Lincoln - Kiera Hardy scored 15 points, all in the first half, to become the 22nd player in Nebraska to score 1,000 career points while leading the Husker women's basketball team to a 96-47 win over Texas State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Tuesday night.
Hardy, who needed just nine points to reach the 1,000-point plateau entering the game, converted a three-point play with 8:52 to play in the first half to reach the 1,000-point mark and added six more points to close the half to power the Huskers to a 42-25 first-half lead over the Bobcats.
Nebraska improved to 6-3 with its fourth consecutive victory, while Texas State slipped to 7-2 on the season with its second straight loss, after opening the season with a school-record seven straight wins. The Bobcats, who opened the season with a win over the Huskers' Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, had outscored their opponents by average of 25 points per game entering the contest.
Nebraska Head Coach Connie Yori said she was thrilled with the Huskers' performance against the Bobcats.
"We were certainly not expecting to win that game by that large of a margin tonight," Yori said. "We knew Texas State was a solid basketball team that was going to come in here and play hard. We just played great basketball. I was really happy with our effort on both the offensive and defensive ends. That was a great win for us."
Along with Hardy's big night, freshman guard TK LaFleur scored a career-high 16 points, including 13 points and a pair of three-pointers in the second half.
Junior Jessica Gerhart added another solid offensive performance to help the Huskers turn a tight game into a runaway early in the second half. After missing her first seven shots from the field over the first 19 minutes of the game, the 6-2 forward from Fenton, Iowa, hit back-to-back baskets including a three-pointer in the last 40 seconds of the first half to turn a 12-point NU lead into a 17-point Husker advantage.
Gerhart continued her offensive outburst at the start of the second half by scoring the first six points of the second half in a span of just 1:30 to cap a 13-point Husker run and push Nebraska's lead to 48-25 with 18:30 left. Gerhart finished with 13 points to produce double figures for the fourth straight game.
Senior forward Elena Diaz added a season-high 12 points, including eight in the first half to help the Huskers.
Nebraska's lead continued to grow after senior guard LaToya Howell connected on back-to-back three-pointers to eventually push the Huskers' lead to 58-29 with 15:54 left in the game. Howell finished with six points, six rebounds and four assists in a strong all-around effort.
Nebraska, led by a season-high 10 boards from sophomore forward Danielle Page, out-rebounded the Bobcats 48-29 allowing Texas State only two second-chance points, while hitting 46.7 percent of their shots behind the arc and 48.4 percentage from the field on the game. The Huskers also played tremendous defense, holding the Bobcats to just 29.1 percent shooting from the field, including just 26.7 percent shooting from three-point range.
The Huskers also enjoyed a plus-10 turnover margin, forcing 21 turnovers while committing a season-low 11 turnovers on the night.
Nebraska's extra possession led to 15 more made field goals than the Bobcats, while outscoring Texas State at the free throw line 27-11. The 96 points and the 49-point margin of victory were both season-bests for the Huskers.
The Huskers return to action against Grambling State on Dec. 29, at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score TXST vs Nebraska 12/20/05 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: TXST (7-2) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Ekworomadu, Joyce... f 5-14 1-3 4-4 0 2 2 3 15 1 3 0 3 22 40 Thompson, Tamara.... f 2-6 2-3 0-0 1 1 2 5 6 1 4 0 1 13 50 Putnam, Erica....... f 2-5 0-0 3-4 3 4 7 4 7 0 2 0 0 28 12 Hoffman, Jenna...... g 1-4 0-1 2-4 0 1 1 3 4 1 0 0 0 22 21 Hoffman, Jeana...... g 1-6 0-3 0-0 0 1 1 3 2 1 3 0 0 30 03 Bradford, Ryann..... 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 3 2 0 1 0 18 11 Leffingwell, Ashley. 3-11 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 7 0 5 0 2 18 13 Kelly, Ally......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 15 Lee, Hallie......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 4 0 0 2 0 0 13 24 Wright, Elyse....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 31 Palmer, Kia......... 0-2 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 15 45 Riley, Ashley....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 4 TEAM................ 1 4 5 Totals.............. 16-55 4-15 11-16 10 19 29 26 47 6 21 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-22 36.4% 2nd Half: 8-33 24.2% Game: 29.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 68.8% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (6-3) 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 3-5 0-1 3-4 1 6 7 2 9 2 1 2 2 19 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 6-14 1-1 0-0 3 1 4 3 13 0 0 0 0 22 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... c 2-5 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 0 6 0 0 0 1 22 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 2-3 2-2 0-0 2 4 6 1 6 4 1 0 2 18 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 0-2 7-7 0 3 3 1 15 3 2 0 4 21 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 0 2 4 0 0 0 17 03 HIEB, Sara.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 5-7 2-3 4-6 3 1 4 3 16 1 3 1 0 18 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 2-2 2-2 3-4 2 0 2 3 9 2 0 1 0 13 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 4-6 0-0 4-4 1 2 3 3 12 0 3 0 2 18 30 DRMANAC, Ivana...... 1-3 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 6 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-7 0-0 2-2 2 8 10 2 6 1 0 2 0 23 TEAM................ 4 4 Totals.............. 31-64 7-15 27-31 15 33 48 19 96 18 11 6 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-35 40.0% 2nd Half: 17-29 58.6% Game: 48.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 6-11 54.5% Game: 46.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 13-15 86.7% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 87.1% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Rick Morris, Melanie Davis, Robyn Ensminger Technical fouls: TXST-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 2064 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total TXST.......................... 25 22 - 47 Nebraska...................... 42 54 - 96