Intro/Games Leading Up
The Omaha Mavericks after struggling against Illinois State played a fill in game against a local NAIA school College of St. Mary winning 89-59. Then they played a road game in Evanston losing to Northwestern 87-69. On November 17th, the Omaha Women’s Basketball team played a matinee game and set an attendance record with 5,539 fans, mainly school kids around the Omaha Metro cheering on the Mavs. They ended up falling short to a rumored Summit League addition team Northern Colorado 82-70. A few days later, Omaha traveled to Wichita State in a home/home series and could not close out the game losing 92-86. Omaha came into this game with a 1-4 record.
1st Quarter
The Mavericks started the game out very quickly leading 9-0 early in the first quarter. Cal State Bakersfield then tried to play catch up and shooting threes. Omaha ended up leading after the first quarter 20-13.
2nd Quarter
Each team scored 16 points in this quarter and Omaha kept a seven point lead heading into halftime and Kennedi Grant was into double figures early on and would be the first of three players to score 10 or more points.
3rd Quarter
Omaha had 18 points and Cal State Bakersfield had 17 points in this quarter and at one point Omaha had a double digit lead in this game.
4th Quarter/Injury
Cal State Bakersfield gets red hot shooting the ball and making three pointers to get back in the game keeping it around two scores. In the middle of the fourth quarter Lucy Ghaifan goes down awkwardly trying to rebound the ball holding on to her left ankle. One of the fans in the stands thinks it could be an achilles injury and a season ending one. It could also be a sprained or broken ankle. I saw her not put any weight on that ankle and had to be helped off the court and the crutches were waiting on the sideline. Hopefully we hear more about the injury in the coming days. Omaha then plays sloppy with the ball and not completely sealing the game causing Cal State Bakersfield to edge even closer. A late foul and Cal State Bakersfield making both free throws sends the game into overtime tied at 71.
Overtime/Upcoming Games
In the overtime period, Polina Nikulochkina making several buckets causing Omaha to pull away. Omaha outscored Cal State Bakersfield 16-8 in overtime. Their next game will be against University of Illinois Chicago on Friday followed by an away game at former Summit League foe Western Illinois.