Evanston, Ill. - The Nebraska women's basketball team used an 11-0 run to start the game and a dominant performance inside the paint throughout the contest to race to an 80-50 victory over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin led four Huskers in double figures in 22 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Jessica Gerhart added 12 points and five boards. Sophomore forward Danielle Page came off the bench to add 14 points and five boards. Kiera Hardy rounded out the quartet of Huskers in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds, three steals and a career-high eight assists.
For the game, Nebraska's front line players combined for 57 points and 31 rebounds to power the Husker victory. Elena Diaz added six points and a team-leading eight rebounds off the bench for the Huskers, while Chelsea Aubry pitched in three points, five boards and a career-best four assists. The inside play by the Huskers led NU to a 56-34 rebounding margin.
Nebraska's forwards also held Northwestern's leading scoring Ifeoma Okonkwo, who entered the game averaging nearly 17 points per contest, to just two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said the Huskers put together their most complete game of the season against the Wildcats.
"We played really well," Yori said. "Our effort was tremendous for 40 minutes. We got on the floor, we got on the glass and our defensive effort was outstanding. I thought our players did a great job of battling for every possession all day long."
Nebraska improved to 4-3 with the victory with its first true road win of the season, while Northwestern slipped to 3-4 on the year. The Huskers shot 41.8 percent for the game, including 48.4 percent in the second half, while holding the Wildcats to just 27.9 percent shooting from the field for the game.
Nebraska's starting forwards Griffin, Gerhart and Aubry combined to score nine of the game's first 11 points in the opening 4:05 to stake the Huskers to a quick 11-0 lead. The trio of NU forwards continued to fuel the Huskers' strong first half by combining for 19 points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone, as Nebraska carried a 30-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The strong play of the Husker forwards helped Nebraska build a mammoth 30-16 rebounding edge in the opening stanza, including 13 offensive boards in the first half. The Huskers' hard work on the boards helped them overcome just 36.1 percent (13-36) shooting and 12 turnovers in the first half.
Nebraska also played perhaps its best defensive half of the season in the opening period, holding the Wildcats to just 26.7 percent (8-30) shooting from the field. Gerhart and Griffin led the Huskers in the first half, as each scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds.
After struggling with their shooting touches in the first half, the Huskers heated up to start the second half, outscoring Northwestern 15-4 in the first 4:40 of the second half to build a 19-point lead on Page's jumper for a 45-26 edge. Page scored six points during the Huskers' second-half spurt, as five Huskers contributed to Nebraska's run, including a three-pointer from Ashley Ford.
Unlike the first half, when Northwestern answered the Huskers' opening run with an 8-0 run of its own, the Wildcats could not find any answers in the second half. After a five-point spurt by Northwestern point guard Nadia Bibbs trimmed the Husker lead to 45-31 with 14:35 left, Nebraska outscored the Wildcats 18-3 over the next six minutes to push its lead to 29 points at 63-34 with eight minutes remaining in the game.
Nebraska's lead grew as large as 31 points after a Diaz jumper made it 69-38 with 5:16 left in the game, before cruising to the 30-point victory. The Huskers reached the 80-point plateau for the second straight game and third time in seven contests this season on Sarah White's free throw with 20 seconds left. NU extended its winning streak when scoring 80 or more points to 34 consecutive games.
White finished with five points, including her first three-pointer of the season. Bibbs was the only Wildcat to finish in double figures, scoring 15 points, including a trio of three-pointers.
Nebraska will take a week off from competition to take finals before concluding its three-game road swing through Big Ten country when the Huskers travel to Ann Arbor to battle the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 6 p.m. The game will be televised live in Nebraska by Fox Sports Midwest.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Northwestern 12/10/05 2 p.m. at Evanston, Ill. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 4-3 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 8-14 0-0 6-8 4 3 7 2 22 1 3 1 0 23 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 5-10 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 0 12 0 2 0 0 18 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-4 0-3 1-1 2 3 5 3 3 4 3 0 0 29 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-16 1-7 2-2 1 3 4 0 11 8 1 0 3 28 5 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 1 0 1 2 0 1 24 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 1-6 1-3 1-2 1 1 2 4 4 1 2 0 1 16 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 1-3 1-1 2-4 1 3 4 1 5 0 0 0 0 9 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 3-7 0-0 0-0 0 8 8 1 6 0 0 0 2 20 2 FORD, Ashley........ 1-1 1-1 0-2 0 1 1 1 3 3 1 0 1 17 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 4-6 0-0 6-6 3 3 6 1 14 0 1 1 1 16 TEAM................ 7 2 9 1 Totals.............. 28-67 4-15 20-27 21 35 56 14 80 18 16 2 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-36 36.1% 2nd Half: 15-31 48.4% Game: 41.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 17-22 77.3% Game: 74.1% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Northwestern 3-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 2 Glasauer, A.J....... f 1-9 0-1 2-2 1 1 2 2 4 1 1 0 1 17 20 Okonkwo, Ifeoma..... f 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 0 2 0 2 0 1 17 23 Miller, Melissa..... f 1-6 0-0 3-6 2 4 6 3 5 0 3 1 1 32 1 Bibbs, Nadia........ g 5-7 3-4 2-3 2 1 3 2 15 0 4 0 0 25 33 Stutz, Sara......... g 1-11 1-4 0-0 1 0 1 4 3 3 2 0 1 29 13 Dickerson, Erin..... 3-11 1-4 0-0 1 1 2 0 7 2 1 0 0 22 14 Bielawski, Julie.... 2-6 0-1 1-2 0 1 1 4 5 0 1 2 1 17 21 Roberts, Lauren..... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 11 32 Cartwright, Kristin. 3-9 1-2 1-2 1 3 4 3 8 5 2 0 0 30 TEAM................ 2 5 7 Totals.............. 17-61 6-16 10-17 12 22 34 22 50 11 16 3 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-30 26.7% 2nd Half: 9-31 29.0% Game: 27.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-13 53.8% Game: 58.8% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Beverly Roberts, Cameron Inouye Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Northwestern-None. Attendance: 398 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 30 50 - 80 Northwestern.................. 22 28 - 50 ID-382204