Lincoln - A suffocating Nebraska defense powered the Nebraska women's basketball team to a 62-48 victory over visiting Nebraska-Kearney at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Thursday night.
In the Huskers' exhibition opener in front of 1,269 fans, true freshman point guard Kaitlyn Burke led Nebraska with nine points, which all came in the first half. Another true freshman, Catheryn Redmon, added 10 points, two rebounds a blocked shot and an assist in a solid debut.
A third Husker newcomer, Tay Hester, added eight points and five rebounds in a solid effort, despite hitting just 2-of-9 shots from the field.
Sophomore guard Yvonne Turner led all Huskers with 12 points, with six of those coming as a direct result to to her defensive pressure in the backcourt.
Defense was the key for the Huskers, who led 28-19 at the half and built a 56-34 lead with 4:47 left in the game after a Turner layup. Turner actually created the opportunity by deflecting a UNK pass in the backcourt that found its way to Kelsey Griffin, who fired it back to Turner. Griffin a returning first-team All-Big 12 forward, managed just nine points and five rebounds for NU, attempting just four shots from the field. She added four assists and two steals in 22 minutes of action.
With Turner, Burke, Hester and Dominque Kelley leading Nebraska's defensive pressure, the Huskers forced 29 UNK turnovers. NU's strong pressure limited the Lopers to just 28.8 percent (15-52) shooting from the field, including a 1-for-11 effort from three-point range.
Nebraska hit just 23-of-50 shots from the field, including just 2-of-7 three-point attempts, but the Huskers were in control from the tip and never trailed in the game. The Huskers did commit 24 turnovers against UNK, and struggled at the free throw line, hitting just 14-of-28 attempts at the stripe.
"The result and score didn't really surprise me," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "Kearney is a very good Division II team with a lot of experience, and we are really inexperienced. We've been turning it over the past few days in practice, so I thought we would see a game like this tonight. I was pleased with our defensive pressure and this game will be a starting point competitively for us to get better."
UNK, which returned four starters from last year's squad that finished with 22 victories and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I Tournament, managed just 19 points in the first half against an NU lineup that featured four new starters from a year ago.
Melissa Hinkley, a senior guard out of Lincoln East High School, led all players with 19 points, nine rebounds and five steals, the third consecutive year that Hinkley has led the Lopers against the Huskers in exhibition play.
Nebraska wraps up exhibition play on Monday, Nov. 5, at 7:05 p.m. by playing Nebraska-Omaha at the Devaney Center. A live Internet radio broadcast will be available for free on Huskers.com. NU opens regular-season action against UTEP at the Devaney Center on Friday, Nov. 9, at 7:05 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score UNK vs Nebraska 11/01/07 7:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: UNK 0-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 25 PETRI, Kaitlin...... f 1-5 0-3 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 3 3 1 3 31 30 MEADS, Jade......... f 0-12 0-1 2-2 3 3 6 4 2 0 3 0 1 28 35 MILDENBERGER, Jonni. c 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 1 16 20 MATHIS, Amy......... g 1-6 1-4 2-2 4 2 6 5 5 1 7 0 1 21 23 HINKLEY, Melissa.... g 7-15 0-1 5-7 3 6 9 4 19 1 2 0 5 37 11 SCHUPPE, Kassi...... 3-6 0-2 1-1 1 2 3 0 7 2 3 1 0 29 15 PETERSON, Kaitlyn... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 31 BECKER, Megan....... 1-1 0-0 5-6 0 0 0 3 7 0 3 0 1 12 42 SCHNEIDER, Ashlee... 2-3 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 5 6 0 4 1 0 20 44 HALL, Katie......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 5 3 8 1 Totals.............. 15-52 1-11 17-20 19 21 40 27 48 7 29 3 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 29.6% 2nd Half: 7-25 28.0% Game: 28.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-6 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 9.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 14-17 82.4% Game: 85.0% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 0-0 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 3-4 0-0 3-6 1 4 5 3 9 4 3 1 2 22 52 PAGE, Danielle...... c 2-6 0-0 0-2 3 5 8 3 4 1 4 1 0 18 11 NEALS, Nicole....... g 1-2 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 19 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 5 0 0 2 22 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 2-10 1-2 3-5 2 3 5 1 8 0 3 0 1 24 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 3-5 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 0 9 1 3 0 0 19 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 9 15 WHITTAKER, Monique.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 4-7 0-2 4-6 1 0 1 1 12 1 3 0 4 18 35 PERIAGO, Jessica.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 2 0 5 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 3-5 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 6 1 3 0 0 20 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 7 44 REDMON, Catheryn.... 4-8 0-0 2-4 2 0 2 4 10 1 2 1 0 15 TEAM................ 3 3 6 Totals.............. 23-50 2-7 14-28 15 20 35 21 62 16 24 5 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-29 37.9% 2nd Half: 12-21 57.1% Game: 46.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 1-1 100 % Game: 28.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 9-18 50.0% Game: 50.0% 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Debbie Adams, Dave Rittman, Ann Schroeder Technical fouls: UNK-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 1269 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total UNK........................... 19 29 - 48 Nebraska...................... 28 34 - 62