No. 3 Huskers Face No. 11 Aggies in Big 12 Semifinal

No. 1 Seed Nebraska Cornhuskers (30-0, 16-0 Big 12)
vs. No. 4 Seed Texas A&M (23-7, 10-6 Big 12)

Municipal Auditorium (9,308) • Kansas City, Mo. • Saturday, March 13, NoonTelevision: Radio:
(98.1 KFGE-Lincoln, 93.3 KTWI/1110 KFAB Omaha, 880 KRVN)
Free Live Audio: Huskers.com

Big 12 regular-season champion Nebraska makes its first Big 12 semifinal appearance since 2000, when the No. 3 Huskers take on No. 11 Texas A&M on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

The top-seeded Huskers (30-0 overall, 16-0 Big 12) will tip-off against the Aggies (23-7, 10-6) at historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City at Noon. The Huskers, who earned one of four first-round byes in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, advanced to the semifinals with a 63-46 win over ninth-seeded Kansas State in Friday's first game. The fourth-seeded Aggies earned a semifinal appearance with a 77-64 run past fifth-seeded Texas.

Nebraska's semifinal game with the Aggies will be televised nationally by Fox Sports Net. The game will also be carried live on radio by the Husker Sports Network, including Froggy 98.1 KFGE in Lincoln, Twister 93.3 KTWI and 1110 KFAB in Omaha and 880 KRVN in Lexington. Matt Coatney and Jeff Griesch will have the call for free world-wide on Huskers.com. Complete tournament coverage, including live stats, box scores, notes and quotes can also be found at Big12Sports.com.

Nebraska, which has 18 consecutive Big 12 regular-season games, including eight straight against Big 12 South opponents, snapped a four-game Big 12 Tournament losing streak with its quarterfinal win over the Wildcats. Nebraska is 7-8 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament at Municipal Auditorium.

Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Kelsey Griffin led the Huskers in the victory, notching her 18th double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow senior first-team All-Big 12 forward Cory Montgomery pitched in 13 points and 10 boards for her second double-double of the year.

First-team All-Big 12 guard Tanisha Smith, a Kansas City native, led Texas A&M with 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals in the Aggies' win over Texas Friday. Fellow Kansas City natives Tyra White and Danielle Adams both pitched in 18 points for A&M.

In the first meeting between Nebraska and Texas A&M this season in Lincoln, Nebraska battled to a 71-60 victory on Feb. 6. Griffin led all players with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Montgomery added 18 points.

Yori, Griffin Headline Husker Big 12 Hardware Haul
Big 12 regular-season champion Nebraska continued its special season by dominating the league's postseason honors, voted by the league coaches and announced by the conference office on Monday.

Coach Connie Yori earned her first Big 12 Conference Coach-of-the-Year honor, while senior forward Kelsey Griffin became the first Cornhusker to garner Big 12 Player-of-the-Year accolades.

Yvonne Turner was voted the Big 12's Co-Defensive Player of the Year, along with Baylor freshman center Brittney Griner, who was also the league's freshman of the year. Texas A&M's Danielle Adams was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, while Colorado's Bianca Smith claimed the Sixth Man Award.

Griffin, a 6-2 power forward from Eagle River, Alaska, and Turner, a 5-8 guard from Omaha, Neb., were both first-team All-Big 12 selections and were both named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Griffin earned first-team All-Big 12 honors for the third time, placing her on a short list of three-time all-conference players at Nebraska that includes Karen Jennings, Maurtice Ivy and Kiera Hardy. Griffin also joined Jennings (1992, 1993 Big Eight) and Ivy (1988 Big Eight) as the only conference players of the year in school history. It was Griffin's first appearance on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team.

Griffin has averaged 20.5 points and a Big 12-leading 10.4 rebounds per contest while leading the league with 18 double-doubles. She ranks second among the Huskers with 55 steals, trailing only Turner's 58 steals, while adding 21 blocked shots and a team-best 25 charges drawn. Griffin also led NU with 211 defensive rebounds. Earlier Monday, she also became the first player in league history to be named Big 12 Player of the Week for four consecutive weeks (Feb. 15, Feb. 22, March 1, March 8).

Turner earned her third straight spot on the Big 12 All-Defensive Team while claiming first-team all-league honors for the first time in her four-year career. Turner ranks among Nebraska's all-time leaders with 224 career steals, while also ranking second in school history with 173 career three-pointers. This season she has averaged 12.0 points per game, including 13.9 points per game in league action. She also led the Big 12 in three-pointers made per game in league action.

Griffin and Turner were joined on the All-Big 12 first team by fellow senior Cory Montgomery. Nebraska's leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, Montgomery has placed her name among the best in Nebraska history by averaging 13.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this year. She has joined Griffin as one of only eight players in school history with 1,300 points and 600 rebounds in her career. The 6-2 forward from Cannon Falls, Minn., is also nearing Nebraska's all-time top 10 in three-pointers made. Montgomery was an honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick as a junior when she led NU with 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Nebraska junior Dominique Kelley added honorable-mention All-Big 12 honors. The 5-7 guard from Lincoln has averaged 11.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as one of the Big Red's "Big Four" scorers this season. Kelley has started 94 consecutive games for the Huskers since being named the Nebraska High School Player of the Year in 2007 at Lincoln Northeast.

Point guard Lindsey Moore completed Nebraska's impressive list of accomplishments by earning one of five spots on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Moore has averaged 5.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game while starting all 30 games for the 30-0 Huskers this season. Moore quarterbacked Nebraska's offense to a perfect 16-0 Big 12 mark by averaging 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game in the league. Over the final six games of the Big 12 regular-season schedule, Moore averaged 10 points per game.

Scouting The Texas A&M Aggies
No. 11 Texas A&M heads into Saturday's Big 12 semifinal game with Nebraska riding a four-game winning streak after a 77-64 victory over No. 15 Texas in Friday's Big 12 quarterfinal game. The Aggies, who earned the No. 4 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship after posting a 10-6 regular-season Big 12 mark, feature three Kansas City natives as their top three scorers.

Junior Danielle Adams leads the Aggies with 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, while also leading A&M with 42 blocked shots. The 6-1 forward, who was the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, has also knocked down 22 three-pointers on the season.

Tanisha Smith, a 6-0 senior guard/forward and first-team All-Big 12 selection, adds 15.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and a team-leading 2.3 steals per contest. Sophomore guard Tyra White rounds out the Kansas City trio with 10.4 points and 4.1 boards per game.

Sophomore forward Adaora Elonu contributes 8.4 points and 4.7 boards, while sophomore point guard Sydney Carter rounds out the A&M starting five with 7.8 points and 2.6 rebounds to go along with 3.4 assists per contest.

The Aggies feature a deep bench that includes junior point guard Sydney Colson, who averages 7.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and a team-leading 4.3 assists per contest. Senior forward Damitria Buchanan adds 3.1 points and 4.2 boards, while sophomore forward Kelsey Assarian has pitched in 2.8 points and 2.8 boards per game. Maryann Baker completes the Aggie bench with 2.3 points and 2.2 boards per game.

The Aggies have averaged 75.3 points per game, while allowing just 59.6 points per contest. A&M has shot 45.6 percent from the field, including 34.8 percent from three-point range. The Aggies have also hit 69.3 percent of their free throws. Texas A&M has outrebounded the opposition by 2.6 boards per game, while owning a dominant plus-6.1 turnovers per contest.

Texas A&M also plays a physical and aggressive defense that has held the opposition to just 37 percent shooting, including just 27.3 percent success from long range.

Texas A&M leads the all-time series with the Huskers, 14-7, but Nebraska has won two of the past three meetings, including a 71-60 victory over the Aggies in Lincoln on Feb. 3. NU also notched a 73-60 win at the Devaney Center on Jan. 23, 2008. The teams have split a pair of meetings in the Big 12 Tournament, with NU knocking off A&M, 82-71 on March 2, 1999, while the Aggies notched a 73-64 victory on March 8, 2006. Texas A&M has won the last three meetings outside of Nebraska.

Huskers Continue to Shatter Records with Streak
At 30-0, Nebraska owns the most wins in a season in school history (previously 23) while extending the longest winning streak in school history to 30 games, more than tripling a nine-game winning streak to open the 1996-97 campaign. Nebraska's 30-0 campaign also marks the first-ever unbeaten regular season by a league team since the formation of the Big 12 in 1996-97. NU is just one win shy of establishing the longest winning streak in Big 12 history, just ahead a 30-game streak by Baylor from 2005 to 2006. BU's streak began following a 103-99 triple-overtime loss at Nebraska on Jan. 12, 2005, and included an NCAA title.

The Huskers' 16-0 Big 12 season more than tripled the previous best league start in school history, which came with the 1987-88 Huskers' 5-0 start on their way to the Big Eight regular-season title. The 2010 Big 12 regular-season champion Huskers have also amassed their most conference wins in history.

Nebraska's streak is just the seventh of eight or more victories in school history. Three of Nebraska's eight-game winning streaks have come in Yori's eight seasons, including 2003-04 and 2005-06.

Huskers Add Women's Hoops to Big 12 Title Success
Nebraska secured its first-ever Big 12 title with a 16-point win at No. 11 Oklahoma on Feb. 24, and celebrated the championship by cutting down the nets in front of more than 13,000 Husker fans at the Devaney Center following a win over Missouri on Feb. 27. NU completed a perfect Big 12 season with an 82-72 win at Kansas State March 6.

Although it is the Huskers' first Big 12 women's basketball title, Nebraska is a regular in the Big 12 winner's circle. In fact, the crown was the school's 35th Big 12 women's title across all sports, and 55th overall. NU teams have also claimed 12 additional Big 12 tournament titles since the inception of the league in 1996-97.

The women's basketball program became the 13th NU sport to claim a Big 12 title, joining volleyball (10), men's indoor track (9), women's gymnastics (8), men's outdoor track (5), women's indoor track (5), soccer (3) baseball (3), softball (3), football (2), women's swimming and diving (2), women's outdoor track (2) and wrestling (1). Only Texas, which has won 78 titles across 17 sports, has captured more Big 12 hardware than Nebraska.

Griffin Making History with Record Season
Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Kelsey Griffin is in the midst of arguably the best senior season in school history.

Griffin, a 6-2 forward from Eagle River, Alaska, who is a candidate for the Wade and Naismith trophies and the Wooden Award, is averaging 20.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Her scoring average ranks sixth in Nebraska history, while her rebounding average ranks second.

Among NU's all-time seniors, Griffin's scoring average ranks third, trailing only Amy Stephens 21.9 points per game in 1988-89 and 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings' 20.9 points per game. Griffin's 10.5 rebounds per game are the most ever by an NU senior.

Griffin also owns the best field goal percentage by a senior in school history, the most free throws made and attempted, while adding 54 steals, 25 charges drawn and 21 blocked shots.

Griffin joins Jennings (1992, 1993) and Maurtice Ivy (1988) as the only conference players of the year in Nebraska history. As a senior, Jennings averaged 20.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Ivy averaged 19.1 points and 6.1 boards per game while leading the Huskers to their only other league championship in history.

Griffin Rewriting Nebraska Free Throw Records
Kelsey Griffin continues to add to her mastery of Nebraska's free throw record book.

Griffin owns the NU season record with 167 free throws made this year in a school-record 221 attempts. Against Missouri on Feb. 27, Griffin broke the school record for free throws made in a game with 17, while tying her own school record with 18 attempts.

Not surprisingly, the Alaskan has shattered NU's career free throw records with 540 made and 744 attempted. Nicole Kubik held the previous career mark for makes (440) while Deb Powell owned the most attempts (644).

Coach-of-the-Year Yori Leads Nation's Most Improved Team
National Coach-of-the-Year candidate Connie Yori earned her first Big 12 Conference Coach-of-the-Year honor after leading Nebraska to the best regular season in league history.

Yori's 30-0 Huskers not only went 16-0 in the Big 12, they won 12 games by double digits and led 15 of their 16 league opponents by double digits at some point in the game. The Huskers were only outscored by league foes in three of 32 halves on the year.

Nebraska's dominance this season followed a 15-16 record in 2008-09, which puts NU in position to be the nation's most improved team in 2009-10. The Huskers are plus-15 in the win column and plus-16 in the loss column, giving them a plus-15.5 mark by official NCAA standards.

The Huskers have a chance to be the most improved team from one season to the next in NCAA Division I history. Valparaiso owns the current best with a 17-game improvement from 2001 to 2002.

Nebraska's improvement is even more amazing by historical standards, considering the Huskers won 15 games and qualified for the postseason in 2009. NU's 15 wins would be the most ever by a nation's most improved team, while the Huskers could be the first-ever postseason team from the previous year, to be the nation's most improved team the next season.

Griffin Sets School Record for Starts in Big 12 Opener
Kelsey Griffin owns Nebraska's career record with her 123 starts, passing Janet Smith, who started 122 games from 1979 to 1982. Smith, an Omaha Burke graduate, appeared in a school-record 136 games during her four-year career, scoring 1,284 points while establishing school records with 1,280 rebounds and 238 blocked shots.

Montgomery Climbing NU Games Played List
While Kelsey Griffin is expected to set the school record for games started, she ranks second in games played among current Huskers. The leader in that category is Cory Montgomery, who will be playing in her 127th career game on Saturday. The 6-2 forward from Cannon Falls, Minn., ranks fourth in school history. Janet Smith owns the NU record with 136 games played from 1979 to 1982.

Senior Class Has Shown Consistency for Huskers
Nebraska's senior class is not only the largest in school history, the six Husker seniors have also teamed for more appearances than any senior class in school history.

Despite several season-ending injuries during their respective careers, including two season-ending knee injuries for senior center Nikki Bober, and a foot injury that kept Kelsey Griffin out of the entire 2008-09 campaign, the six seniors have combined for 662 games played.

Cory Montgomery leads the way with 126 appearances, and Griffin has played in 123 games. Yvonne Turner has competed in 122, while Nicole Neals has appeared in 118. Kala Kuhlmann has played 117 games, while Bober saw action in 56. Prior to this season, only 23 players in the 35-year history of Nebraska women's basketball had played in 115 or more games in a Husker uniform. The group has also achieved unprecedented success on the court over the past four seasons. The group has combined to average 22 wins per year, while leading the Huskers to four straight postseason appearances and their first-ever Big 12 regular-season title.

Griffin Bearing Down on 2,000 Points, 1,000 Rebounds
Kelsey Griffin has cemented her place among the best players in Nebraska women's basketball history, and recently became just the second player in school history with 1,900 points and 900 rebounds. Griffin enters Saturday's game with 1,963 points and 977 rebounds.

Griffin, who ranks second in NU history with 38 career double-doubles, joins 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings (2,405 points, 1,000 rebounds) as the only Huskers to reach 1,900 points and 900 rebounds.

Griffin ranks third on Nebraska's career rebounding chart and needs 23 boards to catch Jennings at No. 2 with 1,000. Griffin ranks fourth in Husker history in scoring and is within 13 points of Amy Stephens in third (1,976, 1985-89).

Montgomery Eighth Husker with 1,300 Points, 600 Boards
With 1,337 points and 611 career rebounds, first-team All-Big 12 forward Cory Montgomery is just the eighth Husker in history to score 1,300 points and pull down 600 rebounds in a career.

Montgomery joined Husker teammate Kelsey Griffin on that prestigious list by producing 13 points and nine rebounds in NU's regular-season finale at Kansas State. The 6-2 senior from Cannon Falls, Minn., produced her best effort of the year with a season-high 24 points in NU's 12 title-clinching win at No. 11 Oklahoma Feb. 24.

Montgomery has moved into 12th on Nebraska's all-time scoring list and moved into a tie for 14th with Pyra Aarden (1993-96) on NU's career rebounding list with 10 rebounds in the Huskers' Big 12 quarterfinal win over Kansas State.

To reach the top 12 in rebounding at Nebraska, the 6-2 forward from Cannon Falls, Minn., must amass 636 rebounds. Montgomery owns 67 double-figure scoring efforts, 10 double-figure rebounding efforts and 10 double-doubles in her career.

Montgomery has played her best against NU's best competition. She established her season high with 18 points in NU's win at No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 17, when she added six boards and three three-pointers. She had 18 points in Nebraska's win over No. 12 Texas A&M. She had a 17-point, seven-rebound effort in the win over Colorado on Feb. 20, which followed a 16-point performance in a win over No. 13 Iowa State Feb. 17. She added 16 points in NU's win over No. 19 Texas on Jan. 12, and also had 16 points, and a trio of three-pointers in the Huskers' run past No. 5 LSU on Dec. 20. Montgomery enters the Texas A&M game averaging 13.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. She is hitting 39.3 percent (33-84) of her three-point attempts and 80.9 percent (55-68) of her free throws.

Montgomery has produced double figures in 24 of NU's 30 games. An honorable-mention All-Big 12 pick as a junior, Montgomery earned a spot on the Saint Mary's Hilton Thanksgiving all-tournament team by averaging 15 points and five rebounds in a pair of Husker wins over UALR and Saint Mary's.

She notched her 10th career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds against Kansas State on March 12. She posted her first double-double of the season with game highs of 15 points and 10 rebounds in Nebraska's win over Idaho State on Nov. 19. She just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds at Kansas State on March 6. She also had nine points and nine boards in NU's win over Creighton on Dec. 9, and opened Big 12 play with 10 points and eight rebounds in a win at Iowa State on Jan. 9.

Turner Joins Griffin, Montgomery in NU Record Book
First-team All-Big 12 guard Yvonne Turner recently joined fellow seniors Kelsey Griffin and Cory Montgomery in Nebraska's 1,000-point club, reaching the mark in a win over No. 13 Iowa State on Feb. 17. Turner, a 5-8 guard from Omaha, Neb., has climbed to No. 21 on Nebraska's all-time scoring list with 1,065 career points.

Scoring is just one of the ways that the 2006 Nebraska High School Player of the Year has earned her way into the Husker record book. One of the best three-point shooters in school history, Turner ranks second in Husker history with 174 made three-pointers, trailing only former teammate Kiera Hardy's 267 (2004-07). Turner's 73 threes this year place her in fourth on NU's single-season list. She needs just eight more threes to match Hardy's junior season total of 81 (2005-06). Amy Stephens set the school record with 85 threes in 1988-89, which Hardy matched as a sophomore in 2004-05.

Turner first made a name for herself at Nebraska with her defense. The 2010 Big 12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year and three-time Big 12 All-Defensive Team selection had 81 steals as a sophomore in 2007-08 to rank eighth in school history. Her 224 career steals rank fifth on the NU all-time list. She needs just seven more to catch Deb Powell in fourth with 231.

With four assists against Kansas on March 3, Turner also reached 200 assists in her career to place herself in elite company among Nebraska's all-time best guards. Turner become just the sixth Husker to score 1,000 points, dish out 200 assists and record 200 steals, joining Anna DeForge, Nicole Kubik, Brooke Schwartz, Amy Stephens and Meggan Yedsena.

Husker Fans Coming Out in Droves at Devaney
Nebraska has regularly ranked among the top 30 teams nationally in average home attendance over the past 15 years, but Husker fans have flocked to the Bob Devaney Sports Center in record numbers in 2009-10.

Big Red faithful have come along for the ride during Nebraska's record-setting season, averaging a school-record 7,390 fans per game - ranking eighth nationally. NU's Big 12 attendance has been spectacular, as the Huskers have averaged a Big 12-leading 11,383 fans per game. Nebraska attracted seven consecutive crowds of more than 10,000 to the Devaney Center to end the season, beginning with a then-school-record 13,303 fans for Nebraska's win over Kansas State on Jan. 23.

Nebraska smashed that record against Missouri Feb. 27, posting the first sellout in school history with 13,595 fans in attendance. Over the last seven home games, the Huskers attracted an average of 11,989 fans per game to the Devaney Center.

Nebraska's previous single-season average home attendance record was 5,000 fans per game in 1998-99.

NU's success at the turnstiles is even more amazing considering season ticket holders numbered just 1,424 entering the 2009-10 season. With Nebraska's success this season, 2010-11 season tickets went on sale earlier than ever, as the Athletic Department announced "March Madness" pricing for new season ticket buyers beginning on March 8 and continuing through March 31.

In the first two days, Nebraska sold more than 450 new season tickets for next season, increasing the Huskers' season ticket base by nearly 33 percent.

Huskers Join UConn As Only Unbeatens
Nebraska heads into the Big 12 Tournament as one of just two unbeaten teams left among the 345 NCAA Division I women's basketball teams, joining No. 1 Connecticut. UConn owns the nation's longest winning streak, which has reached an NCAA-record 72 games, breaking its previous NCAA record 70-game streak from 2001 to 2003.

Huskers Claim Highest Ranking at No. 3 in AP Poll
Nebraska achieved its highest ranking in school history when the Huskers climbed to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday, Feb. 8. NU has maintained that ranking for five weeks, giving the Huskers' eight straight weeks in the top 10 and 13 straight in the top 25. NU's first-ever top-10 ranking in either poll came with a No. 9 ranking in the USA Today/ESPN poll on Jan. 12.

Nebraska is one of seven Big 12 teams in the AP top 25 and the highest ranked team in the league. The Huskers are one of just two undefeated teams left among the 345 NCAA Division I schools, and the only Big 12 team with fewer than five losses. NU is joined by No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 Oklahoma, No. 14 Iowa State, No. 15 Texas, No. 16 Baylor and No. 20 Oklahoma State in the AP Top 25. Kansas was also ranked for nine weeks earlier this season.

Huskers Running High in Official NCAA RPI
The NCAA released its official RPI rankings on Monday, March 8, and Nebraska was near the top of the chart with a No. 4 national RPI ranking. Only Connecticut, Tennessee and Stanford were ahead of the Huskers.

Big 12 foes Oklahoma (7th) and Texas A&M (8th) joined Nebraska in the top 10, while Oklahoma State was 11th, Texas 12th, Baylor 14th and Iowa State 24th giving the Big 12 seven teams in the RPI top 25.

All 12 of the Big 12 teams were among the top 120, including No. 40 Kansas, No. 49 Texas Tech, No. 92 Kansas State, No. 101 Missouri and No. 118 Colorado.

Nebraska already owns 19 wins over top-100 RPI teams, including No. 7, Oklahoma, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Texas, No. 14 Baylor, No. 24 Iowa State (2), No. 29 LSU, No. 40 Kansas (2), No. 44 Vermont, No. 49 Texas Tech, No. 55 UALR, No. 66 Creighton, No. 68 Saint Mary's, No. 78 Miami and No. 92 Kansas State (3). NU also owns wins RPI No. 101 Missouri (2) and No. 118 Colorado (2). Eleven of NU's top-100 RPI wins have come away from home, including nine true road wins.

Big Four Know How to Score for Big Red
Nebraska's big four scorers of Kelsey Griffin, Cory Montgomery, Yvonne Turner and Dominique Kelley have all put up impressive numbers for the Huskers and all earned Big 12 Conference honors for their performances this year.

Each of NU's most experienced players are averaging more than 11 points per game and have combined to hit 50.2 percent (594-1,184) of their shots from the field, including 130-of-353 (36.8 percent) of their three-point attempts. Griffin leads NU with 20.5 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, while Montgomery - NU's leading scorer and rebounder a year ago - is averaging 13.0 points and 5.1 boards per contest. Turner has added 12.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game - while pouring in 13.9 points and 3.6 boards per game in league action to earn first-team All-Big 12 honors.

Kelley, the lone junior in the experienced foursome, has pitched in 11.8 points and 4.0 rebounds on her way to honorable-mention All-Big 12 accolades.

The last Nebraska team to have four players average in double figures in a season was the 1996 NCAA Tournament squad (Anna DeForge, Tina McClain, Pyra Aarden, Kate Galligan). Only one time between 1995-96 and 2008-09 (13 seasons) did Nebraska feature three players who averaged double figures - Coach Connie Yori's first NU team in 2002-03 (Alexa Johnson, Katie Morse, Margaret Richards). Morse, who averaged 12 points per game, only played the first seven games before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

NU Showing North Division Dominance over Last Five Years
During the past five seasons, Nebraska leads the North Division with a 36-14 regular-season record against the other five Big 12 North foes. Iowa State is 32-18, while Kansas State is 30-20 in that span.

The Huskers completed season sweeps of Iowa State, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State to finish 10-0 this season against the North. NU completed its fifth sweep at Kansas State on March 6 (82-72), after beating the Wildcats (71-56) in Lincoln on Jan. 23. Iowa State is 7-3 against the North this year, while Kansas State is 5-5 and Kansas is 5-5. Colorado is 3-7 and Missouri is 0-10.

Huskers First North Team to Go 6-0 vs. South Since 2000
Nebraska capped a 6-0 sweep of the Big 12 South with an 80-64 victory over No. 11 Oklahoma to clinch the 2010 Big 12 regular-season title on Feb. 24. The Huskers own eight straight wins against the South.

The win over the Sooners followed a 71-60 victory over No. 12 Texas A&M Feb. 6 and an 88-67 run past No. 10 Oklahoma State in Lincoln Feb. 3. Nebraska produced its largest victory margin in history against a Big 12 opponent with an 89-47 win at Texas Tech Jan. 27, after posting a 65-56 win at No. 9 Baylor on Jan. 17. The Lady Bears are the only South foe to play the Huskers within single digits this season. NU opened home Big 12 action with a 91-79 win over No. 19 Texas on Jan. 12.

In its six meetings with Big 12 South foes, Nebraska is averaging 80.7 points per game, while surrendering 62.2 points per contest, for an average winning margin of 18.5 points per game.

Nebraska is the first North team in a decade to sweep the South. Iowa State was the last team to accomplish the feat in 1999-2000, while Kansas (1998-99) is the only other North school to notch a sweep. A North school has won five or more games against the South only eight previous times, most recently Kansas State's back-to-back 5-1 marks in 2002-03 and 2003-04.

Vote for Griffin as Lowe's Senior Class Finalist
Nebraska senior forward Kelsey Griffin was named one of 10 finalists for the 2010 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award for NCAA Division I women's basketball on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Griffin, a 6-2 power forward from Eagle River, Alaska, earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Year honors on Monday and is averaging 20.5 points and 10.4 rebounds while leading NU to a 30-0 record. She has added 55 steals and 25 charges drawn, to go along with 21 blocked shots.

The two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection is also a candidate for the Wade Trophy, the Naismith Trophy and the Wooden Award, as a national player-of-the-year candidate. In addition to her success on the court in her career, the All-America candidate is also a standout in the classroom and in the community.

In the classroom, Griffin is a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 selection who carries nearly a 3.5 grade-point average as a biological sciences major. Projected as a high WNBA draft pick in 2010, Griffin hopes to pursue a career in the medical profession following her playing days. In the community, Griffin has been a mentor at Belmont Elementary School for five years, and has served as a volunteer speaker multiple times for "School is Cool" week and the "School is Cool" celebration. She has also spoken several times during American Education Week, while helping the women's basketball team claim Nebraska's Life Skills Award of Excellence in 2006.

The Lowe's Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The finalists were chosen by a media committee from the list of 30 women's basketball candidates who were announced in October.

Fans can vote right now at the award's official web site: http://www.seniorCLASSaward.com, as well as through text messaging. Fans can text W6 to 74567 to vote for women's finalists. These votes will be combined with votes from coaches and media to determine the recipient of the award.

In addition to Griffin, the other women's basketball finalists are: Jayne Appel, Stanford; Amy Beggin, New Mexico; Joy Cheek, Duke; Alysha Clark, Middle Tennessee State; Tyra Grant, Penn State; Allison Hightower, LSU; Ashley Houts, Georgia; Ashley Sweat, Kansas State; and Bianca Thomas, Mississippi.

The 2009-10 season marks the ninth year of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and past women's basketball recipients include: Sue Bird (Connecticut, 2002), LaToya Thomas (Mississippi State, 2003), Alana Beard (Duke, 2004), Kendra Wecker (Kansas State, 2005), Seimone Augustus (LSU, 2006), Alison Bales (Duke, 2007), Candice Wiggins (Stanford, 2008), Courtney Paris (Oklahoma, 2009).

National Numbers Show Huskers Continuing Improvement
In the most recent NCAA statistics (March 8), Nebraska is showing a level of play previously unmatched in program history. The Huskers rank fourth nationally in scoring margin (20.5 ppg).

Offensively, the Huskers rank eighth nationally in scoring offense (77.6 ppg) and ninth in field goal percentage (.463). NU also ranks 22nd in rebound margin, 25th in three-point field goal percentage defense, 26th in turnovers per game, 30th in assist-to-turnover ratio, 32nd in personal fouls per game.

Husker Road Foes Seeing Big Red in 3-D
In 13 games away from the Devaney Center, Nebraska has held its opponents to just 24.7 percent (48-194) from beyond the arc. That number is even more staggering when you consider that Nebraska's road foes have included Baylor, Oklahoma, Iowa State, Kansas, Miami and Vermont, all of which have been ranked in the top 25 this season.

In Big 12 play, the Huskers held road foes to just 28-for-113 shooting from three-point range (24.8 percent).

In Nebraska's last five games against Big 12 South competition, the Huskers have held their opponents (No. 9 Baylor, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 12 Texas A&M and Texas Tech) to a combined 9-for-62 shooting from long range (14.5 percent).