Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team opened the 2000-01 season in convincing fashion, defeating 2000 Mid-Continent Conference champion Oakland (Mich.), 91-59, in the first round of the Time Warner Cable Classic in front of 4,278 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center Friday evening.
With the win, the Huskers (1-0) advance to meet No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, a 78-67 winner over Louisville in tonight's first game, in the championship game Sunday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. The game will be televised live on Nebraska Educational Television.
The Huskers, who returned just one starter from last season's squad, jumped on Oakland (0-1) in the first half, turning 17 Golden Grizzly turnovers into 25 points. Senior guard Amanda Went scored 12 of her team-high 16 points before halftime, as Nebraska shot 61 percent from the field and led by as many as 35 points before taking a 58-26 advantage into the break.
The 58 points scored by Nebraska in the first half, tied for the second-most points in a first half in school history. The Huskers also scored 58 points against Brigham Young in 1987. The school record was set in 1993 when the Huskers scored 59 points against InterAmerican. The 91 total points by the Huskers marked the first time that Nebraska scored 90 or more points since the 1999-2000 season-opening win over Georgia Southern in the first round of the Time Warner Cable Classic, when the Huskers scored 113 points.
The 59 points points allowed by Nebraska was 17 points under Oakland's 1999-2000 season average. The Huskers held only three opponents under 60 points in all of last season.
Nebraska Coach Paul Sanderford said he was not surprised by his team's performance.
"I am pleased with the way we played and the way we competed," Sanderford said. "I am not shocked. I expected us to play much better than we did in the exhibition games. I was really pleased with our effort, our defense and our rebounding."
Went was one of five Huskers in double figures, as all 14 players who dressed saw action and 12 broke into the scoring column. Casey Leonhardt scored 14 points, while Monique Whitfield chipped in 11 points and a team-high eight boards, as the Huskers out-rebounded OU, 48-28. Margaret Richards and Shannon Howell each added 10 points in their Husker debuts.
Tonight's game also marked the return of Husker junior forward Amanda Cleveland, who had not played competitive basketball since she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare blood disorder that prevents bone marrow from producing new blood cells and causes extreme fatigue, in December of 1997. Cleveland, who has been practicing since mid-October, entered the game with 11:57 remaining in the contest and finished with one rebound in two short stints in the second half.
The Golden Grizzlies returned four starters from the team that won the Mid-Con regular-season title a year ago, but were led by freshman Naomi Nickleberry, who finished with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds. Christina Blanford also added 11 points in the loss, as Oakland will face Louisville in Sunday's first game at 12:35 p.m.
In the tournament opener, Jess Hansen's 18 points led four Gauchos in double figures as No. 25 UC Santa Barbara downed Louisville, 78-67. The Gauchos (1-0) held Louisville to just 33 percent shooting from the floor, including just 4-of-18 from 3-point range, to advance to Sunday's championship game against NU.
Leading 35-28 at halftime, UCSB opened the second half with a 21-7 spurt, keyed by seven of Kayte Christensen's 17 points, to take control, enjoying a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
Christensen also added eight rebounds and four blocked shots, while Debby Caine and Rachelle Rogers chipped in with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Sara Nord led Louisville (0-1) with 16 points to pace three Cardinals in double figures. Kara Kessans finished with 14 points and five assists, while Shamika Ingram tallied 12 points.