OMAHA, Neb. - Equaling their best start in 14 seasons, Mavericks women's basketball hosts a pair of key Summit League games at home this week. After dropping two games at SDSU and South Dakota, Omaha looks to bounce back in the friendly confines of Baxter Arena Thursday at 7:00 p.m. CT against North Dakota State. Omaha then entertains St. Thomas Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CT.

The Mavericks opened Summit League play with a 71-66 win over the University of North Dakota last Thursday after closing out December with their top record in non-league play in the school's DI Era, including a seven-game winning streak. 

• Since Ja Harvey joined the starting lineup, the Mavericks are 8-3. The senior transfer from San Diego was named the Summit League Peak Newcomer of the Month, scoring double digits in each December game, leading the team in scoring three times and averaging a team-best 16.2 ppg during that span. In December, she led her team in points, ppg, field goals made and three pointers made, steals and minutes played while sinking 19 of 20 free throws.

• Senior Grace Cave continues to pace the Mavericks in scoring with 196 points, level with Harvey at 13.1 ppg. Against Bellevue University, the guard from Weeping Water surpassed the 1,000 point plateau for her Mavericks career, the 29th in school history. With 1,046 career points, she passed Heather Pohl (1,044, 2008-2012) and moved into 26th in all-time Omaha scoring. Most impressively, Cave is the fourth to do so exclusively in the Omaha DI Era (Mikaela Shaw: 1,809 points, 2013-2017; Aaliyah Stanley: 1,204 points, 2021-2024; Elena Pilaskouta: 1,201 points, 2018-2023).

• A pre-season All-Summit League second team selection, Cave boasts the team's most complete ledger with 13.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.8 spg and 4 blocked shots. Harvey also averages 13.1 ppg with 3.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, and a team-leading 1.86 spg. Sophomore Cora Olsen is third in scoring (9.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg), followed by freshman Harriet Ford (8.6 ppg and a team-leading 8.0 rebounds per game).

• Omaha is fourth in the Summit League in three-point shooting percentage (31.3%) and third in three-point percentage defense (29.5%). Cave leads the team in threes made (21-67, 31%), followed by fifth-year Katie Keitges (18-55, 33%), sophomore Ali Stephens (11-31 36%), and Harvey (11-29, 38%). Harvey leads the team in three-point percentage (9-23, 39%).

• Omaha's defense turned up the pressure during the winning streak and has maintained the stop-focused personality. For the season the Mavs lead Summit League teams with 19.06 forced turnovers per game, ranking 78th nationally. Cave has a team-leading 27 steals, followed by Harvey with 26 for a team-leading average of 1.86 spg. Harvey and Cave are fourth and sixth in the league respectively in steals per game.

• Omaha's 25.6 bench points per game stands third in the Summit League (ORU leads league with 27.9 ppg) and ranks 49th in the nation (South Carolina leads the nation with a mind-boggling 42.1 ppg). Though she missed six games with injury, freshman Harriet Ford out of Perth, Western Australia is averaging 9.6 ppg and 8.1 rebounds per game when coming off the bench (also has started two games). Sophomore Alana Powell leads the team in bench minutes (185 mp) averages 5.0 points with a team-best 14 assists while playing exclusively off the bench. Powell's half-court buzzer-beater to close out the third quarter against Bellevue was featured on the ESPN SportsCenter Top Ten plays at number three after the win. 

• The Mavericks have been making the most of their freebies, with Harvey pacing the action from the charity stripe (34-39, 87%), trailed closely by Cave (31-38, 82%), but neither has the minimum 2.5 made oer game to rank nationally. Olsen, the sophomore from Millard South HS, is 9th in the Summit in FT% (52-66, 79%), and leads the team in attempts and makes.

• 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: In addition to her climb in career points, Grace is 12 shy of becoming just the second playing exclusively in the DI Era to reach 300 assists for Omaha (Mikaela Shaw, 314 assists, 2013-2017). She has 114 career three-pointers, ranking 5th in the Mavs DI Era. Both Cave and Katie Keitges are within striking distance of the school's all-time career three pointers made top 10.

• Katie Keitges: With 112 career 3-pters, Katie is 17 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 three-pters made in 2023-2024 rank seventh in the DI Era and 11th all-time.

• The Omaha women's basketball games between the Mavericks and Oral Roberts University will now be played one day earlier than originally scheduled. The Summit League game in Tulsa will now be played Wednesday, January 9th at 7 p.m. CT in the Mabee Center. Omaha's home game will now be played Wednesday, February 12th at 7 p.m. CT in Baxter Arena. The games were originally scheduled to be played one day later. 

• The Mavericks have a split week coming up, traveling to Denver for a Thursday night game at 7:00 p.m. and they return to Baxter Arena, Saturday January 25 versus Kansas City at 1:00 p.m. CT.  Tickets for all Omaha home games are available at omavs.com/tix.

• The University of Nebraska (NU) System mourns the passing of Howard L. Hawks, whose leadership and generosity has created a lasting legacy on the university system, the state of Nebraska and well beyond. Regent Emeritus Hawks, alongside his wife Rhonda, dedicated decades of leadership, philanthropy and service to advancing higher education, athletics and community well-being across Nebraska. To honor Hawks, Mavericks women's basketball uniforms feature a patch carrying his initials, HH.

GAME CHANGES
• Both Summit League games against Oral Roberts will now be played one day earlier than originally scheduled. The game in Tulsa will now be played Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m.. Omaha's home game will be played Wednesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. in Baxter Arena. 
• This year's Senior Day celebration, originally scheduled for Thursday, February 20, has been rescheduled to Saturday, February 15 versus Denver.

LOOKING AT THE BISON
• NDSU leads the all-time series 53-21, dating back to 1980. The Bison claimed both meetings last season, with Omaha's most recent win a 69-56 win on 2/9/23 at Baxter Arena. In that game, Grace Cave led the way with 19 points and 8 rebounds.
• North Dakota State was picked to finish third in teh Summit League preseason poll. 
• The Bison enter the week a season-best five-game win streak, which is the longest active streak in the Summit League. It marks the longest streak for NDSU since winning eight straight last season. The Bison are also 8-2 over their last 10 games.
• The Bison are 1-of-2 unbeaten teams in Summit League play, joining South Dakota State (14-3, 4-0 Summit). NDSU is off to a 3-0 start in league play for the second straight year after beginning last season winning its first four straight.
• Sophomore forward Avery Koenen enters the week leading the Bison in points (11.6), rebounds (7.4), blocks (1.1) and steals (1.4) per game. Freshman guard Marissa Frost  has produced double digits in scoring in eight games coming off the bench this season. 
• Frost was named the Summit League Peak Performer of the Week  on Dec. 9 after helping NDSU to wins over Montana and Eastern Washington.

LOOKING AT THE TOMMIES

LISTEN/WATCH/FOLLOW
Omaha games can be heard on the Omaha Sports Network from Learfield via the Varsity Network app/website, and over the air on 1180 The Zone 2 (KZOT AM) Thursday and NewsTalk 1290 (KOIL AM) Saturday afternoon. All remaining Mavericks regular season games will be televised on the Summit League Network. Brent Weber handles the play-by-play for the Mavericks. The FNBO Pregame Show begins 15:00 prior to tip-off, however, due to scheduling conflicts there will be no pregame show for the St. Thomas broadcast Saturday. 

Connect with Omaha women's basketball on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram, @OmahaWBB.

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