Coral Gables, Fla. - Dominique Kelley led five Huskers in double figures with 16 points and made several huge defensive plays down the stretch to help Nebraska match its second-best start in school history with a 76-71 win over previously unbeaten Miami at the BankUnited Center on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, Nebraska improved to 8-0 while Miami slipped to 7-1 on the season. Kelley hit 2-of-5 three-pointers and 8-of-12 free throws, including two free throws in the final seconds to seal the Husker victory. In addition to her offensive success, Kelley made a key steal on Miami's final possession to set up her free throws and took a charge on Miami star Shenise Johnson with 38.8 seconds left.
"Dominique made some huge plays in the game," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "She made some great defensive plays by drawing charges and then the big steal, and she also hit free throws late. That is a great win for us. Miami has some firepower and they are going to win some games in the ACC this year. But we were just a little bit better today because we played hard, we played together and we played as a team."
Cory Montgomery added 14 points and five rebounds, while Kelsey Griffin just missed a double-double with 13 points, nine rebounds, a block, two steals and two charges drawn to help the Huskers. Junior center Catheryn Redmon added 12 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals in a key role after Griffin sat out the first nine minutes of the second half after committing three first-half fouls. Yvonne Turner added 10 points, including 3-of-8 three-pointers, while adding a pair of steals and two assists.
Freshman point guard Lindsey Moore contributed three points, including NU's final two points of the game on a pair of free throws with 2.6 seconds left to ice the win, while also tying her career high with eight assists. She also notched a pair of NU's 11 steals in the game. Senior guard Kala Kuhlmann also hit both of her three-point attempts on the day to finish with six points while helping to slow down Miami stars Riquna Williams and Shenise Johnson.
Williams, who entered the game averaging 24.4 points per game as the ACC's leading scorer, finished with 18 points, but also committed six turnovers. Johnson, who averaged 17 points per contest, managed just 12, while hitting just 5-of-13 shots from the field and committing six turnovers of her own.
Freshman guard Stephanie Yderstrom added 15 points in just her second career game for the Hurricanes, while Charmaine Clark added 10 points and seven assists to help Miami.
Nebraska hit 26-of-55 shots from the field to finish at 47.3 percent, including 9-of-23 three-points (39.1 percent). The Huskers prevailed despite hitting just 15-of-24 free throws (62.5 percent) and being outrebounded for the first time this season, 34-30. NU did force 24 turnovers, including 17 in the second half, including seven charges drawn. NU did turn the ball over 23 times.
Miami hit 27-of-59 shots (45.8 percent) of its shots from the field, but just 2-of-8 three-pointers. The 'Canes also knocked down 15-of-18 free throws (83.3 percent) on their homecourt.
After leading 38-36 at the half, Nebraska trailed 55-54 with 8:40 left, before Kuhlmann drained a three-pointer from the wing to give the Huskers the lead for good. Griffin added a layup and a jumper, before Montgomery contributed a layup of her own to make it 63-55 Huskers with 6:24 left. Miami responded to cut the lead to 63-60 on a Williams jumper, before NU erupted on an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead at 71-60 with 2:54 left on a pair of Kelley free throws.
The Hurricanes fought back, but Griffin and Kelley combined to draw three offensive fouls down the stretch to foul Williams and Johnson out of the game in the final two minutes.
Miami took its biggest early lead on a Johnson layup to make it 14-10, before Turner ignited a 16-3 Nebraska surge by burying back-to-back three-pointers. Kuhlmann added a three and Redmon hit back-to-back layups off assists from Moore before Nicole Neals hit a pair of free throws to cap the surge and give NU its biggest lead of the half at 25-17 with 10:43 left before halftime.
The Huskers hit 43.3 percent (13-30) of their first-half shots, including 40 percent (6-15) of their three-pointers. NU also hit 6-of-8 free throws, while outrebounding Miami, 19-16 in the opening 20 minutes. Nebraska committed 11 first-half turnovers, which Miami converted into 14 points to keep the game close.
Griffin led the Huskers with seven points and seven rebounds in the opening half but picked up her third foul in the final seconds of the half. Montgomery added eight points and four boards, while Turner, Kelley and Redmon each contributed six first-half points.
The Hurricanes answered Nebraska's run to cut the Husker lead to just two at 38-36 at the half by outscoring NU 8-3 down the stretch in the final three minutes.
The Hurricanes hit 43.8 percent (14-32) of their first-half attempts, including 1-of-2 three-pointers. Miami also connected on 7-of-8 free throws while committing just seven turnovers. Williams led UM with nine points, while Johnson contributed eight points to power the Hurricanes in the first half.
The Huskers return to Lincoln on Wednesday to open their longest home stand of the season by battling Creighton. Tip-off against the Bluejays (5-1) is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Devaney Center. Tickets are available by visiting Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8-BIG-RED during regular business hours at the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office. Wednesday's game will be carried live by radio on the Husker Sports Network, including 98.1 FM-KFGE in Lincoln and 93.3 FM-KTWI in Omaha, along with 880 AM-KRVN in Lexington. Free live audio will be available on Huskers.com, along with a live video stream to premium subscribers of HuskersNside.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Miami 12/5/09 2 p.m. at BankUnited Center - Coral Gables, Fla.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 8-0 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 6-13 0-0 1-2 2 7 9 4 13 0 5 1 2 24 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 6-10 2-3 0-0 1 4 5 0 14 2 4 0 0 28 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 0-4 0-3 3-4 0 0 0 4 3 8 4 0 2 26 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 3-8 3-8 1-2 1 0 1 5 10 2 3 0 2 25 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 3-9 2-5 8-12 0 2 2 0 16 4 2 0 1 29 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-1 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 2 2 0 1 19 12 Reeves, Layne....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 2-2 2-2 0-2 0 0 0 3 6 0 1 0 1 18 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 4 4 0 0 0 1 2 0 6 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 6-7 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 12 0 1 3 2 22 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 26-55 9-23 15-24 8 22 30 19 76 18 23 6 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 13-25 52.0% Game: 47.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-15 40.0% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 39.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-16 56.3% Game: 62.5% 8
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Miami 8-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 14 Charmaine Clark..... f 3-5 0-1 4-4 1 2 3 1 10 7 1 0 3 30 33 Diane Barnes........ f 3-5 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 3 8 1 4 1 0 28 34 Sylvia Bullock...... f 1-3 0-0 0-0 4 2 6 4 2 0 0 0 0 15 01 Riquna Williams..... g 7-13 0-1 4-6 2 3 5 5 18 2 6 0 3 35 42 Shenise Johnson..... g 5-13 0-1 2-2 0 3 3 5 12 3 6 0 0 36 03 Stefanie Yderstrom.. 6-10 2-5 1-2 0 0 0 2 15 0 3 2 0 22 13 Hannah Shaw......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 32 Morgan Stroman...... 2-9 0-0 2-2 0 6 6 3 6 0 4 0 4 30 TEAM................ 4 3 7 Totals.............. 27-59 2-8 15-18 12 22 34 23 71 13 24 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-32 43.8% 2nd Half: 13-27 48.1% Game: 45.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 8-10 80.0% Game: 83.3% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Eric Brewton, Denise Brooks, Jesse Dickerson Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Miami-Shenise Johnson. Attendance: 428 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 38 38 - 76 Miami......................... 36 35 - 71