Lawrence, Kan. - Kelsey Griffin produced her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Nebraska women's basketball team to its school-record ninth consecutive road victory with a 63-54 win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse on Saturday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 14-3 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, while the Jayhawks slipped to 5-11 overall and 0-4 in the league.
Nebraska improved to 9-1 on the road this season with its ninth straight victory away from Lincoln, matching the mark established by the 1991-92 Husker squad.
Sophomore Kelsey Griffin, the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the second half alone, while senior guard Kiera Hardy added 11 points, including nine in the second half. Junior forward Danielle Page added a solid effort with eight points, three rebounds and two blocks, while senior point guard Ashley Ford pitched in six points and a career-high six rebounds.
"I thought our composure was great again down the stretch," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We didn't play particularly well but we got in a close game down the stretch on the road and we just kept executing on offense. I also thought we executed our defensive game plan throughout the night."
As a team, Nebraska shot 46.7 percent (21-45) from the field, including 62.5 percent (10-16) in the second half, while adding 73.1 percent (19-26) shooting at the free throw line to seal the win. The Huskers outrebounded KU, 41-36, to offset KU's 21-14 edge in the turnover department.
KU managed just 34.8 percent (24-69) shooting from the field, including a miserable 23.5 percent (8-34) in the first half. The Jayhawks hit just 4-of-17 three-pointers and connected on just 2-of-9 free throws in a losing effort. Freshman guard Kelly Kohn led all scorers with 20 points, while adding seven rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals for KU.
Nebraska's strong defense was evident early, as the Huskers worked their way to a 7-0 lead by shutting out the Jayhawks for the first 4:48. KU answered with a 6-0 run, before NU used another 7-0 run, including five straight points from TK LaFleur off the bench, to take a 14-6 lead with 9:37 left in the first half.
The Jayhawks used another 6-0 run to trim NU's lead to two, before the Huskers closed the half strong to take a 25-18 advantage into halftime.
Nebraska bolted out of the locker room in the second half, as Griffin found Ford for her second assist of the game on a wide open layup, before Griffin converted a three-point play to give NU its biggest lead at 30-18 with 19 minutes left.
But KU rallied again with six straight points to trim NU's edge to six, before a pair of Griffin free throws slowed the surge. KU cut the edge to four at 32-28 and Taylor McIntosh went to the line for a pair of free throws to cut the lead further, but missed both ends.
A Page jumper ended a 6:15 stretch for NU without a field goal, but KU continued to cut into Nebraska's edge with a Kohn three-pointer and a basket by Sharita Smith to make it 34-33 NU with just over 10 minutes left.
But Nebraska responded as true freshman Yvonne Turner drove down the middle and finished a left-handed layup, was fouled and converted the free throw to give NU a 37-33 lead with 10:07 left. Hardy then added her only three-pointer of the game to make it 40-33 Huskers. That three started a stretch where Hardy scored eight of the Huskers' next eight points to give NU a 47-39 edge.
Griffin then took over inside, scoring seven straight points to push the Husker lead back to 54-42, before a pair of Ford free throws gave NU its biggest lead of the game at 56-42 with 3:30 left. Kansas would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Nebraska will take a break from Big 12 road action when the Huskers return to the Devaney Center to tangle with the Kansas State Wildcats on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 7:05 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Kansas 01/13/07 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse (Lawrence, Kan.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 14-3, 2-1 Big 12 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 2-4 1-2 3-4 1 3 4 3 8 1 6 0 0 32 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 5-8 0-0 8-10 0 13 13 2 18 2 1 0 1 31 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 4 4 2 4 0 2 0 0 25 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 2-5 0-1 2-3 0 6 6 0 6 2 3 1 0 21 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 1-2 2-4 0 0 0 1 11 1 2 0 1 33 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 2-6 0-0 1-2 2 1 3 2 5 1 3 1 4 20 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 1-3 0-1 1-1 0 1 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 12 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 4-5 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 8 0 1 2 1 22 TEAM................ 4 3 7 1 Totals.............. 21-45 2-6 19-26 8 33 41 14 63 7 21 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-29 37.9% 2nd Half: 10-16 62.5% Game: 46.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 1-1 100 % Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 17-22 77.3% Game: 73.1% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Kansas 5-11, 0-4 Big 12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 13 McIntosh, Taylor.... f 5-8 0-0 1-4 5 3 8 5 11 0 3 0 1 32 20 Morris, Sade........ f 0-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 8 11 Zinic, Marija....... c 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6 01 Smith, Sharita...... g 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 2 2 0 0 1 29 02 Kohn, Kelly......... g 9-23 2-8 0-3 4 3 7 3 20 5 2 3 2 37 00 Jacobs, LaChelda.... 1-6 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 5 2 2 3 0 0 24 03 Catic, Ivana........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 04 McCray, Danielle.... 5-11 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 5 11 0 1 0 5 22 21 Mosley, Shaquina.... 1-8 0-2 0-0 2 1 3 0 2 2 2 0 1 16 34 Weddington, Porscha. 1-1 0-0 1-2 3 4 7 0 3 0 0 1 1 20 40 Feickert, Rebecca... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 24-69 4-17 2-9 17 19 36 22 54 11 14 5 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-34 23.5% 2nd Half: 16-35 45.7% Game: 34.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 23.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 22.2% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Gator Parrish, Amy Bonner, Bryan Enterline Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Kansas-None. Attendance: 2249 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 25 38 - 63 Kansas........................ 18 36 - 54 ID-475712