OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha basketball team is back on the road this weekend, participating in the UTSA Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by the University of Texas at San Antonio.  The Mavericks will play Houston Baptist on Friday, Nov. 27 and Illinois State on Sunday, Nov. 29.  Links to live stats and radio will be available on OMavs.com.  Friday's game will be broadcast on The Mighty 1290 AM KOIL.  Sunday's game will be aired on 1180 KZOT Zone 2.

This is the first time Omaha will be playing in a tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday since hosting the UNO Thanksgiving Classic during the 2009-10 season.

The Mavericks will be wrapping up a 13-day stretch in which they played five games in four different states.  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 (3-1 overall, 0-0 Summit League) return to the road after a record setting performance against Waldorf on Tuesday night at home.  UNO set a school record with 11 blocked shots and held the Warriors to 15.2 percent from the floor in its 97-32 win.  Marissa Preston led all scorers with 21 points, while Mikaela Shaw added 17 and Ellie Brecht had 10. Caroline Hogue added 8 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocked shots.  

Heading into this weekend's action, Shaw ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 17.0 points per game and is tied for sixth with 7.0 rebounds per game.  Preston leads the league in field goal percentage (70.6 percent) and 3-point percentage (66.7 percent).  Hogue leads the Summit League with seven blocked shots, while Vanessa Barajas is fourth with four blocks.

Mikaela Shaw leads the Omaha offense early in the season.  Shaw, a preseason first team All-Summit League selection, is averaging 17.0 points, 7.0 rebounds per game, and 4.0 assists.  Remy Davenport is next on the team averaging 10.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.  Preston is next on the team with a 7.5 point per game average, 1.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

This season from the field, Omaha is shooting 42.8 percent and 29.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.  Omaha's defense is limiting the opposition to a 29.6 field goal percentage and the percentage drops to 19.7 percent from 3-point land. The Mavericks average only 11.75 turnovers per game, which is second in the league.  They also give up only 52.3 points per game, which leads the league.

Behind the Numbers

57 – Total rebounds by Omaha, the most this season.

22 – Assists from Omaha players on Wednesday night.

11 – Every player that dressed for Tuesday's game against Waldorf scored at least two points.

53.9% - Omaha's field goal percentage Tuesday night.

11 – Number of blocked shots by the Mavericks, which broke a school record last set in 2013.

12 – Number of rebounds by Caroline Hogue on Tuesday.

11 – Number of points needed by Mikaela Shaw to reach 800 career points.

97 – Points scored by the Mavericks against Waldorf.  Most since the 2013-14 season.

How About the Huskies?

• Houston Baptist earned its first win of the season with a 95-42 win over Paul Quinn on Nov. 20.
• Paul Quinn College is an NAIA Division I school from the Red River Conference.
• Rachel Arthur dropped a game-high 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
• Anna Strickland registered her second double-double with 20 points and 16 rebounds.
• Adriiana Jackson also scored a career-high 16 points.

More on Houston Baptist

Houston Baptist is 1-2 on the season with road losses to New Mexico and UTEP.  The Huskies are members of the Southland conference.  Strickland leads the team in points (17.7), rebounding (11.3), and blocked shots (3.0).  Lisa Zderadicka leads the team with 9 assists.  As a team, HBU is shooting 43 percent from the floor compared to 39 percent for its opponents.

Last season, HBU went 15-18 overall and 6-12 in Southland Conference play, earning a berth to their first SLC Tournament.

Donna Finnie is in her third year leading the Huskies program.  Prior to becoming the head coach, Finnie served as an assistant coach at Houston Baptist for three seasons.  Prior to coaching with the Huskies, she spent 10 seasons as the head coach of the Scottish National Team.  She became the first international ever to land a head coaching position in NCAA Division I basketball.

Rating the Redbirds

• Illinois State dropped a 74-65 decision to Illinois-Chicago on Monday.
• Shakeela Fowler set a career-record with 21 points and six assists.  Fowler scored 19 of her points in the second half.
• Octavia Crump added 12 points and six rebounds, while Katrina Beck had 11 points before fouling out.
• UIC owned a 37-32 advantage on the boards and forced 22 Illinois State turnovers. In addition, the Flames' bench outscored ISU's, 23-8.

More Information on Illinois State

The Illinois State women's basketball team was projected to finish 10th in the Missouri Valley Conference Preseason Poll for the 2015-16 season, as voted on by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media.  Last season ISU finished the year with a 2-28 overall mark and 2-16 in Valley play.

The Redbirds welcome back two starters from the 2014-15 squad, with senior forward Octavia

Crump (10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds) and junior guard Taylor Stewart (6.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists).  Senior forward Colleene Smith (3.5 points, 5.8 rebounds) adds depth to the Redbirds' backcourt.

The Redbirds are 1-2 on the season with an 81-76 win over Murray State and losses to Bowling Green and UIC.

ISU has started four freshmen in each of its three games of the 2015-16 season.   In Illinois State's first victory of the 2015-16 season, the Redbirds' first 22 points were all scored by freshmen, and ISU's two leading scorers were freshmen. Through three games, Fowler leads the Redbirds with 16.3 points per game, as well as 12 assists and 10 steals. Stevens and Viria Livingston lead the team in rebounds with 6.0 boards per game.

Series History

Friday's contest between Omaha and Houston Baptist will be the first meeting between the two programs.

Illinois State and Omaha have met once before during the 1978-79 season.  The Mavericks defeated the Redbirds, 69-51.

Up Next

The Mavericks will play seven games in December, six of them at home in the friendly confines of Baxter Arena.  Omaha starts December with a three-game homestand starting with UMKC on Thursday, Dec. 3.  Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.  The game will be aired on 1180 AM KZOT Zone 2.