Huskers Close Big Ten Tour at Michigan

Nebraska (4-3)
at Michigan (5-5)
Crisler Arena (13,751) 
Saturday, Dec. 17 ? 6 p.m.
Television: Fox Sports Midwest
Channel 37 in Lincoln
DirecTV: Channel 648
Dish Network: Channel 645
Radio: Huskers.com
Live Stats: Huskers.com
Series Record: Nebraska Leads 4-0
Last Meeting: Nebraska won 70-59, Dec. 8, 1995 (Devaney Center)

Huskers Conclude Big Ten Tour at Michigan Saturday
The Nebraska women’s basketball team wraps up its swing through Big Ten country when the Huskers take on Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday at 6 p.m. Tip-off at Crisler Arena is set for 6 p.m., with television coverage provided in Nebraska on Fox Sports Midwest (Ch. 37 in Lincoln). The game can be heard live on Huskers.com with Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch calling the action.

The Dec. 17 matchup with the Wolverines (5-5), will mark the third straight Saturday that the Huskers have faced a Big Ten Conference opponent on the road. After dropping a 78-70 decision to No. 10 Minnesota in Minneapolis on Dec. 3, the Huskers bounced back with an 80-50 pounding of Northwestern in Evanston on Dec. 10. Nebraska will be looking to post a 2-1 mark against the Big Ten while improving to 5-3 overall with a win over the Wolverines on Saturday.

Nebraska will be playing its fifth road game in the last six contests, when the Huskers battle Michigan. NU is 1-1 in true away games and 1-1 on neutral courts this season, while posting a 2-1 record at the Devaney Center. After Saturday’s game with Michigan, the Huskers will play their final three non-conference games at home to wrap up 2005, before opening Big 12 Conference play on the road at Colorado on Jan. 4.

Nebraska and Michigan will face off in several athletic venues during December. In addition to the women’s basketball teams going head-to-head on Saturday, the No. 14 Nebraska wrestling team traveled to Ann Arbor last Friday and upset the No. 2 Wolverines, 18-16. Later this month (Dec. 28), the Nebraska football team will take on the No. 20 Wolverine football team in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.

Saturday’s matchup on the hardwood will also be a reunion of sorts for Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori and Michigan Head Coach Cheryl Burnett. The two coaches went head-to-head for nearly a decade in the Missouri Valley Conference, when Yori coached at Creighton and Burnett coached at Southwest Missouri State.

Griffin, Hardy Give Huskers Inside-Outside Combo
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 five games, Hardy has averaged 19.6 points per contest, including a season-high 26 points against No. 3 LSU. Hardy scored 22 points and tied her previous career high with six assists on Dec. 3 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 Dec. 7.

In the 30-point win at Northwestern on Dec. 10, Hardy managed 11 points along with a career-high eight assists. Over the last four games, Hardy has dished out 25 assists and committed just five turnovers for an amazing assist-to-turnover ratio of 5-to-1. She ranks among the top 10 players in the Big 12 in scoring (10th), assists (8th), steals (3rd), three-pointers made (1st) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd).

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 six of her first seven games to become the fastest player in NU history to score 100 points. Griffin went over the century mark on the Huskers’ first basket of the game at Northwestern, and added 20 more points on the day to push her season total to 121 points through seven contests. She leads the Huskers in scoring and rebounding at 17.3 points and 8.0 boards per game.

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 among the top 10 players in the Big 12 in scoring (7th), rebounding (7th), field goal percentage (9th) and offensive rebounds (6th).

Scouting the Michigan Wolverines
Coach Cheryl Burnett leads the Michigan Wolverines into Saturday’s game against the Huskers with a 5-5 overall record after a 98-55 pasting of Fordham at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night.

Seven Wolverines scored in double figures against Fordham, as Michigan shot 60.4 percent from the field, including 60 percent (9-15) from three-point range. The Wolverines also hit 80.6 percent (25-31) of their free throws.

Along with their offensive dominance, the Wolverines outrebounded Fordham, 30-21, and forced 29 turnovers while committing just 16 miscues for a plus-13 turnover margin.

The Wolverines have battled through an up-and-down non-conference slate, with losses to top-25 opponents Temple (65-48) and Notre Dame (55-45), along with setbacks to Toldeo (61-55 OT), Central Michigan (79-57) and at Washington (82-60).

Michigan has picked up wins over Saint Francis (Pa.) (80-52), Miami (Ohio) (75-58), Maine (68-60), Maryland-Eastern Shore (77-59) and Fordham.

In the loss at Washington, junior guard/forward Kelly Helvey went down with a leg injury and did not play against Fordham on Tuesday. Helvey, who produced a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Maryland-Eastern Shore, may be out for an extended period but her status has not been announced.

Helvey was the only Wolverine to start each of the first nine games and ranked as the second-leading scorer (8.6 ppg) and rebounder (5.1 rpg) on the club.

Without Helvey, Michigan’s entire lineup consists of freshmen and sophomores. Ta’Shia Walker a 6-0 sophomore forward leads the team in both scoring and rebounding with 13.4 points and 7.3 boards per game despite starting just six contests. Walker also shoots a strong 44.4 percent (8-18) from three-point range.

Carly Benson, a 6-2 freshman forward has contributed 7.9 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, while shooting a solid 47.1 percent (8-17) from three-point range. Stephany Skrba, a 6-2 freshman post player has added 7.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game, while 5-9 sophomore guard/forward Janelle Cooper has pitched in 6.7 points and 3.2 boards per game, including a solid 43.5 percent (10-23) shooting from long range.

Krista Clement, another 5-9 sophomore guard, rounds out Michigan’s possible starting lineup averaging 5.4 points and 1.6 boards per game.

Jessica Minnifield, a 5-5 freshman guard, has also made six starts for the Wolverines, while Katie Dierdorf, Melinda Queen and Ashley Jones have each started three contests on the season, as Michigan has used six different starting lineups so far this season.

Nebraska vs. Michigan Series History
Nebraska leads the all-time series with Michigan, 4-0, including a 70-59 victory over the Wolverines in the last meeting between the two schools in Lincoln on Dec. 8, 1995.

The last time the two teams met in Ann Arbor, Nebraska cruised to a 99-81 win over Michigan on Dec. 8, 1994. The Huskers won the only other meeting in Ann Arbor with a 64-54 win on Dec. 29, 1984.

The first-ever meeting between the two teams on Nov. 28, 1980, in Lincoln, made the record book as the highest-scoring game in Nebraska history. The two teams combined for 210 points in Nebraska’s 118-92 win over the Wolverines at the Devaney Center.

Huskers Roll to 80-50 Win at Northwestern
Nebraska 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, Dec. 10.

Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin led four Huskers in double figures with 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 of the Huskers led NU to a 56-34 rebounding margin.

Nebraska’s forwards also held Northwestern’s leading scorer, Ifeoma Okonkwo, who entered the game averaging nearly 17 points per contest, to just two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field.

The Husker starting forwards of 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 forwards continued to fuel the Huskers’ strong first half by combining for 19 points and 12 rebounds in the first half alone, as NU carried a 30-22 halftime lead into the locker room.

After shooting just 36.1 percent in the first half, the Huskers came out hot in the second half, outscoring Northwestern 15-4 in the first 4:40 to build a 19-point lead at 45-26. The Wildcats’ Nadia Bibbs slowed NU’s surge by scoring five points, but the Huskers erupted on an 18-3 spurt to put the game out of reach at 63-34 with eight minutes left in the game.

Pass-Happy Hardy Powering Husker Offense
The top returning scorer in the Big 12 Conference this season, first-team All-Big 12 guard Kiera Hardy has added the title of Nebraska’s top passer so far in 2005-06. Through seven games, Hardy is averaging 5.0 assists to rank eighth in the Big 12. She has been even better over the past four games, averaging 6.3 assists per contest.

Hardy has set or tied her career high in assists in each of the past three contests and has already dished out more than half of her total number of assists (67) in roughly one-fifth of the games.

While dishing out 25 assists in the past four games, Hardy has committed just five turnovers, and on the season owns a 2.92 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank second in the Big 12 in that category. Last season, Hardy’s assist-to-turnover ratio was 1-to-1.34.

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, leads the Huskers in scoring and rebounding with 17.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game through her first seven 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.

She became the fastest Husker ever to score 100 points, crossing the milestone in the first minute of her seventh game, before finishing the game with 22 points to push her season total to 121 points through seven games. Griffin, who has led all players in scoring in four of NU’s first seven games and has been the Huskers’ top rebounder in five of seven 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.

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 Michigan game with 970 career points in 66 career games.

Through seven games this season, Hardy ranks second on the team with 16.3 points per game, including 19.6 points per contest over the past five games. 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 seven career games, all starts, Griffin ranks among the top 10 players in the Big 12 in scoring (17.3 ppg, 7th), rebounding (8.0 rpg, 7th) and field goal percentage (58.9, 9th). She ranks ahead of four 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 all three categories.

Among Big 12 freshmen, Griffin ranks second in scoring and rebounding. Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris leads league freshmen with 21.0 points and 13.6 rebounds per contest through 10 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 135 three-pointers in just 66 career games to shoot into third place on Nebraska’s career three-point list. Hardy has hit 2.0 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 Dec. 7, before burying five more trifectas on the night against the Lady Tigers. Hardy leads the Huskers with 20 three-pointers already this season, a Big 12-leading average of 2.86 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, is averaging 6.0 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game. She erupted for a career-high 15-point, two-assist, three-steal effort against Texas Southern on Dec. 7.

The game against the Lady Tigers 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 threes in wins over Texas Southern and Northwestern. Her six made three-pointers rank second among the Huskers, trailing only Kiera Hardy (20).

LaFleur has come off the bench in all seven games for the Huskers, scoring six or more points in four of those seven 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 16.3 points per game (10th) and 2.86 made three-pointers per contest (1st), she also ranks among the league’s top 10 in assists (5.0 apg, 8th), steals (2.71 ppg, tied for 3rd) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.92-1, 2nd). She also ranks 14th in three-point field goal percentage at 35.7 percent.

Hardy has gone without committing a turnover in three of her last six 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 is averaging 6.3 points and 5.6 rebounds per contest. She has also improved her assist statistics over the past two contests. She tied a career high with three assists in the win over Texas Southern on Dec. 7, before setting a career best with four assists in the win over Northwestern on Dec. 10. With 11 assists already this season, she needs just five more to match her season total from a year ago. She is averaging 1.6 assists 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 seven games this season. The 6-2 junior from Fenton, Iowa, has knocked down 32-of-68 shots from the field (47.1 percent) through the first seven games to average 10.0 points and 3.6 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, before added another dozen at Northwestern on Dec. 10.

Gerhart has produced double figures in four of NU’s first seven games, and has scored at least six points while starting all seven 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 with an 80-50 rout of Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 10. The Huskers 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 seven games, Nebraska is averaging 16.4 turnovers per game, while dishing out 15.6 assists per contest as a team. The Huskers are forcing 20.3 turnovers per game by their opponents for a plus-3.9 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.