Lincoln - Jessica Shepard smashed the school exhibition record with 42 points while adding 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes to power Nebraska to a 96-66 win over Winona State in front of 4,526 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday.
The performance of the 6-4 freshman forward from Fremont, Neb., eclipsed a 35-point, 13-rebound effort produced by former first-team All-American Kelsey Griffin in 22 minutes of a win over Nebraska-Kearney in 2006. That game by the sophomore Griffin included a 14-for-16 night from the field.
Shepard's remarkable effort included a 16-for-19 shooting effort from the floor and a 10-for-10 performance at the free throw line. Shepard's production came against Winona State's 6-3 junior center Kayla Timmerman, who spent her freshman season at the University of Iowa and played in a pair of games against the Huskers that season.
Shepard scored seven of the game's first nine points to shoot the Big Red to a 9-0 lead in the opening 3:16. She subbed out for 1:16, before running off 11 straight points in the next 2:47 to push her total to 18 points in just 6:03 of playing time to give Nebraska a 22-2 lead with just over two minutes left in the opening quarter.
Over the next two quarters, the NCAA Division II No. 16 Warriors held Shepard somewhat in check, limiting her to eight points in the second quarter and none in the third, as Winona State trailed just 67-56 after three quarters.
Shepard re-established her presence with authority in the fourth, pouring in 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting from the floor while hitting all four of her free throws in the final period. She scored 16 of NU's first 18 points in the opening 5:27 of the quarter, pushing the Big Red margin to 22 points at 85-63 after her second three-point play of the period. She left the game for good at that point, but Nebraska extended the margin to 30 points at 96-66 within an 11-3 surge to close out the win.
In two exhibition games for the Huskers, Shepard averaged 35.5 points and 12.0 rebounds while shooting 71.1 percent (27-38) from the field and 81 percent (17-21) from the free throw. That production came in just 21.0 minutes per game, as she scored 71 points and grabbed 24 boards in 42 total minutes.
Shepard's production is even more amazing considering she has only been cleared for full-court five-on-five practice for less than two weeks, as she continues to recover from 10-month rehabilitation following a torn ACL on Dec. 29, 2014.
All-American point guard Rachel Theriot added another stellar performance of her own. The 6-0 senior from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, pumped in 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the floor, while adding four rebounds and four assists. Theriot finished exhibition play with averages of 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, while shooting 63.3 percent (19-30) from the field and 9-of-9 shooting at the foul line.
Theriot's production has come after eighth months of rehab of her own after undergoing season-ending foot surgery as a junior in February.
While Shepard and Theriot combined for 65 points against the Warriors, Winona State hung tough with 23 points from junior guard Tara Roelofs and 21 points from Timmerman. The Warriors entered the game with a 3-0 regular-season record after winning the CAA Division II Tip-Off Classic in Carson, Calif., last weekend. They return four starters from a team that finished 20-8 a year ago.
Freshman Maddie Simon helped the Huskers overwhelm the Warriors in the third quarter, finishing with nine points and three assists in just 13 total minutes in the game. The 6-2 guard from Lincoln Pius X made several key plays at both ends after entering the game in the fourth quarter. Simon hit Shepard with a pair of transition assists, before knocking down her second three-pointer of the game in an explosive stretch midway through the fourth.
Fellow freshman Rachel Blackburn, a 6-3 forward from Leavenworth, Kan., matched Shepard with a game-high 12 rebounds to help the Huskers produce an overwhelming 58-26 edge on the glass, including a 21-6 advantage on the offensive glass.
Allie Havers, a 6-5 junior center, added six points and nine rebounds for the Big Red. Sophomore guard Natalie Romeo pitched in seven points, four rebounds and three assists in her first exhibition appearance of the season, while senior guard Kyndal Clark contributed four points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals for the second consecutive game. Sophomore guard Emily Wood buried a three-pointer, while redshirt freshman pitched in two points and a rebound to round out the scoring for the Huskers.
As a team, Nebraska hit 50.7 percent (38-75) of its shots from the field, but just 3-of-14 threes (.214), while connecting on 17-of-24 free throws (.708). The Huskers committed just nine turnovers and 14 fouls in the contest.
NU held Winona State to 38.2 percent (26-68) from the floor, including 7-of-22 (.318) from long range. The Warriors also went 7-of-9 at the line, while committing 21 fouls and eight turnovers.
Nebraska opens regular-season play on Saturday, Nov. 14 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Tip-off with the Golden Lions at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 11:30 a.m. Season and single-game tickets are available now at Huskers.com.