Lincoln - Kiera Hardy scored 16 points and Kelsey Griffin added 15 as the Nebraska women's basketball team never trailed on its way to a 73-58 win over Northwestern at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers, who improved to 8-2 on the season, were unable to take firm control of the game until the final three minutes, when TK LaFleur hit back-to-back baskets followed by a Hardy three-pointer to give NU a 68-54 lead. Northwestern fell to 6-5 with the loss.
LaFleur, a sophomore guard, scored all nine of her points in the second half to help the Huskers pull away from the Wildcats. Freshman forward Cory Montgomery added nine points and five rebounds, while senior forward Chelsea Aubry added another solid effort with eight points and eight rebounds despite battling first-half foul trouble.
"We feel fortunate to win the game, because we did not play particularly well," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We played like it was Finals Week. We did not practice particularly well this week and it showed, but you have to give Northwestern a lot of credit for continuing to battle. They actually struggled to shoot the ball tonight. I'd like to say it was because of our defense, but I think it was more of just poor shooting on their end."
Along with LaFleur scoring seven points in the final seven minutes, Nebraska also received an important contribution from freshman Kala Kuhlmann. The 5-8 guard from Charter Oak, Iowa, hit a jumper to stop a Northwestern run and give NU a 43-38 lead with 12:08 left. She added her second jumper after the Wildcats closed to within 51-49 with 7:19 remaining.
Kuhlmann's jumper sparked a 7-0 Husker run to push Nebraska's lead to 58-49 with 6:32 left, capped by a LaFleur three-pointer.
"TK really gave us a nice lift both offensively and defensively off the bench," Yori said. "Those two shots that Kala Kuhlmann hit for us were also huge. If she doesn't hit those, we might not win the game."
The Wildcats got no closer than six points the rest of the way, as Hardy scored seven of Nebraska's final eight points to give the Huskers their biggest lead of the game with the final margin at 73-58.
Nebraska finished the game shooting 40.3 percent (27-67) from the field, including 30 percent (6-20) from three-point range. The Huskers actually missed 14 of their first 17 three-pointers in the game before LaFleur, Aubry and Hardy connected on NU's final three attempts from long range in the final 6:32.
The Huskers hit 65 percent (13-20) from the free throw line, while outrebounding Northwestern 49-39. The Huskers also forced 18 Wildcat turnovers, while committing 17 of their own.
Northwestern shot just 31.1 percent (19-61) from the field, but hit 7-of-14 three-pointers, including 6-of-9 in the first half. The Wildcats also hit 81.3 percent (13-16) of their free throws.
Senior guard Ashley Ford sent the Huskers to the locker room at halftime with momentum after knocking down a running 30-footer at the buzzer to put Nebraska up 36-28 at the break.
Ford's three-pointer was just the third of the first half for the Huskers, who missed nine of their first 10 attempts from three-point range. Aubry knocked down a three to give NU a five-point lead after the Wildcats cut the Husker lead to 30-28 with two minutes left in the half.
Griffin led the Huskers with 11 points in the first half, while Hardy added seven first-half points. Nebraska shot just 39.5 percent from the field in the first half, while Northwestern stayed in the game by knocking down shots from long range. The Wildcats hit 6-of-9 three-pointers in the opening period to overcome a quick Husker start.
The Huskers jumped out to a 7-0 in the first four minutes, before A.J. Glasauer knocked down a three for Northwestern's first points after opening the game scoreless in the first 3:40.
Glasauer hit her second three to tie the game at 13, before Nebraska responded with a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the first half at 22-13 with 8:34 left. Northwestern battled back to tie the game at 26 with 4:17 left, the only two times Nebraska did not lead in the contest.
Glasauer led three Wildcats in double figures with 16 points, while Kaitlin McInerney added a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sara Stutz also scored 10 points.
Nebraska returns to action on Tuesday night, when the Huskers travel to the Omaha Civic Auditorium to take on the Creighton Bluejays. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. Yori, a Creighton alum, will be honored in a brief ceremony before the game along with former Bluejay Tanya Warren. Both players will have their previously retired jersey numbers raised to the rafters in the Civic Auditorium.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Northwestern vs Nebraska 12/16/07 4:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Northwestern (6-5) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 Miller, Melissa..... f 2-6 0-0 0-1 2 3 5 0 4 0 1 0 2 21 54 McInerney, Kaitlin.. f 2-6 0-0 6-6 4 8 12 2 10 1 2 0 0 29 01 Bibbs, Nadia........ g 1-8 0-2 2-2 0 4 4 3 4 2 4 1 3 30 02 Glasauer, A.J....... g 5-15 3-4 3-5 2 3 5 2 16 2 3 0 4 33 33 Stutz, Sara......... g 4-13 2-5 0-0 0 3 3 4 10 2 1 2 1 36 03 Marshall, Beth...... 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 2 2 0 0 10 11 Hicks, Lakhiyia..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 13 Dickerson, Erin..... 1-1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 14 Bielawski, Julie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 3 1 0 7 32 Cartwright, Kristin. 3-9 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 4 8 2 0 0 0 26 TEAM................ 3 1 4 1 Totals.............. 19-61 7-14 13-16 12 27 39 20 58 12 18 4 10 201
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 10-35 28.6% Game: 31.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 9-11 81.8% Game: 81.3% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (8-2) 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 1-8 0-3 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 2 4 0 3 21 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 5-10 0-0 5-6 3 3 6 1 15 4 4 1 1 24 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-5 2-3 0-2 2 6 8 3 8 0 1 0 0 23 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 1-4 1-3 1-2 0 5 5 1 4 1 0 0 3 22 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 2-6 6-6 0 6 6 3 16 3 3 0 2 33 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 0 0 18 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 4-10 1-4 0-0 2 2 4 2 9 1 1 0 1 16 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 0 6 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 0 1 0 0 1 4 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 4-6 0-0 1-3 1 4 5 2 9 2 1 0 0 18 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-6 0-0 0-1 4 5 9 1 4 1 1 1 0 15 TEAM................ 2 1 3 1 Totals.............. 27-67 6-20 13-20 17 32 49 17 73 16 17 2 11 199
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-38 39.5% 2nd Half: 12-29 41.4% Game: 40.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-13 23.1% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 30.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 10-16 62.5% Game: 65.0% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Cameron Inouye, Artrail Tillman, Lorenzo Alvarez Jr. Technical fouls: Northwestern-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 2052 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Northwestern.................. 28 30 - 58 Nebraska...................... 36 37 - 73