Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team put together its best offensive performance of the Big 12 Conference season to run to a 81-56 victory over Oklahoma State on Senior Night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Tuesday night.
The Huskers improved to 15-10 overall and 7-7 in the Big 12 by notching their third consecutive victory in convincing fashion. Nebraska scorched the Cowgirls on 61.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half to race to a 53-30 halftime lead. The Huskers' 81 points marked their highest point total of the league season, surpassing the 80 points NU scored in its Big 12-opening win over Colorado on Jan. 4.
Junior Jessica Gerhart led the Huskers with with 16 points, going a perfect 8-8 from the field, while senior Elena Diaz just missed the first double-double of her career with 11 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Junior Kiera Hardy added 10 points and junior Chelsea Aubry chipped in nine points and four rebounds.
Senior point guard LaToya Howell did a masterful job distributing the basketball in her final regular-season home game, tying her career high with 10 assists, including eight in the first half. She also helped the Huskers set a school record by committing just four turnovers. She also notched three steals to help NU turn the Cowgirls over 14 times, as the two teams tied the school record for the fewest turnovers by both teams in a single game.
Sophomore Sarah White tied her career high with nine points, while connecting on a career-high three three-pointers in the second half. Sophomore Danielle Page scored seven points and seven rebounds off the bench, while freshman forward Kelsey Griffin played a career-low 13 minutes while scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds while blocking two shots.
Aubry helped the Huskers knock down 5-of-7 shots from three-point range to open the game by hitting her first three attempts from long range, while Hardy added a pair of three-pointers to help the Huskers.
Along with hitting from long range, the Huskers were hot from inside the arc, hitting 15-of-22 shots in the first 13 minutes, building their lead to as large 15 points at 38-23 after back-to-back baskets by Griffin.
Griffin was one of four NU forwards who opened the game a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, including Aubry, Gerhart and Diaz.
Led by 11 points from Diaz, the Huskers shot 61.8 percent from the field in the first half to head into the second half ahead, 53-30.
NU's first-half point total matched their scoring output in regulation in the Huskers' 64-62 overtime victory over Kansas State in Lincoln on Saturday night. The Huskers, who scored a season-low 17 points in the first half against the Wildcats on just 5-of-25 shooting from the field, matched that first-half field goal total in the first 3:21 and Aubry's first three-pointer of the game.
Nebraska kept rolling to open the second half, as Gerhart hit four consecutive shots to start the Huskers on a 10-2 run in the first five minutes of the second half to put NU ahead, 63-34. After a two-pointer by Page, White followed with back-to-back three-pointers to give Nebraska its biggest lead of the night at 71-37 with 11:50 left in the game.
The Huskers substituted freely down the stretch, as senior Ivana Drmanac hit a jumper after White's second three-pointer, and freshman walk-on Sara Hieb connected on the first basket of her career on a three-pointer with 7:39 remaining in the game.
Nebraska will try to extend its three-game winning streak when the Huskers travel to No. 9 Oklahoma on Sunday. The Sooners, who improved to 14-0 in the Big 12 with a win over Kansas State on Tuesday night, have already clinched the Big 12 title and the No. 1 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. Sunday's game with the Sooners is scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip-off with national television coverage provided by ESPN2.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score OSU vs Nebraska 02/21/06 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: OSU 6-19, 0-14 Big12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 Smith, Shaunte'..... f 1-6 1-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 21 15 Hood, Christian..... c 2-6 0-0 3-4 2 6 8 1 7 2 1 2 1 30 42 Pegram, Whitney..... c 6-10 0-0 2-6 2 1 3 3 14 0 3 2 0 26 01 Turner, Catherria... g 4-14 3-9 0-0 1 1 2 1 11 5 4 0 1 38 25 Silva, Brisa........ g 2-8 2-7 0-0 0 2 2 2 6 4 1 0 0 27 03 Gray, Nataly........ 1-4 1-4 0-0 0 3 3 0 3 2 1 0 0 13 05 Sykes, Destanie..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 3 2 0 1 0 0 13 12 Hardeman, Taylor.... 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 6 0 1 0 1 13 14 Nascimento, Vivi.... 1-4 0-1 0-0 2 2 4 0 2 1 1 0 0 9 24 Foster, Amanda...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 10 TEAM................ 2 4 6 Totals.............. 21-59 9-25 5-10 10 26 36 13 56 15 14 4 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-30 36.7% 2nd Half: 10-29 34.5% Game: 35.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-13 53.8% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 36.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 50.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 15-10, 7-7 Big12 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 3-6 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 2 6 0 0 2 1 13 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 8-8 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 16 0 2 0 0 15 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-5 3-4 0-0 0 4 4 1 9 2 0 0 0 24 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 1-3 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 0 4 10 0 0 3 24 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-10 2-6 0-0 0 3 3 0 10 2 1 0 1 23 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-5 0-4 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 4 0 0 0 16 03 HIEB, Sara.......... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 5 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 2-7 0-4 0-0 2 4 6 1 4 3 0 1 0 21 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 3-5 3-4 0-0 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 12 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 5-8 0-0 1-2 2 7 9 1 11 0 0 0 0 18 30 DRMANAC, Ivana...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 6 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-13 0-0 3-4 6 1 7 1 7 1 1 1 2 23 TEAM................ 2 7 9 Totals.............. 33-73 9-24 6-8 14 31 45 10 81 23 4 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 21-34 61.8% 2nd Half: 12-39 30.8% Game: 45.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 4-13 30.8% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 75.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Clarke Stevens, Wanda Szeremeta, Jeffrey Stromgren Technical fouls: OSU-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 3605 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total OSU........................... 30 26 - 56 Nebraska...................... 53 28 - 81