Complete Game Notes

With a wide-open race in the MIAA from top to bottom, the Mavericks will enter the final week of the regular season with a chance to catch the three teams in front of them or be caught by the three teams behind them.

Nebraska-Omaha (12-13, 7-11 MIAA) will host Missouri Southern Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse and then play at Pittsburg State Saturday at 1:30 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.
The Mavericks dropped their second and third straight games last week, falling at Central Missouri by three and then at home to Southwest Baptist by a point. They are currently eighth in the MIAA and they hold the final spot in the conference tournament. Three teams are one game in front of them in a tie for fifth with 8-10 records and three teams are behind the Mavs, all capable of at least tying UNO in the final standings.

Missouri Southern (14-11, 8-10 MIAA) is one of the teams right in front of the Mavs. The Lions split a pair of games last week, falling to Washburn by 24 and then defeating Fort Hays State by 38. Pittsburg State (12-13, 10-8) is fourth in the conference after a five-point win over Emporia State and then a 35-point loss at Washburn last week. The Gorillas will play at Fort Hays State Wednesday before hosting UNO.

Senior guard Alyssa Green continues to lead the Mavs in scoring and she's sixth in the MIAA with 15.1 points a game. Freshman guard Jamie Nash is first in the league in steals with 3.1 a game and Green is second with 2.5 and the whole team leads the conference with 11.0 a game.

Following The Mavericks
Thursday's game against Missouri Southern will be broadcast on 90.7 KVNO FM and online at omavs.com/KVNO. Saturday's game at Pittsburg 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 Thursday' game and at pittstategorillas.com 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 will be available for the remainder of the regular season and the MIAA tournament. 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 94-74 (.560) in her sixth season with the Mavericks. She is also in her 10th year overall as a head coach with a 154-123 (.556) 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.

Missouri Southern coach Maryann Mitts is 149-102 (.594) in her eighth season with the Lions. Prior to that, she coached five seasons at Rockhurst and went 83-57 (.593). Overall, she is 232-158 (.595) in 13 years as a head coach. Mitts is a 1992 graduate of Rockhurst.

Lane Lord is 42-39 (.519) in his third season at Pittsburg State. Before that, he spent three years at Barton County CC and went 77-21. He's a 1993 graduate of Tabor College.

The Series
- The all-time series with Missouri Southern is tied at 2-2. The Lions won earlier this year and the two teams split their series last year with the road team winning both times. The Mavs lost by 32 points at home to MSSU last year but later went on the road to win by nine points.
- Pittsburg State leads the all-time series with UNO, 3-2. The Mavericks won earlier this year after the Gorillas got all three of their wins against UNO last year.
- The Gorillas swept the regular season series and then ended UNO's season in the MIAA tournament first round last year.
- UNO's other win in the series came in 1998-99, the only other time they played each other.

Mavs Need Three Wins to Guarantee Winning Season
At 12-13 overall, the Mavericks need some help to finish with their fifth straight winning season. If they win their final two regular season games and at least the first round game of the MIAA tournament, it will be just the second time in school UNO has had at least five straight winning seasons. The Mavericks had seven straight winning seasons from 1975-76 through 1981-82.

Maverick Guards Keep UNO Atop League in Steals, Forced Turnovers
Freshman guard Jamie Nash leads the MIAA in steals per game with 3.1 and senior guard Alyssa Green is second with 2.5 a game. Overall, the Mavericks lead the conference with 11.0 steals a game.

UNO has had double-figure steals in 15 of its 25 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 seven times this year.

The Mavericks also lead the MIAA in forced turnovers, getting their opponents to give the ball away 21.1 times a game. Despite having  an inflated turnover average of 19.0 a game themselves, the Mavericks are third in the conference in turnover margin at +2.08 overall. Their opponents have committed 20 or more turnovers 14 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
11 of UNO's last 12 games have been decided by 10 points or less and the Mavs are 4-7 in those games. The Mavericks' last four games have been decided by an average of 3.5 points and their game Saturday was decided by just a point when SBU hit a jumper at the buzzer for a win.

Overall, the Mavs are 8-8 in games decided by 10 points or less and 2-4 in games decided by five or less.

Mavs Staying In Games Despite Low Numbers
The Mavericks sit at ninth in the MIAA in scoring with 64.0 points a game and last in shooting with a .370 field goal percentage. They are able to keep themselves in nearly every game by holding opponents to 62.2 points a game, the fourth lowest total in the conference, and to a .371 field goal percentage, the third lowest total.

The Mavericks are 5-3 when they shoot 40 percent or better. Conversely, they are 7-10 when they shoot below 40 percent. The Mavs are 12-5 when their opponents shoot below 40 percent and they are 0-8 when their foes shoot 40 percent or better.

UNO is shooting 39 percent as a team in its wins and 35 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 1,337 points to put her eighth in school history.

Earlier this year she also joined the 300 assist club and the 200 steal club. She's fifth with 332 assists and she's third right now with 233 steals.

Green Scoring Big For Mavericks
Senior guard Alyssa Green is first on the team and sixth in the MIAA averaging 15.1 point a game. She's reached double figures in scoring in 10 straight games and overall, she's done so in all but two games.
Green actually shoots and scores better on the road than at home. In UNO's road games she's averaging 16.1 points a game and shooting 47 percent. At home, she averages 15.0 points a game and shoots 35 percent. Overall, she's a 39 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. She had 22 at Central Missouri last Wednesday

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 guard Alyssa Green leads the team with 5.2 rebounds a game and Ashley Nelson is second with 5.1 a game. Sophomore forward Heather Pohl is third with 4.9 and freshman guard Jessica Zaruba has 4.6 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 3.6 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 3.1 steals and 10th with 3.1 assists a game. Her 1.0 assist/turnover ration is 10th best in the conference. Nash has had five steals or more 10 times this year with a season-high of seven January 27 against Fort Hays State. Nash has led the team in assists 12 times this year and UNO is 8-4 when she does so.

Nash is averaging 7.0 points and 3.6 rebounds a game. She's scored in double figures four times this year with a season-high 15 against Pittsburg State on January 20.

Pohl Scoring Big As a Sophomore
Sophomore forward Heather Pohl tied a season high with 22 points January 27 at Fort Hays State and she's averaging 10.0 a game to make her UNO's second double figure scorer. She had reached double figures four straight times before falling short in the last three.

Pohl had made a 3-pointer in 11 straight games before not attempting one last Saturday. She leads the team with 41 made 3s and 1.6 makes a game.

Pohl is averaging 13.1 points a game in UNO's road games and 11.1 a game in UNO's 16 MIAA games.

Nelson Third in MIAA in Blocks Shots
Senior forward Ashley Nelson leads the team with 41 total blocks and she's third in the MIAA with 1.6 per game. Her single-season total is currently the seventh highest in school history and she needs one more to match Carol Wink's total of 42 in 1987-88.

Her career total of 80 blocks is the fifth highest at UNO and she needs three more to catch Wink's career total.

She's blocked at least one shot in all but four games this year and she tied a school record with seven on January 16 at Missouri Southern.

Nelson is third on the team in scoring with 9.2 points a game. She scored in double figures in five of the last eight games to give her eight total double-figure scoring games.

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.

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 534-491 (.522) in 1,023 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 await their fate in the MIAA postseason tournament. They enter the week with the eighth and final spot but they could fall out of contention or jump as high as a tie for fifth.
UNO and most of the MIAA wrap up the regular season Saturday. Emporia State and Fort Hays State play Sunday and then the seedings and schedule for the tournament will be announced.