Tempe, Ariz. - The Nebraska women's basketball team battled No. 13 Arizona State toe-to-toe for 34 minutes, before the Sun Devils put the game out of reach with an 87-60 win over the Huskers at the Veterans Day Classic in Wells Fargo Arena on Friday evening.
Arizona State, which extended its regular-season homecourt winning streak to 23 games, went on a 15-2 run in a span of 2:51 to turn a 66-54 lead with 6:16 left into a 27-point victory.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori credited the Sun Devils with a strong effort in the victory.
"Arizona State is very aggressive at both ends of the floor and they were definitely the aggressor," Yori said. "It's funny, we play the same system and they are more experienced in their system. They basically play the way we want to play, so in that sense it was like watching where we want to be."
Kelsey Griffin led the Huskers with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Kiera Hardy and Chelsea Aubry each contributed nine points.
Although Yori credited Arizona State, she also said she expects more from the Huskers.
"We were spotty. We were not good with the ball. We did not hit some easy shots. We went into lapses at times and we were not the aggressor," Yori said. "However, this was a great test for our team this early in the season, and I know we are going to get better. We are certainly going to take a lot of positives and learning experiences from this loss to a very good Arizona State team."
Arizona State's Emily Westerberg led all scorers with 20 points, while Jill Noe contributed 15 points and nine rebounds. Danielle Orsillo added 13 points to give the Sun Devils three players in double figures.
After ASU jumped out to a 14-9 lead at the first media timeout, the Huskers kept the Sun Devils within striking distance at a five or six-point lead for most of the half. But Arizona State outscored NU by six in the final three minutes of the first half to carry a 46-34 lead into the locker room.
Griffin led the Huskers with nine points in the first half, while Hardy added seven, including five of NU's first nine points. Westerberg and Noe led a balanced ASU attack in the first half with eight points apiece.
For the game, Arizona State shot a sizzling 55.6 percent, including 42.9 percent (6-14) from three-point range. ASU also outrebounded NU 37-31, while forcing 24 Husker turnovers.
Nebraska shot just 40.4 percent from the field, while hitting just 2-of-6 three-pointers. NU was also just 16-of-25 from the free throw line. NU did for 17 turnovers by the Sun Devils.
"When you're playing against this level of team, the little things turn into big things," Yori said. "When we turned it over, they scored. When we missed a shot they got a good shot in transition."
The Huskers continue their season-opening weekend at the Veterans Day Classic in Tempe, Ariz., by taking on Florida Atlantic on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. central time. The Owls advanced to the 2006 NCAA Tournament as the Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion, but fell to No. 18 New Mexico, 74-44, in Friday's first game at the Wells Fargo Arena.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Arizona State 11-10-06 4:30 PM MT at Wells Fargo Arena - Tempe, Ariz.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 0-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... f 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 6 5 2 0 0 28 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 6-10 0-0 5-9 5 2 7 3 17 1 1 0 1 23 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 4-8 0-1 1-1 0 1 1 2 9 2 4 0 0 24 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 2 2 3 0 0 18 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 3-12 1-2 2-2 0 3 3 2 9 0 2 0 0 21 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 1-6 1-3 2-2 0 0 0 2 5 0 1 0 1 19 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 2 1 0 3 0 0 12 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 0 0 11 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 10 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 1-3 0-0 4-6 1 2 3 2 6 0 3 0 0 16 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 5 5 0 3 1 0 0 3 18 TEAM................ 5 1 6 Totals.............. 21-52 2-6 16-25 12 19 31 18 60 11 24 0 5 201
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8% 2nd Half: 7-20 35.0% Game: 40.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 12-18 66.7% Game: 64.0% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Arizona State 1-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Westerberg, Emily... f 9-12 1-2 1-4 1 2 3 3 20 1 1 1 0 26 32 Johnson, Aubree..... f 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 5 6 3 3 1 1 14 02 Pariseau, Reagan.... g 2-7 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 2 6 6 2 0 3 27 20 January, Briann..... g 3-8 1-2 1-2 1 3 4 2 8 3 0 0 4 25 22 Noe, Jill........... g 6-8 3-5 0-0 1 8 9 1 15 3 2 0 3 24 01 Simon, Dymond....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 5 11 Engelbrecht, Kate... 0-1 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 0 3 1 2 0 0 18 13 Orsillo, Danielle... 5-9 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 0 13 3 1 1 1 21 15 Lopez, Cristina..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 2 1 2 0 0 5 21 Murphy, Kayli....... 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 3 6 1 2 1 0 21 23 Thompson, Kirsten... 2-5 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 3 6 2 1 1 0 11 30 Fage, Gabby......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 35-63 6-14 11-16 12 25 37 22 87 24 17 5 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-32 56.3% 2nd Half: 17-31 54.8% Game: 55.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 42.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 68.8% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Eric Larson, Darren Krzesnik, Laura Sundheim Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Arizona State-Pariseau, Reagan. Attendance: 2326 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 34 26 - 60 Arizona State................. 46 41 - 87 ID-487881 Game 2 of the ASU Veterans Day Tip Off Classic