Women's basketball snaps road losing streak

Despite being near the top of The Summit League all season, UNO women’s basketball has struggled to find conference success on the road.  Prior to Saturday the Mavs had gone 1-4 in league road games, last winning 61-44 at Kansas City over a month ago.

But a 67-63 win at Oakland has pushed UNO back into fourth in The Summit League standings with six games to go.  The Mavs get four of those at home, only having to play two more away from the Sapp Fieldhouse.

With the win UNO improved to 15-7, (5-5 Summit League), and the Golden Grizzlies dropped to 8-13, (2-7 Summit League).

Paige Frauendorfer, the conference’s seventh leading scorer, led the way with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Taijhe Kelly contributed a season-high 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for her first double-double of the season.

Jamie Nash added 13 points, five assists and four steals, and Ericka House finished with 12 points on 4-of-9 from the 3-point line.  House is second in the conference in 3-pointers per game with 2.1.

Omaha ended their troubles on the road after coming back from a 12-point second half deficit.  UNO allowed Oakland to shoot 51.7 percent in the first half, trailed in points in the paint 14-8 and fell behind 36-31 at the half.

The Grizzlies two leading scorers, Elena Popkey (11.5 ppg) and Olivia Nash (11.4 ppg), shot 6-of-10 in the first half, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.  As a team Oakland was shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 4-of-8 (50 percent) after the first 20 minutes.

Those stats improved dramatically in the second half when the Mavs ratcheted up the defensive pressure and held Oakland to just 31.3 percent (10-of-32) shooting.   
Three minutes in, the Grizzlies held their largest lead at 47-35.  Frauendorfer scored UNO’s next six points, House hit a three and the lead was cut in half to six, 50-44, in just over three minutes.

After back-to-back buckets from Frauendorfer and Nash, the Mavs were within two, 56-54, with 8:17 left. The two teams went back-and-forth the rest of the half and Oakland maintained a slim lead until Nash made a jumper with just 38 seconds remaining.

UNO lead 62-61, rebounded a Grizzlies miss and made 4-of-5 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

After combining for 17 in the first half, Oakland’s Popkey and Nash were held to just eight in the final 20 minutes of the game.  
The Mavs limited the Grizzlies to just 31 percent second half shooting and won the rebounding battle 25-18.

UNO returns home this week to take on Western Illinois on Thursday and IUPUI on Saturday at the Sapp Fieldhouse.