Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team used hot shooting and a suffocating defense to run past the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers 70-46 in the Huskers' final exhibition game of the season in front of more than 1,500 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday.
The Huskers, who shot nearly 60 percent from the field and held UNK without a field goal for nearly 15 minutes, overwhelmed the Lopers with a 36-10 surge to turn a 16-15 deficit into a 51-26 lead midway through the second half.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said she was impressed with the Huskers' defensive improvement since their first exhibition victory over Nebraska-Omaha.
"I was very pleased with our defensive effort today," Yori said. "Obviously it was a focus for us the past two weeks in practice, as I'm sure our players will tell you. We had several practices where we barely touched a ball, but we felt like it was important to emphasize the importance of defense at this stage."
Nebraska junior forward Jessica Gerhart hit 5-of-6 shots from the field in the first half and kept her hot hand going in the second half to finish with a team-high 18 points. Junior All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy nearly added the first double-double of her career with 12 points and a career-high nine assists.
Nebraska, which finished the exhibition season with a 2-0 record that included a win over Nebraska-Omaha on Oct. 31, received balanced scoring throughout their lineup. Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin gave the Huskers three players in double figures with 10 points, while senior forward Elena Diaz, who made her first appearance of the season after sitting out the exhibition opener against UNO, added eight points.
Nine of the 10 Huskers who played in the game found their way into the scoring column, including the first points in an NU uniform for true freshman TK LaFleur. The 5-9 guard from Houston, Texas, also tied for the team lead with four steals, joining Diaz. Hardy added three steals for the Huskers, who finished the game with 16 steals.
Along with Nebraska's offensive consistency, the Huskers enjoyed the fruits of a suffocating defense that held the Lopers without a field goal for nearly 15 minutes covering the final five minutes of the first half and the opening 10 minutes of the second half.
For the game, Nebraska held the Lopers to just 10 field goals for the game, while surrendering just 32 field goal attempts. Along with holding UNK to just 31.3 percent shooting from the field, the Huskers forced 29 Loper turnovers. Although the struggled from the field, the Lopers did find success at the free throw line by hitting 25-of-28 free throws.
For the game, Nebraska hit 30-of-51 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 three-pointers. UNK hit just 10-of-32 shots from the field, including just 1-of-6 three-pointers. UNK did outrebound the Huskers 25-223.
Nebraska opens the regular season by playing host to South Dakota State on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Devaney Center. Tip-off against the Jackrabbits is set for 12:05 p.m.
UNK vs Nebraska (11/13/05 at Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Neb.)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score UNK vs Nebraska 11/13/05 2:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center, Lincoln, Neb. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: UNK 0-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Liz Fischer......... f 1-9 1-4 5-6 0 1 1 4 8 0 5 0 2 29 23 Melissa Hinkley..... f 4-6 0-0 4-4 2 2 4 3 12 0 3 0 0 26 40 Kalee Modlin........ c 0-3 0-0 6-6 1 3 4 2 6 2 5 0 0 29 15 Erin Jones.......... g 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 20 Amy Mathis.......... g 0-3 0-0 2-2 2 3 5 2 2 1 2 0 0 23 04 Lindsey Eggleston... 1-1 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 1 4 0 6 0 1 20 11 Kassi Schuppe....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 21 Angela Volentine.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 1 2 0 0 10 30 Jade Meads.......... 2-5 0-1 1-2 3 3 6 4 5 0 3 0 2 24 35 Jonni Mildenberger.. 1-2 0-0 5-6 0 0 0 2 7 0 1 0 0 16 44 Amy Bowen........... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 10-32 1-6 25-28 9 16 25 19 46 4 29 0 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-20 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 31.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-10 90.0% 2nd Half: 16-18 88.9% Game: 89.3% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 0-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 4-8 0-0 2-4 4 2 6 4 10 1 2 0 1 18 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 9-11 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 18 0 2 0 1 23 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... c 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 6 2 2 0 1 27 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 0 1 1 3 4 1 0 0 24 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-5 3-4 1-2 0 1 1 3 12 9 1 0 3 15 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 2 1 0 1 18 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 1-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 0 4 25 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 2-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 4 2 1 0 0 12 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 4-7 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 2 8 2 1 0 4 19 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-4 0-0 3-4 1 1 2 3 7 1 5 1 1 19 TEAM................ 1 Totals.............. 30-51 3-4 7-12 9 14 23 24 70 24 20 1 16 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-22 72.7% 2nd Half: 14-29 48.3% Game: 58.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 75.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 58.3% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Jeffrey Stromgren, Phil Streit, Carla Fountain Technical fouls: UNK-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 1533 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total UNK........................... 21 25 - 46 Nebraska...................... 37 33 - 70 EXHIBITION GAME
Points in the paint-UNK 14,NU 22. Points off turnovers-UNK 11,NU 32. 2nd chance points-UNK 11,NU 6. Fast break points-UNK 0,NU 8. Bench points-UNK 18,NU 21. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-4 times. Last FG-UNK 2nd-00:31, NU 2nd-00:51.