WICHITA, Kan. -
Ericka House scored a career-high 26 points - 21 in the first half - to spark the Omaha women's basketball team to its fourth straight win, 70-54 over Austin Peay on Sunday afternoon at the Wichita State Winter Classic.
The Mavericks are now 7-5 overall with their fourth win in a row and capped a perfect 2-0 weekend at the Wichita State Winter Classic, their first perfect record at a tournament since 2009. Austin Peay dropped to 3-9 overall and finished 0-2 at the tournament. Only Wichita State has a chance to join the Mavs with a perfect record at the tournament if it can beat Texas-Pan American Sunday afternoon.
The Mavs committed a school-record low four turnovers with just one in the first half. House was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 23.5 points in the Mavs' two wins. Her 26 points on Sunday came on 10-of-22 shooting and 6-of-14 from 3-point range. She also added six rebounds to her stat line.
Madi Robson had 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
Taijhe Kelly posted her second straight double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She also blocked six shots.
Mikaela Shaw added nine points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Mavs never trailed after an inspirational start led to a 7-0 outburst in the opening 2:16. The Mavs executed their game plan to perfection. Austin Peay entered the game ranking 308th nationally in two-point field-goal percentage defense, and the Mavs' agenda to attack the rim early on rather than settling for jump shots paid off, as Robson, Kelly and Shaw scored easy baskets early on to build the lead to 11-4. The Mavs' aggressiveness also forced two fouls by Austin Peay's 6-3 center Tearra Banks, sending her to the bench just 2:16 into the game.
The Maverick attack on the Lady Govs' interior defense eventually opened up the perimeter, and House took over from there. With UNO ahead 12-10, House scored eight straight points - including two 3-pointers - to put the Mavs up 20-12. After two free throws by Robson made it 22-14, House scored seven points in a row for Omaha to give the Mavs a 29-19 edge. After Austin Peay cut it to 33-26, the Mavs closed out the half with a key 9-0 run over the last 1:20. Robson hit a 3-pointer from the wing, then Shaw took a pass from House in transition and finished an old-fashioned three-point play. With Austin Peay playing for the final shot,
Lanese Bough picked the pocket of the Lady Govs' ball handler at the top of the key and found House open up court for a buzzer-beating triple from the wing for a 42-26 lead at the break.
After halftime,
Felicia Anderson pushed the lead to 19 at 51-32 with a triple with 15:30 left in the game. The Lady Govs chipped the lead down to 12 with a 9-2 spurt, but UNO answered with a 7-0 run to make it 60-41, keyed by a three-point play by Kelly. Omaha went up by as many as 22, 69-47 with 2:53 remaining.
Omaha finished 37.3 percent (25-of-67) from the field and 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Mavs held Austin Peay to 30.8 percent (20-of-65) overall and just 4-of-28 (14.3 percent) from 3-point range.
The Mavericks are on break until New Year's Eve when they host Doane at 2 p.m. at the Sapp Fieldhouse. That begins a string of five straight home games.
