Lincoln - Kelsey Griffin produced her ninth double-double with a season-high 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the No. 25 Nebraska women's basketball team to a dominant second half in a 78-58 victory over Kansas at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night.
With the win, Nebraska improved to 17-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big 12 Conference, while KU slipped to 6-14 and 0-7 in the league. The Huskers remained in a tie for second place in the Big 12 standings with Texas A&M and Baylor.
Griffin scored 13 points in the first and 11 in the second half, as the Huskers turned a tie game at the half into a 20-point win over the Jayhawks.
Nebraska dominated the game in the paint, as junior forward Danielle Page powered her way to a career-high 17 points along with five rebounds, while senior guard Kiera Hardy added 13 points, including 10 in the second half. Seniors Chelsea Aubry, Jelena Spiric and Ashley Ford each pitched in eight points.
"I was surprised by the margin and surprised by the scoring," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We were expecting a low-scoring game and a real battle down to the wire. We have a lot of respect for the Kansas program. They have a talented team, but a young team. Our players did a great job of turning up the defensive intensity in the second half."
Nebraska held the Jayhawks to just 19 points in the second stanza, after surrendering 39 to KU in the first 20 minutes. The Huskers were consistent on the offensive end, scoring 39 points in each half.
After NU forwards combined for 14 of NU's 15 made field goals in the first half, the Husker guards got involved in the second half. Starting guards Hardy, Spiric and Ford combined to hit 10-of-14 field goal attempts in the second half, while combining for 22 of NU's 39 points.
As a team, Nebraska hit 56.9 percent of its field goal attempts, including a sizzling 60.9 percent in the second half against a KU squad that was holding opponents to just 63.3 points per game and 42.9 percent shooting. The Huskers hit just 1-of-6 three-pointers (16.7 percent) and just 19-of-29 free throws (65.5 percent).
While the Huskers were hitting on all cylinders in the second half, the Jayhawks were misfiring. KU hit just 8-of-27 shots from the field in the second half, including 2-of-9 three-pointers, while connecting on just 1-of-4 free throws. For the game, Kansas finished at 41.5 percent (22-53), including 37.5 percent (6-16) from three-point range. KU also hit 8-of-12 free throws (66.7 percent).
Nebraska controlled the boards, outrebounding the Jayhawks, 38-24, while allowing just four offensive boards to a KU team that had 19 offensive rebounds in a loss at Kansas State on Wednesday. Both teams committed 13 turnovers.
The two teams went to the locker room tied at the half, as KU's Shaquina Mosley hit a long two-pointer from the right wing as time expired to tie the game at 39. Mosley led all scorers with 15 first-half points.
The Jayhawks led by as many as three points on two occasions early in the game, before the Huskers gained control. NU twice led by as many as eight points, the last time at 25-17 with 6:52 left on a Page jumper.
Page, who scored NU's final seven points of the first half, finished the opening period with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. Griffin matched Page with 13 points and a team-high five rebounds in the first half, while Aubry added six first-half points.
Nebraska continues its three-game Big 12 Conference home stand on Wednesday, when the Huskers take on Iowa State at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score KU vs Nebraska 01/27/07 7:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: KU (6-14) (0-7) 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 7-8 0-0 2-2 1 4 5 4 16 2 0 2 1 29 21 Mosley, Shaquina.... f 7-11 2-2 2-2 1 5 6 3 18 1 7 0 1 33 34 Weddington, Porscha. c 1-4 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 4 2 0 2 1 0 25 01 Smith, Sharita...... g 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 19 02 Kohn, Kelly......... g 1-7 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 4 2 5 2 0 1 25 00 Jacobs, LaChelda.... 0-4 0-1 1-2 0 2 2 2 1 0 1 0 1 11 03 Catic, Ivana........ 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 8 04 McCray, Danielle.... 3-7 3-4 3-4 1 2 3 4 12 0 0 0 0 23 20 Morris, Sade........ 1-8 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 2 3 2 1 0 0 22 22 Smith, Katie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 40 Feickert, Rebecca... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ Totals.............. 22-53 6-16 8-12 4 20 24 26 58 10 13 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 8-27 29.6% Game: 41.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 37.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 66.7% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (17-4) (5-2) 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 7-9 0-0 10-12 2 8 10 1 24 1 1 2 1 28 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 3-6 0-3 2-2 0 2 2 0 8 0 0 1 0 27 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 3-3 1-1 1-3 0 3 3 1 8 3 2 0 1 31 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... g 4-5 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 2 8 1 3 0 0 18 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-10 0-0 5-6 0 1 1 2 13 3 0 0 0 22 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 20 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 14 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 0-3 0-1 0-2 1 2 3 1 0 2 0 0 0 13 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 8-11 0-0 1-4 2 3 5 2 17 1 2 0 0 16 TEAM................ 2 2 4 2 Totals.............. 29-51 1-6 19-29 9 29 38 12 78 12 13 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-28 53.6% 2nd Half: 14-23 60.9% Game: 56.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-13 61.5% 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 65.5% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: John Fullilove, Artrail Tillman, Paula Ross Technical fouls: KU-None. Nebraska-TEAM. Attendance: 4520 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total KU............................ 39 19 - 58 Nebraska...................... 39 39 - 78