<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Lincoln ? Behind a career night from senior Jina Johansen, Nebraska continued its march toward its first NCAA Tournament appearance in five seasons, blowing out No. 14 Iowa State, 88-59, in front of a season-high crowd of 12,429 at the DevaneyCenter Saturday evening.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
The senior point guard from Dannebrog, Neb., played a near perfect floor game, tying or establishing career highs in points (16), assists (nine) and three-pointers (four), as she hit 6-of-10 shots from the floor and did not commit a turnover before leaving to a standing ovation from the third-largest crowd in school history with 3:49 remaining.
“Jina Johansen was huge for us tonight,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “She certainly played one of the best games in her career.”
Johansen, whose previous career high was 15 points set on two previous occasions, most recently against Iowa State in Lincoln on Jan. 10, 2004, provided the spark early, scoring 11 first-half points, as Nebraska (15-8, 7-4 Big 12) built a 20-point halftime lead and was never seriously threatened by the Cyclones (18-4, 8-3 Big 12).
In addition to Johansen, sophomore Kiera Hardy also put on a dazzling display, as the league’s leading scorer in conference play finished with a game-high 27 points, including five of the Huskers’ 10 three-pointers. NU tied the school record by knocking down 10 three-pointers in 20 attempts.
Hardy’s performance, her seventh game with 27 or more points this season, helped Nebraska to 89 points, its eighth 80-point effort of the year. Hardy’s five three-pointers pushed her season total to 55, which shattered the NU sophomore single-season record, which was 50 by Kate Galligan in 1993-94. Hardy also moved into second place on the Huskers’ overall single-season chart.
The Huskers, three years removed from a 1-15 conference mark in Yori’s first season, have already matched their entire 2003-04 total of seven conference wins, a year where the Huskers reached the second round of the WNIT. One more win assures NU of its first .500 season in conference play since the 1999-2000 season. Of Nebraska’s eight losses this season, seven have come against teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25.
Saturday’s crowd of 12,429 not only easily shattered the previous season best of 4,012 against Kansas on Jan. 29, but was NU’s largest crowd since a school-record 13,226 fans witnessed NU’s win over KansasState on Feb. 26, 2000.
“Obviously, playing in front of a crowd like this, which was certainly the largest since I’ve been at Nebraska, had a great impact for us tonight,” Yori said. “Our players, especially Kiera Hardy, who is an emotional player, fed off their energy.”
The 29-point win over the Cyclones marked its largest win over IowaState since a 39-point victory on Jan 30, 1994. The Huskers had lost 13 of the previous 14 games in the series with ISU, including a 74-54 setback in Ames on Jan. 22. It was also believed to NU’s largest margin ever over a ranked opponent.
Nebraska, which improved to 12-1 at the DevaneyCenter, used timely long-range shooting and stingy defense to turn a one-point contest into a runaway midway through the first half.
Leading 12-11, a jumper by Elena Diaz and three-pointers by Hardy and LaToya Howell pushed the Husker lead to nine points. After a three-pointer by Megan Ronhovde, NU blitzed ISU with 13 unanswered points, including three-pointers by Johansen and Hardy, while holding the Cyclones scoreless for a span of 4:53. When the dust settled on the 21-3 run, Nebraska had built a 33-14 lead and eventually built the lead to 24 before taking a 44-24 lead into the locker room.
The Cyclones, whose 29-point loss was their second-worst to an unranked team under 10th-year coach Bill Fennelly, rallied to cut the lead to 14 on a Mary Fox three-pointer with 9:47 left, but Johansen sparked an 8-0 Husker run with a layup before dishing out three straight assists, as Nebraska quickly pushed the margin to 22 points on a Danielle Page jumper with 8:11 left, ending ISU’s best opportunity to get into the game.
Page, a freshman from Monument, Colo., had two of her career-high five blocks in the run, finished with eight points and five rebounds in the win.
The Huskers begin an important two-game road swing on Wednesday, Feb. 16, as the Huskers travel to Texas A&M. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m., and the game will be carried on Froggy 98 FM in Lincoln.
Iowa State vs Nebraska (2/12/05 at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Iowa State vs Nebraska 2/12/05 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Iowa State (18-4) (8-3) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Robinette, Katie.... f 5-5 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 4 10 2 2 1 1 26 31 Ronhovde, Megan..... f 4-11 4-9 0-0 1 1 2 2 12 0 4 1 0 33 11 Fox, Mary........... g 4-9 2-5 0-0 1 3 4 2 10 1 0 0 2 24 12 O'Neil, Anne........ g 3-9 1-3 0-0 0 3 3 2 7 1 4 0 0 27 14 Medders, Lyndsey.... g 4-13 2-6 0-0 0 1 1 1 10 8 5 0 0 34 01 Stuart, Tegan....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 9 20 Dawson, Seirra...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 24 Paustian, Tracy..... 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 0 3 1 0 0 1 11 25 Bildeaux, Lisa...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 6 45 Kriener, Lisa....... 1-4 0-2 4-4 1 3 4 1 6 0 2 0 1 21 51 Wilkins, Brittany... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 0 2 0 0 5 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 22-57 10-30 5-6 5 20 25 18 59 14 20 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-25 36.0% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 38.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-13 30.8% 2nd Half: 6-17 35.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 83.3% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (15-8) (7-4) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 DIAZ, Elena......... f 4-5 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 3 8 6 3 0 0 24 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-6 0-1 3-4 3 3 6 0 9 0 4 0 3 27 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... g 2-6 0-0 4-4 0 3 3 3 8 0 2 0 1 20 20 JOHANSEN, Jina...... g 6-10 4-6 0-0 0 6 6 1 16 9 0 0 1 36 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 11-17 5-11 0-0 1 1 2 2 27 4 4 0 2 36 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... 2-4 1-2 3-4 0 3 3 0 8 3 0 0 2 21 11 SAMARDZISKA, Bojana. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 4 30 DRMANAC, Ivana...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 33 GERHART, Jessica.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 5 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 3-8 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 1 8 1 1 5 2 20 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 33-59 10-20 12-14 7 31 38 11 88 23 16 5 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-29 55.2% 2nd Half: 17-30 56.7% Game: 55.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-6 100 % Game: 85.7% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Clarke Stevens, Cameron Inouye, Connie Pardue Technical fouls: Iowa State-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 12429 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Iowa State.................... 24 35 - 59 Nebraska...................... 44 44 - 88
Points in the paint-IS 18,NU 24. Points off turnovers-IS 13,NU 20. 2nd chance points-IS 5,NU 9. Fast break points-IS 7,NU 4. Bench points-IS 10,NU 20. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times. Last FG-IS 2nd-01:41, NU 2nd-00:28.