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The Mavericks will begin the 2009-10 season with an exhibition at Creighton Thursday at 7:05 p.m. in the Bluejays' new D.J. Sokol Arena. This will be the second straight year the two schools have squared off against each other in preseason contests. Last year CU defeated UNO, 93-68.

The Records
Nebraska-Omaha started last year 1-4 but finished strong for its fourth straight winning season, finishing the year 15-12. A six-game winning streak late in the MIAA season that included a win over fourth-ranked Emporia State gave the Mavericks an 11-9 MIAA record. That was their first winning season in conference play since UNO went 12-6 in 1991-92 in the old North Central Conference. That was also their first stretch of at least four straight winning seasons since a seven-year streak of winning seasons from 1975-76 through 1981-82. The Mavericks finished sixth in the MIAA last year and fell in the opening round of the MIAA tournament.

The Bluejays went 22-12 last year and finished second in the Missouri Valley at 14-4. They played in the final of the MVC tournament and advanced to the second round of the Women's NIT.

Following The Mavericks
Fans can link to live video and live stats of Thursday's game at Creighton through www.omavs.com/wbb by going to the schedule page. CU will provide live stats for free while live video is available through a subscription. Radio will not be available.

The Coaches
UNO head coach Patty Patton Shearer is 82-61 (.573) as she starts her sixth season with the Mavericks. She is also beginning her 10th year overall as a head coach with a 142-110 (.563) record. She is the school's leader in career winning percentage. Patton Shearer is a 1990 graduate of Rocky Mountain College. She played one year for the Bears after playing two years at Northern Arizona.

Creighton coach Jim Flanery is 131-92 (.587) in his eighth year as the Bluejay's head coach. He was a 1987 graduate of CU and a guard for the Bluejay men's team from 1985-87.

The Series
Nebraska-Omaha leads the all-time series, 16-9 in regular season contests but the two have not played a game that counted since 1986-87. UNO won 16 of the first 17 meetings but Creighton won the last eight.
CU won an exhibition last year between the two and they also played once each year between 2000-01 and 2002-03 in preseason warmups.

Green Enters Year 3 Points Shy of 1,000 Point Club
Maverick senior guard #Alyssa Green# will enter her final year just three points shy of scoring 1,000 in her career. She currently has 997 and she's looking to become the 22nd member of UNO's 1,000 points club. Green's already ninth in career 3-pointers with 79 and she needs six to tie for eighth. She's also ninth with 275 career assists, just three shy of eighth all-time.

This would be the second straight year the Mavericks have had a new member of the 1,000 point club. Last year Cayla Hargrove joined the elite group and she ended her career 15th with 1,106 points.

Coming Up
The regular season will begin with a game at Sapp Fieldhouse on Sunday, November 15, at 1:30 p.m. against Dana. The Mavericks and Vikings have met just twice before, each of the last two seasons, with the Mavericks winning by an average of 36 points. Dana is an NAIA program out of the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

2009-10 Season Outlook
Head coach Patty Patton Shearer will begin her sixth year at Nebraska-Omaha looking to build on the rapid improvement she led the team to in her first five years.

The Mavericks lost six seniors from last year's 15-12 team and they return just 32 percent of last year's scoring. Despite that, Patton Shearer believes the Mavericks can challenge for a top spot in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association and a berth in the NCAA tournament.

UNO had its fourth straight winning season last year and its first winning conference record since 1991-92. The team finished sixth in the MIAA with an 11-9 record. The Mavericks will return two starters and six total letterwinners.

The Guards
Anchoring the team will be senior Alyssa Green, an honorable mention all-MIAA guard. Green finished third on the team last year with 11.1 points a game. She will be the top returning point scorer for this year's Mavericks.

Patton Shearer will need those same numbers, as well as the speed and defensive pressure that comes from her aggressive style.

Green could gain admission into an elite UNO club with her first made basket of the 2009-10 season. She finished last year with 997 career points and she'll need just three more to become the 22nd member of the 1,000 point club. She already is ninth with 79 career 3-pointers and ninth with 275 career steals. Green scored in double figures 16 times last year. She had a season-high 24 points against Pittsburg State in the MIAA tournament and also scored 23 in a win against fourth-ranked Emporia State.

Also returning will be senior point guard #Autralius Sanders#. She played in 25 games with one start while playing 13.4 minutes a game. She averaged just over a point and a rebound per game and also dished out two assists. Patton Shearer said she came on huge at the end of the year with great energy. If she can carry that enthusiasm over to her senior year, she will have a big season for the Mavericks.

All the rest of the playing time at the guard position will be filled by freshmen.

#Paige Frauendorfer# was an all-state player at Humphrey High School in Humphrey, Neb., who scored 1,000 career points by her junior season. Verona, Mo., native #Jamie Nash earned first team all-conference and all-district all four years at Aurora High School. Sara Reeves# helped her team to a state championship her senior year at Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo, Neb. She earned all-state honors her final two seasons and played in four high school all-star games. Rounding out the freshmen available to play guard is #Jessica Zaruba#. The Norfolk, Neb., native earned all-state her junior year while helping her team to a state championship. Her senior year she suffered a knee injury and did not play.

Patton Shearer believes that her entire group of freshmen recruits will be able to step on the court right away. Fans will see their unselfish investment to the team from the beginning as well as their scoring ability and overall smart basketball IQ.

The Forwards
#Ashley Nelson# will return after scoring 7.5 points a game with 3.6 rebounds. Patton Shearer says she's capable of improving those numbers and she will be relied on to make plays on both ends of the court.

#Heather Pohl# will return as the only sophomore on the team. She played every game last year and scored 1.6 points and 1.7 rebounds a game. She learned a lot about the college game last year and fans should see right away that she has a tremendous scoring ability.

Senior #Kylee Rinehart# has seen action in just 19 games since transferring to UNO three seasons ago. Last year she missed the entire year with a concussion and the year before that she battled injuries and appeared in 19 games to score 2.6 points a game with 2.6 rebounds. She spent her first two collegiate seasons at Casper Community College.

Patton Shearer has missed Rinehart's physical ability. She's a strong player whose rebounding skills should help with the tempo of transition the Mavericks would like to play with.

Freshman #Kiley Herold# will be the only newcomer to the college game at forward for UNO. She's a hard worker who will do anything for the team. She earned all-Metro her final two seasons's at Omaha's Millard North High School and her junior year she helped the Mustangs finish third in state. Patton Shearer attributes the same accolades to Herold as she did to her freshmen guards.

Junior forward #Katie Kane# will have to sit out this year after suffering a knee injury in the preseason.