The Omaha Mavericks will tip off against the UIC Flames on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.
The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com.
Quick Hits
• The Mavericks continue will host UIC with a 2-4 overall record. At home, Omaha has gone 2-2.
• Comparatively, UIC enters with a 4-2 record, going 2-2 on the road.
• Omaha comes off an 87-79 overtime win against CSU Bakersfield.
• Against the Runners, Omaha had their best start of the season, finishing the first quarter up by seven.
Monday night's game contained 10 different scorers with three in double-digits. The game was paced by
Polina Nikulochkina with 21 points. Alongside her was
Kennedi Grant with 18 and
Grace Cave with 13. P. Nikulochkina went 6-of-9 on field goals, 7-of-8 on free throws, and a perfect 2-of-2 on three-pointers. Grant led with eight rebounds and six assists. Cave got the lone block of the game and led with two steals.
• P.Nikulochkina had a career-high 21 points against the Runners.
• Omaha moves up to 15th nationally for free throws made per game and pace the league.
• As the Mavericks show their depth on the roster, they rank 25in the nation and first in the Summit League for bench points (31.8).
• Though Ghaifan does not meet the requirements yet to be nationally ranked, her field goal percent of .875 surpasses the nation's leading shooter with 78%.
• The Mavericks were tabbed sixth in the Summit League Preseason rankings after a 15-17 campaign in 2022-23. The team owned an 8-10 mark in conference play, including wins against North Dakota State, North Dakota, and Denver, and was 5-10 on the road.
• Head Coach
Carrie Banks returns for her fourth season at the helm. She owns a 29-49 record with the Mavericks and 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
Ansar Al-Ameen,
Jim Wiedie,
Jaelyn Richard Harris and Direction of Operations
Roneeka Pleasant
• Four newcomers join the Mavericks this year:
Liz Martino, Allie Stephens,
Cora Olsen, and
Lucy Ghaifan. They join 11 returning Mavericks.
• Leading the way for Omaha is
Grace Cave who returns for her third season. She leads all returners with 494 career points, 178 free throws, 49 3-point field goals, 85 free throws, 222 total rebounds, 187 defensive rebounds, 134 assists, 78 steals, 15 blocks, 44 games started, and 1,495 minutes played.
• Senior transfer,
Aaliyah Stanley made an immediate impact last season with 31 games played and started. In her first season at Omaha, Stanley picked up 362 points, 56 assists, 35 steals, 123 rebounds, while sinking 43 from behind the arc.
Scouting the UIC Flames
• The Flames come to Omaha with a 4-2 overall record and 2-2 road record.
• Earlier this week they fell to Saint Louis in a close 79-75 game.
• On the season, UIC carries a 8.6 scoring margin and a .455 field goal percentage.
• The Flames go .359% behind the arc as they average 6.2 per game. On the free throw line, the Flames have gone 84-of-139, averaging .604 percent.
• UIC trailed their opponents in rebounds with a margin of -2.9.
• In six games they have made 16 blocks, averaging 2.7 a game.
• The Flames are led by Maklyah Williams with 89 points. Jaida McCloud paces UIC with 42 rebounds and five blocks.
All-Time Against UIC
The Mavericks hold a 1-0 all-time record over UIC. The first and only meeting of the teams was November of 2021 where the Mavericks came out victorious 70-58.
