OMAHA, Neb. - Senior
Grace Cave became the fourth in Omaha's DI Era to reach 1,000 career points as the Mavericks beat Bellevue University 84-53 Wednesday night for their seventh consecutive win.
The streak equals the longest since Omaha (8-4) began playing in NCAA DI in 2011 (seven straight wins in November/December 2017). Omaha's all-time longest win streak is 10 games, achieved twice (11/17/2005-12/29/2005 and 2/3/1982-2/27/1982).
Cave eclipsed the 1,000 career points mark with a three-point shot at 7:50 of the 4th quarter. With 1,004 career points, Cave is the 29th Maverick to reach 1,000 career points and the fourth to do so exclusively in Omaha DI history. She finished the game with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocked shots.
For the second straight game, Omaha was led by senior
Ja Harvey, who scored 18 points with 3 assists and 3 steals. Sophomore
Cora Olsen added 14 points. Senior
Morgann Gardner grabbed a game high 9 rebounds to go with 7 points. Senior
Aaliyah Moore grabbed 7 rebounds, while junior
Lauren Perry had 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. Omaha's bench accounted for 33 points.
The NAIA Bruins (9-3) played with heart, outscoring the Mavericks 20-12 in the first quarter. But the Mavericks dominated from there, limiting Bellevue to 6 second quarter points, outscoring the Bruins 72-33 over the rest of the game.
Twelve Omaha players scored, including junior transfer
Mar Vidal and freshmen
Daria Shelby and
Paige Horne, the first time all three had done so together.
At 8-4, the Mavericks are off to their best start under fifth-year head coach
Carrie Banks.
Bellevue was led by senior Gabby Moore with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
Omaha closes out the non-league portion of the schedule Sunday at 3 p.m. CT in Norman, Oklahoma against the 10th ranked Sooners. The game can be heard beginning with the FNBO pre-game show at 2:45 p.m. CT on the Omaha Mavericks Network (KZOT 1180 The Zone) as well as The Varsity Network app from Learfield. Brent Weber is the play-by-play voice of Mavericks women's basketball. The game will be telecast on ESPN+.
After a break for Christmas and the New Year, the Mavericks open Summit League play Thursday, January 2nd at Baxter Arena against the University of North Dakota. Links are available on the schedule page at OMavs.com.
Tickets are available for all Mavericks home games at OMavs.com/tix.
