Lincoln - The Big Red's "Big Four" of Kelsey Griffin, Yvonne Turner, Cory Montgomery and Dominique Kelley all scored in double figures to lead the No. 7 Nebraska women's basketball team to a 71-56 win over Big 12 rival Kansas State in front of a school-record crowd of 13,303 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.
"Wow what a great crowd," Griffin said after the game. "To all the fans that came out and supported us, you were awesome and we want you to come back again."
With the victory, Nebraska extended its Big 12 record season-opening winning streak to 17 games, while improving to 4-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since the inception of the league in 1996-97. The Huskers also locked up the best 17-game start in school history, surpassing the 16-1 start by the 1996-97 squad.
Griffin, a 6-2 All-America candidate from Eagle River, Alaska, notched her ninth double-double of the season and 29th of her career with game highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds. The two-time first-team All-Big 12 forward hit 8-of-12 shots from the field and 6-of-7 free throws, while tying her career high with five assists for the second straight game.
Turner, a 5-8 senior guard from Omaha, notched her third straight 20-point scoring effort by tying her career high with six three-pointers. Over the past three games, Turner has connected on 17 threes. She also moved up to No. 3 on Nebraska's career three-point field goals list with 148. She is just seven hits behind All-American and two-time WNBA All-Star Anna DeForge on the NU list.
Montgomery, a 6-2 forward from Cannon Falls, Minn., added 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, including 1-of-3 threes, while junior guard Dominique Kelley added 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers.
Nebraska's fifth starter, freshman guard Lindsey Moore, added four points while adding career highs of nine assists, five rebounds and three steals to remain unbeaten as the Huskers' starting point guard.
"To have 19 assists on 26 made baskets says a lot about the way we moved the ball today and about how unselfish our team is," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "They don't care who scores. They really don't. As long as they get the end result they are looking for, that is all they care about. They are an experienced group who wants to practice hard, have fun and win games, and that's what they've been doing."
With Nebraska's experienced players leading the charge, the Huskers used a 16-0 run to sprint to a 35-13 lead with 6:15 left in the first half. But the Wildcats battled back, using a 16-0 run over their own, sparked by three straight three-pointers from Brittany Chambers, in the final five minutes to trim the NU margin to just four at 38-34 with 15 seconds left in the opening period.
Turner responded by running the length of the floor and draining her fifth three of the first half to send the Huskers to the locker room with a 41-34 advantage.
Husker seniors Griffin, Montgomery and Turner helped NU surge into the second, quickly rebuilding a 14-point margin at 52-38 on a Griffin layup with 14:14 left. The senior trio combined for all 14 Husker points in a six-minute stretch to outscore KSU 14-4.
The lead grew to 20 again after four straight points from Moore to make it 66-46 with 6:56 left, before NU settled for a 15-point win. It was NU's 10th straight double-digit home win to open the season, and the Huskers' 14th double-digit win in 17 games. NU has led all 17 foes by double-digits late in the second half so far this season.
Nebraska finished the game at 47.3 percent (26-55) from the field, including 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) from three-point range. The Huskers also hit 10-of-15 free throws. NU outrebounded KSU 33-27, including a plus-seven margin in the second half. The Huskers also committed just 15 turnovers, while forcing 17 by the Wildcats.
Kansas State got 18 points and eight rebounds from Brittany Chambers, and 13 points and three boards from Ashley Sweat. The Wildcats managed 41.7 percent (20-48) from the field, but just 29.2 percent in the second half. KSU hit 6-of-20 threes on the day, but just 1-of-10 after halftime. The Wildcats were also 10-of-12 at the line.
Nebraska hits the road this week for a pair of Big 12 Conference games, starting with a Wednesday night tussle at Texas Tech. Tip-off against the Lady Raiders is set for 7 p.m. in Lubbock, Texas. Live radio coverage will be provided by the Husker Sports Network, including 98.1 KFGE in Lincoln, 93.3 KTWI in Omaha, and 880 KRVN in Lexington. A free live audio broadcast will also be available on Huskers.com, but no live video will be available.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
Kansas State vs Nebraska
01/23/10 11:05 a.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
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VISITORS: Kansas State 10-9, 2-3 Big 12
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Sweat, Ashley....... f 4-11 1-4 4-4 0 3 3 3 13 1 4 0 1 37
33 Childs, Jalana...... f 4-9 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 3 9 1 3 1 1 30
02 Chambers, Brittany.. g 6-10 4-7 2-2 3 5 8 0 18 1 2 0 0 29
12 Karr, Taelor........ g 1-8 0-5 1-2 1 2 3 2 3 3 1 0 1 33
41 Kincaid, Kari....... g 3-6 0-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 6 1 4 0 2 38
22 White, Mariah....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 8
23 Spani, Shalin....... 1-2 1-2 2-2 0 0 0 2 5 0 2 0 0 13
34 Brown, Branshea..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 12
TEAM................ 1 3 4 1
Totals.............. 20-48 6-20 10-12 7 20 27 15 56 8 17 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-24 54.2% 2nd Half: 7-24 29.2% Game: 41.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 7-8 87.5% Game: 83.3% 2
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HOME TEAM: Nebraska 17-0, 4-0 Big 12
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 8-12 0-1 6-7 3 9 12 2 22 5 2 0 2 34
40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 7-10 1-3 0-0 2 1 3 0 15 1 1 0 0 31
00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 1-4 0-2 2-2 0 5 5 0 4 9 4 0 3 27
22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 7-14 6-11 0-0 1 2 3 3 20 0 4 0 2 35
24 Kelley, Dominique... g 3-10 2-3 2-6 1 1 2 0 10 1 2 0 0 24
11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12
12 Reeves, Layne....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 1 0 2 2 0 0 20
35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 6
44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 9
TEAM................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 26-55 9-22 10-15 12 21 33 9 71 19 15 0 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-28 53.6% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% Game: 47.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-14 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 40.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 66.7% 2
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Officials: Beverly Roberts, Clarke Stevens, Brenda Pantoja
Technical fouls: Kansas State-None. Nebraska-None.
Attendance: 13303
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Kansas State.................. 34 22 - 56
Nebraska...................... 41 30 - 71
Largest crowd in school history