Waco, Texas - Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin scored 19 points while going head-to-head with Baylor All-American Sophia Young, but the defending national champion Lady Bears raced to a 23-point first-half lead and never looked back in a 91-69 win over the Nebraska women's basketball team at the Ferrell Center on Wednesday night.
With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 12-9 on the season and 4-6 in Big 12 Conference play, while the No. 12 Lady Bears improved to 17-4 overall and 7-3 in the league.
The Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, Young finished with 18 points and six rebounds to lead six Lady Bears in double figures. Young scored four of BU's first six points to help BU shoot to a 6-0 lead in the opening 1:15 of the game, before Chelsea Aubry hit a three-pointer to get the Huskers on the board with 17:50 left in the first half. Jessica Gerhart hit a jumper less than a minute later to trim Baylor's edge to 6-5 with 16:57 to play, but Young and the Bears responded with a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to build a 15-7 lead.
After a Kiera Hardy three-pointer cut BU's back to five points at 15-10, Baylor erupted for a 12-0 run during a five-minute stretch to build a 17-point advantage at 27-10 with 8:33 left in the first half on Rachel Allison's three-point play.
Hardy finished with 19 points, including 16 in the second half, to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Gerhart gave the Huskers a third player in double figures with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, while Aubry contributed seven points and seven rebounds on the night.
The Baylor lead grew to 23 points at the half, as the Bears shot 54.5 percent from the field on 18-of-33 shooting. Nebraska shot just 28.6 percent from the field, and the Huskers were outrebounded 22-15. NU, which is averaging just 11 turnovers per game in Big 12 play, also committed 10 turnovers in the first half.
Chameka Scott socred 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Rachel Allison added a career-high 15 points and six rebounds off the bench. Abiola Wabara added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Jessica Morrow pitched in 13 points. Jhasmin Player contributed 10 points off the bench, as the Bears shot 50.8 percent (33-65) from the field, including 33.3 percent (4-12) from three-point range. The Bears also hit 80.8 percent (21-26) of their free throws.
Nebraska finished the night at 43.1 percent (22-51), but did hit 41.7 percent (5-12) of its shots from three-point range, while connecting on 76.9 percent (20-26) of its free throws. The Huskers finished the night with 15 turnovers, while forcing just 13 BU miscues. Baylor also outrebounded NU, 40-24.
The Huskers return to home action on Saturday when they take on No. 24 Texas A&M at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m., and it will be Nebraska's final "Pack the Devaney" promotion of the season, with $1 admission, $1 hot dogs and $1 Pepsi products. It will also be Alumni Day and Red Cross Appreciation Day in Lincoln.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Baylor Lady Bears 02/08/06 7 p.m. at Ferrell Center - Waco, Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 12-9 (4-6) 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 4-6 0-0 11-12 1 2 3 5 19 0 2 0 0 25 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 5-6 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 10 0 1 1 2 21 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-6 1-2 0-0 4 3 7 3 7 0 2 1 0 26 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 2 23 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 7-16 3-5 2-2 1 3 4 2 19 4 1 0 0 29 02 FORD, Ashley........ 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 2 2 0 1 16 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 0-4 0-2 1-4 0 0 0 3 1 1 3 0 0 18 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 2 1 1 0 0 16 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 1-4 0-0 4-6 1 1 2 2 6 0 2 3 0 18 TEAM................ 4 4 Totals.............. 22-51 5-12 20-26 7 17 24 21 69 10 15 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-28 28.6% 2nd Half: 14-23 60.9% Game: 43.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 41.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 16-20 80.0% Game: 76.9% 2,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Baylor Lady Bears 17-4 (7-3) #12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 Morrow, Jessica..... f 5-8 1-2 2-2 1 2 3 4 13 1 5 0 0 19 35 Wabara, Abiola...... f 5-9 0-0 3-4 5 3 8 2 13 2 1 0 2 21 33 Young, Sophia....... c 7-13 0-0 4-4 2 4 6 1 18 2 2 0 2 25 20 Tisdale, Angela..... g 0-2 0-1 4-4 0 3 3 3 4 4 2 0 1 17 21 Scott, Chameka...... g 6-11 3-6 1-1 2 5 7 2 16 0 0 0 1 23 12 Wyatt, Latoya....... 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 16 14 Allison, Rachel..... 4-6 0-0 7-10 3 3 6 4 15 1 1 0 1 24 15 Player, Jhasmin..... 5-9 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 3 10 4 1 0 2 25 22 Davis, Jordan....... 0-3 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 18 34 Abbott, Tricia...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 2 0 12 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 33-65 4-12 21-26 15 25 40 22 91 16 13 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-33 54.5% 2nd Half: 15-32 46.9% Game: 50.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-9 77.8% 2nd Half: 14-17 82.4% Game: 80.8% 4,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Michael Price, Barry Roberts, Terri Maddock Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Baylor Lady Bears-None. Attendance: 6790 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 22 47 - 69 Baylor Lady Bears............. 45 46 - 91 ID-370144 Fouled Out: NU- #23-Griffin 8:59