SAINT CHARLES, Mo. - Omaha women's basketball takes their longest winning streak in seven years to Lindenwood University Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CT.

The Mavericks (6-4, 0-0 Summit League) have reeled off five consecutive wins, equaling the longest victory run of Omaha's NCAA D-I Era, including three straight away from home for the first time under head coach Carrie Banks. Lindenwood (4-4, 0-0 Ohio Valley Conference) closes out their non-conference schedule having dropped three straight.

The longest winning streak since Omaha made the move to NCAA Division I in 2011-2012 (5 games, 12/11/13-12/31/13). Mavericks teams twice reeled off school record ten-game winning streaks all-time (2005-06, 1981-82). 

• Senior Grace Cave leads the Mavericks in scoring with 13.2 ppg (4.8 rpg, 4.0 apg, 1.7 spg) with a team-best 1.14 assists/turnover ratio. Senior transfer Ja Harvey is second on the team with 9.8 ppg (2.9 rpg, 3.25 apg, 2 spg). Sophomore Cora Olsen is third in scoring (9.0 ppg), followed by freshman Harriet Ford (8.3 ppg) with a team best 8.8 rpg while making 50% of her shots from the floor. 

• Omaha is second in the Summit League and 99th in the nation in three-point shooting (33.3%). Cave leads the team in threes made (14-46, 30%), followed by fifth-year Katie Keitges (12-35, 34%) and sophomore Ali Stephens (10-21, team-leading 48%),

• Omaha's defense has turned up the pressure during the winning streak. For the season they are second among Summit League teams with 19.4 forced turnovers per game, ranking 86th nationally. During the past five games, opponents have turned the ball over 20.6 times per game.

•The Mavericks are 5-0 since senior transfer Ja Harvey entered the starting lineup. The 27-year-old Army National Guard Specialist has scored in double figures in four of those five games, 

• Several Mavericks are moving up in the record book, particularly stats relating to the school's transition into NCAA Division I beginning in 2011, reflecting only players whose entire career has been in the DI Era. 

• Grace Cave: With 982 career points, Grace is 18 shy of becoming the 29th in school history to reach 1,000 career points. Most impressively, Cave would be the fourth to do so exclusively in Omaha DI history. WIth 271 in her career, Grace is 29 shy of becoming just the second playing exclusively in the DI Era to reach 300 assists (Mikaela Shaw, 314 assists, 2013-2017). She has 107 career three-pointers (see Keitges below).

• Katie Keitges: With 106 career 3-pters, Katie is 34 shy of the top 10 in school history, and sixth place in DI Era. With 3 threes against Wisconsin, she became the fourth in the DI Era to reach 100 3-pters.  Her 55 3-pters made in 2023-2024 rank seventh in the DI Era and 11th all-time.

• The Mavericks have two more games before conference play and the close of the 2024 calendar year. They host Bellevue University on the Omaha Dodge Campus at the iconic Sapp Fieldhouse,  Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. They then travel to  10th ranked Oklahoma in Norman next Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

LOOKING AT LIONS
• This is the first meeting between Omaha and Lindenwood. The Lions made the transition to DI in 2022 and compete in the Ohio Valley Conference.

•  Like Omaha, Lindenwood has played a challenging non-conference schedule, including two like Power 5 foes. Lindenwood fell in their season opener at Kansas, losing 56-43 (Omaha lost at Kansas 75-56, 11/14), while the Lions led Nebraska in the first half before falling in Lincoln  69-48, 12/2 (Omaha lost their season opener in Lincoln). 

•  Lindenwood has dropped three straight and this is their final non-conference game of the season. They begin OVC play Thursday at home against Tennessee Tech. The Lions are 3-1 at home in Hyland Arena this season. 

• Lindenwood's offense is averaging 64.6 points per game this season which is good for sixth best in the Ohio Valley Conference. Lindenwood has scored over 70 points three-times this season including three games ago against Oral Roberts where they scored 79 points. The Lions are also allowing teams to score just 66.6 ppg which is also good for fourth in the OVC. 

• They have two players leading them in scoring, Ellie Brueggemann (12.1 ppg) and Gracy Wernli (10.0 ppg). Wernli was named OVC Newcomer of the Week this past week. 

• In year one under head coach Amy Eagan, the Lions posted a 7-21 record. Lindenwood found itself in many close games, dropping eight contests by seven points or less. 

LISTEN/WATCH/FOLLOW
Omaha's games can be heard on the Omaha Sports Network from Learfield via the Varsity Network app/website. Saturday's game is available on radio in Omaha at 1180 The Zone (KZOT am).  Brent Weber handles the play-by-play for the Mavericks. Saturday's FNBO Pregame Show begins at 12:45 pm CT. The game will be televised on ESPN+ (subscription required).

Links are available on the OMavs.com schedule page.
Tickets are available for all Mavericks home games at OMavs.com/tix.