Nebraska
Nebraska Women’s Basketball Preview: Rutgers
Another Saturday, another Nebraska Women’s basketball game. The Huskers improved to 14-7 (6-4 Big Ten) on Wednesday against the Boilermakers. It was a game that had a lot of good, also a lot of things that could be improved, but a win is a win.
Saturday afternoon, Rutgers makes the trip to Lincoln carrying a 12 game losing streak that they’re desperate to break. Can Nebraska hold the Scarlet Knights from doing just that and getting their first win in conference play?
Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-7, 6-4 Big Ten) vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-17, 0-10 Big Ten)
Saturday, February 3, 2024, 2 pm (CT)
Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, Nebraska
Tickets: Huskers.com
Television: Nebraska Public Media
Live Video Stream: B1G+
Live Radio: Huskers Radio Network (1:30 p.m.)
Matt Coatney (PBP), Jeff Griesch (Analyst)
B107.3 FM (Lincoln), 590 AM (Omaha), Huskers.com, Huskers App
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-7, 6-4 Big Ten – NCAA NET 27)
22 – Natalie Potts – 6’2 – Fr. – F/G – 10.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg
40 – Alexis Markowski – 6’3 – Jr. – C/F – 16.6 ppg, 10.4 rpg
0 – Darian White – 5’6 – Gr. – G – 8.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
1 – Jaz Shelley – 5’9 – Gr. – G – 12.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg
14 – Callin Hake – 5’9 – So. – G – 6.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg
Off the Bench
2 – Logan Nissley – 6’0 – Fr. – G – 5.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg
12 – Jessica Petrie – 6’2 – Fr. – F – 4.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg
21 – Annika Stewart – 6’3 – Sr. – F – 3.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg
15 – Kendall Moriarty – 6’1 – Jr. – G – 3.0 ppg, 1.1 rpg
32 – Kendall Coley – 6’2 – Jr. – F – 2.5 ppg, 2.1 rpg
42 – Maddie Krull – 5’9 – Gr. – G – 2.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg
Head Coach: Amy Williams (Nebraska, 1998)
Eighth Season at Nebraska (128-106); 17th Season Overall (321-215)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-17, 0-10 Big Ten – NCAA NET 161)
1 – Destiny Adams – 6’3 – Jr. – G/F – 14.9 ppg, 7.3 rpg
4 – Antonia Bates – 6’3 – So. – G/F – 3.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg
54 – Chyna Cornwell – 6’3 – Sr. – F – 8.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg
20 – Erica Lafayette – 6’0 – Sr. – G – 1.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg
24 – Lisa Thompson – 5’9 – Fr. – G – 7.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg
Off the Bench
3 – Mya Petticord – 5’9 – So. – G – 10.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg
22 – Kassondra Brown – 6’2 – Gr. – C – 8.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg
0 – Jillian Huerter – 6’0 – Fr. – G – 7.0 ppg, 1.7 rpg
33 – Kennedy Brandt – 5’10 – Fr. – G – 0.5 ppg, 0.3 rpg
2 – Kaylene Smikle – 6’0 – So. – G – 16.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg
11 – Awa Sidibe – 5’11 – Gr. – G – OUT
Head Coach: Coquese Washington (Notre Dame, 1992)
Second Season at Rutgers (18-37); 14th Season Overall (227-206)
Scouting the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers swings into Lincoln carrying a 12 game losing streak and are 0-10 in Big Ten play. The losing streak started with Indiana and includes losses to Iowa and Ohio State. Some losses have been by single digits, Purdue (77-76), at Northwestern (77-70) and at home to Michigan (56-50), all other losses have been by double figures.
Kaylene Smikle, who was Rutgers’ leading scorer through 15 games at 16.1 points and 5.1 rebounds, has missed the past eight games. Last year, she averaged 17.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, she also managed to hit 53 three pointers.
Mya Petticord, averages 10.4 points and 3.7 rebounds through 13 games, but did not play in the loss to Michigan State (82-64). Petticord, who has scored in double figures in seven of her eight Big Ten games while playing at least 33 minutes in every conference contest, was on the sideline in a walking boot.
Seniors Chyna Cornwell (8.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Erica Lafayette (1.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg) are the only players who have spent at least three seasons at Rutgers, along with the injured Sidibe. Cornwell has started 53 games in her four-year Rutgers career, including 21 this season. Last year, she had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the win against Nebraska.
North Carolina transfer Destiny Adams, averages 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The 6’3 junior is shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 70.5 percent from the free throw line, adding on 35 steals.
Rutgers is only averaging 65 points per game, while allowing 81.4 points to opponents. The Scarlet Knights are shooting 42.1 percent from the field, but just 30.7 percent from three point range with an average of just 4.2 made threes per game.
Husker Report
Nebraska is averaging 74.2 points per game and is allowing just 62.8 points to opponents. The Huskers shoot 42.9 percent from the field, including 32.6 percent from long range, while also bringing down 42.5 rebounds per game giving them a +10 margin for that category.
Alexis Markowski is 21 points (1,162) from catching Nebraska’s first career 1,000-point scorer, Jan Crouch, at No. 22 (1,183 points) on the Husker career scoring list.
Jaz Shelley (475) needs two assists to catch Sam Haiby in sixth (477, 2019-23) on Nebraska’s career assist chart.
Jaz Shelley (196) needs four steals to reach 200 in her college career (Nebraska-151; Oregon-45).
Annika Stewart is expected to play in her 100th game as a Husker against Rutgers on Saturday.
Nebraska
Carnival worker takes plea deal in Nebraska State Fair teen enticement case
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — A carnival worker who was working at the Nebraska State Fair last year charged with enticing who he thought was a teen has taken a plea deal.
According to Hall County District Court records, Todd Brown, 46, pleaded no contest to enticement by electronic device. In exchange for his plea, the charge was reduced from child enticement by electronic device.
According to an arrest affidavit, on Aug. 19, 2025 Brown began messaging a Nebraska State Patrol investigator posing online as a 14-year-old child. The investigator said Brown told him he was working at the Nebraska State Fair and told them to meet him there.
The affidavit said Brown continued to message the minor, with the conversations becoming sexual in nature. Court records said Brown offered to rent a hotel room and urged the minor not to tell their parents about their communications.
The affidavit said on Thursday, Brown told the minor to meet him after his shift working a game booth at the carnival at the Nebraska State Fair. The investigator said he located Brown at the fair using his cell phone.
Brown is set to be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. April 8.
Nebraska
Fire marshal investigating fatal house fire in southeast Nebraska
DAWSON, Neb. (KOLN) – One person is dead after a house fire in the village of Dawson on Saturday.
The Richardson County Sheriff’s Office was called to a structure fire near Riley Avenue and Fifth Street at 12:31 a.m. According to the sheriff’s office, 70-year-old Michael Leroy Ruch was found dead in a bedroom in the northwest corner of the house.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Nebraska State Fire Marshal.
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Nebraska
First UNMC Kearney medical class to be awarded scholarships
The Health Science Education Center II at the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. University of Nebraska at Kearney, Courtesy)
KEARNEY — The University of Nebraska Medical Center will offer scholarships to the first class of medical students to study and train in Kearney, a key initiative aimed at strengthening access to health care in rural Nebraska.
The Health Science Education Center II will open to its first class of medical students in fall 2026, and for the first time, UNMC will educate future physicians in rural Nebraska.
The new scholarships will cover at least half the cost of medical school tuition for all four years for the first class of students in Kearney. The scholarships have been made possible by generous benefactors and the UNMC College of Medicine. No state money has been used to create the scholarships.
“Improving the health of people across Nebraska is a major goal of UNMC and the College of Medicine,” said Bradley Britigan, MD, dean of the UNMC College of Medicine and Stokes-Shackleford Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. “We are excited about our first cohort of medical students beginning at Kearney later this year, which is one more example of that commitment. And we are pleased, with the help of other generous donors, to be able to offer this support.”
Currently, 66 of Nebraska’s 93 counties are designated as medically underserved areas. Studies have shown students may be more likely to choose to practice in smaller communities after graduation if they are trained in rural communities.
Robert Messbarger, MD, inaugural associate dean for the UNMC College of Medicine’s regional medical school campus in Kearney, said the scholarships are indicative of the support the UNMC College of Medicine has received since it announced plans to have medical students at Kearney.
“I am grateful to these benefactors, and the college, for this wonderful effort,” Dr. Messbarger said.
With additional private support, the UNMC College of Medicine would like to extend the scholarships to subsequent classes of UNMC medical students in Kearney. Matching funds are available to support the new scholarships.
“We hope to be able to provide even more financial aid and to be able to extend these scholarships to future classes,” Dr. Britigan said. “However, additional philanthropic support will be needed to do so.”
Donors who commit a scholarship gift of $50,000 or more will have their gift matched by one-third by the College of Medicine. For example, a gift of $75,000 would be matched by the College of Medicine, with an additional $25,000 for students studying in Kearney.
Scholarships are a priority of Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future, a historic effort to raise $3 billion from 150,000 unique benefactors to support the University of Nebraska.
Donors interested in learning more about the new scholarships may contact Brian Anderson, senior director of development for the College of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Foundation, at brian.anderson@nufoundation.org.
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