Tipping Off
The wait is finally over, as the Omaha women's basketball team will officially kick off its 2022-23 season with a road match against Nebraska in Pinnacle Bank Arena this Monday at noon. The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com. 

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks were tabbed 10th in the Summit League Preseason rankings after a 7-19 campaign in 2021-22. The team owned a 3-14 mark in conference play, notching wins against St. Thomas, North Dakota State, and Denver, and went 4-10 on the road.
• Head Coach Carrie Banks returns for her third season at the helm. So far, she owns a 14-32 record with the Mavericks. In her first season, she led them to a Summit League Championship berth in her first season after a couple of historic upsets over no. 1 seeded South Dakota State and no. 5 Western Illinois in the first two rounds of the tournament. Banks is joined by assistant coaches Darryl Hudson and Tania Davis, and interim assistant coach Megan Black.
• Seven newcomers join the Mavericks this year: freshmen Eviyon Richardson and Brooklyn Smith, and transfers Aaliyah Stanley, Deanay Watson, Jaylen Townsend, Polina Nikulochkina, and Ana Nikulochkina. They join seven returning Mavericks: Sam Mitchell, Akili Felici, Elena Pilakouta, Katie Keitges, Grace Cave, Kennedi Grant, and Morgann Gardner.
• Leading the way for Omaha is Pilakouta who returns for her fifth season. She leads all returners with 777 career points, 125 free throws, 418 total rebounds, 56 blocks, and 37 double-digit scoring games. Last season, she owned a .527 FG% and shot .702 from the free throw line, racking up 236 points in the process.
• Last year's breakout freshman Cave is also looking to make an impact this season. As a rookie, she picked up 65 rebounds, 44 assists, and 30 steals, while sinking 23 from behind the arc and finishing with 171 points.
• Following Monday's game, the Mavericks will go on a four-game home stand at Baxter Arena, beginning with the home opener vs. Wichita State on Saturday, November 12, at 2 p.m.

Scouting the Huskers
The Huskers are coming off a 24-9 season which culminated in a loss to Iowa in the Big 10 semifinals. They also qualified for the NCAA tournament, losing 55-68 to Gonzaga in the opening round. Last week, Nebraska played its lone preseason game vs. Washburn, winning 70-27.

Nebraska's top returning players include 2021 Second Team All-Big 10 selection and Nebraska MVP award winner Sam Haiby. One of their all-time scoring leaders with over 1000 points and 400 assists, the graduate student guard did not play in last week's exhibition due to a knee injury. Also earning Second Team honors last season, as well as making the All-Defensive Team, was junior guard Jaz Shelley. Last season she led the team in scoring (13.1 ppg), assists (5.0 apg), steals (1.8 spg) and blocked shots (0.9 bpg). Last week she scored a 3-point FG and had three rebounds. Sophomore center/forward and reigning Big 10 Freshman of the Year Alexis Markowski is also returning after leading the team with 8.0 rpg and setting a Nebraska freshman record with a .500 3-point field goal percentage (21-42). Against Washburn she led the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Head coach Amy Williams enters her seventh season in charge of the Huskers. Through her first six seasons, Williams is 96-84 with Nebraska. Across a 15-season career, she owns a 289-193 record.

All-Time Against Nebraska
Nebraska leads the all-time series at 21-11. The last time these two teams faced each other was November 22, 2016, when the Huskers barely edged out the Mavericks 66-58. Omaha's last victory over Nebraska was all the way back on December 20, 1986, when, in one of the closest ever contests between the two squads, they won 76-74.