This Weekend
The Omaha women's basketball team continues play in the Preseason WNIT this weekend, visiting Abilene Christian on Friday, Nov. 18. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. Links to live video and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• Omaha opened the season with a 69-42 loss to Colorado State in the opening round of the Preseason WNIT.
• The Mavericks finished the 2015-16 season at 15-15 overall and 7-9 in the Summit League, finishing sixth in the conference.
• Omaha returns eight letterwinners from its 2015-16 team, including three starters in senior forward Mikaela Shaw, senior guard Abi Lujan and junior guard Remy Davenport.
• Shaw was named to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team for the second straight season.
• UNO has four returning players who averaged 5.0 or more points per game last year: Shaw (18.3), Davenport (10.3), sophomore guard Amber Vidal (5.9) and sophomore guard Ellie Brecht (5.7).
• The Mavericks will play a total of 29 games, including 13 contests at Baxter Arena.
• Omaha's non-conference schedule includes Colorado State, Creighton, Kansas State, Nebraska and UCF.
• Brittany Lange is in her fourth season as head coach.
Scouting the Abilene Christian Wildcats
Abilene Christian is 1-1 (0-0 Southland Conference) on the year after an 87-52 win over Howard Payne on Tuesday evening. Sydney Shelstead led four Wildcats in double figures with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sierra Allen had a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wildcats went 26-4 overall and 17-1 in conference play last season and were the Southland Conference regular-season champions. In recognition of last season's success, the conference coaches and media ranked the Wildcats atop their preseason polls and tabbed all four of its returning starters to the all-conference team. ACU returns 80 percent of its offense from last year's team, including reigning league Player of the Year Alexis Mason and three-time All-Southland Conference Defensive Team honoree Suzzy Dumba.
Head coach Julie Goodenough enters her fifth season at Abilene Christian with a record of 83-36 and carries a career mark of 371-256 in 23 seasons.
Series History
Friday marks the second meeting between Omaha and Abilene Christian, with the Mavericks leading the all-time series, 1-0. UNO won the last game against ACU, 93-77, on Nov. 28, 1985.
Last Time Out: Mavericks Fall to Colorado State in Preseason WNIT
Colorado State used an 11-point edge in the second quarter and shot 44.3 percent for the game to defeat Omaha 69-42 last Friday night at Moby Arena in the first round of the Preseason WNIT.
Senior forward Mikaela Shaw led the way for the Mavericks, totaling 14 points on 5-for-17 shooting. She added a team-leading eight rebounds and three assists.
Redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher had seven points and six rebounds, and redshirt freshman forward Jay Bridgeman added six points and two boards.
Ellen Nystrom paced CSU with 22 points for the evening, including a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line. Elin Gustavsson added 13 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, Omaha shot 31.9 percent from the field, helped by a 6-for-11 effort from the field in the third quarter. The Rams finished 44.3 percent from the field and shot 87.5 percent from the free throw line.
The Mavericks trailed 16-8 after the first quarter, then hit just 2-for-10 shots in the second to fall behind 31-12 at the half. Colorado State, which went 7-for-20 in the second quarter, outscored Omaha in the period 15-4.
The Rams opened the second half on a 12-5 run to push the score to 43-17, but the Mavericks closed the third quarter on an 11-4 run to cut the CSU lead to 19 points. Colorado State had pushed its lead to 31 points in the fourth quarter before Vaccher scored the game's final four points.
32 and Counting
Mikaela Shaw's 14 points last Friday night marked the 32nd consecutive game the forward has reached double-digits for the Mavericks. The last time she scored less than 10 points was Feb. 26, 2015 against Fort Wayne.
Great Start
In her first appearance in an Omaha uniform, redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher made an impact. Vaccher finished the evening with seven points and six rebounds in 26 minutes of action.
Building the Bridge
Redshirt freshman Jay Bridgeman made her Maverick debut against Colorado State scoring six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor and grabbed her first collegiate rebound.
At a Glance: 2015-16
Omaha finished the 2015-16 season with a record of 15-15 (7-9 Summit League). Mikaela Shaw and former Maverick Caroline Hogue earned All-Summit League recognition, as Shaw garnered First-Team accolades and Hogue earned a spot on the All-Newcomer team.
In its first year after completing its transition to Division I, UNO picked up its first Summit League Tournament victory, defeating third-seeded IUPUI, 62-51.
As a team, Omaha led the Summit League with 5.8 blocks per game last year. The Mavericks were also first in free throw percentage (72.2) and second in opponents' field-goal percentage (38.5).
Meeting the Mavs
UNO returns three starters from the 2015-16 squad, including the Summit League's leading scorer and a First-Team All-Summit selection in senior forward Mikaela Shaw (18.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists), as well as senior guard Abi Lujan, and junior guard Remy Davenport (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg).
Returning are sophomore guards Ellie Brecht (5.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg), Sara Echelberry (1.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg), Kalen Phillips (2.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg) and Amber Vidal (5.9 ppg, 2.6 apg). Redshirt junior guard Marissa Preston appeared in 30 games with three starts and averaged 2.7 points per game last season.
Leader of the Pack
Senior forward Mikaela Shaw led the Mavericks in scoring (18.3 ppg), rebounding (7.9 rpg), assists (3.1 apg) and steals (1.6 spg). Shaw earned First Team All-Summit League honors and was a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American.
Last season, she became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 career points and grab 500 career rebounds. Shaw ranks 12th all-time in scoring with 1,284 points and eighth all-time with 675 career rebounds.
Davenport from Downtown
Junior guard Remy Davenport averaged 10.3 points per game and was one of the top 3-point shooters in the Summit League last season. Davenport shot .371 (65-of-175) from downtown as a sophomore.
Davenport has made 128 career 3-pointers to rank eighth in program history. She connected on 65 3-pointers and set the UNO single-game record with 10 made treys against Denver on Jan. 17, 2016.
Ready To Go
Michaela Dapprich is ready to make the most of her senior season for the Mavericks. Before transferring to Omaha last season, Dapprich played a pivotal role as Wichita State won three regular season Missouri Valley Conference Championships, three MVC Tournament Champions and three NCAA Tournament berths.
Dapprich played in 95 games and made 72 starts in her career while averaging 9.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. She connected on 94 career 3-pointers, ranking eighth all-time in Wichita State history, plus her career 34.7 3-point field goal percentage ranks ninth on the all-time list.
Ready Redshirts
Along with Michaela Dapprich, the Mavericks will look for contributions from two other Division I transfers – redshirt junior guard Moriah Dapprich and redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher – and freshman Jay Bridgeman.
Moriah Dapprich played two seasons for the Shockers, appearing in 46 games and averaged 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds. Vaccher appeared in four games as a freshman at Texas Tech.
Shaw in the Summit
Mikaela Shaw earned Preseason All-Summit League First Team accolades for the second straight season. Shaw averaged 18.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game in 2015-16. As a junior, she was a first-team All-Summit League selection and named to the Summit League All-Tournament Team. Shaw led the Summit League in points per game and was second in total points (549).
Summit League Poll Released
Omaha was picked to finish fifth in the 2016-17 Summit League Preseason Poll, the conference office announced last month. The poll was tallied in a vote of the league's head coaches, communications personnel and media.
South Dakota State was the favorite to win the Summit League, garnering 30 first-place votes for 542 points. IUPUI was second with 438 points, while South Dakota earned three first-place votes and 393 points for third. Oral Roberts came in fourth with one first place vote and 391 points, followed by Omaha, which received 325 points for fifth. Western Illinois was sixth in the poll with 250 points, while North Dakota State (156), Denver (150) and Fort Wayne (80) rounded it out in seventh, eighth and ninth places, respectively.
Shaw Named to Academic All-America Third Team
Last season, Mikaela Shaw was a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American. Shaw became the fifth Academic All-American in Omaha women's basketball history, with Paige Frauendorfer being the first Academic All-American in the Division I era. Other women's basketball honorees include Laura Anderson (1988), Amy Loth (1997), and Stacie Kaiser (1997).
Omaha Basketball Schedule Set
UNO's 2016-17 schedule includes 29 games, and the team will play nine states against schools from eight other Division I conference. The schedule has two opponents from the Big 12 and one each from the AAC, BIG East, CIAA, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Southern and WAC. Three opponents – Colorado State, Kansas State and Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota State – played in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Getting to Know Coach Lange
Brittany Lange enters her fourth season as the head coach for the Mavericks and sixth with the program overall. Last season, UNO finished with a 15-15 overall record and earned the program's first berth into the Summit League Tournament as the sixth seed. In the tournament quarterfinals, Omaha upset third-seeded IUPUI, 62-51.
Lange's assistants are Lee Aduddell, Rodney Rogan, and Kirk Walker. Sadie Murren is in her first season as the director of basketball operations.
Up Next
The Omaha women's basketball team will wrap up Preseason WNIT play on Saturday, with the opponent to be determined. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. at Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas.
