hit at least two three-pointers in 167 consecutive games.

• Nebraska snapped its 19-game road losing streak with its 55-47 win over Coastal Carolina (Nov. 24) in Daytona Beach, Fla. NU’s last win in a true away game came at Michigan (93-81) on Jan. 24, 2016.

• Kate Cain has blocked at least one shot in each of the first eight games of her career. She has seven games with two or more blocks.

• Jasmine Cincore has notched at least one assist in 17 consecutive games dating back to a game at Purdue on Jan. 26, 2017. She went without an assist against Michigan (Jan. 22, 2017).

• Hannah Whitish has posted at least one assist in 10 consecutive games, and has three or more assists in seven games this season.

• Bria Stallworth has at least one assist in all eight games this season.

• Taylor Kissinger has knocked down at least one three-pointer in six consecutive games. • Kissinger has at least three rebounds in each of her seven games this season.

• Whitish has a steal in six consecutive games - the longest active streak by a Husker.

• Whitish has knocked down a three-pointer in five consecutive games.