Lincoln - Jessica Shepard and Natalie Romeo both produced 20-point scoring efforts and the Nebraska defense played a record-tying first half in an 89-38 women's basketball win over Southern Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
The Huskers completed their season-opening home stand with a 4-0 record thanks to 22 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals from Shepard (Fremont, Neb.). The two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week notched her fourth consecutive 20-point performance to open her career, including 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting in the first quarter to help the Big Red jump to a 29-10 lead.
Romeo, a 5-7 sophomore guard from Martinez, Calif., added her second 20-point effort of the season with 21 points, including 13 points in the third quarter. Romeo hit three straight threes to open the second-half scoring for the Big Red.
Romeo's hot shooting in the second half helped Nebraska build off an impressive defensive performance in the first half. NU held Southern to just two points in the second quarter to take a 49-12 halftime lead. The 12 points tied the Nebraska school record for fewest points allowed in a first half. The last time it happened came all the way back on Jan. 22, 1997 against Missouri.
In addition to the big nights from Romeo and Shepard, the Huskers got a career-high 11 points from 2015 Nebraska High School Player of the Year Maddie Simon. The Lincoln Pius X graduate added three assists, two rebounds and a block in the best performance of her young career.
The Huskers also got a career-high eight points off the bench from sophomore Jasmine Cincore (Arlington, Tenn.), who added three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
As a team, the Big Red hit 48.3 percent (28-58) of their shots from the field, including 5-of-14 (.357) of their three-pointers. NU also hit a season-high 28-of-35 free throws (.800), as the Jaguars committed an opponent season-high 27 fouls.
Nebraska outrebounded Southern, 47-37, and won the turnover battle, 23-15.
The Huskers held Southern to just 24.6 percent (16-65) shooting from the floor, including 2-of-19 from three-point range. The Jaguars also hit just 4-of-9 free throws.
Nebraska will hit the road for the first time this season when the Huskers travel to the XL Center in Hartford to battle No. 1 UConn. The three-time defending NCAA champions improved to 2-0 on Monday night with a 97-57 win over Kansas State in Hartford. The Huskies, who have won 10 national championships, including five in the last seven seasons, have won 80 of their last 81 games, including a 100-56 run past No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus to open the year on Nov. 16.
Nebraska has not faced UConn since a 71-61 loss at Storrs in the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 21, 1997. It is the only previous meeting between the two teams, but the Huskies did advance to the 2014 NCAA Final Four by winning the Lincoln Regional in Nebraska's first year at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
UConn will make a return trip to Nebraska next December.
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Southern vs Nebraska 11/23/15 7:06 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Southern 2-2, 0-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Green, Briana....... f 4-11 0-3 1-2 4 2 6 4 9 2 7 1 0 34 04 O'Bear, Skylar...... g 1-5 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 2 0 2 0 0 20 20 Charles, Danayea.... g 0-1 0-0 0-2 0 1 1 3 0 2 1 0 0 11 32 Crowder, Miaya...... g 2-10 0-0 1-1 1 3 4 2 5 0 2 1 2 20 40 Purnell, Cortnei.... g 2-11 0-2 0-0 2 1 3 4 4 0 0 1 1 25 01 Thompson, Tashi-ana. 0-3 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 05 Brundidge, Jadea.... 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 5 2 0 1 0 0 7 10 Williams, Ashley.... 2-6 1-4 2-2 2 1 3 3 7 1 1 0 0 21 11 Cowart, Rishonti.... 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 3 3 0 3 0 0 1 0 12 12 Parsons, Courtney... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 7 15 Clay, Deja.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 23 Berry, Kadesha...... 2-3 0-0 0-2 1 2 3 0 4 3 3 0 2 20 24 Blissett, Sarai..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 8 33 Robinson, Kenidi.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 8 TEAM................ 3 3 2 Totals.............. 16-65 2-19 4-9 17 20 37 27 38 8 23 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 5-27 18.5% 2nd Half: 11-38 28.9% Game: 24.6% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-9 11.1% 2nd Half: 1-10 10.0% Game: 10.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 44.4% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 4-0, 0-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 Shepard, Jessica.... f 8-10 0-0 6-11 2 4 6 4 22 2 2 2 2 26 43 Blackburn, Rachel... f 1-3 0-0 2-2 1 7 8 1 4 1 2 1 0 25 04 Clark, Kyndal....... g 1-6 1-4 0-0 2 4 6 2 3 4 1 0 0 19 05 Romeo, Natalie...... g 6-13 4-9 5-6 0 3 3 3 21 4 3 1 4 25 33 Theriot, Rachel..... g 3-5 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 1 8 1 4 0 2 21 11 Ramacieri, Esther... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 12 Wood, Emily......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 1 9 22 Havers, Allie....... 0-1 0-0 4-4 3 2 5 3 4 2 1 2 0 14 24 Simon, Maddie....... 4-7 0-0 3-4 0 2 2 1 11 3 1 1 0 23 31 Kalenta, Anya....... 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 0 6 0 0 0 0 13 34 Cincore, Jasmine.... 1-7 0-1 6-6 1 2 3 1 8 1 1 0 1 20 TEAM................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 28-58 5-14 28-35 13 34 47 17 89 18 15 7 11 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-33 54.5% 2nd Half: 10-25 40.0% Game: 48.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 35.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 11-16 68.8% 2nd Half: 17-19 89.5% Game: 80.0% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Bob Enterline, Bill Larance, Angelica Suffren Technical fouls: Southern-None. Nebraska-Shepard, Jessica. Attendance: 4748 Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Southern...................... 10 2 16 10 - 38 Nebraska...................... 29 20 22 18 - 89 Technical Fouls: Nebraska-1