Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team used solid first-half defense to build a 23-point halftime lead and cruise to a 97-59 win over visiting Nebraska-Omaha in the Huskers' exhibition finale on Saturday at the Devaney Center in Lincoln.
Freshman guard Nicole Neals led all scorers with 16 points off the bench, including a 4-for-4 shooting performance from three-point range to spark the Huskers.
Senior forward Jelena Spiric added a solid effort as well with 13 points and six rebounds as Nebraska took control early and never looked back.
The Huskers, who won their exhibition opener 122-55 over Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday night, worked their way to a 46-20 lead late in the first half by holding UNO without a field goal for more than 12 minutes in the opening period.
Nebraska led just 12-8 after Lacey Geitzenauer's jumper with 12:26 left in the first half, before the Husker defense shut down the Mavericks. UNO did not hit its fourth field goal of the game until Ellen Majewski's three-pointer with 17 seconds left in the first half.
Although Nebraska-Omaha prevented the Huskers from getting into a full-court game, Nebraska still managed to put up 46 first-half points in taking a 46-23 lead to the locker room. NU shot just 36.8 percent in the first half, but held UNO to just 17.4 percent (4-23) shooting in the opening period, including just 1-of-12 from two-point range.
Nebraska raced to victory despite quiet offensive efforts from returning starters Kiera Hardy, Kelsey Griffin and Chelsea Aubry. Those three Huskers combined for just 18 points on 7-of-30 shooting from the field.
But the rest of the Huskers picked up for the three starters. Junior forward Danielle Page, who made a remarkably quick recovery from ACL surgery performed on June 29, scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds in her first appearance off the bench.
"It was great to see Danielle Page back out on the court tonight," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "She played hard and ran the floor well and played great defense for us. She also shot the ball really well and it made it a special night for her. We are all excited about it."
The second half also saw the Huskers turn it up on offense, knocking down 61.1 percent of their shots from the field. The Mavericks also heated up in the second half, hitting 41.9 percent of their shots to hang with the Huskers for most of the game.
For the game, Nebraska shot 48.6 percent from the field, including 31.8 percent (7-22) from three-point range. The Huskers also outrebounded UNO, 47-40, and forced 33 Maverick turnovers. UNO shot 31.5 percent for the game, including 42.1 percent (8-19) from three-point range. NU committed just 18 turnovers on the night.
Karen Thies matched Neals for game-high scoring honors with 16 points to lead Nebraska-Omaha, while freshman Alyssa Green added 11 points for the Mavericks.
Nebraska opens the regular season on Friday, Nov. 10, against preseason top 15 Arizona State at the Veterans Day Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Huskers will also play 2006 NCAA Tournament qualifier Florida Atlantic and a top 20 New Mexico team in the four-team tournament.
UNO-W vs Nebraska (11/04/06 at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score UNO-W vs Nebraska 11/04/06 4:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: UNO-W TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 30 GEITZENAUER, Lacey.. f 1-1 0-0 5-6 1 2 3 3 7 0 3 0 0 19 42 NELSON, Ashley...... f 0-6 0-3 4-6 2 6 8 3 4 1 3 0 1 26 44 FREERKSEN, Ashley... f 0-3 0-0 1-3 3 5 8 4 1 1 4 1 2 25 05 THIES, Karen........ g 6-13 4-7 0-0 2 4 6 3 16 3 5 0 2 26 20 GREEN, Alyssa....... g 3-11 1-4 4-5 1 4 5 4 11 3 9 0 2 35 15 MAJEWSKI, Ellen..... 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 1 1 0 0 14 25 ABBOTT, Tara........ 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 1 5 0 0 5 32 HARGROVE, Cayla..... 2-11 1-2 2-2 0 1 1 1 7 1 2 0 0 19 40 JONES, Carlye....... 3-5 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 0 19 45 MINSSEN, Heather.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 54 WOLF, Jill.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 TEAM................ 4 1 5 1 Totals.............. 17-54 8-19 17-26 14 26 40 21 59 11 33 1 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 4-23 17.4% 2nd Half: 13-31 41.9% Game: 31.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 42.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 12-17 70.6% 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 65.4% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 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 2-6 0-1 0-0 5 3 8 0 4 1 2 1 0 19 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-10 0-2 0-0 2 2 4 1 6 3 1 0 1 22 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 2-3 1-2 2-3 0 5 5 1 7 2 1 0 1 18 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... g 5-9 1-3 2-2 4 2 6 1 13 1 1 0 1 17 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 2-14 0-7 6-6 0 0 0 3 10 4 1 0 4 19 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 6-8 4-4 0-0 0 1 1 4 16 1 2 0 4 17 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 3-6 1-2 0-0 2 2 4 2 7 1 3 0 1 16 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 3-4 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 8 2 1 0 2 16 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 2-4 0-1 3-4 0 1 1 3 7 0 3 1 3 15 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 3-3 0-0 1-3 1 7 8 1 7 0 1 1 1 18 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 0 8 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 4-5 0-0 2-4 3 4 7 3 10 1 0 1 1 15 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 36-74 7-22 18-26 17 30 47 21 97 17 18 6 19 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-38 36.8% 2nd Half: 22-36 61.1% Game: 48.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-16 31.3% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 31.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 13-15 86.7% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 69.2% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Barry Roberts, Jeffrey Stromgren and Nick Marshall Technical fouls: UNO-W-TEAM. Nebraska-None. Attendance: Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total UNO-W......................... 23 36 - 59 Nebraska...................... 46 51 - 97