Lincoln - Kelsey Griffin made a successful return to the court with game highs of 19 points and eight rebounds in just 19 minutes to lead the Nebraska women's basketball team to a 68-54 victory over Pittsburg State in the Huskers' exhibition opener at the Devaney Center on Tuesday night.
Griffin, a two-time first-team All-Big 12 forward who missed all of 2008-09 with a foot injury, won the opening tip, grabbed NU's first rebound and scored the Huskers' first points on a 15-foot jumper, as NU jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes. The Huskers led by as many as 12 points on two occasions early in the first half, but Pittsburg State kept it close until NU closed the half with a 6-0 run to head to the locker room with a 33-24 edge.
Despite Nebraska's fast start, the Division II Gorillas, who went 20-9 a year ago, were able to hang around against the Huskers, trailing just 45-42 with 11:15 left.
After a pair of baskets by Dominique Kelley pushed the lead to 49-42, Griffin went on a 9-0 scoring spree in less than three minutes to push Nebraska's advantage to 58-44 with 7:28 left. Griffin added three rebounds and a steal during the decisive run and PSU never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
Kelley added another layup after one of Yvonne Turner's game-high five steals to push NU's margin to 60-44 with 6:56 left capped a 15-2 Husker surge. Kelley, who finished with 14 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals, combined with Griffin on all 15 points.
"It's pretty obvious that Kelsey is our most aggressive player both offensively and on the glass," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "She played hard and made plays for us. We are a little bit disappointed with how we played, but it's a starting point and now we can go back to practice and get to work on some things. We obviously need to correct some things defensively, and our rebounding just needs to get better."
Nebraska held a pair of 17-point advantages in the final three minutes, the last one coming after a Cory Montgomery jumper with 2:17 left made it 66-49. Montgomery, an honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick last season, finished with 17 points.
Those three experienced Nebraska starters all finished in double figures, while they were joined in the NU starting five by senior guard Kala Kuhlmann and freshman point guard Lindsey Moore. Kuhlmann finished with six points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal in 27 minutes, while Moore managed two points, an assist and a steal in her first collegiate game.
Turner, who has started 64 consecutive regular-season games alongside Kelley in Nebraska's backcourt, played 24 minutes and finished with six points, four rebounds, an assist and five steals.
Turner helped the Huskers force 25 Gorilla turnovers, including 15 in the second half. NU committed just 17 of its own. Nebraska hit 44.8 percent (26-58) of its shots from the field, but missed numerous point-blank scoring opportunities on the night. The Huskers were also 0-for-8 from three-point range and 16-of-23 at the free throw line.
Pittsburg State knocked down 39.3 percent (22-56) of its shots, including 7-of-23 three-pointers and all three of its free throw attempts. The Gorillas also produced a 35-34 rebounding edge on the night.
Freshman guard Drew Roberts led the Gorillas with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, including 3-of-8 three-pointers. She added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Senior forward Nicole McCombs added 12 points, while Bailey Waugh gave the Gorillas three players in double figures with 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers.
Nebraska closes out its two-game exhibition schedule against Nebraska-Kearney at the Devaney Center on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2:05 p.m. For tickets, visit Huskers.com or call 1-800-8-BIG-RED.
Pittsburg State vs Nebraska (11/03/09 at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.) Official Basketball Box Score Pittsburg State vs Nebraska 11/03/09 7:05pm at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Pittsburg State TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 Onikute, Maya....... * 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 4 0 5 6 0 3 27 12 Roberts, Drew....... * 7-15 3-8 0-0 1 3 4 1 17 2 2 0 2 35 14 Waugh, Bailey....... * 4-12 3-11 0-0 1 4 5 0 11 1 2 0 0 22 22 Taylor, DePrice..... * 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 3 2 1 0 0 12 50 McCombs, Nicole..... * 5-10 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 3 12 0 1 0 1 27 04 Tate, Courtney...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 15 Jones, Aubrey....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 21 Orloske, Amanda..... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 8 24 Brown, Lauren....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 0 1 7 32 Poppe, Marissa...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 33 Conerly, Whitney.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 40 Richards, Larissa... 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 4 0 0 1 0 9 42 Glenn, Laura........ 2-7 0-1 1-1 2 5 7 3 5 2 8 0 2 25 TEAM................ 2 4 6 1 Totals.............. 22-56 7-23 3-3 8 27 35 21 54 13 25 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-31 32.3% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 39.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-14 28.6% Game: 30.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-1 100 % 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 100 % 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 00 Moore, Lindsey...... * 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 1 25 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... * 3-5 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 1 6 1 3 0 1 27 23 Griffin, Kelsey..... * 8-14 0-0 3-4 3 5 8 4 19 1 2 0 2 19 24 Kelley, Dominique... * 4-7 0-1 6-7 2 4 6 1 14 0 1 0 2 25 40 Montgomery, Cory.... * 6-13 0-1 5-7 0 3 3 0 17 1 4 0 1 29 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 13 12 Reeves, Layne....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 20 Leick, Katya........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 22 Turner, Yvonne...... 3-8 0-3 0-0 1 3 4 2 6 1 2 0 5 24 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 42 Bober, Nikki........ 0-2 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 2 2 1 0 0 12 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 1-2 0-0 0-2 1 2 3 0 2 0 1 4 1 12 TEAM................ 3 3 Totals.............. 26-58 0-8 16-23 9 25 34 10 68 8 17 4 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 14-32 43.8% Game: 44.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-3 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-5 0.0% Game: 0.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-11 81.8% 2nd Half: 7-12 58.3% Game: 69.6% 3,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Dave Rittman, Nick Marshall, Ann Schroeder Technical fouls: Pittsburg State-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 1430 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Pittsburg State............... 24 30 - 54 Nebraska...................... 33 35 - 68