Lincoln - The Nebraska women's basketball team erupted on a 30-5 surge in the final 10:30 of the first half to carry a 26-point halftime lead and cruise to a 77-38 win over South Dakota on Thursday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 7-0 to open the season for the first time since 1996-97, while South Dakota slipped to 1-3 on the year.
The 14 points scored by South Dakota tied for the fourth-fewest allowed by the Huskers in school history, while the Huskers produced a seven-game winning streak for just the 10th time in school history.
Nine Huskers found the scoring column on the night, led by 14 points from senior forward Cory Montgomery, who added four rebounds and three assists in just 17 minutes of action. Senior guard Yvonne Turner added 13 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting, which all came during a seven-minute span during Nebraska's decisive first-half surge. Junior center Catheryn Redmon added 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, with 12 of her points coming in the second half.
"Our defense and our pressure was really good for a majority of the game," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "Our inside game did a nice job both finishing and passing the ball, and Vonnie provided a big spark by knocking down those four threes. That really changed the game in the first half."
Kelsey Griffin added eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals in just 17 minutes of action., while Lindsey Moore, Kala Kuhlmann and Layne Reeves each added six points, and Nicole Neals pitched in five points. Annie Roche led the Coyotes with eight points, while Teresa Case managed seven.
Nebraska hit 47.4 percent (27-57) of its shots from the field, including 8-of-22 three-pointers (36.4 percent). NU also hit 15-of-23 free throws and outrebounded the Coyotes, 37-26, while allowing just four offensive rebounds. The Huskers were also a season-best plus-15 in the turnover department (28-13), forcing 18 miscues in the first half.
South Dakota hit 37.8 percent (14-37) of its attempts, including 5-of-14 three-pointers, but just 5-of-14 free throws. Overall Nebraska attempted 20 more field goals and nine more free throws than the Coyotes.
A spirited South Dakota team that featured several Nebraska natives and plenty of Cornhusker State connections, jumped to an 8-5 lead with 14:32 to play in the opening half. The Coyotes continued to lead until Montgomery knocked down a pair of free throws to give Nebraska a 9-8 lead with 11:33 left in the half.
Teresa Case hit a free throw for USD to trim the lead to 10-9 with 10:49 left in the half, before Griffin scored five straight points to start a 30-5 surge the rest of the half. Turner also played a huge role in the run, knocking down four straight three-point attempts, including one that resulted in a four-point play to help the Huskers take a 40-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Turner led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, while Montgomery added eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Griffin and Moore each contributed six first-half points.
Nebraska continued its stellar defensive play by limiting the Coyotes to just 6-of-14 shooting in the first half, while forcing 18 turnovers. The Huskers drew six offensive fouls in the first half, which put USD in serious foul trouble, as the Coyotes had as many fouls (14) as points in the opening 20 minutes.
South Dakota scored the first five points of the second half, but the Huskers quickly put any thoughts of a Coyote comeback to rest by getting 10 straight points, including three consecutive baskets from Montgomery. Nebraska continued to build lead despite playing without Griffin, Montgomery and Dominique Kelley for the final 16 minutes of the second half, as the trio earned valuable rest heading into Saturday afternoon's game at unbeaten Miami.
Nebraska returns to road action on Saturday when they travel to Coral Gables, Fla., to take on Miami. Tip-off between the Huskers and Hurricanes (7-0) at the BankUnited Center is set for 1 p.m. (Central), with live radio coverage on the Husker Sports Network, including 105.3 FM-KLNC in Lincoln and 93.3 FM-KTWI in Omaha. Free live audio will also be available on Huskers.com. No live video is available for the game.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score South Dakota vs Nebraska 12/3/09 7:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: South Dakota 1-3, 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 21 HIEBERT, Jackie..... f 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 5 3 0 1 0 0 16 22 HEGGE, Amber........ f 2-4 0-1 0-2 1 2 3 4 4 3 7 0 1 28 44 MOSLEY, Jasmine..... c 1-4 0-0 0-2 0 3 3 3 2 2 4 1 2 27 10 ROCHE, Annie........ g 3-7 0-1 2-2 0 1 1 4 8 0 5 1 0 27 20 KINDER, Abby........ g 2-9 2-5 0-0 0 6 6 2 6 2 4 0 1 26 12 GUENTHER, Emily..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 14 MEHR, Samantha...... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 10 24 IVERSON, Kara....... 1-2 1-2 0-2 0 2 2 1 3 0 4 0 1 18 32 YOUNG, Jamie........ 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 2 5 0 0 0 1 19 33 CASE, Teresa........ 2-4 1-2 2-4 0 1 1 2 7 1 1 1 1 26 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 14-37 5-14 5-14 4 22 26 24 38 9 28 3 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 8-23 34.8% Game: 37.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 35.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-6 16.7% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 35.7% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 7-0, 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 2-7 0-1 4-5 1 4 5 1 8 3 2 0 2 17 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 6-9 0-2 2-3 1 3 4 0 14 3 0 0 0 17 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 2-4 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 0 1 22 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 4-6 4-5 1-1 0 2 2 1 13 1 1 0 1 19 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 0-2 0-1 2-4 0 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 0 17 10 Williams, Meghin.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 11 Neals, Nicole....... 2-7 1-5 0-0 0 2 2 3 5 2 3 0 1 21 12 Reeves, Layne....... 2-2 2-2 0-0 1 1 2 0 6 0 0 1 0 13 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 2-3 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 6 2 0 0 1 20 20 Leick, Katya........ 0-3 0-1 0-0 3 2 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 8 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 0-2 0-2 0-1 1 3 4 1 0 1 0 1 0 7 35 Periago, Jessica.... 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 3 3 1 1 0 17 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 6-7 0-0 2-5 3 4 7 1 14 1 0 3 0 18 TEAM................ 2 2 1 Totals.............. 27-57 8-22 15-23 12 25 37 15 77 17 13 6 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-26 50.0% 2nd Half: 14-31 45.2% Game: 47.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 36.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-13 69.2% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 65.2% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tina Napier, Mary Day, Nick Marshall Technical fouls: South Dakota-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 2743 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total South Dakota.................. 14 24 - 38 Nebraska...................... 40 37 - 77