This Week
The Omaha women's basketball team continues its four-game road trip this weekend, visiting Florida A&M on Sunday, Dec. 18. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT at the Al Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Fla., 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 audio will be available on OMavs.com.
Maverick Quick Hits
• Omaha plays its seventh road game of the season Sunday at Florida A&M.
• 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 5-5 (0-0 Summit League) following an 80-57 victory over UMKC last Saturday.
• 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 earned Preseason All-Summit League First Team accolades.
• 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, UMKC and Wofford.
• Brittany Lange is in her fourth season as head coach.
Scouting the Florida A&M Rattlers
Florida A&M enters Sunday's contest with a 1-7 (0-0 MEAC) record after a 53-48 loss to Morehead State last Sunday. Florence Ouattara leads the Rattlers with 13.1 points per game while Shakerrya Morrison averages 9.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
Head coach LeDawn Gibson is in her ninth year at Florida A&M with a career mark of 122-127. Sunday is the first all-time meeting between FAMU and Omaha.
Last Time Out: Davenport, Vaccher Lead Omaha Past UMKC, 80-57
Remy Davenport scored 21 points, and Courtney Vaccher added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds as the Mavericks defeated UMKC 80-57 Saturday afternoon at Municipal Auditorium.
Davenport's 21 points came on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. She also had three rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots.
Vaccher's double-double was the first of her career and came on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and a 6-of-8 effort at the charity stripe.
Mikaela Shaw finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Amber Vidal added eight points and four assists. Abi Lujan chipped in seven points and six boards. Jay Bridgeman also had seven points and four rebounds.
As a team, Omaha shot .463 (25-of-54) to UMKC's .318 (21-of-66). The Mavericks finished at .435 (10-of-23) from long range and .800 (20-of-25) from the stripe compared the Kangaroos to .200 (2-for-10) from the 3-point range and .619 (13-of-21) from the free throw line. UNO also had the lead in rebounding, 41-38.
Kiana Long led UMKC with 12 points. Kristen Moore scored nine points, and Samantha Waldron added eight points and four boards.
Omaha never trailed, building a 16-6 advantage to start the game thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Davenport. The Mavericks grabbed a 25-10 lead at the end of the 1st quarter on a three from Vaccher.
Omaha's lead reached 20 at 35-15 early in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Ellie Brecht. A trey from Lujan and a jumper from Vidal increased Omaha's advantage to 23 with 2:15 left in the half. Made free throws from Bridgeman and Lujan gave UNO its largest lead of the half at 25 points before a layup from Law made the halftime score 49-26.
UMKC chipped away at the Omaha lead in the second half getting as close as 14 points with 7:25 left in the fourth quarter. Davenport and Vaccher would then score the next 12 points for UNO and push the lead to 75-51. The Mavericks never let the Kangaroos back within less than 22 and clinched the 80-57 victory.
Tough Enough
Five teams on Omaha's non-conference schedule appeared in the postseason last year – Abilene Christian, Colorado State, Creighton, Kansas State and Nebraska. 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. Kansas State finished the 2015-16 season 19-13 overall and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton and Nebraska also earned berths in the WNIT.
On Top of the Summit
Omaha leads the Summit League in 3-point field goal percentage (38.7). The Mavericks also are second in the league in assists (17.3), rebound margin per game (+6.0) and 3-pointers made (9.2).
Leading the Way
Mikaela Shaw leads the Mavericks in points (14.3), rebounds (7.3), assists (3.7), blocked shots (0.6) and minutes played (30.1) per game. Shaw collected her 21st career double-double against Indiana State earlier this season with 10 points and 14 rebounds. She scored a season-high 21 points against Wofford. The senior has been in double-figures in 41 straight games.
Double-Double
Courtney Vaccher tallied her first career double-double against UMKC. The sophomore post set career highs in points (17) and rebounds (11). She also blocked two shots. This season, Vaccher is averaging 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Hot at Home
Remy Davenport, a native of Blue Springs, Mo., scored a season-high 21 points on Saturday afternoon against UMKC. So far this season, she has done a little bit of everything this year for Omaha. The junior guard averages 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Earlier this season, she dished out six assists against Lincoln University and Wofford which tied her career best.
A Night to Remember
Ellie Brecht scored a career-best 22 points against Lincoln University. The sophomore guard went 8-of-13 from the field including a 6-of-10 effort from 3-point distance. Brecht added two more treys against Kansas State. She is now 20th all-time in made treys with 61.
Hitting the Boards
Moriah Dapprich snagged a career-high 11 rebounds against Lincoln University. It's the first time this season that the junior has reached double-figures in rebounds.
Bridge Work
For the second time this season, Jay Bridgeman reached double-figures for the Mavericks. The redshirt freshman scored a career-best 11 points against Creighton. Earlier in the month, she scored 10 points along with five rebounds and a blocked shot against Lincoln University.
Arc Madness
Omaha has made 92 3-pointers in eight games while shooting 38.1 percent from deep. Every player on the roster has connected on at least one trifecta. UNO has made 10 or more threes' six times this season. Over the past four games, the Mavericks have hit 40 3-pointers.
Shaw-some
Mikaela Shaw had her first double-double of the season and 22nd of her career against Indiana State. The senior forward had 10 points, and a season-best 14 rebounds against the Sycamores. 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.
Super Sub
Marissa Preston has appeared in every game averaging 19.3 minutes per game. Preston is shooting 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from the field and 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from beyond the 3-point arc. Her five rebounds and five assists against Wofford tied her career-best marks.
Top 10 Performer
Mikaela Shaw has cracked the top 10 in all-time scoring and rebounding this season. She passed Alyssa Green (2006-9) for eighth place on the career scoring chart with 1,413 points and is closing in on Jennifer Mitchell's 1,487 points for seventh place. Shaw passed former teammate Paige Frauendorfer (2009-12) for seventh place and is 121 rebounds shy of catching Laura Anderson (1984-87) for sixth place.
Shaw is the program's all-time leader in defensive rebounds with 527, surpassing Tanya Hammes' (1999-2002) mark of 502. She needs only 26 offensive boards to set the career record.
Davenport from Downtown
Remy Davenport averaged 10.3 points per game and was one of the top 3-point shooters in the Summit League last season. She leads the team with 25 3-pointers this season and has made one trey in every game so far this season.
Davenport has made 152 career 3-pointers to rank fifth in program history and needs 62 more trey's to become the program's all-time leader. 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, 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. 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. 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
Omaha continues its road trip on Tuesday, Dec. 20, visiting UCF. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT at the CFE Arena in Orlando, Fla., 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.
