Ann Arbor, Mich. - The No. 24 Nebraska women's basketball team opened the second half on a 21-0 run and never looked back in a 57-39 victory at Michigan on Thursday night.
Jordan Hooper led the Huskers with her eighth double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while senior point guard Lindsey Moore produced game highs of 15 points and eight assists.
Nebraska stretched its winning streak to eight games, including five straight on the road, to improve to 20-6 overall and 10-3 in the Big Ten. It is the Huskers' second straight 20-win campaign and fifth in the past seven years. Michigan slipped to 19-7 overall and 8-5 in the Big Ten, while having its three-game winning streak snapped.
"Every win in the Big Ten is big, but I am really proud of the way our players competed, especially in the second half," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We came out aggressive, did a good job for the first eight minutes of the second half on the defensive glass and played really well after halftime. I thought we played tough and played smart, and that's what you've got to do to win on the road."
Moore and Hooper combined for 10 of Nebraska's first 12 points in the first four minutes of the second half to turn a 22-18 halftime deficit into a 30-22 lead. They kept NU rolling over the next four minutes, combining for the final five of the Huskers' next nine points to push the NU margin to 39-22 after opening the game down 10-2.
Nebraska's defense was spectacular throughout the game, shutting out the Wolverines for the first 8:40 of the second half to take a 17-point lead. Michigan could get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way, as Nebraska pushed its margin to 21 points on the Huskers' 10th three-pointer with 42 seconds left.
Laudermill, and fellow sophomore Brandi Jeffery both hit a pair of threes to finish with six points to help the Huskers. Emily Cady added six points of her own along with eight rebounds, while Hailie Sample added seven points and three boards.
Sample was also a key to the NU defense that held Michigan to a season-low 39 points. It was the second straight game the Huskers limited the opposition to less than 40 points. The Wolverines hit just 27.7 percent (18-65) of their shots, including 3-of-23 three-pointers in the game. NU held one of the nation's premier three-point shooters, Kate Thompson, to just 1-of-10 shooting from long range and 2-of-17 shooting overall. Nebraska also won the battle of the boards, 41-40. Michigan won the turnover battle 13-10.
Nebraska hit 39.6 percent (21-53) of its shots, including 14-of-26 and 7-of-12 from three-point range in the second half. The Huskers went just 5-of-9 at the free throw line, but they did not allow the Wolverines to shoot a free throw while committing just fouls for the game.
Nya Jordan led Michigan with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, but was the only Wolverine to manage double figures in either category in the game.
Nebraska trailed 22-18 at halftime, as Michigan closed the half on a 6-0 surge. The Wolverines jumped to a 10-2 lead in the first six minutes before the Huskers answered with a 13-0 run to take a 15-10 lead on a three-point play by Cady with 8:25 left.
Cady was whistled for her second foul 1:10 later and Nebraska went just 1-for-12 from the field the rest of the half as Michigan reclaimed control in the final three minutes.
Nebraska hit just 25.9 percent (7-27) of its shots in the first half, including 3-of-11 three-pointers. NU was also just 1-for-3 from the free throw line and was outrebounded 23-21. Michigan also won the first-half turnover battle, 8-4. Six Huskers scored in the first half, but no one had more than four first-half points.
Michigan hit just 32.4 percent (11-34) of its first-half shots, including 0-for-9 threes and no free throw attempts. Nya Jordan led the Wolverines with 10 points and eight rebounds in the opening period, while Rachel Sheffer added six points and four boards.
Nebraska returns home Sunday to take on Iowa. Tip-off between the Huskers and Wolverines is set for 2:05 p.m. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com. Live television coverage will be provided by the Big Ten Network, while free live audio will be available on Huskers.com from the Husker Sports Network.
Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Michigan 02/21/13 7:00 PM at Crisler Center, Ann Arbor, MI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 20-6 (10-3) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 03 Sample, Hailie...... f 3-6 0-0 1-2 2 1 3 0 7 1 1 1 0 25 23 Cady, Emily......... f 2-4 0-1 2-3 1 7 8 2 6 0 1 1 1 27 35 Hooper, Jordan...... f 5-16 2-7 2-2 1 11 12 1 14 0 1 0 0 32 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 6-11 3-5 0-0 1 2 3 0 15 8 2 0 2 37 24 Theriot, Rachel..... g 1-9 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 4 4 0 2 27 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 3 3 2 6 1 1 0 0 14 10 Williams, Meghin.... 0-1 0-0 0-2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 13 Jeffery, Brandi..... 2-3 2-3 0-0 0 4 4 1 6 0 0 0 0 17 14 Simon, Katie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 9 TEAM................ 1 1 2 2 Totals.............. 21-53 10-23 5-9 8 33 41 6 57 14 13 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-27 25.9% 2nd Half: 14-26 53.8% Game: 39.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-11 27.3% 2nd Half: 7-12 58.3% Game: 43.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 55.6% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Michigan 19-7 (8-5) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 44 Sheffer, Rachel..... f 4-11 1-5 0-0 1 6 7 1 9 1 2 0 1 33 12 Thompson, Kate...... g 2-17 1-10 0-0 3 5 8 3 5 0 1 1 0 38 14 Elmblad, Nicole..... g 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 1 0 1 3 1 0 18 21 Jordan, Nya......... g 6-13 0-2 0-0 8 8 16 2 12 3 2 0 1 39 24 Ryan, Jenny......... g 3-9 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 0 6 1 1 0 3 38 01 Harris, Brenae...... 1-4 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 05 Ristovski, Madison.. 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 11 Arnold, Sam......... 2-5 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 0 21 22 Goree, Cyesha....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 18-65 3-23 0-0 14 26 40 9 39 6 10 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-34 32.4% 2nd Half: 7-31 22.6% Game: 27.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-9 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-14 21.4% Game: 13.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 0.0% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Barb Smith, Dawn Marsh, Kevin Pethtel Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Michigan-None. Attendance: 1971 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 18 39 - 57 Michigan...................... 22 17 - 39