The Omaha Northwest Huskies will head out to face off against the Lincoln Northeast Rockets at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Omaha Northwest came up into this matchup off a tough 41-point loss on Tuesday. This time they kept things ultra-competitive, but unfortunately the final result was the same. They fell just short of South Sioux City by a score of 52-49 on Saturday. The Huskies have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the defeat, Omaha Northwest got top-tier performance from Abriya Watkins, who dropped a double-double with 22 points and 15 rebounds. That was a full 44.9% of Omaha Northwest's points, marking the fourth time in a row Watkins has posted more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Jessica Houston, who earned 17 points in addition to six boards and four blocks.
Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Lincoln Northeast over Fremont in every quarter on their way to victory on Saturday. Lincoln Northeast strolled past Fremont with points to spare, taking the game 52-34. The Rockets haven't had any issues with the Tigers recently, as the game was their third consecutive victory against them.
Lincoln Northeast found their leader in freshman Brynna Renard, who dropped a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Thanks to that strong game, Renard now owns an excellent 45.9% shooting accuracy. Another player making a difference was Jayla Merrill, who scored nine points and four steals.
Lincoln Northeast's win was their third straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 9-11. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.7 points over those games. As for Omaha Northwest, their loss dropped their record down to 7-14.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Omaha Northwest has been crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30 boards per game. However, it's not like Lincoln Northeast struggles in that department as they've been averaging 32.2 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Omaha Northwest might still be hurting after the 58-34 defeat they got from Lincoln Northeast in their previous meeting back in December of 2021. Can Omaha Northwest avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
