Lincoln - Sophomores Kiera Hardy, Chelsea Aubry and Jessica Gerhart erupted for career highs to lead the Nebraska women's basketball team to a 74-71 win over Western Illinois in the opening round of the SportsView.TV Preseason WNIT in front of 1,729 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Friday night.
Hardy scored a career-high 28 points, including 14 in each half to give the Huskers their 24th consecutive season-opening victory, while advancing to the second round of the Preseason WNIT. The Huskers will advance to take on No. 10 Notre Dame on Sunday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. central time in South Bend, Ind. The Fighting Irish moved on to the second round with a 92-73 win over Illinois State at the Joyce Center on Friday night.
Hardy knocked down 10-of-21 shots from the field, including 3-of-5 three-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws for the game. Hardy's 14 first-half points helped the Huskers build a 15-point halftime lead at 41-26. Hardy's 28-point performance was Nebraska's highest individual point total since Nicole Kubik scored 32 points against Kansas on March 8, 2000. The 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., also surpassed her previous career high of 21 points set against Missouri last season (Feb. 25).
Hardy continued to fire in the second half, helping NU's lead grow as large as 17 points, before Western Illinois began to chip away with precision offensive play and a furious attack of the offensive glass. WIU scored on 22 of its 34 second-half possessions, but the Huskers still managed to hang on.
The Westerwinds, who were the 2004 Mid-Continent Conference regular-season champion, used a 13-rebound advantage in the second half to erase NU's lead. WIU trimmed NU's lead to one point on several occasions, the first time at 59-58 with 6:02 left in the game. Hardy answered the call for the Huskers with a jumper to give NU some breathing room, but Nebraska's lead would grow no greater than five points the rest of the way.
Western Illinois knocked the lead back to one at 68-67 with 3:03 left on a Rita Castans three-pointer, before a pair of Jina Johansen free throws preserved the NU lead. WIU cut the lead to one point a final time at 72-71 on a pair of free throws by Zane Teilane with 1:03 remaining.
But Gerhart, who hit for a career-high 17 points, sealed Nebraska's win with a pair of free throws with seven seconds left in the game. The 6-2 forward from Fenton, Iowa, nearly produced the first double-double of her career by adding nine rebounds.
Aubry, a 6-2 forward from Kitchener, Ontario, added a career-best 16 points to go along with six boards to help the Huskers. Aubry had 10 points and four boards in the first half alone to help Nebraska build a comfortable lead after trailing 7-0 in the first three minutes of the contest.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said the Huskers were thrilled to advance to the second round.
"Western Illinois is a quality basketball team and they are going to win a lot of games this season," Yori said. "We are definitely excited to move on in the WNIT and go on thre road to play a great basketball team like Notre Dame. Playing a top-15 basketball team is going to be a great opportunity for our team."
Gerhart and Aubry helped the Huskers match Teilane's production inside for WIU. The 6-7 center who was named the preseason player of the year in the Mid-Con, scored 17 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for the Westerwinds, including 13 points and nine boards in the second half alone.
While Teilane's work on the glass fueled the WIU comeback, Jessica Cook was firing on all cylinders for the Western Illinois offense. Cook scored 24 points and pulled down nine boards, while Castans added 13 points with a trio of three-pointers.
For the game, Nebraska hit 42.6 percent (26-61) of its field goal attempts, but just 3-of-14 three-pointers. Although NU struggled from long range, the Huskers were sizzling from the free throw line, connecting on 19-of-21 attempts (90.5 percent). The Huskers also took excellent care of the basketball, committing just 10 turnovers on the night, including just four in the second half.
Nebraska's 19-5 edge at the line helped the Huskers compensate for a 43-33 disadvantage on the glass. NU also forced 15 WIU turnovers. The Westerwinds shot 44.9 percent (31-69) from the field, including 4-of-13 three-pointers. But WIU managed just 5-of-9 shooting at the free throw line.
Yori said the Huskers ability to get to the line and hit free throws, along with their ability to protect the basketball were the keys to NU's success.
"We shot our free throws well, and we got to the line more than Western Illinois," Yori said. "We also committed just 10 turnovers, which is a great number for our first game of the season. We happy to win, but we know we have a lot to work on in practice."