OMAHA, Neb. – Junior Mikaela Shaw scored a game-high 31 points and added five rebounds and four assists to lead Omaha to a 76-67 home win over Eastern Illinois on Sunday afternoon.
The Mavericks, who have won three straight games, improved to 6-2 overall. Eastern Illinois dropped to 1-7 this season.
Shaw scored 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field and a 4-of-7 effort from the free throw line. Freshman Amber Vidal added 11 points, including two 3-pointers. Sophomore Remy Davenport and senior Bobbi Beckwith each chipped in 7 points. Davenport added four rebounds, while Beckwith had three steals.
Freshmen Caroline Hogue and Ellie Brecht each added seven points. Hogue also had three blocked shots and four rebounds. Junior Abi Lujan grabbed 11 boards, five offensive, to go along with two points and two steals.
Eastern Illinois' Erica Brown had a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards. Brown was 6-of-11 from the field. Halle Stull also had 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
As a team, Omaha shot 41.3 percent (26-63) from the field and 30.4 percent (7-23) from long range. The Mavericks were 73.9 percent (17-23) from the free throw line. Eastern Illinois shot 48.2 percent (27-56) from the field and 46.7 percent (7-15) from 3-point distance. The Panthers shot 60 percent (6-10) from the free throw line.
Eastern Illinois outrebounded Omaha, 36-30. UNO committed a season-low seven turnovers, while forcing EIU into 13. The Mavericks also had 10 steals, compared to three by the Panthers.
Shaw scored two buckets in the first quarter to give the Mavericks a 4-3 lead 2:50 into the contest. A 3-pointer from EIU's Shakita Cox put the Panthers up 6-4 moments later. The two teams exchanged leads over the next 2:24, before Omaha took the lead for good. A Shaw jumper and a 3-pointer from Vidal put the Mavs up 14-10. A pair of Marissa Preston free throws extended the lead to seven, 23-16, with eight seconds left in the period. Eastern Illinois' Cox knocked down a jumper as the buzzer sounded to make the score 23-18 at the end of the period.
Omaha would extend its lead to eight points with 6:31 left in the half as Beckwith drained a 3-pointer and followed it up with a bucket in the paint. Eastern Illinois cut the lead to two points, 34-32, with 4:16 left in the half on a 3-pointer from Karina Chandra and a made free throw from Brown. Beckwith would force a Panther turnover that lead to a Vidal fast break lay-up to push Omaha's lead back to four. Eastern Illinois would cut the Omaha lead to three points with a pair of Brittin Boyer free throws with just 90 seconds left in the half. A bucket in the paint from Shaw pushed the UNO lead to five at the end of the half, 43-38.
Ellie Brecht drained a trey midway through the third quarter as UNO pushed the lead to eight points, 52-44. Eastern Illinois would cut the lead to three points twice with under two minutes left in the stanza, first on a 3-pointer by Carmen Tellez and then on a Brown lay-up. Omaha responded to each challenge by making free throws to push the lead back to five. Kalen Phillips made two free throws with 1:37 left in the half to stop EIU's run. Beckwith converted a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining in the quarter to make the score, 58-53.
Omaha opened the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run to push the lead to 68-56. Shaw scored seven of the Mavericks 10 points during the run. The other basket was a 3-pointer from Remy Davenport. Again Eastern Illinois responded to the Omaha run. The Panthers brought the lead back to three points with 2:25 remaining in regulation on a jumper by Kayla Steward, 70-67. UNO scored the final seven points of the game to make the final 76-67.
Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9 against Midland University. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena.
Game Notes
- Mikaela Shaw's 31 points on Sunday were the most by a Maverick this season. It was the third time in her career scoring over 30 points.
- Remy Davenport has now made at least one 3-pointer in 27 straight games dating back to Dec. 14, 2014.
- Omaha holds a 4-0 record at Baxter Arena this season.
- Shaw has scored in double-digits every game this season and has led the Mavericks in scoring six of the eight games.
- UNO if off to its best start since the 2012-13 season. This season the Mavericks are 6-2 overall, in 2012-13 Omaha opened the season 9-2.
