Lincoln, Neb. ? Freshman guard Kiera Hardy led four Huskers in double figures with 18 points as the Nebraska women’s basketball team captured its first postseason victory in six years with a 73-60 win over Drake in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament Thursday night before 2,507 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Nebraska (18-11), making its ninth postseason appearance and third WNIT appearance, improved to 13-3 at home in 2003-04 and won its first postseason game at the Devaney Center since 1993. The Huskers also snapped a three-game losing streak to Drake and took a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series against the Bulldogs, who ended their season with a 16-15 record.
The Huskers shot 43 percent from the field and 50 percent in the second half, wearing the Bulldogs down with a balanced offense and physical play inside. Seniors Alexa Johnson (16 points), Keasha Cannon-Johnson (11 points) and Katie Morse (14 points) all joined Hardy in double figures. Freshman forward Chelsea Aubry added eight points, her highest offensive output in the past six games. She also tied a career high with nine rebounds.
Cannon-Johnson also had 10 rebounds, recording the 12th double-double of her career. It was Cannon-Johnson’s sixth double-double of the season and 10th double-figure rebounding performance of the season, which helped power the Huskers to a 50-30 rebounding margin over the Bulldogs. It was NU’s second-largest rebounding margin of the year, while the Huskers’ 20 offensive rebounds were also their second-highest total of the season.
"I told the team before the game that I thought that for us, it would be about how much emotion we could come out with," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "I thought our energy was good, and that was something that showed in our rebounding, because rebounding is all about effort and energy. Anytime we can get 31 field goals, you have to feel good about that."
The Huskers must now wait to find out their second-round opponent. NU will play the winner of the Gonzaga at Oregon State game, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. central time Friday in Corvallis, Ore. The game time, location and date of Nebraska’s second round game will not be determined until Friday.
Linda Sayavongchanh and Whitney Pegram each produced 15 points for Drake Coach Amy Stephens, a former Husker player and assistant coach, who is still the third all-time leading scorer in NU history.
"I just want to congratulate Nebraska on a great team effort," Stephens said. "Rebounding was without a doubt the biggest factor. They were a lot more aggressive going to the boards with their physical play, and we never really adapted to it. I don’t think there’s any doubt that Nebraska can win the WNIT if they put their minds to it."
Leading 33-30 at the half, Nebraska increased its advantage to 41-36 in the first five minutes of the second half. Morse, who attempted just two field goals in the first half, came up with a key blocked shot and scored the Huskers’ first eight points in the second. Back-to-back field goals by Aubry and Johnson opened the lead to 45-38, forcing Drake to call timeout. Following the break, Hardy scored to give the Huskers a nine-point lead, which was at that point their largest of the game.
The Bulldogs finally answered with a field goal from Sayavongchanh. Drake then outscored NU, 10-2, over the next five minutes, cutting the Huskers lead to 49-48 with 9:58 remaining. Margaret Richards ended Nebraska’s scoring drought with a free throw, but Sayavongchanh tied the game at 50.
Nebraska, which was held without a field goal for 3:42, got back on track with a lay up from Johnson at the 7:47 mark. Johnson’s bucket sparked a 12-2 Husker run that extended Nebraska’s lead to 62-50 with 5:20 left in the second half. Drake’s Erin Dohrmann halted the run with back-to-back shots, but the Bulldogs never got closer than four. NU led 65-58 with just under two minutes remaining after a jumper by Morse.
Morse led the Huskers with 12 points in the second half, as Nebraska focused on pounding the ball inside against Drake’s interior defense.
While Morse keyed the NU offense in the second half, Hardy came off the bench to power the Huskers in the first half. The 5-6 freshman guard from Kansas City, Mo.,scored 12 points in 13 minutes to keep the Huskers in control. At one point, Hardy had a hand in 14 consecutive points for the Huskers, scoring 10 points while adding a pair of assists to Johnson inside. Johnson, who produced double figures for the 13th consecutive game, scored eight points in each half to help the Huskers.