This Weekend
The Omaha women's basketball team continues its four-game homestand with Wofford on Sunday, Nov. 27. Tipoff is set for Noon at Baxter Arena, and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Fans can stream audio on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app “1620 The Zone,” and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• Omaha opened the 2016-17 season with four games over 11 days, playing Colorado State (Nov. 11), Abilene Christian (Nov. 18), North Texas (Nov. 19) and Nebraska (Nov. 22).
• The Mavericks are currently 2-3 (0-0 Summit League) on the year after defeating Indiana State on Friday afternoon, 72-45.
• 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.
• UNO was selected to finish fifth in the 2016-17 Preseason Summit League Coaches' Poll, and Shaw was named to Preseason All-Summit League First Team.
• So far this season, Shaw leads the Mavericks in points (14.2), rebounds (8.2), assists (3.0) and blocked shots (1.0)
• Michaela Dapprich averages 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game.
• The Mavericks will play a total of 29 games, including 13 contests at Baxter Arena.
• Omaha's non-conference schedule includes Colorado State, Creighton, Indiana State, Kansas State, Nebraska, UCF and Wofford.
• Brittany Lange is in her fourth season as head coach.
Scouting the Wofford Terriers
Wofford is 3-1 (0-0 SoCon) on the year after a 75-66 win over Gardner-Webb on Tuesday evening. Maria Corella and Kentra Washington each had a team-best 15 points. Grayson Pinholster added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Sarah Traynor chipped in 11 points and six assists in the win.
Overall, Washington leads the team with 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Chloe Wanink averages 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. Head coach Jimmy Garrity is in his first season at Wofford with a record of 3-1 and has a career mark of 69-30 over four seasons.
Series History
Sunday is the meeting between the two programs.
Last Time Out: Omaha Cruises Past Indiana State, 72-45
The Omaha women's basketball team put together a dominant non-conference win on Friday afternoon, defeating Indiana State 72-45 at Baxter Arena. Senior forward Mikaela Shaw had a team-high 10 points, hitting 4-of-8 shots from the field while going 2-for-3 at the line. The Deweese, Neb., native added 14 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.
Junior guard Remy Davenport chipped in eight points and four assists, and redshirt junior guard Moriah Dapprich had eight points. Redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher added seven points, six boards and a blocked shot.
Rhagen Smith led Indiana State with 11 points and nine rebounds and Ashley Taia added 11 points and four boards.
Omaha shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the floor, 42.3 percent (11-of-26) from long distance and 62.5 percent (5-of8) from the stripe. Indiana State finished at a 26.6 percent clip (17-of-64) from the field, 16 percent (4-of-25) from the 3-point range and 63.6 percent (7-of-11) at the line. The Mavericks held the edge in rebounding (45-39), assists (19-11) and blocks (4-3).
Omaha trailed the Sycamores early, but a 3-pointer by Davenport and two quick scores from freshman forward Jay Bridgeman gave UNO a six-point lead midway through the first quarter. The Mavericks ended the period on a 21-4 run capped by a tip-in by Vaccher at the buzzer to push the lead to 16 points, 25-9.
UNO scored the first five points of the second quarter as the lead grew to 21 points. The Sycamores cut the lead to 16 points on a jumper by Regan Wentland with 1:45 left in the half. Davenport drained a trey at the buzzer to give Omaha its largest lead of the half, 43-21.
Senior guard Abi Lujan and sophomore guard Amber Vidal each hit 3-pointers to give the Mavericks a 25 point lead midway through the third quarter, 53-28. A quick 5-0 run by the Sycamores brought the tally to 53-33 with 3:42 left in the quarter. Two Shaw free throws moved Omaha's lead back to 23 points at the end of the third period, 56-33.
Five points by Dapprich and a layup by junior guard Marissa Preston pushed UNO's lead to 69-41. Omaha took its largest advantage of the game in the final minute of the game on a 3-pointer by senior guard Abi Lujan, leading the Sycamores 72-43 before going on to the 72-45 victory.
Tough Enough
Omaha opened the 2016-17 season by playing three teams – Abilene Christian, Colorado State and Nebraska - that went to postseason tournaments. Abilene Christian and Colorado State won conference titles and had a combined record of 57-6 last year. CSU won the Mountain West and played in the NCAA National Tournament, while ACU won the Southland Conference regular-season title and appeared in the WNIT. Nebraska also earned a berth in the WNIT.
Shaw's Way
Through the first four games of the season, Mikaela Shaw leads the Mavericks in points (14.2), rebounds (8.2), assists (5.0), blocked shots (1.0) and minutes (33.6) per game. Shaw had a season-best 19 points against Nebraska and 14 rebounds against Indiana State.
Big Time
Michaela Dapprich delivered a season-high 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting against North Texas. Dapprich added seven rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot. She followed up that performance with 18 points and two boards against Nebraska on Tuesday.
Doing It All
Remy Davenport has done a little bit of everything this year for Omaha. The junior guard is averaging 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in the first month of the season. She had a season-best 12 points, five rebounds and five assists at Abilene Christian.
Shaw-some
Mikaela Shaw had her first double-double of the season and 22nd of her career on Friday afternoon against Indiana State. The senior forward had 10 points and a season-best 14 rebounds against the Sycamores. It was the 36th consecutive game in double-digits for Shaw. Since the transition to NCAA Division I, only Shaw and Paige Frauendorfer have over 10 double-doubles. Frauendorfer accomplished the task 17 times in two seasons at the Division I level.
Great Start
Redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher is averaging 5.8 points, 6.6 boards and 1.6 steals per game in her first season with the Mavericks. She grabbed a season-high eight boards against Abilene Christian and North Texas. Last game, Vaccher had seven points, six rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot against Indiana State.
Sharp Shooter
Junior guard Marissa Preston is averaging 6.6 points per game this season which is fourth best on the team. Preston went 3-of-3 from beyond the 3-point arc against North Texas earlier this season. She is currently shooting 56.3 percent (9-of-16) from 3-point distance this season.
Top 10 Performer
Mikaela Shaw has cracked the top 10 in all-time scoring and rebounding this season. She passed Elaine Johnson (1974-77) for ninth place on the career scoring chart with 1,341 points and is closing in on Alyssa Green's (2006-9) 1,410 points for eighth place. Shaw passed former teammate Paige Frauendorfer (2009-12) for seventh place and needs 153 rebounds to catch Laura Anderson (1984-87) for sixth place.
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 137 career 3-pointers to rank sixth 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.
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
Last season, senior forward Mikaela Shaw led the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals (1.6 spg). Shaw earned First Team All-Summit League honors and was a Third Team CoSIDA Academic All-American.
She became the 18th player in program history to score 1,000 career points and grab 500 career rebounds.
Dapprich Ready to Debut
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 pro-gram 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
Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 1, welcoming Lincoln University to Baxter Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and Donny Baarns will have the call on 1180 Zone 2. Fans can stream the audio on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app “1620 The Zone,” and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
