Complete Game Notes

The Mavericks will begin the final month of the regular season at home as they host Northwest Missouri State at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Sapp Fieldhouse. Nebraska-Omaha will then begin another two-game road trip with a contest Saturday at No. 5 Emporia State at 5:30 p.m. in White Auditorium.

The Mavericks dropped their lone game last week, falling 76-66 at Fort Hays State on Wednesday. The Bearcats fell last Wednesday, 80-63 at Washburn before winning, 75-54 at home against Fort Hays State on Saturday. Emporia State stretched its winning streak to 14 straight games with a pair of wins last week. The Lady Hornets, ranked No. 5 in last week's poll (a new poll is scheduled for release this Tuesday), rolled over Missouri Western, 110-68 on Wednesday and then topped Truman, 76-60 on Saturday.

UNO senior guard Alyssa Green is sixth in the MIAA averaging 14.8 points a game and she and the Mavs will take on three of the conference's top scorers ahead of her. Bearcat Gentry Dietz is third in the league with 16.0 points a game and Abby Henry is fifth with 14.9 a game. ESU's Cassondra Boston enters the week with 18.3 points a game, second best in the league.

Following The Mavericks
Wednesday's game against Northwest Missouri will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM and online at omavs.com/KVNO. Saturday's game at Emporia State will be broadcast on 90.7-2 KVNO HD and online at omavs.com/kvnoHD2. Fans can find a link to live video for both games at omavs.com/LiveVideo and fans can find free live stats at omavs.com/livestats for Wednesday' game and at emporia.edu/athletics for Saturday's game.

Most games throughout the year will be available through 90.7 KVNO FM or 90.7-2 KVNO HD. Live stats and video will be available for the remainder of the home games and many away games. Fans can find links to all live video, audio and stats through omavs.com/wbb on the schedule page.

The Coaches
UNO head coach Patty Patton Shearer is 92-70 (.568) in her sixth season with the Mavericks. She is also in her 10th year overall as a head coach with a 152-119 (.561) 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. Patton Shearer coached for four seasons at Fort Lewis before coming to UNO.

Gene Steinmeyer is 151-154 (.495) in his 11th year at Northwest Missouri. Overall, he is 511-295 (.634) on 24 years as a head coach after coaching for 15 seasons at Doane. He coached the Bearcats to two MIAA postseason tournament titles (2004, 07).  His Doane teams won eight Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference titles. He's a 1973 graduate of Nebraska-Kearney and he earned his master's from Nebraska-Lincoln in 1988.

Brandon Schnieder is 295-68 (.813) in 12 years at Emporia State. He has led ESU to 10 NCAA tournaments with six MIAA titles and four MIAA tournament titles. He's brought his team to four NCAA Elite Eight tournaments. He is a 1995 graduate of Wayland Baptist  where he played for four seasons.

The Series
- Northwest Missouri leads the series against UNO, 14-12.
- The Bearcats won earlier this year, 78-69 in Maryville. Gabby Curtis scored 27 points in that game.
- The two teams split last year with each winning at home.
- The series with Emporia State is tied, 4-4 after the Hornets won, 76-42.  Cassondra Boston scored 22 points in that game.
- The two split their games last year with each team winning at home. The Lady Hornets were ranked fourth when the Mavericks beat them last year.
- The series began in 1980-81.

Maverick Guards Keep UNO Atop League in Steals, Forced Turnovers
Freshman guard Jamie Nash leads the MIAA in steals per game with 3.3 and senior guard Alyssa Green is second with 2.7 a game. Overall, the Mavericks lead the conference with 11.9 steals a game.

UNO has had double-figure steals in 13 of its 19 games this year. The Mavs had a season-high 26 steals against Oklahoma Panhandle State and they only allowed the Lady Aggies three steals.  They have only been out-stolen by their opponents six times this year.

The Mavericks also lead the MIAA in forced turnovers, getting their opponents to give the ball away 22.4 times a game. Despite having  an inflated turnover average of 19.3 a game themselves, the Mavericks are second in the conference in turnover margin at +3.11 overall. Their opponents have committed 20 or more turnovers 13 times.

The Mavericks led the MIAA in steals last year with 11.00 per game and they were the only team to average in double figures. They stole the ball 10 or more times in 18 of 27 games last year and they out-stole their opponents in every game but six.

Cutting It Close
UNO's last six games have all been decided by 10 points or less. They beat Southwest Baptist by seven and Pittsburg State by six and lost to Central Missouri, Missouri Southern, Washburn and Fort Hays State by six, three, eight and 10, respectively. UNO is averaging 62.0 points a game in those six games while opponents are scoring 64.3 a game.

Mavs Staying In Games Despite Low Numbers
The Mavericks sit at ninth in the MIAA in scoring with 63.4 points a game and last in shooting with a .365 field goal percentage. They are able to keep a winning record by holding opponents to 59.9 points a game, the third lowest total in the conference, and to a .359 field goal percentage, also the third lowest total.

The Mavericks are 5-1 when they shoot 40 percent or better. The lone loss came on January 9 against Central Missouri in an overtime game. Conversely, they are 5-8 when they shoot below 40 percent. The Mavs are 10-4 when their opponents shoot below 40 percent and they are 0-4 when their foes top 40 percent.

UNO is shooting 40 percent as a team in its wins and 33 percent in its losses.

Green Reaches Career Milestones
Senior guard Alyssa Green joined some exclusive clubs this year and she will look to climb up UNO's career charts as she ends her playing time with the Mavericks.

Green became just the second UNO player to score 1,000 points and get at least 300 assists and 200 steals. Kriss Edwards was the first to reach that milestone during her career from 1977-81.

Green's third free throw in the season-opener against Dana was her 1,000th career point at UNO and she now has 1,279 points to put her 11th in school history. She needs 18 points to move into the top 10.
Earlier this year she also joined the 300 assist club and the 200 steal club. She's sixth with 316 assists and 14 away from the top five. She's third right now with 230 steals.

Green Scoring Big For Mavericks
Senior guard Alyssa Green is first on the team and sixth in the MIAA averaging 14.8 point a game. She's reached double figures in scoring in all but two games and in the last four games she's averaging 16.0 points a game and shooting 50 percent.

Green actually shoots and scores better on the road than at home. In UNO's five true road games she's averaging 15.5 points a game and shooting 46 percent. At home, she averages 15.1 points a game and shoots 36 percent. Overall, she's a 38 percent shooter.

Green scored 23 points at home against Central Missouri January 9 to give her a season high. The point total was one off her career-high of 24 set against Pittsburg State last year.

Rebounds Well Distributed For UNO
Four of UNO's five starters are averaging around five rebounds a game, spreading the bulk of UNO's rebounds from right under the basket all the way out to the perimeter. Senior forward Ashley Nelson leads UNO with 5.4 rebounds a game and senior guard Alyssa Green and sophomore forward Heather Pohl are second with 5.3 a game. Freshman guard Jessica Zaruba has 4.7 a game. Freshman guard Jamie Nash, the other starter, is averaging 3.6 rebounds a game.

Freshman forward Kiley Herold leads the bench players with 3.9 rebounds a game.

Nash Having Strong Freshman Campaign
Freshman guard Jamie Nash is putting up strong numbers in her first season with Nebraska-Omaha. She's first in the MIAA with 3.3 steals and fifth with 3.5 assists a game. Her 1.1 assist/turnover ration is ninth best in the conference. Nash has had five steals or more eight times this year with a season-high of seven last week against Fort Hays State. Nash has led the team in assists 11 times this year and UNO is 8-3 when she does so.

Nash is averaging 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. She's scored in double figures four times this year including twice in the last three games.

Pohl Scoring Big As a Sophomore
Sophomore forward Heather Pohl tied a season high with 22 points last week at Fort Hays State to bump her season average near double figures again, now with 9.9 a game. She's averaging 14.5 points a game in each of the last four.

She also scored 22 points in the season opener after never scoring more than nine as a freshman. She's UNO leader from long distance with 28 made 3-pointers.

Pohl is averaging 12.8 points a game in UNO's six true road games and 10.7 a game in UNO's 11 MIAA games.

Nelson Third on Team in Scoring
Senior forward Ashley Nelson is third on the team in scoring with 8.6 points a game. She scored 11 two weeks ago at Washburn to reach double figures for the fourth time this year but she was held to just three points last week at FHSU.

She was named the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association athlete of the week after her efforts over the Thanksgiving weekend. She scored 15 points against Oklahoma Panhandle State and then against Chadron State she scored 27 points. She averaged 7.0 rebounds in both games and shot 77 percent from the free throw line. That was the first honor this year for a UNO player.

Nelson leads the team with 32 total blocks and she's third in the MIAA with 1.7 per game. She's blocked at least one shot in all but three games this year and she tied a school record with seven on January 16 at Missouri Southern.

Three MIAA Teams Ranked In Regional Poll
The Mavericks will take on the No. 2 team in the region this week when they play Emporia State Saturday. The Hornets earned that ranking in last week's NCAA South Central Region poll. The top eight teams in each region advance to the NCAA tournament at the end of the regular season.

MIAA schools Washburn (No. 4) and Fort Hays State (No. 7) are also in the ranking.

Mavericks Playing 40th Season Of Basketball
- The start of the 2009-10 season marked the 40th season of women's basketball at UNO.
- The program started in 1970-71 but win-loss records are not available until the 1971-72 season.
- In those last 39 years, the Mavericks have gone 532-487 (.522) in 1,019 games.
- There have been 19 winning seasons and 23 seasons with at least a .500 record.
- The Mavericks have three North Central Conference championships in their history (1980, 1981, 1982) and they have been to the NCAA tournament three times (1982, 1987, 1992). They went to the AIAW tournament four times.

Coming Up
The Mavericks will take on two teams at or near the bottom of the MIAA standings next week. Wednesday, February 10, they play at Missouri Western, ninth in the MIAA. Saturday, February 13, they play at Truman, 11th in the league.