Lincoln - Freshman guard Dominique Kelley scored nine points in the first six minutes to help the Nebraska women's basketball jump out to a 15-1 lead before cruising to a 67-39 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska closed non-conference play with an 11-3 record, including a perfect 8-0 home mark. Arkansas-Pine Bluff slipped to 2-9 on the year.
Kelley, who finished with a game-high 12 points, hit her first four shots from the field to help the Huskers run to a 30-8 lead with 6:25 left in the first half.
Sophomore guard Yvonne Turner added another strong game in the Nebraska backcourt by scoring 10 points while tying her career high with eight steals. She added five rebounds and five assists in a solid all-around performance.
Turner's defensive effort, which ranked among the top-10 single-game steals marks in school history, helped the Huskers post a season-high 19 steals. It also allowed Nebraska to hold its second straight opponent to less than 40 points, after rolling to a 73-38 win over Denver on Dec. 30. It marked the first time NU has accomplished that feat against a pair of Division I foes in school history.
In fact, the only other time Nebraska has ever held consecutive opponents under 40 points came in 1978, when the Huskers defeated then-NAIA institution Wayne State, 93-35, on Dec. 16, and NCAA Division II South Dakota State, 94-39, on Dec. 30.
Nebraska's defense provided a stabilizing force against a UAPB club that was coming off a 99-point offensive performance in an overtime win at Memphis on Dec. 28. The Huskers held Arkansas-Pine Bluff to just 36.4 percent shooting (16-44), including just 1-of-6 three-pointers.
Senior forward Danielle Page gave the Huskers three players in double figures by adding 10 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Page, who leads Nebraska in scoring and rebounding on the season, produced double figures for the eighth consecutive home game to open the season, despite playing just 21 minutes on the night.
Junior guard Tay Hester also played a major role in NU's success, scoring nine points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists in just 18 minutes of action.
Sophomore center Nikki Bober also played one of her strongest games of the season by scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds, while adding an assist in 15 minutes of action off the bench. Bober also joined freshman center Jessica Periago as the only two Huskers to compete without committing a turnover on the night.
Nebraska committed 24 turnovers in a sloppy game, but still managed to end the night plus-nine in the turnover column, as NU matched its season-high by forcing 33 turnovers by Arkansas-Pine Bluff. NU's 19 steals against UAPB were the most by a Husker team since nabbing 19 at Colorado on March 2, 2005.
The Huskers were also plus-17 in the rebound department, outrebounding the Golden Lions, 45-28, on the night.
Sophomore Cory Montgomery led the Huskers on the glass with seven rebounds, including five offensive boards, but finished with a season-low four points while making her fourth consecutive start in place first-team All-Big 12 forward Kelsey Griffin.
The Huskers finished the night hitting just 44.4 percent of their shots from the field, including just 3-of-14 three-pointers (21.4 percent).
Nebraska opens Big 12 Conference play next Wednesday when the Huskers play host to No. 16 Texas at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. with live radio coverage provided by the Husker Sports Network.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs Nebraska 01/02/07 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-9) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 33 SHIELDS,Ciara....... f 2-3 0-0 0-0 3 5 8 4 4 0 4 0 1 24 40 WALTERS,Ava......... c 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 17 10 WARD,Candace........ g 2-9 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 4 5 4 7 0 3 34 14 GREEN,Arica......... g 2-5 0-1 3-4 0 5 5 3 7 0 7 0 1 26 55 HUGHLEY,Delores..... g 3-7 1-4 1-3 1 1 2 2 8 2 5 0 2 30 05 SLATON,LaQuisha..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 2 17 20 SEREBRYANSKAYA,Yuliy 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 13 21 MARTIN,Shadae....... 5-11 0-1 1-3 0 5 5 2 11 0 4 0 4 22 32 PRINCE-COLEMAN,Jonae 2-6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 1 14 52 SUBLETT,Britany..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 16-44 1-6 6-12 5 23 28 20 39 6 33 2 15 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-27 33.3% 2nd Half: 7-17 41.2% Game: 36.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 50.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (11-3) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... f 2-9 0-1 0-0 5 2 7 1 4 1 1 0 1 28 52 PAGE, Danielle...... f 4-7 0-1 2-2 0 4 4 0 10 2 1 1 2 21 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 5-9 0-1 0-1 1 4 5 2 10 5 5 0 8 26 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 5-7 1-1 1-2 2 1 3 1 12 2 4 0 2 20 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 4-6 0-1 1-3 1 5 6 1 9 3 4 0 2 18 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 1 2 19 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 1-3 1-3 0-2 0 0 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 15 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 2-4 1-2 0-0 2 1 3 2 5 2 4 0 1 22 35 PERIAGO, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 3-10 0-1 2-3 2 3 5 4 8 1 0 0 0 15 44 REDMON, Catheryn.... 2-5 0-0 0-1 3 3 6 2 4 0 1 1 1 12 TEAM................ 2 2 4 1 Totals.............. 28-63 3-14 8-16 18 27 45 15 67 17 24 3 19 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-34 50.0% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% Game: 44.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 21.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 8-14 57.1% Game: 50.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Doug Knight, Debbie Adams, Jeff Stromgren Technical fouls: Arkansas-Pine Bluff-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 2087 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Arkansas-Pine Bluff........... 20 19 - 39 Nebraska...................... 36 31 - 67
Points in the paint-UAPBW 22,NU 46. Points off turnovers-UAPBW 6,NU 31. 2nd chance points-UAPBW 2,NU 15. Fast break points-UAPBW 6,NU 16. Bench points-UAPBW 15,NU 22. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-UAPBW 2nd-02:43, NU 2nd-04:56. Largest lead-UAPBW None, NU by 29 2nd-00:51.