OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha women's basketball team opens the 2015-16 season this weekend, welcoming the University of Central Florida on Saturday, Nov. 14 with a 2 p.m. tip-off at Baxter Arena.  KZOT 1180 AM Zone 2 will carry the radio broadcast live with Jon Green calling the action.  Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.

Maverick Notes

• The 2015-16 season marks the 46th in the history of Omaha women's basketball.
• The Mavericks return four letterwinners from the 2014-15 squad, all of whom have starting experience: senior guard Bobbi Beckwith, junior forward Mikaela Shaw, sophomore center Vanessa Barajas, and sophomore guard Remy Davenport.
• Last season, Shaw and Davenport were the top two scorers for Omaha.  Shaw averaged 15.4 points per game, while Davenport added 9.2 points per game.
• Shaw was one of six players named to the 2015-16 Preseason All-Summit First Team.  Last season, she earned Second Team All-Summit League honors after averaging 15.4 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game. Additionally, Shaw shot 46.7 percent from the field and 74.4 percent from the free throw line.
• Last season, Omaha finished the year with a 10-18 overall record and a 5-11 Summit League mark.
• The 2015-16 season will be Omaha's first with full NCAA Division I and Summit League postseason eligibility.
• UNO was picked seventh in this year's Summit League Preseason Poll.

About the UCF Knights

The Knights are coming off a 2014-15 season that saw them post a 9-21 overall record and a 5-13 American Athletic Conference (AAC) mark.

UCF was ninth in the American Athletic Conference Preseason ranking. Coach Joi Williams welcomes back the high scoring guard tandem of Zykira Lewis and Aliyah Gregory, who combined for 912 points and accounted for nearly half of the Knights' offensive output last season. Lewis finished as the second-leading scorer in the conference at 18.9 points per game and was an all-conference honoree.

Like Omaha, UCF is a young team with eight of the 12 players on the roster being underclassmen.  Erica Juarbe is the lone senior on the squad.  Juarbe, started in 10 of 29 games played, averaging 1.4 points and 4.0 rebounds in 17.2 minutes per game last year.

Way to Open the Season

Omaha has a 3-1 record in season openers since the start of the Division I era.  Last year, the Mavericks defeated Alcorn State at Sapp Field House, 59-39.  Louisiana Layfette dealt UNO its only opening game loss in 2013-14, 80-68.  Omaha topped North Carolina A&T in 2012-13 and Western State in 2011-12.

Meeting the Mavericks

Omaha returns four letterwinners from last season and all four have starting experience.  There will be 11 new faces on the UNO bench as well with six freshmen and five transfers joining the roster. 

The Mavericks return their top two scorers from last season in forward Mikaela Shaw and guard Remy Davenport.  Shaw, a junior, earned Preseason First Team All-Summit League honors by averaging 15.4 points per game and 8.7 rebounds.  She is also the top rebounder and second leading scorer returning in the Summit League.  Davenport, a sophomore sharp shooter, averaged 9.2 ppg and 2.8 rpg last season.  Davenport connected on 34.6 percent of her 3-point shots last year.

Vanessa Barajas and Bobbi Beckwith were part-time starters last season for the Mavs.  As a freshman, Barajas averaged 1.8 ppg and 1.0 rpg.  She also blocked 10 shots.  Beckwith sat out the first half of last season per NCAA transfer rules, appeared in 16 games with three starts last season.  She averaged 3.6 ppg and 2.2 rpg.

Newcomers Ready to Shine

Ellie Brecht, Jay Bridgeman, Sara Echelberry, Caroline Hogue, Kalen Phillips and Amber Vidal all look to make an impact in their first collegiate season.

Hogue was one of the premier shot blockers in high school hoops during her prep career.  She finished with 933 career blocked shots, which is an Arkansas state record and ranks second all-time nationally. 

As a senior, Vidal led O'Connor High School (San Antonio, Tex.) with 101 assists and 82 steals, while averaging 17.9 points per game.  She was also named the District 27-6A Most Valuable Player.  Hogue and Vidal were named nominees for the 2015 McDonald's All-American game.

As a senior, Brecht was a repeat first-team all-state selection from Sioux Falls Lincoln High School.  She averaged 18.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. 

Bridgeman led Westside High School to the Nebraska Class A state title and averaged 15.2 points and 7.5 rebounds per game as a senior.  She was named captain of the Nebraska All-State Basketball team. 

Echelberry averaged 15.4 pts, 8.0 rebounds and 2 blocked shots as a senior at Conway Springs High School (Kan.). 

Phillips, a guard from South Jones High School in Ellisville, Miss., was ranked a 3-star recruit on ESPN.  During her senior season, she averaged 19.0 points, 7.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds, 4.9 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game.

Infusion of Transfers

Michaela Dapprich, Moriah Dapprich, Abi Lujan, Marissa Preston, and Courtney Vaccher will add valuable experience to a young Maverick squad.  Michaela Dapprich, Moriah Dapprich, and Courtney Vaccher will have to sit out the 2015-16 season due to NCAA Division I transfer rules, but will be valuable assets on the scout team this year. 

The Dapprich sisters spent last season at Wichita State, while Vaccher was a member of the Texas Tech team. 

Lujan spent the past two seasons at Western Nebraska Community College.  She averaged 6.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in her sophomore year and was named to the Region 9 All-Defensive team. 

Preston joined the Mavericks last season from Wichita State, but had to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules.  In her one season with the Shockers, she played in 26 games and started one and averaged 2.3 points in 9.9 minutes per game.

Series History

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Up Next

Omaha hits the road to face North Dakota on Tuesday, Nov. 17.  Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.  The game will be regionally televised on FOX Sports North.  KZOT 1180 AM Zone 2 will carry the radio broadcast live with Jon Green calling the action.  Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.