Huskers Head to Illinois to Battle Northwestern

Nebraska (3-3)
at Northwestern (3-3)
Welsh-Ryan Arena (8,177) 
Saturday, Dec. 10 ? 2 p.m.
Radio: Pinnacle Sports Network
(1400 AM-KLIN - Lincoln)/Huskers.com
Listen Live
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Series Record: Nebraska Leads 2-1
Last Meeting: Nebraska won 83-71, Dec. 5, 1992 (Evanston, Ill.)

Huskers Head to Illinois to Battle Northwestern
The Nebraska women’s basketball team will face a second Big Ten Conference foe on the road for the second straight Saturday, when the Huskers travel to Evanston, Ill., to square off with the Northwestern Wildcats. Tip-off at Welsh-Ryan Arena is set for 2 p.m., and the game can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network on 1400 AM-KLIN in Lincoln and world wide on Huskers.com with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action.

The Huskers played their first of three Big Ten Conference opponents on the road last Saturday, falling to No. 10 Minnesota in Minneapolis, 78-70. In that game, the Huskers stormed back from a 21-point first-half deficit to take a three-point lead in the second half before succumbing to the Gophers.

After tangling with the Wildcats, the Huskers will complete their Big Ten Saturday trifecta by traveling to Michigan to battle the Wolverines next weekend. That game will be televised live by Fox Sports Midwest in Nebraska.

Kiera Hardy, the top returning scorer this season in the Big 12 Conference, has turned up the heat after a slow start in the season’s first two games. In the last four games, Hardy has averaged 21.8 points per contest, including a season-high 26 points against No. 3 LSU. Hardy scored 22 points and had a career-high six assists last Saturday at No. 10 Minnesota, before adding 20 points, including six three-pointers, and six more assists in Nebraska’s 93-68 win over Texas Southern on Wednesday. Hardy did not commit a turnover against TSU, the third time in the past five games she has gone without a miscue. She ranks among the top 10 players in the Big 12 in scoring, assists, steals, three-pointers made and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Kelsey Griffin is off to a record-breaking start to her Nebraska career. The 6-2 freshman forward from Eagle River, Alaska, has scored in double figures in five of her first six games, after her 10-point, nine-rebound effort against Texas Southern on Wednesday. Griffin produced possibly the best performance by a freshman in school history with 31 points and 14 rebounds for her first career double-double in a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. She became the first freshman in history to score 30 or more points in a regulation game and she tied the school record with 18 free throw attempts. Griffin ranks second on the team in scoring with 16.5 points per game, while leading the club on the boards with 8.2 rebounds per contest. She has led NU in rebounding in five of its six games.

Scouting the Northwestern Wildcats
Nebraska and Northwestern head into Saturday’s matchup at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., with identical 3-3 records, and eerily similar statistics through six games this season.

Both teams are averaging just over 70 points per game. Both teams are shooting nearly 43 percent from the field and both clubs own nearly identical percentages from beyond the three-point arc. The two NU’s also have similar numbers in field goal percentage defense, free throw percentage, assist-to-turnover ratio, team turnover margin and steals per game.

The two biggest differences statistically between the two clubs comes in opponent scoring average and team rebounding margin. Northwestern has surrendered 10.8 points per game (77.8 ppg) more than Nebraska (67.0 ppg), The Wildcats also own a minus-3.8 team rebounding margin, while the Huskers have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 1.8 boards per game.

The Huskers and Wildcats have faced one common opponent this year, as Northwestern opened the season at home against Creighton, just two days before Nebraska faced the Bluejays in Lincoln. The Wildcats raced to a 93-77 win over the Jays by shooting 57.4 percent from the field, including 54.5 percent from three-point range, despite being outrebounded by CU, 47-38.

Nebraska rolled to an 84-50 victory over CU by shooting 54 percent from the field and dominating the boards against the Jays, 42-31. The Huskers also forced 23 turnovers against CU, while the Jays turned the ball over just 14 times against the Wildcats.

Northwestern has also faced a Big 12 Conference opponent this season, losing at Missouri, 87-64, in the Wildcats’ second game of the season. The Tigers forced 28 Wildcat turnovers to hold a plus-10 turnover margin, while matching NU on the boards. Northwestern hit just 1-of-7 three-pointers against MU, while the Tigers buried eight treys to doom the Wildcats.

Northwestern has been led this season by senior forward Ifeoma Okonkwo, who is averaging 16.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Okonkwo, who has started 66 games in her Wildcat career, is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field and is tied for the team lead with 13 steals.

Junior guard/forward A.J. Glasauer, a native of Freiburg, Germany, has matched Okonkwo for the team scoring lead, contributing 16.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Glasauer has been NU’s top long-range threat, hitting 7-of-16 three-pointers (43.8 percent).

Okonkwo and Glasauer are the only two Wildcats averaging in double figures, but starters Melissa Miller, Nadia Bibbs and Sara Stutz have all provided solid contributions. Miller, a 6-1 sophomore from Bloomington, Minn., is averaging 7.7 points and 8.0 boards per game, while leading the team with seven blocks. Bibbs, a 5-7 sophomore from Chicago, is averaging 7.2 points and 3.0 boards per game to go along with team highs of 37 assists and 13 steals. Stutz, a 6-0 sophomore from Glenview, Ill., has added 6.5 points and 3.0 boards per game

The Wildcats play primarily with an eight-player rotation, bringing only Kristin Cartwright (6.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg), Julie Bielawski (6.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg) and Erin Dickerson (1.5 ppg, 0.7 rpg) off the bench.

Last season, Northwestern finished with a 5-25 overall record in Coach Beth Combs’ first season as head coach. The Wildcats went 2-14 during the Big Ten season, with home wins over Michigan and Penn State. The Wildcats were more competitive in the league than their record would indicate, with eight losses by eight or fewer points during the Big Ten season.

Nebraska vs. Northwestern Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Northwestern 2-1, but the two teams have not met in the past 13 years. The Huskers claimed an 83-71 road victory at Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 5, 1992 in the last meeting in the series with the Wildcats.

Before that Nebraska win just over 13 years ago, Northwestern claimed a victory in Evanston on Feb. 27, 1982 with an 89-64 win over the Huskers.

In the only meeting in the series in Lincoln, Nebraska squeaked past the Wildcats 65-64 on Nov. 29, 1980. The two teams are scheduled to meet at the Devaney Center next season, marking the first time in 26 years that the two NU’s will face each other in Lincoln.

Nebraska Carries Illinois Connections to Evanston
The Huskers will feature three major connections to Illinois as they venture to Evanston to face Northwestern on Saturday. Nebraska starting point guard LaToya Howell is a native of Chicago and graduated from Queen of Peace High School in Burbank, Ill., where she ranked as the second-leading scorer in school history. The 5-5 senior was a three-year all-area and all-conference selection and earned honorable-mention all-state honors in 1999-2000.

Freshman guard TK LaFleur spent the past two seasons playing at Warren Township High School in Grayslake, Ill., where she earned third-team Class AA all-state honors. LaFleur moved with her family to the Chicago area before her junior year of high school from the Houston, Texas, area. Her family has since moved back to Houston.

Assistant coach LaKale Malone spent two years as an assistant at Bradley from 2001 to 2003, while Husker administrative assistant Steph Clark spent the 1995-96 season as an assistant coach at Illinois-Chicago.

Nebraska’s graduate assistant athletic trainer Susie Lessner, an Illinois native, is a graduate of Illinois.

Huskers Roll to 93-68 Win Over Texas Southern
Junior guard Kiera Hardy scored 20 points to lead five Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska cruised to a 93-68 win over Texas Southern Wednesday at the Devaney Center.

Hardy, a 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., produced her third 20-plus scoring effort in the past four games and tied her career high with six assists. She hit 6-of-9 three-point attempts on the night to move into sole possession of third place on NU’s career three-point list with 134 in her career. Hardy added two steals and did not commit a turnover in what Coach Connie Yori called "a flawless game."

Two Husker freshmen contributed double figures, led by reserve TK LaFleur’s career-high 15 points. The 5-9 guard from Houston, Texas, by way of Grayslake, Ill., hit 7-of-13 shots from the field, while adding three steals. Fellow freshman Kelsey Griffin nearly contributed her second double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Junior forwards Chelsea Aubry (13 points) and Jessica Gerhart (12 points) also pitched in double figures, while senior forward Elena Diaz just missed double digits with nine points. Sophomore Danielle Page added seven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in her best effort of the season.

Nebraska shot 55.7 percent from the field, includuing 47.4 percent (9-19) from three-point range. The Huskers also shot a stellar 88.9 percent (16-18) from the free throw line. NU outrebounded TSU, 32-29, and held a plus-nine turnover margin against the Lady Tigers.

Griffin on Pace for Best Freshman Year in NU History
Although it is extremely early in her young career, Nebraska’s Kelsey Griffin has already etched her name in the Nebraska record books in several categories and is threatening to do even more damage as the season begins to heat up.

Griffin, who became just the 17th Husker (55 performances) in history to score 30 or more points in a game with her 31-point effort against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 27, is averaging 16.5 points and a team-leading 8.2 rebounds per game through her first six career games. Both averages would be school records, surpassing the 15.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game produced by Debra Powell in 1981-82.

Griffin, who led all players in scoring in three of NU’s first four games and has been the Huskers’ top rebounder in five of six contests, is also on pace to threaten school records for field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted and field goal percentage by a freshman. She is on track to become the fastest Husker ever to 100 points, needing just one more point to reach that mark.

Hardy Closing in on 1,000-Point Plateau
Nebraska junior guard Kiera Hardy is quickly closing in on becoming the 22nd Husker in history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Hardy heads into the Northwestern game with 959 career points in 65 career games.

Through six games this season, Hardy leads the team with 17.2 points per game, including four straight games with 19 or more points. Last season, Hardy led the Big 12 in conference games with 20.9 points per contest on her way to averaging 19.0 points per game.

The top returning scorer in the Big 12 and one of the most explosive players in the country, Hardy has produced 18 games with 20 or more points in her career, including a season-high 26-point effort against No. 3 LSU on Nov. 25 and 22 points at No. 10 Minnesota on Dec. 3. Seven of Hardy’s 20-plus scoring efforts have come against top-25 opponents, including her career-high 37 points in Nebraska’s 103-99 triple-overtime victory over eventual national champion and then-No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, 2005. She added a 31-point effort against Hampton on Nov. 27, 2004.

Griffin Placing Self Among Big 12’s Top Newcomers
After her explosive 31-point, 14-rebound performance in the Huskers’ win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 27, Kelsey Griffin has established herself as a force of the future in the Big 12 Conference.

Through her first six career games, all starts, Griffin ranks among the top 15 players in the Big 12 in scoring (16.5 ppg, 11th), rebounding (8.2 rpg, 7th) and field goal percentage (59.3, 7th). She ranks ahead of three of the five Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 selections in all three categories, trailing only Baylor’s Sophia Young, the 2005 NCAA Tournament MVP, in scoring and rebounding, while trailing teammate Kiera Hardy in the scoring column.

Among Big 12 freshmen, Griffin ranks second in scoring and rebounding. Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris leads league freshmen with 21.7 points and 13.1 rebounds per contest through nine games. Paris and Griffin are the only two freshmen in an extraordinarily strong Big 12 freshman class averaging better than 15 points per game.

Hardy Climbing Career Three-Point List at Record Pace
First-team All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy has hit 134 three-pointers in just 65 career games to shoot into third place on Nebraska’s career three-point list. Hardy has hit 2.1 three-pointers per game in her brief career, and is on pace to shatter the school record during her junior season.

WNBA All-Star Anna DeForge owns NU’s school record with 155 three-pointers in 117 career games (1.3 pg). Hardy is the only player on Nebraska’s top-10 three-point list who has played fewer than 100 career games. Kate Galligan, who ranks No. 2 on NU’s career list with 145 three-pointers, knocked down her shots in 103 games (1.4 pg) for the highest frequency among the former players on the NU top-10 list.

Hardy moved into a three-way tie for third on Nebraska’s career three-point chart with Nicole Kubik (129, 1997-2000) and Amy Stephens (129, 1986-89) with her first three-pointer against Texas Southern on Wednesday, before burying five more trifectas on the night against the Lady Tigers. Hardy leads the Huskers with 19 three-pointers already this season, a Big 12-leading average of 3.17 threes per game.

Hardy ranked second in the Big 12 Conference with 3.06 made three-pointers per game in league contests. She hit six three-pointers in the win over No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, and matched that total with six three-pointers in the win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 1.

She established her career high with a school-record tying seven three-pointers in NU’s season finale against Iowa in the 2005 Postseason WNIT at the Devaney Center. She also vaulted into a tie for the single-season school record with 85 threes on the season, previously set by Amy Stephens in 1988-89. The previous NU three-point record by a sophomore was Galligan’s 50 three-pointers in 1993-94.

Griffin Erupts for 31 Points, 14 Rebounds vs. Islanders
After producing one of the top career-opening performances by a freshman in school history against South Dakota State, Kelsey Griffin produced perhaps the best game by a freshman in school history with 31 points and 14 rebounds in NU’s 76-64 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic.

The 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska hit 9-of-18 shots from the field and 13-of-18 free throws to lead the Huskers with 31 points in 31 minutes. She pulled down six offensive rebounds among her career-best 14 boards, which marked the highest rebounding total by a Husker since Margaret Richards grabbed 15 rebounds on Dec. 21, 2003.

Griffin became the first Husker freshman in history to score 30 or more points in regulation, while becoming just the second Husker frosh to hit for 30 points, trailing only Deb Powell’s 34-point outburst on Feb. 25, 1982 in an overtime contest with Notre Dame. Powell got her 34 points while playing 44 minutes against the Fighting Irish. She added 12 rebounds in a stellar all-around performance by one of the best players in NU history.

Griffin’s 18 free throw attempts against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi set the NU freshman mark and tied the overall school record in that category, previously held by Margaret Richards (Eastern Kentucky, Nov. 29, 2003) and Nicole Kubik (Kansas, Jan. 16, 1999).

Hardy, Griffin Claim All-Tournament Honors in Miami
Huskers Kiera Hardy and Kelsey Griffin captured all-tournament honors at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 25-27.

Hardy led all players with a tournament record 45 points to average 22.5 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game for the tournament. Hardy scored 26 points and grabbed five steals in an opening-round loss to No. 3 LSU, before adding 19 points and five assists in a win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Hardy’s all-tournament honors marked the second straight season that she earned a spot on an all-tournament team at Thanksgiving, joining her accolades at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, last season.

Griffin opened the tournament with a seven-point, five-rebound performance while going head-to-head with LSU’s 6-6 center Sylvia Fowles in the opener, before bouncing back with one of the best performances by a freshman in school history with 31 points and 14 rebounds in the win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

For the tournament, Griffin averaged 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

LaFleur Making Solid Contributions as Freshman
Although fellow freshman Kelsey Griffin has grabbed headlines with her eye-popping career-opening performances, TK LaFleur is also showing her talents early in her Husker career. The 5-9 guard from Houston, Texas, increased her solid averages to 6.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 0.8 steals per game after her career-high 15-point, two-assist, three-steal effort against Texas Southern on Wednesday.

It was LaFleur’s second straight double-figure scoring performance off the bench, joining her 10 points at No. 10 Minnesota.

LaFleur has looked increasingly comfortable in Nebraska’s offense and is starting to gain confidence in her outside shot. Against Minnesota, LaFleur hit a pair of three-pointers and added another three in the win over Texas Southern. Her five made three-pointers rank second among the Huskers, trailing only Kiera Hardy (19).

LaFleur has come off the bench in all six games for the Huskers, scoring six or more points in four of those six contests.

Ranked as the No. 5 two-guard in the nation by the All-Star Girls’ Report in 2003-04, LaFleur’s family moved from the Houston area to Grayslake, Ill., for her final two years of high school. She played at Warren Township High School and earned third-team Class AA all-state honors. As a sophomore at Langham Creek High School in Houston, she averaged 21.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 4.1 assists per game in 2002-03.

She was an adidas Top 10 All-Star in both 2003 and 2004 and earned Street & Smith’s Honorable-Mention High School All-America honors.

Hardy Expands Her Game After All-Big 12 Season
Kiera Hardy has expanded her impact on the Nebraska women’s basketball team early in her junior season, showing a commitment to getting her teammates involved offensively while continuing to improve her solid defensive play.

The 5-6 junior guard from Kansas City, Mo., not only ranks among the top 10 in the Big 12 with 17.2 points per game (8th) and 3.17 made three-pointers per contest (1st), she also ranks among the league’s top 10 in assists (4.5 apg, 8th), steals (2.7 ppg, tied for 3rd) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.45-1, 3rd). She also ranks 12th in three-point field goal percentage at 38.8 percent.

Hardy’s has gone without committing a turnover in three of her last five games (Creighton, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas Southern). Last year, Hardy’s assist-to-turnover mark was 1-to-1.34, with 67 assists and 90 turnovers in 32 games.

Last season, Hardy set a school record with 609 points as a sophomore, to become just the third sophomore in NU history to earn first-team all-conference accolades. She finished the year shooting 40.4 percent from the field, including 35.7 percent from three-point range. She also tied the school record with 85 three-pointers and was tabbed "The Most Likely Player to Go Off for 40 Points" by the Dallas Morning News,

Husker Lineup Features Three 30-Point Scorers
Kelsey Griffin’s 31-point eruption against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 27 added a third player to Nebraska’s starting lineup who has scored 30 or more points in a single game during their collegiate careers.

Junior guard Kiera Hardy produced a pair of 30-plus scoring efforts during her All-Big 12 campaign a year ago, including a career-high 37 points in a 103-99 triple overtime victory over No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, 2005, and a 31-point performance in a win over Hampton on Nov. 27, 2004.

While Griffin and Hardy have produced 30-point outbursts in Husker uniforms, senior guard LaToya Howell owns the top single-game point total with her 38-point effort against Minnesota as an Air Force Falcon on Nov. 30, 2002. Howell added a 30-point performance as a freshman against San Diego State on Feb. 21, 2002.

Griffin’s Opening Game Among Best in School History
Freshman Kelsey Griffin, the 2005 Gatorade Alaska High School Player of the Year, tipped off her Nebraska career by scoring a game-high 18 points and adding a team-high seven rebounds to go along with two steals in Nebraska’s opener against SDSU on Nov. 19.

Griffin, who started for the Huskers, led NU by hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field. Her 18-point effort tied for the third-best scoring total by a freshman in a career-opener, trailing only WNBA All-Star Anna DeForge’s school-record 22 points against Gonzaga on Nov. 24, 1995, and Deb Powell’s 19 points against Pacific Christian on Nov. 20, 1981, among NU freshmen in career-opening games.

All-American Karen Jennings also scored 18 points in her career debut against St. Louis on Nov. 24, 1989, while Angie Miller added 18 points in her first career game against South Florida on Nov. 25, 1983.

All four of the other Huskers who have scored 18 or more points in the first games of their careers went on to score 1,500 or more points at Nebraska.

Hardy Earns Big 12 Player-of-the-Week Award Nov. 28
Kiera Hardy, a first-team All-Big 12 guard as a sophomore for the Huskers in 2004-05, earned her first Big 12 Conference Player-of-the-Week award this season on Nov. 28, after averaging 22.5 points per game to earn all-tournament honors at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic.

Hardy, a 5-6 junior from Kansas City, Mo., scored a tournament record 45 points in two games, including a season-high 26 points against No. 3 LSU on Friday. Hardy’s point total surpassed 2005 National Player of the Year Seimone Augustus, who scored 43 points in the tournament. In addition to her 22.5 points per contest, Hardy added 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals per game in the tournament. She was flawless with the ball against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, going without a turnover for the second time in the past three games. For the week, Hardy averaged 17.7 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game to help NU to a 2-1 record.

Aubry Comes Up Big in Win Over Bluejays
Junior captain Chelsea Aubry provided one of the best efforts of her career with 18 points and eight rebounds in Nebraska’s 84-50 victory over Creighton on Nov. 21.

The 6-2 forward from Kitchener, Ontario, hit 7-of-12 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, while adding a pair of assists and a steal to help the Huskers blow past the Bluejays.

Aubry’s performance against Creighton came after being held without a shot in NU’s season opener against South Dakota State. Aubry’s seven made field goals against CU tied her career high, while her point total was just two shy of her career-best 20 points at Texas A&M last season.

She added a strong performance with 13 points and five rebounds while matching her career high with three assists in just 18 minutes of action against Texas Southern on Wednesday. It was the second time this season and 19th time in her career that she has produced double figures in points.

Aubry enters the Northwestern game averaging 6.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per contest. She is shooting 44.1 percent from the field, including 30.8 percent (4-13) from three-point range.

Last season, Aubry started 26 games for NU and averaged 9.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.

Over the summer, Aubry helped the Canadian National Team qualify for the 2006 World Championships in Brazil. The appearance at the 2006 World Championships will be the first for the Canadians since 1994.

Aubry has spent the past two seasons as a member of the Canadian Senior National Team. She was also a member of the Canadian World University Games Team in 2003 as a member of the Canadian Under-20 National Team.

Gerhart Back on Track Early in 2005-06
Nebraska forward Jessica Gerhart has provided a solid scoring option for the Huskers through their first six games this season. The 6-2 junior from Fenton, Iowa, has knocked down 27-of-58 shots from the field (46.6 percent) through the first six games to average 9.7 points and 3.3 boards per contest.

Gerhart struck for season highs of 14 points and eight rebounds in the win over Creighton on Nov. 21, connecting on 7-of-9 shots from the field with her only two misses coming from beyond the three-point arc. Gerhart opened the regular season with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, which all came in the second half.

She added 12 points in NU’s win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Nov. 27, which featured 10 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating jumper to end the first half. She scored 12 more points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field in the Huskers’ rout of Texas Southern on Dec. 7.

Gerhart has produced double figures in three of NU’s first six games, and has scored at least six points while starting all six games for the Huskers this season. Last year, Gerhart started NU’s first 18 games. Through 14 contests a year ago she ranked second on the team with 13.2 points, while leading the club with 7.0 rebounds per game. She also hit nearly 50 percent of her shots from the field through the first 14 games.

She battled illness and finished the season by hitting 44.8 percent of her shots from the field on the year. She finished the year averaging 7.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore.

Hardy Earns Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 Honors
Nebraska junior guard Kiera Hardy captured one of five spots on the Preseason First-Team All-Big 12 squad voted on by the league coaches and announced by the Big 12 Conference office in Dallas on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

Hardy, a 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., joins Baylor’s Sophia Young, Texas’ Tiffany Jackson, Texas Tech’s Erin Grant and Oklahoma’s Leah Rush on the five-player preseason honor squad. Hardy, Grant, Jackson and Young, who was voted the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, all earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2004-05, while Rush claimed a spot on the second-team a year ago.

Hardy is the top returning scorer in the Big 12 Conference this season after averaging 19.0 points per game as a sophomore in 2004-05, including a league-leading 20.9 points per contest in conference games. She set Nebraska’s sophomore single-season scoring record with 609 points, while also tying the school record with 85 made three-pointers on the season.

Huskers Face Loaded 2005-06 Schedule
Nebraska will have a pair of chances to knock off 2005 NCAA Women’s Final Four teams when the Huskers battle LSU and defending national champion Baylor this season.

Overall the Huskers play 13 games against 2005 postseason qualifiers, including 10 contests against NCAA Tournament teams. Five opponents are ranked among the top 25 in the current USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll, including No. 3 LSU, No. 5 Baylor, No. 14 Minnesota, No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 21 Texas.

Minnesota was the fourth consecutive 2005 postseason qualifier the Huskers have faced this season and the second 2005 NCAA Sweet 16 qualifier. Nebraska is 2-2 against 2005 postseason qualifiers so far in 2005-06.

"This is our toughest non-conference schedule since I have been at Nebraska," Head Coach Connie Yori said. "In making our schedule, we have always considered the quality and position of our program. We think this is the best team that we have been able to put on the floor in our time at Nebraska, so we are going to play our best schedule."

After opening against a tough South Dakota State squad on Nov. 19, Nebraska got its first taste of postseason-caliber competition when the Huskers blew past Creighton, 84-50 at the Devaney Center on Nov. 21. The Bluejays posted 19 wins a year ago and earned a bid to the WNIT.

NU hit the road for the first time at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic where the Huskers lost to No. 3 LSU, 74-55, on Nov. 25. The Lady Tigers produced a 33-3 record while running the table to win the 2005 SEC title. The Tigers lost to Baylor in the Final Four to end their season.

The Huskers posted their second win of the year over a 2005 postseason qualifier with a 76-64 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Miami Thanksgiving Classic. The Islanders produced a 23-7 mark a year ago and advanced to the second round of the WNIT.

Nebraska remained on the road to start December when the Huskers fell to Big Ten power and No. 10 Minnesota 78-70 in Minneapolis on Dec. 3. The Golden Gophers finished 26-8 last season and advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 where they lost to Baylor. Minnesota earned a trip to the Final Four in 2004.

After returning home for a 93-68 run past Texas Southern, the Huskers continue their road trip through Big Ten cities by playing Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 10, and travel to Ann Arbor to meet Michigan on Dec. 17.

The Huskers close non-conference competition with home contests against Texas State (Dec. 20), Grambling State (Dec. 29) and Northern Arizona (Dec. 31).

The Huskers open a rugged Big 12 schedule on the road at Colorado on Jan. 4, the site of their final conference regular-season game of the 2004-05 season. After battling the Buffaloes, Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center to face Kansas (Jan. 7) and Missouri (Jan. 11), before beginning a stretch in which the Huskers will face seven 2005 postseason teams in the next eight games.

Highlighting that eight-game stretch will be Devaney Center showdowns with 2005 NCAA qualifiers Texas (Jan. 18), and Iowa State (Feb. 1), along with Texas A&M (Feb. 11), which advanced to the third round of the 2005 WNIT. The Huskers start the eight-game stretch at Iowa State on Jan. 14, and also travel to 2005 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Texas Tech (Jan. 21), NCAA qualifier Kansas State (Feb. 4) and to 2005 NCAA champion Baylor (Feb. 8). The Huskers knocked off Baylor 103-99 in triple overtime at the Devaney Center last season.

The Huskers travel to Kansas on Feb. 15, before closing their home schedule against Kansas State (Feb. 18) and Oklahoma State on Senior Night (Feb. 21). Nebraska ends the regular season on the road with trips to Oklahoma (Feb. 26) and Missouri (March 1), before heading to Reunion Arena in Dallas for the Big 12 Championship (March 7-11).

Spiric Out for Season with Injury in Fall Practice
Nebraska forward Jelena Spiric was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered during the first official week of fall practice. Spiric, a 6-1 senior from Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro, underwent surgery and will likely apply for a medical hardship.

Spiric captured Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year honors in her first season at Nebraska in 2004-05, despite playing most of the season at less than 100 percent after suffering a similar injury to her other leg in the final game of her junior college career.

Spiric averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game with 23 starts as a junior, including 9.3 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in Big 12 competition. In a pair of Postseason WNIT games, Spiric averaged 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per contest.

Kephart Likely Out for Season with Recurring Injury
Sophomore guard Heather Kephart is likely out for the season with a recurring injury, Nebraska Coach Connie Yori announced in early November.

Kephart, a 5-8 shooting guard from Canute, Okla., appeared in only one game for the Huskers last season and was granted a medical hardship to regain her sophomore season of eligibility this year.

However, Kephart has continued to struggle with injuries and was limited to only partial participation through the opening weeks of practice.

One of the top scorers in the history of Oklahoma high school basketball (2,747 career points), Kephart appeared in just 11 games as a freshman before being sidelined with an injury.

Huskers Fifth in Preseason Big 12 Poll
The Nebraska women’s basketball team was picked to finish fifth in the 2005-06 Big 12 Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released by the league office in Dallas on Thursday, Oct. 13. The Huskers, who return four starters from last year’s club that advanced to the postseason for the second straight year, were picked higher than any other team from the Big 12 North Division.

Schools from the Big 12 South Division occupied the top four spots in the poll, with defending national champion Baylor (113) claiming the No. 1 position with six first-place votes from opposing coaches in the league. Texas (110) earned the No. 2 spot with two first-place votes, while Texas Tech (108) took the No. 3 spot with four first-place votes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team in the 1-12 predicted order of finish.

After the predicted log jam in the top three spots, Oklahoma, which tied Nebraska in sixth place in the final 2004-05 Big 12 standings, received the fourth-highest vote total with 91 points. Nebraska was picked to finish fifth with 70 points, while fellow Big 12 North foe Kansas was close behind with 66 points. The four schools ahead of the Huskers in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches Poll have all received top 25 national rankings from several preseason publications.

Texas A&M (7th, 59 points), Kansas State (8th, 56 points), Iowa State (9th, 45 points), Missouri (10th, 37 points), Oklahoma State (11th, 23 points), and Colorado (12th, 14 points) rounded out the poll.

Yori Establishing Firm Foundation at Nebraska
Now in her fourth season at Nebraska, Coach Connie Yori has the Husker program moving in the right direction. After the Huskers suffered through four consecutive losing seasons, Yori helped Nebraska turn the corner in 2003-04 by producing one of the nation’s top turnarounds. The Huskers’ 10-game improvement tied for the ninth-best swing in NCAA Division I women’s basketball in 2003-04. More impressively, NU’s 18-12 record came against a powerful schedule that included 19 games against teams that advanced to postseason play.

The Huskers raced to a 10-1 non-conference record that included victories over No. 13 Ohio State and eventual WNIT champion Creighton, before notching one of the biggest wins in school history with an 81-63 victory over No. 9 Kansas State in league play. The Huskers finished with a 7-9 record in the Big 12 to finish in a tie for seventh place. NU was a two-point loss to Missouri or three-point loss to No. 13 Colorado away from earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

The Huskers made their first postseason appearance since 2000 and played host to a postseason tournament game for the first time since 1993. Nebraska notched just the second home postseason victory in school history with a first-round WNIT win over Drake, before hosting just the third postseason game in school history in the second round against Oregon State.

Nebraska continued the momentum last year by replacing four senior starters from 2003-04 team and finishing with an 18-14 overall mark and its second straight postseason bid. The Huskers’ 8-8 Big 12 mark was their best finish since 2000, and included the biggest victory in school history, a 103-99 triple overtime win over eventual national champion and then-No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, 2005.

The Huskers also won their first Big 12 Tournament game since the 2000 campaign and continued their climb in the classroom as well. NU posted a team GPA of better than 3.0 during the spring 2005 semester, as 10 Huskers earned spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor.

Nebraska has also enjoyed a rejuvenation at the turnstiles, with attendance surging nearly 60 percent over the past two seasons. The Huskers ranked 25th nationally in average home attendance in 2004-05, averaging 4,022 fans per game. The increase represented a nearly 30 percent increase over the 2003-04 season, and included a pair of crowds of more than 12,400 at the Devaney Center with a season-high 13,023 against Kansas State. Nebraska averaged nearly 5,800 fans per game during Big 12 action at the Devaney Center.

The 2002 Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year, Yori led Creighton to a 24-7 overall mark and a 16-2 MVC record in 2001-02 to capture the league’s regular-season and tournament titles. Yori’s success at CU in 2001-02 capped a 170-115 career mark at Creighton. Her teams made two trips to the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and 2002. Before taking over the top job with the Bluejays, Yori led NCAA Division III Loras College to a 25-25 record in two seasons from 1990 to 1992. She also served as an assistant coach at Creighton from 1986 to 1989.

Yori was one of the top players in Creighton history, and she still owns the school record for career scoring average at 20.3 points per game. She ranks as CU’s No. 3 all-time leading scorer with 2,010 points, and she had her No. 25 jersey retired. She was inducted into the Creighton Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992.

A native of Ankeny, Iowa, the 42-year-old Yori is married to Kirk Helms, and the couple had their first child, Lukas, in early July of 2004.

Six Recruits Set to Join Huskers for 2006-07 Season
Nebraska women's basketball coach Connie Yori announced the signing of six impressive recruits to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period for the 2006-07 season on Wednesday.

The Huskers, who are entering their fourth season under Yori, will be joined next season by Nikki Bober (Murdock, Neb.), Ana Fakatou (Long Beach, Calif.), Kala Kuhlmann (Charter Oak, Iowa), Cory Montgomery (Cannon Falls, Minn.), Nicole Neals (Chandler, Ariz.) and Yvonne Turner (Bellevue, Neb.).

Yori said the large incoming class promises to give the Huskers their deepest and most talented team during her tenure for the 2006-07 campaign. The group also makes it possible to give NU its first full roster since Yori's arrival at Nebraska in 2002-03, when the Huskers had only a handful of active scholarship players.

"We are very excited about this incoming class, not only because of the depth it might create for us next year, but also because there are some very talented players in this group," Yori said. "Hopefully next year we will finally feel like we have overcome the numbers situation that we have had in our first four years in the program. This class takes us another step closer to being able to play the exciting style of up-tempo basketball we want to be able to play."

For complete biographies on Nebraska’s incoming recruiting class, visit Huskers.com. Click on Basketball under the Women’s Sports menu. Then click Roster and click on 2006-07 season.

Fastbreakers Booster Club
The Nebraska Women’s Basketball Booster Club, the Fastbreakers, and Lil’ Breakers Booster Club provide dynamic support to the Huskers. Membership benefits include regular e-mail news flashes during the season, a free Nebraska Yearbook, game information, invitations to monthly pre-game meals with the coaches, access to preferred parking, an invitation to the postseason awards banquet and much, much more.

For more information on the Fastbreakers and Lil’ Breakers Booster Club, please visit the Nebraska women’s basketball home page on Huskers.com, e-mail Fastbreaker President Susan Ferris at scf333@aol.com or call the Nebraska women’s basketball office at (402) 472-6462.

The Fastbreakers will host several pregame "Backboard Banquets" during the season. The banquets begin at 5:30 p.m. and are held on the upper concourse of the Devaney Center. This year’s banquets will include guest speakers and several giveaways, along with great food from Premier Catering.

The cost of each meal is $10 per person and the proceeds go to the Husker women’s basketball program. For reservations to attend any of the "Backboard Banquets" please call Rose Sousek at the basketball office at (402) 472-6462.

2006 Fastbreakers Pregame Backboard Banquet Schedule
Monday, Nov. 21 - Creighton - 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 7 - Kansas - 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 1 - Iowa State - 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 21 - Oklahoma State - 5:30 p.m.

Huskers Take Care of the Rock
The Huskers produced three of the top four turnover marks in school history in Coach Connie Yori’s first three seasons at Nebraska.

Last season, the Huskers averaged just 15.4 turnovers per game (493 total turnovers) for the third-fewest total turnovers in school history.

In 2003-04, the Huskers committed just 488 turnovers (16.3 per game), which ranked as the second-lowest total in school history, trailing only the 369 turnovers in 32 games in 1991-92 (11.5 per game).

The Huskers achieved their fourth-lowest turnover total with 497 total turnovers (17.8 per game) in Coach Connie Yori’s first season at Nebraska in 2002-03.

Nebraska has taken solid care of the basketball so far in 2005-06, committing just 13 turnovers against South Dakota State, while adding just 14 turnovers against Creighton and Texas Southern. Through six games, Nebraska is averaging 16.5 turnovers per game, while dishing out 15.2 assists per contest as a team. The Huskers are forcing 21.0 turnovers per game by their opponents for a plus-4.5 team turnover margin.

Hardy’s 37 in Baylor Win Places Her Among NU Elite
Kiera Hardy’s career-high 37-point performance in Nebraska’s win over No. 2 Baylor on Jan. 12, in Lincoln placed her among an elite list of Huskers.

Not only did Hardy’s total tie for the seventh-highest single-game effort in school history, it also provided her with her second 30-point effort of the season. Her first 30-point performance came against Hampton in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, on Nov. 27.

The two 30-point outbursts during her breakout sophomore season place her among a select group of Huskers who accomplished multiple 30-point games as sophomores. The last NU sophomore to produce a pair of 30-point games was two-time All-American Karen Jennings, who did it in 1990-91.

Debra Powell, who was an All-Big Eight performer on the court and an All-American sprinter on the track, was the first Husker sophomore to score 30 in a game on multiple occasions. Powell produced three 30-point games in 1982-83.

Maurtice Ivy, who was the Big Eight Player of the Year in 1988 after leading the Huskers to their only conference title in school history, matched Powell’s feat with a trio of 30-point performances as a sophomore in 1985-86.

A year later, Amy Stephens added two 30-point efforts during her sophomore season in 1986-87.

Hardy’s 37 points is the highest single-game total among the elite group of NU sophomore scorers and ranks as the second-highest scoring performance in school history by a sophomore, trailing only a 41-point eruption by Crystal Coleman against Oklahoma State on Feb. 19, 1983. The performance was Coleman’s only 30-point or more scoring game of her career, which ended at Nebraska after her sophomore season.

Hardy is just the seventh player in Nebraska history to record two or more 30-point efforts in the same season, and one of just eight Huskers to score 30 twice in her career. The last player to score 30 points twice in the same season was Kubik, who had a trio of 30-point performances in 1998-99. Only 16 different Huskers in history have scored 30 or more points in a single game - a total of 54 times. Jennings owns the NU record with 12 30-point scoring efforts in her career, including eight in 1991-92.

Nebraska’s History of Success at Home
Since the Bob Devaney Sports Center opened in 1976-77, the Huskers are 291-105 (.735) in games played in the arena, including 104-66 (.612) in conference games.

The Huskers rolled to a 12-4 home record in 2004-05, after running to a 13-4 home mark in 2003-04. Nebraska is 2-2 all-time in home postseason play, with an 81-58 win over San Diego on March 17, 1993, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Devaney Center. The Huskers added a 73-60 win over Drake in the first round of the WNIT on March 18, 2004, before losing 75-67 in the next round to Oregon State on March 22, 2004. Nebraska closed its 2004-05 season with a 71-67 loss to Iowa on March 25, 2005 in the second round of the WNIT.

Attendance is a big part of the Huskers’ success. Nebraska’s average home attendance increased by almost 60 percent since the 2002-03 season. Last year, Nebraska ranked 25th nationally by drawing 4,022 fans per game to the Devaney Center.

In 2004-05, the Huskers attracted two of the four largest crowds in school history in back-to-back games on Feb. 12 and Feb. 23. NU drew its fourth-largest crowd in school history with a season-high 12,429 fans in attendance for an 88-59 win over No. 14 Iowa State on Feb. 12. It was NU’s largest crowd in the past five seasons, dating back to a school-record crowd of 13,226 against Kansas State on Feb. 26, 2000.

The Huskers surpassed the mark in their next home game when 13,023 fans filled the Devaney Center to watch NU clash with Kansas State on Feb. 23. It was the first time in school history that Nebraska had back-to-back crowds of more than 12,000.

Nebraska ranked 14th nationally in average home attendance in 1999-2000 with 4,772 fans per game, after ranking 15th nationally with a school-record average of 5,000 fans per game in 1998-99. NU added an average home crowd of 4,204 in 2000-01.