Lincoln - Kelsey Griffin, Kiera Hardy and Jelena Spiric all scored in double figures to lead the No. 22 Nebraska women's basketball to a 62-49 win over visiting Iowa State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 18-4 overall and 6-2 in the Big 12, while Iowa State slipped to 16-6 and 4-5. The Huskers remained in a three-way tie with No. 13 Baylor and No. 18 Texas A&M in the Big 12 standings, trailing No. 9 Oklahoma (7-2) by just one game in the win column after the Sooners lost their second straight game at Texas on Wednesday.
The Huskers' 18-4 mark matches their best 22-game start in school history, equaling the record of the 1987-88 team that won NU's lone Big Eight title. Nebraska's 18 victories by the end of January tied for the second most in school history, while the Huskers' 6-2 league start is the second-best in the NU books, trailing only a 7-1 start in the conference's first year in 1996-97.
Griffin, a 6-2 sophomore forward from Eagle River, Alaska, led Nebraska with 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 night at the free throw line. Hardy, a 5-6 senior guard from Kansas City, Mo., added 14 points, including 2-of-3 three-pointers and a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the stripe. Spiric, a senior forward from Belgrade, Serbia, hit 4-of-6 shots from the field, including a three-pointer, while connecting on both of her free throw attempts.
As a team, Nebraska set a school record for the best free throw percentage in a game by hitting all 16 of their attempts, surpassing a 15-for-15 performance against Oklahoma State on Jan. 14, 1989. It is only the third time in school history that NU has been perfect from the line when attempting more than 10 free throws.
As a team, NU hit 45.7 percent (21-46) of its field goals, including 4-of-12 three-point attempts (33.3 percent).
While the Huskers enjoyed a perfect shooting night at the line, it was their pressure defense that turned the balance in their favor over the game's final 25 minutes. With the score tied at 26 with 4:52 left in the first half, Nebraska turned up its defensive pressure and held ISU to just seven points over the next 14 minutes, building an eight-point lead with 11 minutes left in the game.
Iowa State stayed within 10 points at 52-42 with 5:36 left, but the Huskers closed the door on the Cyclones with an 8-0 run over the next 2:14, highlighted by four straight points from TK LaFleur. Hardy capped the run with her first two free throws of the night to make it 60-42 with 3:22 left in the game.
Nebraska's swarming defense held the Cyclones without a three-pointer for nearly 33 minutes until Alison Lacey knocked down ISU's only triple of the second half with 16 seconds left in the game. ISU was just 3-for-18 from long range on the night.
The Huskers held Iowa State to just 36.5 percent (19-52) shooting. ISU also was just 8-of-12 at the free throw line. The Cyclones matched NU on the boards and committed just 12 turnovers despite the heavy pressure, but were unable to get into any kind of offensive rhythm.
"I thought our pressure was the key," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We took them out of what they wanted to do, but that had a lot to do with them playing without Lyndsey Medders. She was hurt and that enabled us to do some things against them. She is one of the top players in the league and when she is out of the game it has an obvious impact on the game."
Medders, an All-Big 12 guard was unable to play because of a concussion. Without Medders on the court, fellow senior Megan Ronhovde stepped up and scored 11 points in the first 15 minutes before being whistled for her second foul on a drive by NU's Kala Kuhlmann with 5:14 left in the first half. Kuhlmann, a native of Charter Oak, Iowa, hit both free throws and ISU managed just two points the rest of the half.
Nebraska carried a 33-26 lead into the locker room as eight Huskers found the scoring column. Griffin led the Huskers with nine first-half points, while Hardy added seven in the opening period.
NU ended the half on a 7-0 run, which started with a Hardy layup, including a three-point play from freshman guard Yvonne Turner and a layup from Griffin to end the half.
The Huskers hit 46.4 percent (13-28) of their shots from the field in the first half, including 2-of-7 three-pointers. NU was also a perfect 5-for-5 at the free throw line in the opening period.
Iowa State hit 44 percent of its shots in the opening period, but connected on just 2-of-11 three-points (18.2 percent) and just 2-of-4 free throws.
For the game, Toccara Ross led Iowa State with 14 points and six rebounds, while Ronhovde added 13 points and five boards.
The Huskers conclude their three-game Big 12 Conference home stand when they take on No. 13 Baylor on Saturday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. with Dollar Days in effect at the Devaney Center, featuring $1 admission, $1 hot dogs and $1 Pepsi products. The game will also be televised nationally by FSN. The last time the two teams met in Lincoln, the Huskers knocked off the eventual 2005 national champions 103-99 in triple overtime.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Iowa State University vs Nebraska 01/31/07 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Iowa State University (16-6) (4-5) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 41 Ross, Toccara....... f 5-8 0-0 4-6 3 3 6 4 14 0 4 0 0 30 05 Wieben, Nicky....... c 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 1 2 0 1 22 04 Lacey, Alison....... g 3-11 1-5 0-0 0 4 4 2 7 4 0 0 0 37 15 Ezell, Heather...... g 2-10 1-5 0-0 1 2 3 1 5 4 2 0 1 35 31 Ronhovde, Megan..... g 5-11 1-4 2-4 2 3 5 5 13 0 1 0 3 31 03 Pierson, Rachel..... 4-5 0-0 0-0 3 4 7 1 8 0 2 0 1 26 13 Florzak, Anna....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 30 Mosman, Shellie..... 0-3 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 13 32 Nisleit, Amanda..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 TEAM................ 1 Totals.............. 19-52 3-18 8-12 10 20 30 16 49 10 12 0 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0% 2nd Half: 8-27 29.6% Game: 36.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-11 18.2% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 66.7% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (18-4) (6-2) 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 6-9 0-0 3-3 2 4 6 0 15 1 1 1 0 29 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-2 0-1 2-2 0 6 6 1 4 1 4 0 0 27 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 3 1 0 0 31 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... g 4-6 1-3 2-2 0 3 3 3 11 2 1 0 0 20 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 2-3 4-4 0 3 3 3 14 2 2 0 2 28 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 2-2 1-1 2-2 0 1 1 3 7 1 0 0 1 19 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 10 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 1-3 0-2 1-1 0 1 1 2 3 0 1 0 1 11 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 3-7 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 6 0 1 4 0 18 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 21-46 4-12 16-16 5 25 30 15 62 11 13 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 8-18 44.4% Game: 45.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-5 100 % 2nd Half: 11-11 100 % Game: 100 % 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Michael Price, Metta Roberts, Greg Small Technical fouls: Iowa State University-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 3169 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Iowa State University......... 26 23 - 49 Nebraska...................... 33 29 - 62