Bloomington, Ind. - Emily Cady produced a huge game with 22 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks to lead No. 21 Nebraska to a 67-64 women's basketball win at Indiana on Saturday.
Cady, who scored 13 of her game-high 22 points after halftime, helped the Huskers improve to 19-8 overall and 9-7 in the Big Ten, while Indiana slipped to 14-13 overall and 4-12 in the conference.
The senior from Seward, Neb., hit 8-of-13 shots from the field and 6-of-8 free throws to carry the Huskers to a 12-point second-half lead before holding on down the stretch against the Hoosiers.
Fellow senior Hailie Sample pitched in 12 points and six rebounds, while Tear'a Laudermill contributed 11 points and four assists. Nebraska's fourth senior, Brandi Jeffery, pitched in eight points, eight rebounds and three assists to help the Husker seniors tie a Nebraska record with their 94th win as a class.
While the seniors carried the Big Red to the threshold of victory, freshman Natalie Romeo closed the door on the Hoosiers by hitting four straight free throws in one-and-one situations in the final 30 seconds. Romeo finished with seven points and four rebounds. Allie Havers added four points and three rebounds off the bench, while Chandler Smith contributed a big three-pointer.
Nebraska hit 44.4 percent (24-54) of its shots from the floor for the game, including 3-of-9 threes, while knocking down 80 percent (16-20) of its free throws.
Larryn Brooks led Indiana with 17 points, including a three-pointer to cut Nebraska's lead to just 65-64 with 16.2 seconds left, before Romeo sealed the victory with two more free throws. Jess Walter contributed 16 points, while Amanda Cahill added 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists for the Hoosiers.
Nebraska held Indiana to 37.5 percent (24-64) shooting from the floor, including 9-of-28 (.321) three-pointers, and 7-of-10 free throws. The Huskers won the rebounding battle, 38-35, while Indiana won the turnover fight, 15-11.
Nebraska led 34-30 at the half, before Brooks hit a three to give Indiana its only lead of the second half at 35-34 just over a minute into the second half. That lead was short-lived though, as Sample answered with a three-point play before a pair of free throws by Cady, a jumper by Jeffery and a free throw by Sample put NU up seven at 42-35 with 16:35 left.
NU maintained a 45-42 lead with 15 minutes left before Cady completely took over, scoring eight points and finding Laudermill on a three-pointer to spark an 11-2 surge that gave Nebraska its biggest lead of the day at 56-44 with 10:58 left.
The Huskers held a 63-54 lead with five minutes left after a layup by Jeffery, but it was their last field goal of the game, as Indiana scored seven straight points to cut the margin to 63-61 before Romeo's final four free throws.
Nebraska took a 34-30 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks to big halves from the four Husker seniors. Cady led the Big Red with nine points, while Laudermill and Sample each had eight points and Jeffery pitched in four points to combine for 29 of NU's 34 points in the half.
The Huskers shot 50 percent (14-28) from the field in the first half, including 1-of-3 from three-point range. The Big Red also went 5-of-6 at the free throw line in the opening period. NU outrebounded Indiana 20-14, including the last six rebounds of the first half, but lost the first-half turnover battle, 9-5.
NU held Indiana to just 33.3 percent (11-33) shooting, including 4-of-14 (.286) from three-point range, and 4-of-6 at the line. Brooks and Walter led Indiana with first-half points apiece.
Indiana jumped to a 4-0 lead but Nebraska responded to take a trio of first-half leads at 20-15, 23-18 and 30-25. Indiana tied the score at 30, but Sample scored the final four points of the half to send the Huskers to halftime with the lead.
Nebraska returns to Pinnacle Bank Arena for its final two Big Ten regular-season home games, beginning with a Thursday night battle with Minnesota. Tip-off between the Huskers and Gophers is set for 8 p.m., and tickets are available now at Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Indiana 2/21/15 12 p.m. at Bloomington, Ind. (Assembly Hall)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 19-8, 9-7 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 6-7 3 3 6 0 12 1 0 0 1 29 23 Cady, Emily......... f 8-13 0-1 6-8 2 10 12 1 22 4 4 4 2 35 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. g 5-8 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 11 4 2 0 0 34 05 Romeo, Natalie...... g 1-9 1-5 4-4 1 3 4 1 7 0 4 0 1 35 13 Jeffery, Brandi..... g 4-9 0-1 0-1 0 8 8 2 8 3 2 1 0 33 22 Havers, Allie....... 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 2 4 0 1 0 1 17 30 Smith, Chandler..... 1-2 1-1 0-0 2 0 2 1 3 2 0 0 0 11 34 Cincore, Jasmine.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 24-54 3-9 16-20 9 29 38 10 67 14 15 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0% 2nd Half: 10-26 38.5% Game: 44.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 11-14 78.6% Game: 80.0% 1,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Indiana 14-13, 4-12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 33 Amanda Cahill....... f 5-12 1-4 2-2 1 8 9 3 13 3 0 1 2 33 43 Jenn Anderson....... c 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 13 03 Tyra Buss........... g 4-12 0-3 0-0 1 3 4 0 8 1 1 0 0 28 05 Larryn Brooks....... g 6-13 5-7 0-0 0 3 3 3 17 5 1 0 0 36 23 Alexis Gassion...... g 3-8 0-3 0-0 3 3 6 4 6 2 2 2 2 29 02 Jess Walter......... 5-9 2-4 4-6 1 2 3 3 16 2 2 2 1 25 10 Taylor Agler........ 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 1 14 21 Karlee McBride...... 0-2 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 8 40 Lyndsay Leikem...... 1-4 1-2 0-0 2 1 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 14 TEAM................ 2 4 6 Totals.............. 24-64 9-28 7-10 11 24 35 16 64 14 11 5 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-33 33.3% 2nd Half: 13-31 41.9% Game: 37.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-14 28.6% 2nd Half: 5-14 35.7% Game: 32.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 70.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Beverly Roberts, Amy Bonner, Troy Winders Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Indiana-None. Attendance: 2490 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 34 33 - 67 Indiana....................... 30 34 - 64