Follow The Game
The Omaha Mavericks open the 2023-24 season Monday night at Baxter Arena for a 5 p.m. tip-off against the Illinois State Redbirds. The Mavericks are coming off being the Summit League Tournament runners-up. 

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 were tabbed sixth in the Summit League Preseason rankings after a 15-17 campaign in 2022-23. The team owned a 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-pt 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.
• Following Monday's game, the Mavericks will host the College of Saint Mary's on Wednesday Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. 

Scouting the Redbirds
• Illinois State is coming off a 94-56 exhibition win over crosstown foe Illinois Wesleyan October 29 at
CEFCU Arena.
• Graduate student DeAnna Wilson led Illinois State with 27 points and 7 rebounds in the win over the
Titans.
• The Redbirds were picked to finish third in the Preseason MVC Poll behind second-place Drake and preseason champion UNI.
• Wilson was named to the Preseason All-MVC First Team, her second straight year with a preseason MVC
honor.
• The Redbirds surround Wilson with 2022 All-MVC Defensive Team selection Kate Bullman and Normal
native Maya Wong at the point. Sophomore Abbie Aalsma also steps into a larger role this year after a
strong rookie campaign a year ago.
• Illinois State brought in a strong group of newcomers, including transfer junior guard Caroline
Waite from Bradley. Waite was the MVC Freshman of the Year for the Braves in 2021-2022 and led the
Braves in scoring last season.

All-Time Against Illinois State
The Mavericks have outplayed the Redbirds in two of the three games played. With a 2-0 record against Illinois State, Omaha lost 69-39 in Dec. of 2020 making it a 2-1 all-time record. 

New Year, New Faces
The team welcomes four members to the program this season: freshman forwards, Alison Stephens and Cora Olsen, freshman center, Lucy Ghaifan, and senior forward Liz Martino.  

• Stephens comes to the Mavericks from Fort Wayne, Indiana where she was a four-year letterwinner with the basketball team and helped the team win three-straight 4A Sectional Championships, and well as a regular season and postseason title in the SAC Conference. Her third year averaged 13 ppg and shot 50% from the field and 43% behind the arc.  

• Olsen, a native to Omaha, comes to the Mavericks from Millard South where she was a four-year letterwinner with the basketball team. In her first three seasons, she helped the team win three-straight Metro Championships, including an undefeated regular season and a trip to the semifinals of the Class A Nebraska State Championships as a junior...Earned First-Team All-Metro honors as a sophomore and Second-Team honors as a junior.

• Ghaifan comes from Grand Island Central Catholic where she helped her team to a 17-8 record and a state tournament apperance as a freshman. 

2022-23: Year in Review
• Omaha finished 15-17 overall and owned a  8-10 record in Summit League play. 
• The Mavericks went on a three game win streak starting with a road match at Kansas City (75-64), then home matches against Western Illinois (76-64), and St. Thomas (80-77). 
• Grace Cave led the team with 950 minutes played, 90 assists, and 11 blocks. Aaliyah Stanley, with 31 starts, led the Mavericks with 43 3-pointers. And sophomore Kennedi Grant led in steals (52) and free-throws made (88)
• Omaha went 8-6 at home and 5-10 when on the road. 
• In the conference tournament the Mavericks won 84-81 over North Dakota in the first round. In the semifinals, they went on to defeat the Kansas City Roos 69-60. 
• The Mavericks set a new team season high in free throw pecentage (in the Division I era) at .785, besting the previous record of .735 set in 2021-22.