Nebraska WBB vs Northwestern Preview

Nebraska Cornhuskers at No. 19/21 Northwestern Wildcats
Sunday, Feb. 16, 2020, 2 p.m. (CT)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (7,039) - Evanston, Illinois
Live Video: BTN+
Live Radio: Husker Sports Network (1:45 p.m.)Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst) Lincoln - B107.3 FM; Omaha - ESPN 590 AMHuskers.com, Huskers App, TuneIn

The Huskers broke a four game losing streak a few days ago vs one of the worst teams in the conference. Now, they face one of the best and will need to win all four of their final games to reach 20 wins and end with a conference record above .500.

While unlikely, it is not impossible and this Husker team looks every bit like one of the best teams in the B1G when they are clicking. If they can put together four quarters of good basketball, they can win this game. Heck, even if they can put together three quarters of good basketball, they will be right in this. Unfortunately, they seem to be averaging 2 ¹⁄₂ quarters of good basketball of late.

One of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten this season, the Wildcats boast a 21-3 overall record and an 11-2 Big Ten mark. The Wildcats have won four straight games, Northwestern’s only conference losses have come at Big Ten leader and current No. 10 Maryland (70-61, Jan. 26) and to the Big Ten’s third-place team and current No. 17 Iowa (77-51, Jan. 5) in Evanston.

As a team, Northwestern is averaging 70.8 points per game. The Wildcats feature a stingy defense that surrenders just 56 points per contest. Northwestern also owns the Big Ten’s best turnover margin (+6.5), while matching the opposition on the glass. The Wildcats are shooting a solid 43.4 percent from the field, including an outstanding 35.3 percent from three-point range. They have hit 68.7 percent of their free throws on the year, and that number has improved to 72.2 percent in Big Ten play

Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-9, 6-8 Big Ten)
13 - Ashtyn Veerbeek - 6-2 - So. - F - 7.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg
31 - Kate Cain - 6-5 - Jr. - C - 9.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg
3 - Hannah Whitish - 5-9 - Sr. - G - 9.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg
4 - Sam Haiby - 5-9 - So. - G - 10.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg
5 - Nicea Eliely - 6-1 - Sr. - G - 8.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg

Off the Bench
32 - Leigha Brown - 6-1 - So. - F - 13.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg
34 - Isabelle Bourne - 6-2 - Fr. - F - 6.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg
2 - Trinity Brady - 5-11 - Fr. - G - 1.7 ppg, 1.1 rpg
44 - Kayla Mershon - 6-3 - So. - F - 1.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg
14 - Grace Mitchell - 6-2 - Sr. - F - 1.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg
11 - Kristian Hudson - 5-5 - RSr. - G - 1.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg
1 - Makenzie Helms - 5-8 - Fr. - G - 1.0 ppg, 0.5 rpg

Out for Season
33 - Taylor Kissinger - 6-1 - Jr. - G - 8.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg

Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998) Fourth Season at Nebraska (58-58); 13th Season Overall (251-167)

No. 19/21 Northwestern Wildcats (21-3, 11-2 Big Ten)
21 - Abbie Wolf - 6-4 - Sr. - F/C - 11.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg
44 - Abi Scheid - 6-2 - Sr. - F/C - 11.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg
10 - Lindsey Pulliam - 5-10 - Jr. - G - 19.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg
12 - Veronica Burton - 5-9 - So. - G - 10.8 ppg, 5.2 rpg
3 - Sydney Wood - 5-11 - So. - G - 4.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg

Off the Bench
24 - Jordan Hamilton - 5-8 - Jr. - G - 4.7 ppg, 1.9 rpg
15 - Courtney Shaw - 6-0 - So. - F - 4.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg
22 - Byrdy Galernik - 5-8 - Sr. - G - 3.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg
0 - Jess Sancataldo - 6-0 - So. - G - 0.8 ppg, 0.6 rpg
2 - Lauryn Satterwhite - 5-7 - So. - G - 0.8 ppg, 0.7 rpg

Head Coach: Joe McKeown (Kent State, 1979) 11th Season at Northwestern (203-176); 34th Season Overall (712-350)

Numbers to Watch
(1) Kristian Hudson needs one assist to reach 400 in her career (383 at FIU).
(3) Hannah Whitish is three points away from 1,200 in her career.
(3) Kate Cain needs three blocks to match the career total of her mother, Alison (Martinsky) Cain, during her career at Fairfield. Alison finished with 1,071 points, 768 rebounds and 268 blocks (No. 2 in Fairfield history).
(9) Kate Cain needs nine blocks to crack the top 10 list in Big Ten Conference history.