Thursday Afternoon Sports – Nebraska Women’s Basketball Battles Penn State, Class B & C State Wrestling Results, Nebraska Baseball Picked as Big Ten Favorite, UNK Names Piper New Head Coach, Women’s Tackle Football Coming to Kearney, Local Sports Schedule

NEBRASKA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL AIM FOR ROAD WIN AT PENN STATE:

After notching the third win over a top-five AP team in school history with a 17-point victory over No. 5 Indiana on Monday night in Lincoln, Nebraska hunts for its second straight road win when the Big Red takes on Penn State Thursday.

Tip-off between the Huskers (19-6, 8-6 Big Ten) and the Lady Lions (9-15, 3-11 Big Ten) is set for 6 p.m.

The Huskers are coming off a huge 72-55 win over No. 5 Indiana at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Valentine’s Day, marking the largest margin of victory in program history over a top-five opponent

NSAA HIGH SCHOOL STATE WRESTLING DAY 1 RESULTS:

CLICK HERE for Classes B & C for area schools.

NEBRASKA BASEBALL TABBED BIG TEN FAVORITE BY COACHES:

The Nebraska baseball team was selected as the preseason favorite in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches’ Poll

The Huskers look to defend their 2021 regular-season title after going 34-14 (31-12 Big Ten) and advancing to the regional final in the Fayetteville Regional last season.

Nebraska was selected in the top spot, followed by Michigan in second and Iowa in third. Maryland was selected fourth, while Ohio State and Indiana round out the preseason poll in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Seniors Kyle Perry and Shay Schanaman and sophomore Max Anderson were named to the Big Ten’s Preseasons Honors List.

UNK SOCCER NAMES NEIL PIPER NEW HEAD COACH:

Nebraska-Kearney Athletic Director Marc Bauer announced Thursday morning that Neil Piper will be the fourth head women’s soccer coach in Loper history.

Piper will begin his duties effective Mar. 1. The Lopers are currently going through winter conditioning with spring ball set to begin in late March.

One of the winningest active head coaches in NCAA Division II, Piper led the Texas A&M-Commerce program for the past 24 years (1998-21). During that time, he guided the Lions to four Lone Star (LSC) Conference regular season titles, four LSC Tournament titles and eight trips to the NCAA Tournament. That includes one Elite Eight (1999) appearance and three Sweet 16’s trips (2008, 2014 and 2016).

Piper not only has Nebraska ties – his wife Anne (Cillessen) was born in Omaha – but also Loper soccer ties as he worked as an assistant coach under Mike Munch at Commerce in 1997. Munch was the first soccer head coach in school history, officially coming aboard in January 2009.

WEBSTER REPEATS AS ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT:

Nebraska senior guard Kobe Webster was honored Thursday afternoon, as he was named to the 2021‐22 Academic All‐District® Men’s Basketball Team

Webster was a first-team honoree in District VII, which includes Division I programs in Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas. He carries a 3.75 GPA while pursuing a masters degree in educational administration after graduating with a degree in management from Western Illinois in 2020. 

WOMEN’S TACKLE FOOTBALL TEAM COMING TO KEARNEY:

A new minor league sports franchise will come to Kearney this summer as the Nebraska Warriors look to field a team in the NWFL, as first reported by KSNB.

The Warriors will don the black, orange and gray for the 2022 season and will compete in the nine-women division of the NWFL.

The Warriors will play a six-game schedule starting this summer and will conclude in August with the crowning of the NWFL champion.

The team is seeking head coach and coaches for the squad, so if you are interested, you’re asked to email nwflfootball@gmail.com and players must be 17 or older to tryout for the squad. Tryouts will happen in April.

HUSKERS TRACK & FIELD HOST NEBRASKA TUNE UP FRIDAY:

The Nebraska track and field team has its final meet of the year before the Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosting the Nebraska Tune-Up on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Devaney Center Indoor Track.

12 teams are scheduled to compete at the Nebraska Tune-Up. The 11 teams joining the 15th-ranked Nebraska men and No. 18 Husker women include Augustana, Creighton, Fort Hays State, Langston, Nebraska Wesleyan, Nebraska-Kearney, Northwest Missouri State, Omaha, South Dakota, Southern Nazarene and William Jewell.

BIG TEN CONFERENCE LIKELY TO STICK WITH NINE CONFERENCE GAMES:

It doesn’t look like the Big Ten will be dropping a conference game from teams’ schedules anytime soon.

The SEC is the only Power Five conference that plays eight conference games. Teams in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 play nine conference games and three non-conference games, and Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff said in a January interview that his conference was ready to go to eight conference games if teams in the Pac-12 could schedule an annual series with the Big Ten.

That annual series doesn’t seem likely to become a reality anytime soon. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said Wednesday at a news conference that most teams in the Big Ten were fine with staying at nine conference games.

NEBRASKA SOFTBALL HEADS TO NEW MEXICO FOR TROY COX CLASSIC:

The Nebraska softball team travels to Las Cruces, New Mexico, for the Troy Cox Classic. The tournament is hosted by New Mexico State and will take place at the NM State Softball Complex. The Huskers will play a total of five games from Feb. 17-20. 

On Thursday, Nebraska will play host school New Mexico State at 4 p.m. CT. On Friday, the Huskers compete against Southeastern Louisiana at 12:30 p.m. CT. On Saturday, NU plays UT Arlington (12:30 p.m. CT) and Northern Colorado (3 p.m. CT). The Huskers conclude the tournament against Iowa State on Sunday at 10 a.m. CT.

HUSKER MEN BATTLE MARYLAND ON FRIDAY NIGHT:

The Nebraska men’s basketball team returns home Friday night, as the Huskers take on the Maryland Terrapins in the only regular-season matchup between the teams. Tipoff from Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 8 p.m.

Friday’s meeting will mark the first matchup in Lincoln between the schools since the 2018-19 campaign. The teams met only once in College Park in 2019-20, and Maryland was scheduled to visit PBA last season, but NU’s COVID pause and the revised Big Ten schedule nixed those plans.

The Huskers (7-18, 1-13 Big Ten) look to rebound from a tough 98-75 loss at Iowa on Sunday. Maryland (11-14, 3-11 Big Ten) comes off a tough 62-61 loss to No. 3 Purdue on Sunday. 

Local Results & Schedules:

THIS WEEK IN LOCAL SPORTS:

WEDNESDAY:

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. Midland U. @ Lynn Farrell Arena
    • HC 83-68
  • MENS BASKETBALL: v. Midland U. @ Lynn Farrell Arena
    • Midland 84-69

THURSDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
    • Sam Luther – fell in first round 7-1
    • Kade Uelman – fell in first round 7-3

• UNK:
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Central Missouri – 5: 30 PM
  • MENS BASKETBALL: @ Central Missouri – 7:30 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
  • N/a

FRIDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
  • GIRLS BASKETBALL: v. Millard North – 6 PM @ Kearney High School
    • Pregame on KGFW at 5:45 PM
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: v. Millard North – 7:45 PM @ Kearney High School
    • Pregame on KGFW at 7:30 PM

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
  • BOYS BASKETBALL: @ Adams Central – 5:30 PM

• UNK:
  • SOFTBALL: @ Oklahoma City, OK (Central Oklahoma)
    • v. Harding – 10:30 AM
    • v. Oklahoma Christian – 5:15 PM
  • MENS/WOMENS TRACK @ Nebraska Tune Up @ Lincoln, NE
  • MENS/WOMENS TRACK @ Loper Tune Up @ Kearney, NE
  • WOMENS TENNIS: @ Augustana

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • SOFTBALL: @ Lindsborg, KS
    • v. Bethany College (Doubleheader)
  • M/W T&F: GPAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

SATURDAY:

• KEARNEY HIGH:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

• KEARNEY CATHOLIC:
  • WRESTLING: BOYS STATE WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

• UNK:
  • SOFTBALL: @ Bethany, OK
    • v. Arkansas Tech – 12:45 PM
    • v. Southern Nazarene – 3 PM
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: @ Lincoln U. – 1:30 PM
  • MENS BASKETBALL: @ Lincoln U. – 3:30 PM

• HASTINGS COLLEGE:
• • SOFTBALL: @ Salina, KS
    • v. Kansas Wesleyan U. (Doubleheader)
  • BASEBALL: @ Joplin, MO
    • v. University of St. Mary
    • v. Evangel University
  • M/W T&F: GPAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
  • WOMENS BASKETBALL: v. No. 16 Northwestern College @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 2 PM
  • MENS BASKETBALL: v. Northwestern College @ Lynn Farrell Arena – 3:45 PM