Lincoln - In a classic Big 12 shootout between a pair of top-20 teams, No. 11 Nebraska fired out of the halftime locker room with a 13-2 run to build a 17-point edge, then held on for a 91-79 women's basketball victory over No. 19 Texas on Tuesday at the Devaney Center.
With the victory, Nebraska stretched its school-record winning streak to 15 games, while extending its home winning streak to 13. The Huskers also moved to 2-0 in the Big 12 with two wins over top-25 foes. Texas slipped to 11-5 and 0-2 in the Big 12, with its fourth loss this season to a top-11 team.
All-America candidate Kelsey Griffin notched her seventh double-double of the year and 27th of her career with game highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds. It was the seventh time this season that Griffin has scored 25 or more and ninth time this season with double-figure rebounds. Griffin hit 8-of-11 shots from the field and 10-of-12 free throws. In her last two home games, Griffin has combined to go 17-of-20 from the floor and 17-of-19 at the line.
But Griffin was far from a one-woman wrecking crew for the Huskers, as four Husker starters finished in double figures, including a season-high 21 points with a season-best five three-pointers from senior guard Yvonne Turner. The 5-8 guard out of Omaha added two assists and a season-high three steals for NU in her best performance of the season.
"It was a game where every play was big and it was way more than just me," Griffin said. "Vonnie hit some huge threes and made some great defensive plays. Nique (Dominique Kelley) made some great hustle plays and hit some big shots, and Cory (Montgomery) played another great game."
Junior guard Dominique Kelley, a Lincoln native, also matched her season high with 18 points, while adding six rebounds, and senior forward Cory Montgomery matched her season-best with 16 points while pitching in four boards, an assist and a steal in front of 7,036 fans at the Devaney Center.
"Wow, that was a fun game," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "What a great game to watch. I hope our crowd enjoyed it. They were really into the game. They were great tonight and I think they really helped us. It was a great environment and a great basketball game."
Senior guard Brittainey Raven led the Longhorns with 22 points, including four three-pointers, while adding four assists and three steals, while Kathleen Nash pitched in 17 points, eight boards and six assists. Nash scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half. Cokie Reed gave the Longhorns a big lift off the bench by scoring 10 of her 12 points in the second half.
Nash and Raven led an inspired Texas team in the first half, as the Longhorns surged to a 34-30 lead after a Raven jumper with 7:48 left in the first half.
Led by the three-point shooting of Turner and Kelley, the Huskers produced an 8-0 run over the next 1:24 to take a 38-34 lead. A Raven three ended the run. Leading 42-41 with 2:23 left in the half, Turner and Kelley hit back-to-back threes again, and Turner added a pair of free throws to push NU's lead to nine with another 8-0 run over the next 1:49.
Nash hit her third three of the game to cut NU's lead to 50-44 at the half. It marked the fourth time this season that the Huskers' high-powered offense had produced 50 or more points in a half and the third time in NU's last four games. However, Texas' 44 points marked the first time that NU had surrendered 30 points at home in the first half this season and just the third time all year.
Nebraska hit 50 percent (16-32) of its shots from the field, including 6-of-10 three-pointers. NU connected on 12-of-13 free throws. The Huskers committed just five first-half turnovers but were outrebounded 17-14 by UT.
Griffin led three Huskers in double figures with 15 first-half points, while Turner and Kelley both pumped in 13 points in the opening stanza.
The Longhorns were even hotter, hitting 15-of-29 field goals (51.7 percent), including 7-of-8 threes. UT also hit 7-of-10 free throws, while committing nine turnovers.
Nash led the Longhorns with 15 first-half points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 3-of-3 three-point shooting, while Raven added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting with three triples of her own.
The Huskers opened the second half the same way they ended the first, bursting out of the locker room on another 8-0 run, sparked by a Turner three-pointer and a three-point play by freshman point guard Lindsey Moore, who finished with eight points.
Texas managed just one field goal in the first five minutes of the second half, and by the time the dust had cleared, the Huskers held a 17-point lead at 63-46 after another Turner triple.
But the Longhorns refused to throw in the towel. Led by the inside presence of Reed, who scored eight of UT's 10 points in a span of 3:17 midway through the second half, Texas trimmed the NU lead to eight at 71-63 with 10:10 left.
A Raven three-pointer with 6:45 left pulled Texas to the closest margin in the second half at 77-72, but Griffin then took over, scoring NU's next six points to push the Husker lead back to nine. Nebraska made the plays at both ends and hit free throws down the stretch to seal their 13th double-digit victory of the season. All nine of NU's home wins have been by double digits this season.
For the game, Nebraska hit 49.1 percent (27-of-55) of its shots from the field, including 9-of-19 three-pointers, while knocking down a season-best 82.4 percent (28-34) of its free throws. NU also outrebounded Texas, 37-32, including a plus-eight margin in the second half. The two teams were even in the turnover department at 15.
Texas finished at 46 percent (29-63) from the field, including 8-of-15 from three-point range, while hitting 13-of-19 free throws.
The Huskers return to Big 12 road action on Sunday afternoon, when they battle No. 9 Baylor in Waco, Texas. Tip-off at the Ferrell Center is set for 2:30 p.m. with live national television coverage on Fox Sports Net. A live radio broadcast will also be available on the Huskers Sports Network and free world-wide on Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Texas vs Nebraska 01/12/10 7:05 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Texas 11-5, 0-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 Nash, Kristen....... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 11 04 Arriaran, Erika..... g 1-9 0-2 0-0 0 4 4 0 2 2 1 0 0 23 05 Nash, Kathleen...... g 6-11 3-5 2-2 4 4 8 3 17 6 3 0 0 31 10 Raven, Brittainey... g 7-14 4-6 4-6 2 0 2 3 22 4 2 0 3 30 33 Fontenette, Ashleigh g 4-7 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 4 9 3 2 1 1 26 00 Williams, Earnesia.. 2-3 0-0 3-3 2 4 6 1 7 0 1 0 3 21 12 Anderson, Yvonne.... 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 2 6 1 0 1 2 15 13 Flores, Lauren...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 10 22 Gayle, Ashley....... 0-3 0-0 2-4 2 2 4 3 2 0 2 6 1 20 45 Reed, Cokie......... 6-9 0-0 0-2 1 2 3 4 12 0 0 0 1 13 TEAM................ 1 Totals.............. 29-63 8-15 13-19 12 20 32 24 79 16 15 8 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-29 51.7% 2nd Half: 14-34 41.2% Game: 46.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 53.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 68.4% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 15-0, 2-0 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 8-11 0-0 10-12 3 7 10 2 26 1 3 1 1 33 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 5-12 2-5 4-4 1 3 4 1 16 1 2 0 1 31 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 3-7 0-1 2-3 0 1 1 0 8 5 3 0 0 24 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 6-12 5-8 4-5 0 6 6 1 21 2 1 0 3 36 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 4-7 2-3 8-9 3 3 6 3 18 0 3 0 1 30 11 Neals, Nicole....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 17 12 Reeves, Layne....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 4 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 10 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 0-2 0-0 0-1 3 1 4 3 0 0 0 3 0 14 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 27-55 9-19 28-34 12 25 37 15 91 12 15 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-32 50.0% 2nd Half: 11-23 47.8% Game: 49.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 47.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 12-13 92.3% 2nd Half: 16-21 76.2% Game: 82.4% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Beverly Roberts, Tina Napier, Felicia Grinter Technical fouls: Texas-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 7036 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Texas......................... 44 35 - 79 Nebraska...................... 50 41 - 91