Lincoln - No. 18 Nebraska opened the game with a 24-0 run and cruised to an 89-53 women's basketball victory over Oral Roberts at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon.
All-American Jordan Hooper erupted for 30 points and added 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year in just 20 minutes of work against the Golden Eagles. It was Hooper's eighth career 30-point game and 32nd career double-double, as she moved past Kiera Hardy into No. 5 on Nebraska's career scoring list.
The Huskers closed the non-conference portion of their schedule by improving to 10-2 on the season.
Hooper, who had 23 points and eight rebounds in the first half, led five Huskers in double figures as Nebraska exploded for a school-record 62 first-half points. Nebraska also hit a season-high 12 three-pointers, knocking down 50 percent of their triples on the day.
Nebraska hit 52.5 percent (32-61) of its shots from the field overall, including a season-best 63.9 percent (23-36) in the first half. NU opened the game 7-for-7 from the field. The Huskers, who also hit 13-of-17 free throws for the game, outrebounded ORU, 41-29, and won the turnover battle, 22-15.
"That is as good as I've seen one of my team's play offensively, in the first half especially, in a long time," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "I thought our ball movement was really good and obviously it helps that we made a lot of shots. I also thought our defense was pretty good in the first half, especially in the first 15 minutes."
The Huskers raced to a 24-0 lead after a Hooper layup with 13:12 left in the first half. ORU didn't get on the board until Kaylan Mayberry hit a jumper with 12:39 left.
Nebraska then answered with 11 straight points to take a 35-2 lead after an Emily Cady three-pointer. Cady, a 6-2 junior forward, finished with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including a pair of threes.
Mayberry heated up to score 17 points in the first half, but Nebraska kept scoring, eventually pushing the lead to 39 points at 49-10 on a Rachel Theriot jumper with 4:09 left in the half. Theriot finished the game with 11 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Junior guard Tear'a Laudermill added another strong performance with 11 points, a career-high five assists and a season-high three steals in just 18 minutes of work. Sophomore guard Sadie Murren added her second straight game with double digits, pumping in 11 points including a trio of three-pointers.
Hooper pushed NU's lead to 40 for the first time, burying a three-pointer with 2:25 left in the half to make it 56-15. Hooper added another three-pointer and a three-point play in the next 38 seconds to finish the first half with 23 points.
Nebraska's lead grew as large as 49 points on a pair of occasions in the second half, the last coming after seven straight points from Hooper capped by a steal and layup to make it 83-34 with 9:49 left.
Oral Roberts opened the game just 1-of-12 from the field and never recovered. The Golden Eagles slipped to 1-9 on the season after going 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) from the field. ORU did hit 8-of-17 three-pointers (47.1 percent) and 5-of-8 free throws. Christian Key led ORU with 25 points, scoring 23 of ORU's 28 points in the second half.
Nebraska wraps up its five-game home stand by opening Big Ten Conference play with Northwestern on Thursday, Jan. 2. Tip-off between the Huskers and Wildcats is set for 8 p.m., and tickets are on sale now at Huskers.com. The game will also be televised live nationally by the Big Ten Network.
Nebraska Notes
- Nebraska's 62 points in the first half were the most in a first half in school history - surpassing the previous all-time best of 59, last produced against Washington State on Nov. 22, 2009. The previous record was established against InterAmerican on Dec. 21, 1993.
- The 62 points tied for the fifth-highest point total in a half in school history. The record of 68 was set in the second half against Howard on Dec. 11, 1992.
- Nebraska's 12 three-pointers tied for the fourth-highest total in school history.
- Nebraska hit double-digit three-pointers for the second straight game after going 10-for-24 against South Dakota. Over the last four games, NU is 32-of-71 (45.1 percent) from three-point range. Through the first eight games, Nebraska was just 44-of-156 (28.2 percent)
- Jordan Hooper moved to No. 5 on the Nebraska career scoring list with 1,933 points. She also has 941 career rebounds. She past Kiera Hardy (1,930 points, 2004-07) on the Husker career list.
- With 30 points and 11 rebounds, Hooper produced her sixth double-double of the season and 32nd of her career.
- In two games against Oral Roberts the past two seasons, Hooper had 63 points and 20 rebounds in 45 total minutes. ORU went to the 2013 NCAA Tournament.
- Sadie Murren produced double figures for the second straight game (11 points) and hit 3-of-6 three-pointers for the second straight game. Murren has scored in double figures off the bench for NU three times in the past nine games.
- It was the fifth game this season that Murren has hit multiple three-pointers in a game, improving to 14-of-27 from long range on the year.
- Tear'a Laudermill scored in double figures for the fifth time in the past eight games, finishing with 11 points. Laudermill had a career high five assists and added a season-high three steals.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Oral Roberts vs Nebraska 12/29/13 2:06 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Oral Roberts 1-9 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Balla, Dorottya..... f 0-5 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 11 23 Balla, Bernadett.... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 0 4 0 0 21 42 Shelton, Sarah...... c 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 3 0 0 0 0 1 30 11 Bryan, Jenni........ g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 0 16 12 Key, Christian...... g 11-19 3-6 0-0 1 4 5 3 25 2 6 0 0 35 00 Jackson, Atoe'...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 01 Mayberry, Kaylan.... 7-15 4-8 2-2 0 2 2 0 20 4 4 0 0 24 03 Wilson, Alexus...... 1-7 1-1 3-4 0 1 1 3 6 0 3 0 0 24 13 Manuel, Tysia....... 1-4 0-0 0-2 2 1 3 2 2 1 3 0 1 26 14 Lopez, Carolina..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 24 Jaervikangas, Noora. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 5 5 10 Totals.............. 20-58 8-17 5-8 9 20 29 18 53 8 22 1 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-28 28.6% 2nd Half: 12-30 40.0% Game: 34.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 47.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 62.5% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 10-2 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 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 6 8 0 2 4 0 1 0 25 23 Cady, Emily......... f 6-8 2-2 1-3 2 1 3 2 15 2 0 2 2 28 35 Hooper, Jordan...... f 11-15 4-8 4-4 3 8 11 0 30 2 1 1 2 20 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. g 4-8 1-4 2-2 1 2 3 2 11 5 4 0 3 18 33 Theriot, Rachel..... g 4-6 1-2 2-2 0 3 3 0 11 4 2 0 1 26 10 Tvrdy, Hannah....... 0-4 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 2 17 11 Ramacieri, Esther... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 13 Jeffery, Brandi..... 1-3 1-2 2-2 1 1 2 2 5 0 1 0 1 19 21 Murren, Sadie....... 4-8 3-6 0-0 0 2 2 2 11 2 1 0 0 20 22 Havers, Allie....... 1-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 2 4 3 1 2 0 1 19 TEAM................ 1 4 5 1 Totals.............. 32-61 12-24 13-17 11 30 41 13 89 20 15 4 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 23-36 63.9% 2nd Half: 9-25 36.0% Game: 52.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 8-16 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-8 100 % 2nd Half: 5-9 55.6% Game: 76.5% 2,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Bill Larance, Bruce Morris Technical fouls: Oral Roberts-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 5811 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Oral Roberts.................. 25 28 - 53 Nebraska...................... 62 27 - 89