This Weekend
The Omaha women's basketball team continues its four-game road trip this weekend, visiting UMKC on Saturday, Dec. 10. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., and Donny Baarns will have the radio call on 1290 AM KOIL. Fans can stream the audio on their smartphones by downloading NRG Media's app "The Mighty 1290," and links to stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
Maverick Quick Hits
• Omaha plays its sixth road game of the season Saturday at UMKC.
• 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 4-5 (0-0 Summit League following an 82-45 loss at Creighton on Wednesday.
• 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 UMKC Kangaroos
UMKC enters Saturday's contest with a 5-3 (0-0 WAC) record after a 60-45 win over Missouri-Saint Louis on Wednesday. The Kangaroos are led by Samantha Waldron's 12.1 points per game. Kiana Law pulls down 7.5 rebounds per game while Ceidra Coleman averages 3.3 assists per game.
Head coach Marsha Frese is in her fifth year at UMKC with a career record of 41-85. Saturday is the eighth meeting all-time between Omaha and UMKC. The Mavericks lead the series, 4-3.
Last Time Out: Omaha Falls at Creighton, 82-45
Omaha fell to Creighton on Wednesday afternoon at D.J. Sokol Arena, 82-45.
Mikaela Shaw led the Mavericks, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high eight rebounds, as well as dishing out two assists. Jay Bridgeman added 11 points, and Marissa Preston chipped in six points and three assists.
Audrey Faber's 24 points led Creighton. Faber shot 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Bailey Norby had 10 points with two boards and two assists.
The Bluejays shot .464 (26-of-56) for the afternoon, including .516 (16-of-31) from distance. The Mavericks shot .327 (17-of-52) from the floor, including a .429 (6-of-14) effort from beyond the arc. CU also had 24 assists and forced 18 UNO turnovers.
Creighton took a 2-0 lead in the opening minute on a pair of Brianna Rollerson free throws. Omaha countered with four straight from Shaw and claimed its first lead of the game, 4-2. UNO took a five-point lead on a jumper from Amber Vidal and two Shaw free throws. The Bluejays evened the game at 8-8 on a basket from Ali Greene. The two teams had exchanged buckets before a Bridgeman trey put Omaha ahead 13-10. Faber scored the final three points of the period as the two teams were tied 13-13 heading into the second quarter.
Omaha was held scoreless the first 2:01 of the second period as Creighton built a seven-point lead. A jumper from Courtney Vaccher cut the lead to 20-15 with 7:36 left in the half. The Bluejays extended it to 31-17 midway through the quarter before Shaw hit her only 3-pointer of the afternoon. Creighton shot .636 (7-of-11) from the field in the quarter and took a 38-21 advantage into intermission.
The Bluejays opened the second half on a 10-0 run to push the score to 48-21, but the Mavericks closed the third quarter on an 8-3 run to cut the CU lead to 27 points. Creighton took its largest lead of the game late in the fourth quarter at 82-42, before Preston hit a 3-pointer to make the final score 82-45.
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 (38.1) and rebound margin per game (+6.3). The Mavericks also are second in the league in assists (17.3), 3-pointers made (9.1) and 3-pointers attempted (23.9) per game.
Leading the Way
Mikaela Shaw leads the Mavericks in points (14.8), rebounds (7.2), blocked shots (0.7) and minutes played (30.4) 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 40 straight games.
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 60.
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.
A Little Bit of This and That
Remy Davenport has done a little bit of everything this year for Omaha. The junior guard averages 8.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and a team-best 3.7 assists per game. Earlier this season, she dished out six assists against Lincoln University and Wofford which tied her career best. Davenport scored a season-high 15 points against Kansas State.
Arc Madness
Omaha has made 82 3-pointers in eight games while shooting 38.1 percent from deep. Eleven different Mavericks have connected on at least one trifecta. UNO has made 11 or more three's five times this season. Over the past three games, the Mavericks have hit 30 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.
Working in the Paint
Redshirt sophomore center Courtney Vaccher is averaging 5.7 points, 4.8 boards and 1.1 steals per game. She grabbed a season-high eight boards against Abilene Christian and North Texas. Vaccher scored a career-best eight points against Wofford.
Super Sub
Junior guard Marissa Preston has appeared in every game averaging 19.4 minutes per game. Preston is shooting 50.0 percent (17-of-34) from the field and 52.2 percent (12-of-23) 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 Elaine Johnson (1974-77) for ninth place on the career scoring chart with 1,403 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 is 129 rebounds shy of catching Laura Anderson (1984-87) for sixth place.
Shaw is the program's all-time leader in defensive rebounds with 520, surpassing Tanya Hammes' (1999-2002) mark of 502. She needs only 27 offensive boards to set the career record.
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. She leads the team with 21 3pointers this season and has made one trey in every game so far this season.
Davenport has made 148 career 3-pointers to rank fifth in program history and needs 66 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, 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. 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 returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 18, visiting Florida A&M. 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 stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.
