Nebraska Cornhuskers
Overall Rank: #15
Conference Rank: #3 Big Ten
Nebraska Team Page
The Nebraska Cornhuskers look to build on a successful first season in the Big Ten Conference by attempting to regain the prowess that they exhibited when Head Coach Connie Yori was national coach of the year for the 2010 campaign. Also, it is the swan song for the Devaney Center as both basketball programs will be moving into the new state of art Pinnacle Bank Arena in downtown Lincoln for the 2013-14 basketball season.
2011-12 Record: 24-9, 10-6
2011-12 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Connie Yori
Coach Record: 190-126, at Nebraska, 385-266 overall
Strengths:
The Cornhuskers will be anchored by two very dynamic players. Lindsey Moore will be the floor general in the backcourt. Her senior leadership and the ability to score and distribute the basketball efficiently while keeping turnovers to a minimum will be huge for this team heading into the season. Jordan Hooper will be the key up front as she is the leading returning scorer for Nebraska. Hooper is an absolute machine on the boards as she proved last year by averaging 9.3 rebounds per contest. Also, the ability to keep the tempo of the game up will be another plus for the Cornhuskers as they averaged nearly 72 points per contest.
Weaknesses:
The ability to get one more scorer in the backcourt to take the pressure off of Lindsey Moore will be very important for Nebraska this season. The leading candidate, out of many, to help fill that void is Brandi Jeffery, a sophomore who got plenty of playing time coming in as a reserve last season. Jeffery displayed a strong knack to create turnovers on the defensive end of the floor as she amassed 38 steals in 2011-12, which placed her second on the team. Another key is getting one more pure post player to step up to take the load off of Hooper and Emily Cady. In a conference like the Big Ten, the more depth you can have up front the better off you will be when games get physical during the home stretch of conference play.
Final Projection:
With a new building on the horizon and a pretty experienced squad back, there is plenty of reason for the Cornhusker nation to be very optimistic for another run to the NCAA Tournament. The schedule in the preseason is going to give Nebraska plenty of opportunities to make their presence felt on the national landscape of women’s college basketball. On November 23 they take on USC on the road at the Galen Center in what should be a solid early season test but winnable one. The big one is just a few days later as the Cornhuskers will play host to the Maryland Terrapins as part of the Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge. This is where two dynamic players like Moore and Hooper will be able to state their case early for national player of the year consideration. Overall, during the Big Ten slate, the road games against Penn State and Ohio State jump out as ones that will help Nebraska’s national seeding if they can pull off the wins. Look for another 20 plus win season and a potential top 16 overall national seed come NCAA Tournament time for the Cornhuskers.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
Projected Starting Five:
Lindsey Moore, Senior, Guard, 15.7 points per game
Brandi Jeffery, Sophomore, Guard, 3.8 points per game
Jordan Hooper, Junior, Forward, 18.9 points per game
Emily Cady, Sophomore, Forward, 9.9 points per game
Hailie Sample, Sophomore, Forward, 3.8 points per game
Madness 2013 WNBA Draft Rankings:
#7 Lindsey Moore
Madness 2012 Women’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#129 Rachel Theriot
