NORMAN, Okl. - Omaha's longest winning streak of the school's DI Era came to an end in Oklahoma, but as the team turns the calendar to 2025 there are signs of a bright season ahead.
After winning seven straight games, the Mavericks (8-5, 0-0 Summit League) found out why the Sooners (10-1, 0-0 SEC) are ranked 10th in the nation, falling 111-65 at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman Sunday afternoon.
Playing without senior
Grace Cave and freshman center
Harriet Ford due to injuries, the undersized Mavericks met their match against the nation's fourth-highest scoring team. Oklahoma led from the opening possession, building a 16 point lead at the end of one period before Omaha played the Sooners nearly even to halftime, outscored 26-24.
Senior
Ja Harvey was a bright spot, leading Omaha for the third straight game with 21 points, her highest total as a Maverick. She also had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and a blocked shot. Sophomore
Cora Olsen, playing on her birthday, made 9 of 11 free throws and finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Sophomore guard
Alana Powell finished with 10 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.
Aaliyah Moore, starting in place of the inured Cave, finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals.
For the first time this season, Omaha played without their floor leader Cave, who earlier in the week became the fourth player 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. Cave suffered a concussion in that game, and was held out of practice this week as part of the university's concussion protocol. She has been cleared to return to some light activity and is expected to rejoin the team when they host North Dakota in the Summit League opener, 7 p.m. CT, January 2 at Baxter Arena.
Here are some key points from the pre-league portion of the schedule:
- Cave's steady leadership, combined with the addition of several key players, has the Mavericks off to their best start after 13 games since 2017-2018 when they also started the season 8-5. That is the same season the Mavericks last won seven straight games, the longest any team has forged in the DI Era (starting in 2011-2012). 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).
- The Mavericks have already equaled their win total from the 2023-2024 campaign.
- 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.
- Since the 27-year-old Harvey joined the Mavericks starting lineup, the Army National Guard Specialist has helped Omaha win 7 of eight games, scoring double figures in all but one of those games.
- Entering the Oklahoma game, Omaha was second in the Summit League and 94th in the nation in three-point shooting (33.8%). Cave leads the team in threes made (16-51, 33%), followed by Keitges (13-40, 33%) and sophomore Ali Stephens (10-24, team-leading 42%). Both Cave and fifth year player Katie Keitges surpassed the 100 mark in career three pointers this season.
- Entering the Oklahoma game when they forced 17 turnovers, Omaha's defense was second among Summit League teams with 19.5 forced turnovers per game, ranking 62nd nationally.
- The Mavericks have been making the most of their freebies. Omaha's 75.3% FT mark is second-best in the Summit League and ranks 47th nationally.
- In addition to her climb in career points, Cave is 24 shy of becoming just the second playing exclusively in the DI Era to reach 300 assists for Omaha (Mikaela Shaw, 314 assists, 2013-2017).
- Newcomers Ford and Moore have turned in double-doubles (Ford did it twice early in the season), while sophomore transfer Powell led the Mavericks in scoring with 15 points in the season's opener at then-24th ranked Nebraska.
Omaha returns to action after the holiday break, January 2 at home against North Dakota. The Mavs learn how they stack up quickly in the Summit League, traveling to conference favorite South Dakota State January 9 at 7 p.m. CT. All Summit League games, home and away, are televised on The Summit League Network. Omaha games can be heard on the radio via the Omaha Mavericks Network, as well as The Varsity Network app from Learfield. Details can be found on the OMavs.com schedule page for broadcast specifics and links. Brent Weber is the play-by-play voice of Mavericks women's basketball.
Tickets are available for all Mavericks home games at OMavs.com/tix.
