Lincoln - All-American Rachel Theriot produced her sixth career double-double with 20 points and 11 assists to lead five Huskers in double figures, as the Nebraska women's basketball team rolled to an 88-67 win over NC State at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday night.
The Big Red improved to 5-1 overall with their only loss coming at No. 1 UConn, while notching their second straight win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. NC State slipped to 6-2 on the young season with its only other setback coming in a three-point loss to top-25 Seton Hall.
Theriot, a 6-0 senior point guard from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, showed why she was a first-team All-Big Ten choice and an honorable-mention All-American as a sophomore in 2013-14, by scoring NU's first six points on her way to her 12th career 20-point performance. She missed all of February and March with an ankle injury last season, but is making up for lost time early in 2015-16.
Theriot had 12 in the first half, including a pair of huge three-pointers in the second quarter to help the Huskers cap the half with a decisive 20-0 run against the Wolfpack.
Sophomore Natalie Romeo, who finished with 16 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting, also played a big role on the offensive end during Nebraska's second-quarter surge. The 5-7 guard from Martinez, Calif., hit three second-quarter three-pointers and joined forces with Theriot to account for 15 points and six assists in the second quarter alone.
While Theriot and Romeo got the Huskers rolling on the offensive end, freshman Rachel Blackburn was the catalyst in shutting down the Wolfpack for the final 6:07 of the first half. The 6-2 forward from Leavenworth, Kan., took three first-half charges and drew an over-the-back call at the offensive end, forcing four of NC State's eight fouls in the half. She also grabbed five defensive rebounds and a steal to personally account for 10 first-half stops.
Blackburn finished the night by drawing a total of four charges - the first Husker to draw four offensive fouls in a game since All-American Kelsey Griffin did it against Baylor in 2010. Blackburn added nine defensive boards, a block and two assists, while managing three points.
While Blackburn was a road block defensively for the NC State post game, the Huskers got big offensive contributions inside from freshman Jessica Shepard, senior Anya Kalenta and junior Allie Havers.
Shepard, a 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., scored 14 points while adding four rebounds, four assists and a career-high three blocks. It was Shepard's sixth consecutive game to score in double figures to open her career.
Kalenta, a 6-3 forward from Minsk, Belarus, led a 35-point effort by the Big Red bench with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while adding six defensive rebounds.
Havers, a 6-5 center from Mattawan, Mich., contributed eight points on 4-of-5 shooting, while pitching in four defensive boards.
Freshman Maddie Simon rounded a strong contribution off the bench with a career-high 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting including a three-pointer. She added three assists to help the Huskers amass 26 assists against just 13 turnovers on the night.
Offensively, the Huskers produced at least 88 points for the fifth straight home game to open the season by shooting a season-best 52.9 percent (37-70) from the field, including 42.9 percent (9-21) from three-point range. It marked the third time this season the Huskers shot better than 50 percent from the floor in a game - matching their season total from a year ago.
The Huskers held NC State to just 34.3 percent (23-67) shooting from the field, including 27.6 percent (8-29) in the decisive first half. The Wolfpack did knock down 7-of-26 threes (.269) and 70 percent (14-20) of their free throws. NC State outscored Nebraska at the line, 14-5, and outrebounded the Huskers, 46-38, including 19-8 on the offensive end. Nebraska won the turnover battle, 22-13, and outscored NC State 25-9 in points off turnovers in the game.
In a back-and-forth first quarter, Nebraska came out with an 18-14 edge at the end of 10 minutes. In the second quarter, NC State eliminated Nebraska's lead and tied the score at 21 with 6:08 left in the half on Amber Richardson's layup. For the rest of the quarter, it was all Huskers as they took a 41-21 lead to the locker room.
NC State turned up the intensity at the start of the third quarter, trimming NU's margin to 43-28 with 8:42 left after five straight points from Dominique Wilson. However, Shepard and Romeo answered with five straight for NU to quickly push the lead back to 20 at 48-28 with 6:54 left in the third.
NC State could get no closer than 16 the rest of the way, as Nebraska closed the third quarter with a 63-39 lead.
In the fourth, the Big Red lead ballooned to 69-42 after back-to-back baskets by Shepard off assists from Theriot with 8:27 left in the game.
Shepard and Theriot exited the game for good with 7:43 left, and the Huskers finished strong for a 21-point win.
Nebraska continues its three-game home stand with another strong opponent, when the Huskers clash with Creighton (4-3) on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Bluejays at Pinnacle Bank Arena is set for 2 p.m. Husker fans are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy with them to the game to support the Marines Toys for Tots program on Military Appreciation Day at women's basketball. Doors open at 12:30 p.m., and tickets are available now at Huskers.com.