Page hot shot again as Nebraska cruises
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BY CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star
Note to future opponents of the Nebraska women’s basketball team: Throw away those old scouting reports on Danielle Page. She’s more than just a strong interior defender and shot blocker.
On Sunday, the Huskers’ lone senior, who brought a three-year scoring average of 5.7 points into this season, established a career high for the second straight game by firing in 27 to fuel an 80-59 rout of Mississippi at the Devaney Sports Center.
The outcome came on the heels of Friday’s season-opening win against Texas-El Paso, when Page had 19 points.
“She’s incredible for us right now,” said sophomore point guard Vonnie Turner, who had a career-high 11 points and matched her previous rebounding high of five. “She’s been going hard on offense and defense. She’s passing, getting rebounds, setting picks.“
Not to mention taking a charging foul before finally coming out of Sunday’s contest with 2:29 remaining.
Yeah, Page was always in the way any time the Rebels tried to make things harder for the Huskers.
In the first half, after Ole Miss had erased a seven-point deficit to tie the game at 18, the 6-2 forward scored 12 points during a 15-0 run. Then, when the Rebels had gotten to within 56-45 after trailing by as many as 20, Page hit a shot to start an 8-0 swing.
“We’ve been telling her for three years to shoot, and she’s finally shooting,” NU coach Connie Yori said. “Obviously, she’s a more skilled player than she was three years ago and two years ago. But she played well (offensively) at the end of last year, and she’s (just) looking to score more.“
The latest surge by Page, who was in double figures in just 10 games last season, came on a day when the Huskers’ junior all-conference forward Kelsey Griffin was held to a career-low two points and without a field goal for the first time ever.
Griffin is on the mend from a rib injury suffered in an exhibition last Monday, and for a change wasn’t the focal point of Nebraska’s offense.
With junior wing Tay Hester and sophomore forward Cory Montgomery scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively, the Huskers had four players in double figures for the second game.
To Page, the balance hasn’t been all that surprising.
“Maybe looking on paper, (because) we’re real young,” she said, a reference to NU having just two players on the roster who have played more than one full season. “But in practice you can see flashes of this. We need to keep it up. I think that’s the problem with young teams.“
Ole Miss was paced by 13-point efforts by Carlo Bartee and Alliesha Easley, but lost Easley with what appeared to be a serious injury to her right knee with 4:24 to play.
No doubt, that’ll make it tougher on the Rebels to find the rhythm that led them to the Elite Eight of the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
As for the Huskers, the postseason’s a long way off. But they couldn’t feel any better about being 2-0.
Yori admitted as much when she noted how each player has contributed her own part.
“It’s amazing what happens,” Yori said, “when the cumulative effect takes over.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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