Lincoln - Cory Montgomery led five Huskers in double figures by producing her first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, as the Nebraska women's basketball team rolled to an 88-41 victory over Idaho State on Thursday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
The Huskers improved to 3-0 with the victory, while Idaho State slipped to 0-3, including a road loss at No. 18 California.
Montgomery, a senior forward from Cannon Falls, Minn., put up her double-double in just 22 minutes as Nebraska had 10 players contribute double-figure minutes in the game, while leading by as many as 52 points in the second half.
Senior forward Kelsey Griffin contributed 14 points on 5-of-5 field goal shooting, including a three-pointer, and a career-high four assists in just 20 minutes of action. The two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection who was named to the Naismith Trophy watch list on Wednesday.
Senior guard Yvonne Turner added 14 points off the bench, including a season-high four three-pointers, while adding five rebounds, an assist and a season-high three steals in just 19 minutes. Junior guard Dominique Kelley also produced a strong effort with 12 points and a season-high seven rebounds in just 20 minutes. Kelley added two steals and an assist.
Junior center Jessica Periago finished with a career-high matching 11 points, including a career-best three-pointers, while adding four rebounds, an assist and a steal in just 14 minutes off the bench. Junior center Catheryn Redmon pitched in eight points, seven rebounds and a season-high four blocked shots.
As a team, Nebraska hit 49.3 percent (34-69) of its shots from the field, including 10-of-27 three-pointers (37 percent). The Huskers also knocked down 10-of-13 free throws. NU outrebounded Idaho State, 49-26, including 17 offensive rebounds. NU also committed a season-low 17 turnovers, while forcing 22 miscues by the Bengals.
For the game, NU held ISU to just 31.6 percent shooting (18-57), including 1-of-8 from three-point range. The Bengals hit 4-of-5 free throws.
"We did some good things tonight," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "I thought we shot the ball pretty well and our movement was better than it has been. Honestly, we haven't worked that much on our offense because we have been focusing so much on our defense. I think most of what happened tonight still started on the defensive end for us. I thought our pressure was the best it has been so far."
Nebraska closed the first half on a 14-0 run, holding Idaho State scoreless for the final 5:40 of the half, as the Huskers pushed their halftime lead to 42-19 on their way to the victory. NU hit 50 percent (17-34) of its first-half field goal attempts, including 5-of-13 three-pointers (38.5 percent), while also knocking down 3-of-4 free throws. The Huskers also dominated the glass, outrebounding the Bengals, 26-11, while the turnovers were even at nine.
Montgomery led the Huskers in the first half with eight points and six rebounds, while Kelley added eight points and four boards. Turner, Redmon and Periago all added six first-half points, as NU had eight players find the scoring column in the first 20 minutes.
Oana Iacovita led the Bengals with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Ashleigh Vella and Andrea Videbeck each added seven points.
The Huskers had 14 players see at least three minutes of action, including Harleen Sidhu, who played for the first time after missing the first two games with an ankle sprain. The only Husker on the roster who did not play was senior center Nikki Bober, who suffered a torn ACL in her right knee for the second time in the past 10 months on Tuesday in practice.
"We have had some crying sessions the past couple days," Yori said of Bober's injury. "I am just so sad for Nikki because she doesn't deserve the kind of luck she has had with her injuries. This is her third ACL since we signed her out of high school and the second one in the last year. She is a great teammate. A great player in practice for us and the best kind of person to have on a team. Knowing the kind of person Nikki Bober is though, she is going to find a way to find a silver lining out of all of this."
Nebraska returns to home action on Sunday, Nov. 22, when the Huskers take on Washington State. Tip-off against the Cougars is set for 2:05 p.m. with live radio coverage on the Husker Sports Network, including 98.1 KFGE in Lincoln, 93.3 KTWI in Omaha and 880 KRVN in Lexington. Free live audio and free live video will also be available on Huskers.com. For ticket information, visit Huskers.com or call 1-800-8-BIGRED. Tickets are also available before the game at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Official Basketball Box Score Idaho State vs Nebraska 11/19/09 7:05pm at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Idaho State TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 21 IACOVITA,Oana....... f 7-19 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 2 14 0 2 0 0 33 44 WOHLTMAN,Morgan..... f 2-8 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 1 2 1 0 25 22 VELLA,Ashleigh...... c 2-7 0-0 3-3 1 2 3 4 7 2 2 0 0 34 04 OAKES,Kaela......... g 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 1 4 0 0 22 30 DIEHL,Devin......... g 0-5 0-3 0-0 2 1 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 37 05 SMITH,Ashley........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 VIDEBECK,Andrea..... 3-5 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 2 7 5 7 0 1 18 15 MATTHEWS,Brea....... 1-3 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 1 3 0 2 0 0 18 50 BYRNE,Shannon....... 1-7 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 0 12 TEAM................ 1 1 2 1 Totals.............. 18-57 1-8 4-5 7 19 26 12 41 10 22 2 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-29 31.0% 2nd Half: 9-28 32.1% Game: 31.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4 0.0% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 12.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 80.0% 1,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 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 5-5 1-1 3-5 2 1 3 2 14 4 1 0 1 20 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 7-12 0-2 1-1 3 7 10 2 15 1 3 0 1 22 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 2 0 0 20 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... g 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 14 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 4-9 0-1 4-5 4 3 7 0 12 1 1 0 2 20 05 Burke, Kaitlyn...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 2 0 0 0 9 10 Williams, Meghin.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 11 Neals, Nicole....... 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 2 5 1 1 0 2 18 12 Reeves, Layne....... 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 5 0 0 0 1 10 20 Leick, Katya........ 1-4 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 1 4 0 1 0 1 6 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 4 22 Turner, Yvonne...... 5-12 4-7 0-0 0 5 5 2 14 1 1 0 3 19 35 Periago, Jessica.... 4-4 3-3 0-0 2 2 4 3 11 1 2 0 1 14 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 4-7 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 0 8 2 1 4 1 21 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 34-69 10-27 10-13 17 32 49 16 88 16 18 5 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-34 50.0% 2nd Half: 17-35 48.6% Game: 49.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 5-14 35.7% Game: 37.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 76.9% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Clarke Stevens, Scotty Hermann, Doug Miller Technical fouls: Idaho State-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 2141 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Idaho State................... 19 22 - 41 Nebraska...................... 42 46 - 88