Lincoln - Jordan Hooper poured in 23 points and Emily Cady added a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds to fuel No. 11 Nebraska to an 87-64 women's basketball victory over Southern Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska improved to 5-0 overall and 4-0 on its new home court in front of a crowd of 5,454, while the preseason SWAC favorite Jaguars slipped to 2-3 overall.
Sophomore point guard Rachel Theriot added a strong effort with 13 points and eight assists, while junior guard Tear'a Laudermill contributed 12 points and four rebounds in her second straight start to help the Huskers.
Hooper's 23 points pushed her into ninth place on Nebraska's all-time scoring list ahead of Kathy Hagerstrom (1,778 points, 1980-83). The 6-2 senior All-American from Alliance, Neb., closed the day with 1,779 points.
Cady, who notched her 10th career double-double and second of the season, finished 5-of-6 from the field and 8-of-11 at the free throw line, while Theriot went 4-of-6 and 4-of-4 at the line. Laudermill added a 4-for-7 effort from the floor and a 4-for-4 day at the stripe.
Nebraska shot a season-best 54.2 percent (26-48) from the field and connected on 29-of-44 free throws to overcome the hot shooting of Southern guard Kendra Coleman. The 5-7 junior erupted for 30 points, including 7-of-12 shooting from three-point range. Coleman, who entered the game just 3-of-25 from long range through the first four games of the season, knocked 3-of-4 threes in the first three minutes.
"We knew Southern was an explosive team and a really well-coached team coming into the game," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "No. 23 got hot for them, but we found ways to score and got good contributions from a lot of players."
Nebraska took a 38-32 lead to the locker room at halftime despite 15 first-half points from Coleman. She shot SU to a 16-10 lead, before Nebraska rallied.
Hooper scored five straight points to cap a 7-0 NU run to give the Big Red a 36-29 with 3:12 left in the half. Hooper led the Huskers with 11 points and five boards in the opening half, while Cady added six points and six boards. Theriot contributed six points and five assists in the opening period, as NU shot 56 percent (14-26) from the field, but just 2-for-7 from three-point range. The Huskers also hit just 8-of-16 free throws in the first half. NU was outrebounded 21-19 by the Jaguars, and matched SU with six first-half turnovers.
Southern hit just 36.4 percent (12-33) of its first-half shots, but knocked down 4-of-12 three-pointers. SU was also 4-of-7 at the line.
The second half belonged to the Huskers, as NU outscored the Jaguars, 49-32 and posted a plus-10 rebound margin on the glass. Nebraska's lead grew as large as 25 points late in the game, before settling for the 23-point win.
The Jaguars finished the game 36.9 percent (24-65) from the field and 8-of-21 from long range. Nebraska outscored SU, 29-8, at the free throw line and won the turnover battle, 13-12.
Sophomore guard Sadie Murren continued her hot shooting for the Huskers by going 2-of-3 from long range and finishing with eight points. Hannah Tvrdy added five points off the bench for the Big Red.
The Huskers continue their four-game home stand on Wednesday night, when they take on UMass-Lowell. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Riverhawks is set for 7 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com. A free live Internet audio broadcast of the game will be available from the Husker Sports Network on Huskers.com. No over-the-air broadcast of the game will be available in Lincoln or Omaha because of conflicts with Nebraska volleyball and Sports Nightly.
Official Basketball Box Score Southern vs Nebraska 11/24/13 2:06 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Southern 2-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 Jefferson, Jasmine.. f 3-4 0-0 1-1 2 3 5 5 7 0 2 0 0 26 10 King, Jasmine....... g 1-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 2 1 0 0 0 17 23 Coleman, Kendra..... g 9-16 7-12 5-7 0 2 2 1 30 1 2 0 0 31 24 Sanders, Adrian..... g 6-13 0-2 0-0 3 2 5 3 12 2 2 0 1 26 30 Purnell, Cortnei.... g 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 0 1 1 1 0 17 01 Fuller, Yasmin...... 2-8 0-3 0-2 0 3 3 3 4 0 0 0 0 12 04 Litmon, Shaquandria. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 05 Brundidge, Jadea.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 4 0 0 2 0 0 8 11 Scott, Quitesha..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 1 2 0 0 17 12 Nelson, Yasmine..... 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 16 20 Parrish, Keonia..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 21 Washington, Britney. 3-10 1-4 2-2 1 1 2 1 9 0 1 1 1 15 32 Willix, Zeneka...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 24-65 8-21 8-12 11 23 34 31 64 6 13 2 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-33 36.4% 2nd Half: 12-32 37.5% Game: 36.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 38.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 66.7% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 5-0 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 1-3 0-0 2-8 2 4 6 2 4 2 2 1 1 34 23 Cady, Emily......... f 5-6 0-1 8-11 4 10 14 3 18 2 3 1 1 33 35 Hooper, Jordan...... f 7-18 3-9 6-11 1 7 8 1 23 0 2 0 2 32 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. g 4-7 0-1 4-4 1 3 4 3 12 1 1 0 1 21 33 Theriot, Rachel..... g 4-6 1-3 4-4 0 3 3 3 13 8 1 0 1 31 10 Tvrdy, Hannah....... 1-2 0-0 3-4 0 1 1 2 5 0 0 0 1 16 11 Ramacieri, Esther... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 14 Simon, Katie........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 21 Murren, Sadie....... 2-3 2-3 2-2 0 1 1 1 8 0 1 0 0 17 22 Havers, Allie....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 11 TEAM................ 2 2 1 Totals.............. 26-48 6-18 29-44 9 33 42 16 87 14 12 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 12-23 52.2% Game: 54.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-16 50.0% 2nd Half: 21-28 75.0% Game: 65.9% 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Felicia Grinter, Jeff Cross, Missy Brooks Technical fouls: Southern-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 5454 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Southern...................... 32 32 - 64 Nebraska...................... 38 49 - 87