Dominique Kelley

Honors & Awards

• No. 24 on Nebraska Career Scoring List (1,107 points)
• Big 12 Player of the Week (Nov. 22, 2010)
• Honorable-Mention All-Big 12 (2010)
• 109 Consecutive Starts to Open Career (2007-10)
• No. 2 on NU Single-Season Free Throw List (165, 2010)
• No. 9 on NU Career Free Throws Made List (383)
• No. 9 on NU Career Free Throws Attempted List (490)
• One of Seven Freshmen in Nebraska History to Start Every Game (2008)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Spring 2012)
• WBCA Honorable-Mention High School All-American (2007)
• Gatorade Nebraska High School Player of the Year (2007)
• Honorary Captain Lincoln Journal Star Super-State Team (2007)
• First-Team All-Nebraska (Omaha World-Herald, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• First-Team Super-State (Lincoln Journal Star, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• No. 169 Player in the Nation (All-Star Girls Report, 2006)
• No. 50 Point Guard in the Nation (All-Star Girls Report, 2006)

Senior (2010-11)
Nebraska's senior leader, Dominique Kelley started 109 consecutive games to open her NU career before having that streak snapped against Louisville in Las Vegas on Dec. 20. The 5-7 guard from Lincoln sat out games with the Cardinals and South Florida (Dec. 30) and Florida A&M (Jan. 2) because of knee pain. She had previously undergone knee surgery on Sept. 29.

Kelley averaged 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest through her first 11 games as a starter during her senior season. After missing games with Louisville, South Florida and Florida A&M to close non-conference play, she attempted to return to action for the Big 12 opener against Oklahoma on Jan. 8. Kelley had four points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in eight minutes off the bench against the Sooners, but her knee pain was so severe that she was unable to return.

She did not practice the entire conference season and returned only in a ceremonial start on Senior Night against Colorado on March 2, when she played the first eight seconds before being subbed out to a standing ovation. She also played the the final 3.7 seconds against the Buffaloes, initiating a full-court inbounds play for a last-second shot attempt.

Kelley is ranked No. 23 on NU's career scoring list with 1,107 points, after averaging 13.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 13 appearances as a senior. She also ranked as one of the top 10 free throw shooters in Nebraska history, finishing ninth in career free throws made (383) and attempted (490). 

Kelley's 90.7 free throw percentage (68-75) as a senior ranks as the third-best single-season mark in school history.

Kelley erupted for a career-high 25 points and matched a career-best with nine rebounds in a win over Miami on Nov. 17. She also dished out five assists against the Canes. She added 22 points while posting the second-best free throw shooting effort in school history by knocking down 13-of-13 attempts at the stripe in a win over Saint Mary's on Nov. 20. For her efforts in those two games, Kelley earned the first Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honor of her career.

Kelley added 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals to lead NU in all four categories in a loss at Indiana on Dec. 5. She has scored in double figures nine times this season, including three 20-point efforts. She owns six career 20-point scoring performances.

The 5-7 guard out of Lincoln Northeast High School became the 26th Husker in history reach 1,000 points, when she converted a three-point play in the opening minutes of NU's win at Washington State on Nov. 22. She is one of 32 Huskers in history to achieve 1,000 career points.

Junior (2009-10)
An anchor in Nebraska's backcourt for the third straight season, Kelley produced one of the best NCAA Tournaments in school history, averaging 18.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game to help Nebraska to its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16.

Kelley ended her junior season with back-to-back then-career-high 22-point efforts against No. 22 UCLA and No. 19 Kentucky. In three tournament games, Kelley hit 60 percent (18-30) of her shots from the field including 3-of-4 three-pointers and 16-of-22 free throws.

Kelley closed the year with five straight double-figure scoring efforts and 15 in her last 18 games. She averaged 13.4 points over the final 18 contests, including 16.8 in the final five games. She ranked second on NU's season free throws made list with 165, trailing only Kelsey Griffin's school-record 189 in 2009-10.

Kelley continued to improve as a junior, averaging 12.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists. She produced double figures 25 times, including 11 games with 15 or more points. She also pulled down six or more rebounds 10 times.

She had 19 points at Missouri Feb. 13, and 18 in a loss to No. 11 Texas A&M in the Big 12 semifinals on March 13. She also scored 18 in a win over No. 19 Texas (Jan. 12), 18 more at Colorado (Jan. 30), and 18 in a win at Saint Mary's (Nov. 28). Kelley had 17 points at UNLV (Nov. 15), and scored 16 points on three occasions (Kansas-March 3, at Texas Tech, at Miami).

Sophomore (2008-09)
Kelley started all 31 games and averaged 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds and a team-leading 2.5 assists per game to help the Huskers to the second round of the Postseason WNIT.

She improved her production in nearly every category as a sophomore, including scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, three-point shooting and free throw shooting, while playing four more mintues per game.

She hit 39.3 percent (22-56) of her three-point attempts, while connecting on 77 percent (87-113) of her free throws.

Kelley provided a more consistent scoring threat as a sophomore, producing double figures 16 times after managing double digits just seven times as a freshman. She pumped in a season-high 21 points in a win over Butler in Albuquerque, N.M., on Nov. 28. She produced season-bests with 11-of-12 free throw shooting against the Bulldogs, while also hitting 5-of-8 shots from the field. She added her first career blocked shot.

After opening the season with eight points and seven rebounds in a win over Weber State, Kelley scored 16 points and dished out four assists to help the Huskers past Creighton in Omaha on Nov. 17. She added 14 points, four rebounds, a career-high six assists and two steals in a win over Southern Utah on Nov. 22.

She produced double figures five times in a six-game stretch beginning with 12 points in a win over Oral Roberts on Dec. 2. She pumped in 16 points against Cal State Bakersfield, before adding 11 points in three straight games against Long Beach State, UTEP and No. 24 Arizona State. Kelley's effort against the Sun Devils helped the Huskers knock off the eventual NCAA Elite Eight qualifiers.

Kelley opened Big 12 play with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists against NCAA Final Four qualifier Oklahoma on Jan. 10. She added 12 points against NCAA Elite Eight qualifier Iowa State on Jan. 24, before contributing 16 points and four assists in a last-second loss at Colorado on Jan. 31. She was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range against the Buffaloes.

She added 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and a career-high three steals to lead Nebraska to a win over Texas Tech on Feb. 14. She poured in 16 points and grabbed six rebounds in NU's win over Missouri on Feb. 21, before adding 12 points and six boards at Kansas on Feb. 28. She added 13 points in NU's Senior Night win over Colorado on March 3, before capping the regular season with 10 points, five assists and a career-high three steals in a win at Oklahoma State on March 7.

Freshman (2007-08)
Kelley ranked eighth among all Big 12 freshmen in scoring (6.4 ppg) and rebounding (2.9 rpg), while ranking third in assists (2.0 apg).

Her 17 three-pointers and 37.8 percent accuracy both ranked seventh among league freshmen.

Kelley started all 33 games as a true freshman, while helping the Huskers to their third NCAA Tournament win in school history. She established a season high with 16 points in NU's win over Florida on Nov. 17. In just the third game of her career, Kelley helped NU to a 27-point win over the traditional SEC power Gators.

She added 15 points, including a career-best three three-pointers, to go along with a career-high nine rebounds in a win over Denver on Dec. 30.

Kelley had 13 points and seven boards in a win over Akron on Nov. 25. She closed non-conference play with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in just 20 minutes in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 2.

In the Huskers' 13-point win over eventual Big 12 Tournament champion and NCAA Elite Eight qualifier Texas A&M on Jan. 23, Kelley sparked NU with 10 points, a season-high five assists and two steals.

She added 10 points to help seal NU's win at Colorado on Feb. 6. Kelley added 10 points and five rebounds at Big 12 regular-season champion Kansas State on Feb. 27.

Kelley helped the Huskers to their third NCAA Tournament win in history with five points and five rebounds in a 61-58 victory over Xavier at College Park, Md., on March 23. She added four points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in just 11 minutes of action because of foul trouble in NU's setback to top-seeded Maryland in the second round on March 25.

Kelley played 22 minutes per contest and hit 43.9 percent (65-148) from the field, including 37.8 percent (17-45) from three-point range. She also knocked down 71.6 percent (63-88) of her free throws on the year.

High School
The top player in the state of Nebraska as a senior in 2006-07, Kelley was named the Gatorade Nebraska Player of the Year after an outstanding final season at Lincoln Northeast High School. She was one of 20 players to earn honorable-mention All-America honors from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, behind the 20 players who were chosen to play in the WBCA High School All-America Game at the 2007 NCAA Women's Final Four.

The honorary captain of the Lincoln Journal Star's Super-State team in 2007, Kelley finished with a school-record 595 points, just 19 points shy of Nebraska's all-time single-season Class A scoring record of 614 points set by former Big Eight Player of the Year Maurtice Ivy from Omaha Central.

Kelley showed her explosiveness by twice scoring a school-record 37 points in a game as a senior, on her way to averaging 24.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 2.0 assists per game for the Rockets. She helped Coach Rich Olson's team to a 22-2 record.

Before her senior season, Kelley was ranked among the top 200 players overall in the nation. She led the Rockets to the Class A state championship with a perfect 24-0 record as a sophomore in 2004-05, and a state runner-up finish with a 24-1 record as a junior in 2005-06. The Rockets' only loss came to former NU teammate Yvonne Turner and Bellevue East in the state title game. The loss snapped Northeast's 48-game winning streak. Kelley scored 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the field and grabbed eight boards in the 2006 state title game.

Overall, Kelley led Northeast to a 70-3 record in her final three years at the school. As a junior, Kelley averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, after pouring in 14.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. She added 11 points and four rebounds per game as a freshman at Lincoln Northeast. Her top individual performances included a 28-point, six-rebound effort in a win over Lincoln East in 2005-06.

Kelley earned first-team Super-State honors from the Lincoln Journal Star and first-team All-Nebraska accolades from the Omaha World-Herald in 2006. In addition to earning all-city and all-conference honors, Kelley was ranked as the No. 169 player overall and the No. 50 point guard nationally by All-Star Girls Report during the summer of 2006.

She was a member of the Omaha Crusaders club team and played on the Daubert/Pinnacle All-Star team.

In addition to being a solid student at Lincoln Northeast, Kelley was also involved in many extra-curricular activities off the basketball court, including Pershing Pals, Lincoln Northeast Peer Helpers, Youth Leadership Lincoln and Character Counts.

Personal
The daughter of Dionne Key, Dominique was born Nov. 20, 1988, in Lincoln. She has three sisters, Taneah Kelley, TeArah Parks, and Amira. She also has two brothers DeShawn and Esias. Dominique's cousin, Trevino Woods, played football at Kentucky.

Kelley chose Nebraska over Colorado, Creighton, Missouri, Iowa, Iowa State, Colorado State and New Mexico.

Kelley earned her bachelor's degree in broadcasting from Nebraska in 2012. She earned her master's degree in education administration in 2014, after spending the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons as an NU graduate assistant.

She was the coordinator of basketball operations at Drake in 2014-15, before being promoted to assistant coach in 2015-16. She returned to Lincoln in 2016, and she and her husband, Clyde Johnson, have one son, Kyrie. She enters her fourth season as the head coach at Lincoln High School in 2021-22.

Kelley's Career Statistics

Year	G-GS	FG-FGA	Pct.	3P-3PA	Pct.	FT-FTA	Pct.	TRB-Avg.	PF-D	A	TO	Blk	ST	Pts-Avg.
2007-08	33-33	65-148	.439	17-45	.378	63-88	.716	97-2.9	62-0	66	54	0	22	210-6.4
2008-09	31-31	96-240	.400	22-56	.393	87-113	.770	101-3.3	48-0	76	72	1	25	301-9.7
2009-10	34-34	120-268	.448	22-51	.431	165-214	.771	131-3.9	52-0	64	76	1	28	427-12.6
2010-11	13-12	47-107	.439	7-23	.304	68-75	.907	58-4.5	28-0	40	37	0	13	169-13.0
Career	111-110	328-763	.430	68-175	.389	383-490	.782	387-3.5	190-0	246	239	2	88	1,107-10.0