This Week
The Omaha women's basketball opens the 2014-15 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15 against Alcorn State University at 2 p.m. at the Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Teams
Omaha is playing its first regular season game of the season on Saturday. Last week, the Mavericks defeated Rockhurst University 61-55 in an exhibition game. UNO picked to finish eighth in the Summit League Preseason Poll.
Alcorn State is playing its first regular season game of the season. The Lady Braves were picked to finish 9th in the Southwestern Athletic Conference 2014-15 preseason poll. Last year, the Lady Braves finished 8-22 overall and had a 7-11 mark in the SWAC.
Last Time Out
The Omaha women's basketball team tipped off the 2014-15 season on a positive note, defeating Rockhurst (Mo.) 61-55 in an exhibition game Thursday evening at the Sapp Fieldhouse.
Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Madi Robson chipped in eight points, while Cat Cox and Taijhe Kelly each had seven points. Robson dished out four assists, while Kelly grabbed eight rebounds in the win. Felicia Anderson and Victoria Trowbridge each had six points off the bench for the Mavericks.
Omaha trailed 20-17 with 7:12 remaining in the first half before turning the game around with a game-changing 13-2 run to end the half. Omaha stretched the lead to as many as 14 points early in the second half, before Rockhurst started chipping away at the lead. The Hawks evened things at 55-55 with 2:46 left in the game. The Mavericks scored the game's final six points to put the game away.
The Mavs shot 40.7 percent from the floor (24-59) and 25.0 percent from 3-point range (4-16). UNO was 9-of-18 (50 percent) from the free throw line.
The Coaches
Brittany Lange is in her second season as the head coach of the Mavericks. In her first season, Lange guided the young Mavericks to a 12-16 overall record. Despite season-ending injuries to two key players and with the youngest team in the Summit League - five freshmen and a total of seven newcomers among the nine healthy players - the Mavericks made strides throughout the season and it showed during the second half of league play. After starting out 1-6 in the Summit League, the Mavs went 3-4 the second time through the schedule to finish 4-10 and build confidence for 2014-15 with four starters returning. Nearly 70 percent of UNO's minutes were played by first-year Division I players; the next closest in the league was 26 percent.
Tonya Edwards is in her seventh year as the head coach of the Lady Braves. The former Tennessee Volunteer and WNBA player has a 50-129 career record with Alcorn State.
Media
All Omaha women's basketball home games will be have live radio broadcast presented by NRG Media. Saturday's game will air on the Mighty1290 AM KOIL with Jon Green calling the action. Live webcast, audio and stats links will be available on OMavs.com.
Up Next
The Mavericks play their only road game in the month of November as they travel to Colorado Springs Colo. to play the Air Force Academy on Monday, Nov. 17. Tip-off is set for 8:05 p.m. CT in the Clune Arena.
