Lincoln - Lindsey Moore scored 26 points and tied a career high with five three-pointers to lead the No. 25/19 Nebraska women's basketball team past Wisconsin, 70-52, in the Big Ten opener on Wednesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 11-3 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten, while the Badgers slipped to 8-6 and 0-1 in the conference.
Moore, a 5-9 senior point guard from Covington, Wash., hit her first four three-point attempts of the game to lead a Nebraska attack that hit a season-high 12 threes on the night. She added four assists and four steals in a tremendous all-around effort, while hitting 5-of-8 threes on the night.
Emily Cady added 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and fourth of her career. The 6-2 sophomore forward from Seward, Neb., also hit a season-high three-pointers.
Junior forward Jordan Hooper added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, including three more three-pointers for the Huskers.
Cassie Rochel led Wisconsin with a double-double of her own with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Jacki Gulczynski finished with 13 points, including three second-half three-pointers. Tiera Stephen added 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Badgers.
Nebraska hit 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field, including 44.4 percent (12-27) from three-point range. The Huskers also made 85.7 percent (12-14) of their free throws. NU matched the Badgers on the glass and won the turnover battle, 20-13, committing only five turnovers in the second half.
Wisconsin outshot NU from the floor, hitting 42 percent (21-50) from the floor, but just 3-of-15 from three-point range. The Badgers also struggled to hit just 7-of-13 free throws.
Moore shot Nebraska to a 37-26 halftime lead with 14 points to go along with two assists and three steals. Moore hit all three of her first-half three-point attempts in the opening 6:22 to help the Huskers run to a 19-5 lead.
But Wisconsin answered with a 17-5 surge of its own to cut NU's lead to 24-22 with 3:26 left. The Huskers answered with a 13-4 run to close the half, sparked by back-to-back baskets from Hailie Sample off assists from Moore, and back-to-back buckets from Rachel Theriot, before Tear'a Laudermill scored her only two of the half with 48 seconds left.
Moore then closed the half with a tough one-on-one finish under the rim against Stephen as time expired.
The Huskers hit 48.1 percent (13-27) of their shots in the half, including 5-of-12 three-pointers. NU also connected on 6-of-8 free throws. Nebraska outrebounded Wisconsin 16-14, led by nine boards from Cady. The Huskers also won the first-half turnover battle 10-8.
Wisconsin hit 45.8 percent (11-24) of its shots, but went 0-for-4 from three-point range. The Badgers were also just 4-of-8 at the free throw line in the half.
In the second half, Moore hit her fourth three-pointer to match NU's biggest lead at 14 points on the first possession of the second half, but the Badgers refused to quit. UW trimmed NU's margin to 46-42 on a Gulczynski three with 11:43 left, before Moore scored five straight, including her career-high matching fifth three-pointer. She then found Hooper for another three-pointer moments later to push the Husker margin back to 10 at 54-44. The lead was never less than double digits again, as NU led by 19 points before settling for the 18-point victory.
Tear'a Laudermill played a strong second half, snagging all four of her steals after halftime. She added four points and a block off the bench.
Nebraska concludes its four-game homestand on Saturday when they play host to No. 14 Purdue at the Devaney Center. Tip-off between the Huskers and Boilermakers is set for 1 p.m. with live national television coverage on CBS. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Wisconsin vs Nebraska 01/02/13 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Wisconsin 8-6, 0-1 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 35 Gulczynski, Jacki... f 5-13 3-6 0-0 0 6 6 1 13 1 1 2 0 38 43 Rochel, Cassie...... f 7-11 0-0 1-4 5 5 10 1 15 1 3 2 2 39 04 Bauman, Nicole...... g 2-8 0-5 1-1 2 1 3 3 5 0 2 1 1 25 05 Paige, Morgan....... g 2-10 0-3 1-2 1 0 1 3 5 1 5 0 0 34 24 Stephen, Tiera...... g 3-5 0-1 4-6 0 6 6 1 10 6 5 0 3 32 00 Malone, Shannon..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 Whyte, Dakota....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 11 22 Cichy, Tessa........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 16 23 Kryuchkova, Daria... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 5 5 Totals.............. 21-50 3-15 7-13 9 25 34 11 52 12 20 5 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-24 45.8% 2nd Half: 10-26 38.5% Game: 42.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-4 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-11 27.3% Game: 20.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 53.8% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 11-3, 1-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 Cady, Emily......... f 4-6 3-4 2-2 2 12 14 1 13 3 2 1 2 31 35 Hooper, Jordan...... f 4-11 3-7 3-4 3 3 6 0 14 0 0 0 2 32 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 7-15 5-8 7-8 0 1 1 1 26 4 2 0 4 36 03 Sample, Hailie...... g 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 4 3 4 0 0 27 24 Theriot, Rachel..... g 2-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 5 2 1 0 1 25 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. 2-7 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 4 0 1 1 4 19 10 Williams, Meghin.... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 13 13 Jeffery, Brandi..... 1-5 0-3 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 1 0 0 1 12 14 Simon, Katie........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 21 Murren, Sadie....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 2 2 4 3 Totals.............. 23-57 12-27 12-14 10 24 34 10 70 14 13 2 14 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 10-30 33.3% Game: 40.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 7-15 46.7% Game: 44.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-6 100 % Game: 85.7% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Denise Brooks, Mark Zentz, Brian Hall Technical fouls: Wisconsin-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 5182 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Wisconsin..................... 26 26 - 52 Nebraska...................... 37 33 - 70