Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Coming off its second win against a Division I opponent this season, the University of Nebraska at Omaha women's basketball team is preparing for a rematch with its first victim.
Future Summit League foe Western Illinois, which the Mavericks knocked off 65-58 in Macomb, Ill., Dec. 20, comes to Sapp Fieldhouse for a 7 p.m. game Monday.
Since losing to UNO, the Leathernecks have gone 3-5 in Summit League games to position themselves in a four-way tie for sixth place in the 10-team league, one game out of a tie for fourth. Second-place Oral Roberts, which is leaving the league next season, is one of the teams ahead of WIU.
Considering its win in the first matchup and seeing what has transpired this season gives UNO a sense of optimism as it prepares to start playing a full Summit League schedule in 2012-13.
"We've still got a ways to go in this program, but at least you feel like there's a chance to reach some attainable goals in the near future," UNO coach Chance Lindley said. "Now, we haven't defined what the 'near' future might be. But we have been able to beat them once and we're going to try to do it again.
"Looking at the bigger picture, it makes you feel like maybe you have a chance to compete sooner rather than later."
In the first meeting, Paige Frauendorfer put UNO ahead to stay at 56-53 on a three-point play with 2:24 left, and then Stacia Gebers scored six of the Mavs' next seven points to make it 63-58 with 12 seconds left. Jamie Nash led UNO with 17 points, and the Mav defense limited Western to 26.3 percent shooting (21 of 80) from the field. Guard Sadie Webb led the Leathernecks with 22 points and nine rebounds.
But Western Illinois, which lost 68-64 at home to IUPUI on Saturday, picked up a 66-63 road win last Monday at Missouri-Kansas City. UNO lost at UMKC 74-64 Jan. 11.
"(Western Illinois) is playing well, definitely better than the first time we played them," Lindley said. "But I'd like to believe, hopefully, that so are we."
UNO had its doubts after a Jan. 19 home loss to NAIA Division II power Concordia, but bounced back Tuesday for a 60-52 road win at NCAA Division I Texas-Arlington.
"It was definitely a great win, and it shows a lot about the character of our players," Lindley said. "Concordia was a tough loss, one of the worst of the season in a lot of ways. We told them they had two choices, to either bounce back or repeat what we had done against Concordia. And we came out and played really, really well."
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