Lincoln - Danielle Page erupted for a game-high 25 points and Kelsey Griffin added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to power the Nebraska women's basketball team to a 73-60 win over No. 21 Texas A&M at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 15-4 overall and 4-1 in the Big 12, while the defending Big 12 co-champions from Texas A&M slipped to 13-6 overall and 1-4 in league action. It was NU's fourth consecutive win over a top-25 opponent at the Devaney Center, and the Huskers extended their home winning streak to 12, including a perfect 11-0 mark this season, with each of NU's last 10 home wins coming by double digits.
Sophomore point guard Yvonne Turner added a spectacular performance with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and six steals going head to head with All-Big 12 point guard A'Quonesia Franklin. Turner forced Franklin into six turnovers while holding her to just four points and one assist.
Freshman guard Dominique Kelley added 10 points and a game-high five assists, to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
Takia Starks led A&M with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Danielle Gant pitched in 16 points, six rebounds and five steals as the only two Aggies in double figures.
"Our pressure was really good tonight, and that starts with Vonnie Turner and Dominique Kelley," said Nebraska Coach Connie Yori, who posted her 100th win as NU's head coach. "We made some plays on the offensive end, but our defense was big tonight."
Nebraska's defense stifled the Aggies from start to finish, forcing A&M into a season-high 30 turnovers, including 19 in the first half. NU committed just 17 turnovers on the night to finish a whopping plus-13 in that department.
The Huskers' huge turnover margin allowed NU to overcome 41.1 percent shooting (23-56) from the field. NU also held a major advantage at the free throw line, outscoring A&M 25-4 at the free throw line.
A&M hit 46.6 percent (27-58) of its shots from the field, including 2-of-4 three-pointers, but managed just 4-of-9 shooting at the stripe. The Aggies also outrebounded the Huskers, 38-32.
Nebraska's pressure frustrated the Aggies and put A&M in serious foul trouble. A&M committed 28 fouls on the night, and the Huskers fouled out A&M forwards Gant and Patrice Reado on consecutive plays with just under seven minutes left.
Texas A&M had closed the gap to five points at 55-50 with just over nine minutes left on Franklin's first field goal of the night. After the Aggies took a timeout, Nebraska erupted on a 6-0 run over the next minute to push its lead back to 11 points at 61-50, thanks to key plays by Griffin, Page and Kelley.
After the eight-minute media timeout, the Huskers continued to surge with four more points to cap a 10-0 run and take their then-largest lead of the night at 65-50 with 6:10 to play on a basket by Page.
Morenike Atunrase stopped NU's run, but the Huskers put the Aggies away over the next three minutes with six straight points from Page, Cory Montgomery and Kelley to claim their biggest lead of the night at 71-52 with 1:21 left.
The Huskers then cleared their bench in the final minute, as all 13 NU players saw action in the game.
Page led the Huskers with 15 points in the first half, while Griffin pumped in eight points and grabbed eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end. Turner also sparked a late NU run by scoring seven points and nabbing two steals, while Montgomery and Kelley both added five points.
The Huskers raced to a 42-29 first-half lead by finishing the opening period on a 22-6 surge in the final 7:30. A&M had taken its last lead of the night at 23-22 on Sydney Colson's only basket of the night with 6:50 left in the first half, before the Huskers took control down the stretch in the first half.
Nebraska used a stifling defense to force 19 first-half turnovers by the Aggies. While NU pressured A&M into 19 miscues, the Huskers committed just turnovers against the Aggie defense. The turnover discrepancy allowed Nebraska to attempt eight more first-half field goals and to outscore the Aggies 8-1 at the free throw line.
The Huskers return to Big 12 Conference road action this weekend when they take on No. 6 Baylor in Waco, Texas on Saturday. Tip-off at the Ferrell Center against the Big 12 unbeaten Lady Bears is set for 7:30 p.m., with live radio coverage provided by the Husker Sports Network and Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score TAMU vs Nebraska 01/23/08 7:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: TAMU (13-6) (1-4) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 Atunrase, Morenike.. f 4-11 0-1 0-0 4 2 6 2 8 2 3 0 0 35 55 Gant, Danielle...... f 7-12 0-0 2-4 2 4 6 5 16 0 6 0 5 23 12 Micheaux, La Toya... c 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 8 9 4 2 1 3 1 0 30 03 Starks, Takia....... g 8-16 2-2 0-2 2 4 6 4 18 3 5 0 1 37 10 Franklin, A'Quonesia g 1-4 0-0 2-3 0 0 0 2 4 1 6 0 2 33 02 Buchanan, Damitria.. 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 0 12 11 Gulley, LaToya...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 15 Baker, Maryann...... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 2 5 24 Reado, Patrice...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 2 0 1 0 0 7 44 Limbaha, Katrina.... 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 8 51 Colson, Sydney...... 1-4 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 4 0 1 8 TEAM................ 1 4 5 Totals.............. 27-58 2-4 4-9 13 25 38 28 60 8 30 2 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 14-31 45.2% Game: 46.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 0-1 0.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 44.4% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (15-4) (4-1) 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 5-9 0-0 6-8 5 5 10 0 16 1 1 2 1 26 52 PAGE, Danielle...... c 10-20 1-1 4-6 1 3 4 2 25 1 1 2 0 28 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 4-9 1-3 2-2 0 4 4 2 11 3 5 1 6 27 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 3-6 0-0 4-5 1 2 3 3 10 5 2 0 2 22 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 2 3 3 0 3 24 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 14 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 15 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 2 2 2 3 0 1 17 15 WHITTAKER, Monique.. 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 35 PERIAGO, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 0-4 0-1 7-10 3 1 4 1 7 0 1 0 1 22 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 44 REDMON, Catheryn.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 23-56 2-6 25-33 11 21 32 14 73 16 17 6 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-35 45.7% 2nd Half: 7-21 33.3% Game: 41.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 17-24 70.8% Game: 75.8% 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: June Courteau, Bob Trammell, Barry Roberts Technical fouls: TAMU-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 4155 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total TAMU.......................... 29 31 - 60 Nebraska...................... 42 31 - 73