Huskers Sign Lincoln Native

Lincoln - Former Lincoln Northeast high school graduate Ashley Ford has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Nebraska women's basketball team during the 2005-06 season, NU Coach Connie Yori announced Monday.

Ford, who has spent the past two seasons at Cloud County Community College in Concordia, Kan., committed to the Huskers and signed her National Letter of Intent during a campus visit on Friday, April 22.

"Ashley is a good fit for our program," Yori said.  "She's a good player and a good leader, but most importantly she has great character.  She will definitely get a chance to earn some playing time. When you lose a player like Jina Johansen, who played more than 36 minutes per game last year, that frees up some minutes for other people."

Ford averaged 14.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.3 steals per game last season as a sophomore at Cloud County to lead the T-Birds in scoring, assists and steals, while ranking third on the club in rebounding.  She also shot a solid 34.8 percent from three-point range by knocking down 49-of-141 shots from beyond the arc. She added 69.1 percent shooting from the free throw line, while shooting 40.2 percent overall from the field.

Ford helped Cloud County to a 15-16 overall record as a sophomore, after helping the T-Birds to a 25-7 mark as a freshman in 2003-04.  She was Cloud County's top returning scorer for the 2004-05 season, averaging 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in her first season for the T-Birds.  Ford started all 63 games of her junior college career for Coach Brett Erkenbrack and the T-Birds.

A 5-7 guard, Ford earned third-team Super-State recognition as a senior at Lincoln Northeast in 2002-03, despite recovering from a torn ACL suffered the summer before her senior year of high school.  In her final year as a Rocket, Ford averaged 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  She was also a third-team Super-State goalkeeper for the Rocket soccer team.

Ford chose Nebraska over New Mexico, Temple, Kentucky, Denver and Akron, and is the first Nebraska native listed on the Huskers' 2005-06 roster.

Ford said the Husker coaching staff and players were the primary factors in her choice to attend Nebraska.

"Two of the main reasons that I chose Nebraska were because of the coaching staff and the chemistry of the team," Ford said. "Coach Yori has this team going in the right direction, and I hope that my junior college experience can add to that momentum."

Ford joins incoming freshmen T.K. LaFleur and Kelsey Griffin in Nebraska's class of newcomers next fall.  The trio will be added to a roster of 11 returning Huskers, including five players who started 18 or more games for NU in 2004-05. 

The only player not returning to the Husker roster next season is graduating senior Jina Johansen, who started all 32 games and averaged 6.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game to help NU to an 18-14 overall record, an 8-8 Big 12 Conference mark and the school's second straight postseason appearance in the SportsView.TV WNIT.