OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha basketball team continues its early-season slate Tuesday evening, as the Mavericks welcome Waldorf College to Baxter Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. and links to live stats, audio and video available on OMavs.com.
UNO will be playing five games, four on the road, over a 13-day stretch to close November. The stretch started with the November 17 game at North Dakota and ends with the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
Season and single-game tickets may be purchased online through OMavs.com/tix. Tickets also may be purchased in person at the Sapp Fieldhouse ticket office or by calling (402) 554-MAVS.
About Omaha
The Mavericks (2-1 overall, 0-0 Summit League) return home to host Waldorf College, before hitting the road for the Thanksgiving holiday to take part in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic. UNO Omaha bounced back from a defeat at North Dakota with a 51-50 win at Indiana State on Saturday night. In that game, Mikaela Shaw had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds along with six assists. Vanessa Barajas, Caroline Hogue, and Amber Vidal each had six points to help the Mavericks hold off Indiana State. Barajas grabbed six rebounds, while Vidal had four assists.
Entering this week's action, Shaw ranks among the Summit League leaders in points, rebounds, and assists. Shaw ranks tied for fourth in rebounds and assists per game as well as fifth in points per game. Vidal ranks second in the league in assists per game, while Hogue is tied for second in blocked shots.
Mikaela Shaw leads the Omaha offense early in the season. Shaw, a preseason first team All-Summit League selection, is averaging 17.0 points, 8.0 rebounds per game, and 4.0 assists. Remy Davenport is next on the team averaging 10.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Amber Vidal, a freshman point guard, is chipping in 8.7 points and 4.7 assists per game. Abi Lujan averages 4.7 rebounds per game this season, while Caroline Hogue averages 7.0 points and 1.3 blocks per game.
This season from the field, Omaha is shooting 37.9 percent and 25.0 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. UNO set a school record in the season opener against Central Florida with 39 attempted 3-point shots. Omaha's defense is limiting the opposition to a 35.0 field goal percentage and the percentage drops to 20.8 percent from 3-point land. The Mavericks average only 12 turnovers per game, which is second in the league. They also give up only 59.0 points per game, which is third overall in the league.
Behind the Numbers
41 – Points need by Mikaela Shaw to crack the Top 30 in career points.
39 – A school record of 3-point shots attempted against Central Florida.
23 – Points scored by Omaha new comers Ellie Brecht, Sara Echelberry, Caroline Hogue, Abi Lujan, and Amber Vidal in the win over Indiana State.
12 – Number of assists by UNO players against Indiana State.
10 – Made 3-pointers needed by Remy Davenport to become 13th all-time.
5 – Rebounds needed by Shaw to move up to 24th all-time.
Watching Waldorf
- Waldorf picked up its first win of the season over the weekend against Grace (NE), 50-45.
- Mackenzie Gott had a double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds. Gott was rewarded with NSAA Player of the Week honors.
- This will be the first all-time regular season game against Waldorf.
- Waldorf College is located in Forest City, Iowa, and belongs to the North Star Athletic Association.
Notes on Waldorf
After Saturday's win over Grace, Waldorf is 1-4 on the season. The Warriors also lost an exhibition game at Minnesota State-Mankato to start November, 91-45.
The Warriors are led by Mackenzie Gott's 11.6 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. Miriah Curruth averages 9.6 points per game and leads the team with 21 steals. Jamerka Martin averages 8.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.
Katie Schutjer is in her second season leading the Waldorf women's basketball program. She has a 5-30 overall mark after taking over for legendary coach, Denny Jerome.
Series History
Tuesday evening's meeting will be the first between the two programs.
Up Next
The Mavericks will spend their Thanksgiving holiday at the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio, Texas. Omaha will face Houston Baptist on Friday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m., before playing Illinois State on Sunday, Nov. 29 at noon.
Friday's game can be found on 1290 The Mighty KOIL, while 1180 AM KZOT Zone 2 will carry the radio broadcast on Sunday. Jon Green will be calling the action for both games. Links to live stats and audio will be available on OMavs.com.
Meet the Mavs
Omaha returns four letter winners 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.
Last Time Out: INDIANA STATE
Junior forward Mikaela Shaw scored 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Omaha past Indiana State, 51-50, at the Hulman Center on Saturday evening.
Shaw scored 12 of her team-high 14 points in the first half and finished 6-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw stripe. Shaw also had a team-best six assists. Three other Mavericks chipped in six points each. Sophomore center Vanessa Barajas went 3-of-4 from the floor for her six points and grabbed five rebounds. Freshman guard Amber Vidal was 2-of-11 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the line for her points and dished out four assists. Freshman center Caroline Hogue added six points off the bench with a 2-of-6 effort from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
Omaha shot 39.6 percent from the field, making 21-of-53 attempts, while Indiana State shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) and went 3-of-15 from 3-point range. The Mavericks made 6-of-9 free throws. The Sycamores were 13-of-18 from the charity stripe.
The Mavericks lost the rebounding battle, 40-31, but Omaha scored 30 points in the paint compared to 24 from Indiana State. UNO also scored 13 points off 11 ISU turnovers.
Indiana State's Cierra Ceazar led all players with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Teammate Kelsey Dirks added 12 points.
Ceazer scored the game's first basket and a Dirks bucket gave Indiana State a 5-4 lead at the 6:31 mark in the first quarter. It was the last lead the Sycamores would have in the game. Shaw and Abi Lujan each converted lay-ups to give Omaha the lead with 3:43 remaining in the quarter, 8-5. Ceazer brought the Maverick lead to one with a lay-up, but UNO's Hogue scored in the paint for a 10-8 lead with 2:00 remaining in the quarter. Neither team would score the final two minutes of the quarter.
Omaha opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run. Shaw opened up with another bucket in the paint, before Ellie Brecht took a pass from Remy Davenport and scored Omaha's first 3-pointer of the day. Hogue's jumper in the paint gave the Mavericks their first double digit lead of the game, 18-8. Two made free throws and a bucket by Dirks cut UNO's lead to four points midway through the second quarter, 20-16. Sara Echelberry's scored two quick buckets to push Omaha's lead back to eight points, 26-18, with under four minutes left in the half. Shaw scored the final three points of the half.
The Mavericks led 31-22 at the half, but the course of the game changed in the final seconds of the third quarter when the Sycamore's Jennifer Mackowiak hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Indiana State outscored UNO 17-9 in the period. Things started off in Omaha's favor as Lujan scored off a pass from Shaw to push the lead to nine points, 33-24. Bobbi Beckwith knocked down a 3-pointer at the 5:03 mark of the quarter for a 38-31 Omaha lead. The Sycamores would hold the Mavericks scoreless over the next 4:13 as they chipped the Omaha lead to 38-36. Vidal snapped the UNO drought with a pair of free throws with 50 seconds remaining to push the lead back to four points, 40-36. Mackowiak grabbed a defensive rebound with less than 10 seconds left in the half and pushed the ball up the court and got a three pointer off before the buzzer sounded. At the end of the quarter, Omaha had just a one point lead, 40-39.
After a pair of Hogue free throws early in the fourth quarter, Indiana State's Alexis Newbolt tied the game at 42-42 with a 3-pointer. Omaha quickly regained the lead as Davenport drained her only trey of the game. Omaha extended its lead to five, 51-46, on a jumper from Barajas with 1:45 left in regulation. Indiana State held Omaha scoreless the rest of the game and converted 4-of-6 free throws, but missed a game tying free throw with four seconds left as the Mavericks prevailed, 51-50.
Moving Up the Charts
Junior forward Mikaela Shaw is on track to break two career milestones this season. Shaw is closing in on 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds.
Currently, Shaw ranks 33rd on the all-time scoring list with 758 points and 27th all-time in rebounds with 442. She needs to average 9.3 points and 2.2 rebounds per game to reach the mark by the end of the season. For her career, Shaw averages 13.1 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.
OMAHA'S ALL-TIME SCORING CHART
Rank Name Years Points
30. Jacinda Van Fossen (98 games) 1994-98 813
31. Julie Hengemuehler (108 games) 1981-85 797
32. Kim Birkel (79 games) 1997-00 775
33. Mikaela Shaw (59 games) 2013-16 772
34. Laura P. Anderson (101 games) 1983-87 747
35. Ronda Motykowski (95 games) 1980-85 741
OMAHA'S ALL-TIME REBOUNDING CHART
Rank Name Years Rebounds
22. Stacie Kaiser (67o-431d) 1993-97 498
23. Cayla Hargrove (130o-345d) 2005-09 475
24. Michelle Spetman (80 games) 1993-96 459
25. Mikaela Shaw (136o-318d) 2013-16 454
26. Jennifer Mitchell (120o-332d) 1998-02 452
27. Lindsey Petersen (139o-307d) 2000-05 446
