Honors & Awards
- School-Record 1.000 Three-Point Field Goal Percentage at Indiana (5-5, Dec. 5, 2010)
- Three-Time First-Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009, 2010, 2011)
- Two-Time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2011; Spring 2012)
- Seven-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll (Fall 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; Spring 2008, 2009, 2010)
- French Junior National Team (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Senior (2010-11)
Jessica Periago (pronounced PAIR-ee-ah-go) produced the most productive season of her career as a senior for the Huskers. The 6-4 center from Toulon, France, competed in all 31 games for NU, including starts in each of the final nine games of her career.
She produced career bests in points (81), rebounds (96), assists (22), blocked shots (14) and steals (15), while playing more minutes than her first three seasons combined. For the year she averaged 2.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.
Although she was listed as a center, Periago's nine starts came on the wing after Nebraska's guard corps was depleted by injury.
Periago notched a career high with 15 points at Indiana, when she established a school record by going 5-for-5 from three-point range. Periago added six rebounds, including a career-high four offensive boards against the Hoosiers, to go along with one block in 22 minutes. She followed with 27 minutes at Creighton, when she scored two points and added six more rebounds. She also registered one block and a steal while taking two charges in the Husker victory over the Jays.
She closed her career with eight points, three rebounds and a steal while hitting a pair of three-pointers against Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament on March 8 in Kansas City, Mo. It was her second-high scoring total of the season.
Periago also tied a career high with seven rebounds in a Husker win over Missouri on Feb. 22. She established her career single-game best in rebounds with seven in a win over Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 26, when she also set a career high with four steals.Â
Periago opened her senior season by dishing out a career-best four assists in a victory over Vermont, when she also went 3-for-3 from the field including one of NU's school-record 17 threes against the Catamounts. She tied her career high with two blocks in NU's win over eventual ACC champion Miami on Nov. 17, before matching that mark with a pair of blocks against No. 23 Iowa State on Jan. 26. She played a career-high 32 minutes at Oklahoma State on Feb. 12.
For the season, Periago scored five or more points nine times and grabbed five or more rebounds on eight occasions.
A three-time academic All-Big 12 performer, Periago appeared in 94 games during her four-year Nebraska career, helping the Huskers to the postseason three times, including trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2010. She has averaged 1.8 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. She is a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
"Jess really gained a lot of confidence last year, and she has gotten stronger and more fit in the offseason," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "She improved throughout the season and really helped us inside late in the year in the Big 12. Jess gives us some versatility, and she has been one of our few healthy post players the past couple years."
Junior (2009-10)
Periago continued to play a valuable role for the Huskers off the bench as a junior, appearing in 29 of NU's 34 games and averaged 1.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game. She produced 47 rebounds, 13 assists and 10 blocked shots, to go along with six steals.
Periago produced one of the best games of her career with a season-high 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting in NU's win over Idaho State on Nov. 19. She also set a season best by knocking down all three of her three-point attempts against the Bengals.
Three days later against Washington State, Periago notched a season high with six rebounds, while adding two points and an assist. In Nebraska's next home game against South Dakota, Periago dished out a season-high three assists, while adding three points and two rebounds. In NU's win at Miami on Dec. 5, Periago produced another career high with two blocks while adding four rebounds. She added four points, four rebounds, an assist and a block in just eight minutes at Vermont on Jan. 4.
Sophomore (2008-09)
Periago added depth to Nebraska's inside game while increasing her role throughout the course of the 2008-09 season. She averaged 2.0 points and 1.6 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per game during the season.
She appeared in 24 of NU's 31 contests, while helping the Huskers advance to the second round of the Postseason WNIT.
After playing a limited role during the non-conference season, Periago played in each of Nebraska's final 19 games following the season-ending knee injury to fellow reserve center Nikki Bober on Dec. 30.
Two-time All-Big 12 forward Kelsey Griffin was lost earlier in the year to an ankle injury and missed the entire 2008-09 campaign.
In Big 12 Conference play, Periago averaged 2.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.3 minutes per game. She hit 44.1 percent (15-34) of her shots from the field, including 4-of-14 three-pointers. She also hit 6-of-7 free throws (85.7 percent). She added five blocked shots, two steals and three assists in league action.
Periago helped the Huskers early in conference play setting a season high with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field at No. 16 Texas on Jan. 14. She scored eight points in a four-minute stretch in the first half to help shoot NU to a 10-point lead over the Longhorns, who had been ranked as high as No. 4 nationally in late-December. She added two rebounds and an assist in 13 minutes of action against UT.
Periago added a season-high-tying 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer, in Nebraska's regular-season home finale against Colorado on March 3. In the win over the Buffaloes, Periago added five rebounds and a blocked shot in 18 minutes of action.
She scored three more points while pulling down five rebounds with one assist in a season-high 24 minutes in Nebraska's road win over Oklahoma State to close the regular season on March 7. Against the Cowgirls, Periago knocked down a three-pointer with the score tied at 52 to help ignite a 13-3 NU run to take control down the stretch.
Periago added seven points, three rebounds, an assist and a block in a narrow loss to No. 8 Baylor on Feb. 4. She scored four points on back-to-back shots midway through the second half to go along with a block in NU's 62-56 win over Texas Tech on Feb. 14. She also pulled down a season-high six boards, including four offensive rebounds, at Kansas on Feb. 28.
Periago may have made her greatest gains on the glass during the 2008-09 season. After grabbing only three total rebounds in 10 games as a freshman, she continued to increase her production on the boards.
In NU's last five games of 2008-09, Periago averaged 4.6 rebounds per game, grabbing 23 of her 38 total rebounds on the season.
In addition to Periago's contribution on the court, she earned first-team academic All-Big 12 honors as a sophomore, while adding selections to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll during both the fall and spring semesters of 2008-09.
Freshman (2007-08)
Periago appeared in 10 games for the Huskers as a true freshman. She set a season high with five points in NU's win at Long Beach State on Dec. 15.
Periago, who played in the first half against the 49ers to help fill the void left by the injured Kelsey Griffin, also hit the first three-pointer of her career against Long Beach State.
She added a jumper from just inside the arc in Nebraska's win over Denver on Dec. 30.
Periago pitched in the first two free throws of her career in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 2, when she again saw action in both the first and second halves.
She made her first Big 12 Conference appearance in Nebraska's 20-point victory over Kansas on Jan. 12, and also saw action in Nebraska's win over No. 21 Texas A&M on Jan. 23, and NU's win over Missouri on Feb. 21.
Periago enjoyed a solid first year in the classroom for the Huskers, claiming spots on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll in both the fall and spring semesters.
High School
Periago graduated from the Institut National du Sport et de l'Education Physique (INSEP) in Paris where she played for Coach Francois Gomez.
One of the top young players in France, Periago played for the French National Team at the 2005 U-18 European Championships.
An excellent all-around athlete, Periago also played soccer, beach volleyball and enjoys swimming.
Personal
The daughter of David and Helene Periago, Jessica was born on Jan. 30, 1988, in Toulon, France. She has one brother, Raphael.
A standout in the classroom, Periago was a three-time first-team academic All-Big 12 selection and a seven-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. She added a pair of Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll selections in 2011-12, before earning her bachelor's degree from Nebraska in May of 2012.
During the summers of 2009 and 2010, Periago worked in the Nebraska Athletic Media Relations Office. She contributed to the content in the women's basketball media guide and assisted with the design of schedule cards and computer desktop wallpapers. Periago also assisted on the field at Nebraska's Football Fan Day.
Periago chose Nebraska over Old Dominion, Washington, Colorado State and San Francisco.
Five Facts About Jessica
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Jessica's parents listen to every Nebraska women's basketball game live on Huskers.com, even though the time zone differences in France regularly mean 1 or 2 a.m. tip-offs for night games.
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Toulon is located in Southern France and is one of the 10 largest metro areas in France with approximately 600,000 people. It is the home of France's most important naval base in the Mediterranean.
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Jessica says she is addicted to "Desperate Housewives."
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Jessica left home when she was 14 to live in a dormitory in order to play basketball at the highest level.
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Jessica has visited eight countries.
Periago's Career Statistics
Â
Year
G-GS
FG-FGA
Pct.
3P-3PA
Pct.
FT-FTA
Pct.
TRB-Avg.
PF-D
A
TO
Blk
ST
Pts-Avg.
2007-08 10-0 3-8 .375 1-2 .500 2-2 1.000 3-0.3 3-0 1 4 0 0 9-0.9 2008-09 24-0 19-48 .396 5-19 .263 6-7 .867 38-1.6 17-0 5 16 6 3 49-2.0 2009-10 29-0 13-43 .302 5-21 .238 2-7 .286 47-1.6 20-0 13 13 10 6 33-1.1 2010-11 31-9 30-89 .437 19-56 .339 2-6 .333 96-3.1 32-0 22 31 14 15 81-2.6Career
94-9
65-188
.346
30-98
.306
12-22
.545
184-2.0
72-0
41
64
30
24
172-1.8
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