Husker women rout Jayhawks
There was an extremely simple formula to the Nebraska women’s basketball team’s 71-51 victory against Kansas in the Bob Devaney Sports Center Saturday: Find the holes in the Jayhawks’ defense and then fill it up from the free throw line.
The Huskers feasted in both areas.
Ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference with a 60.4 free throw percentage entering the game, NU hit 30 of 32 from the charity stripe while posting its fifth straight double-digit win against Kansas in the Sports Center.
“Believe it or not, we’ve known we can make free throws,” said junior forward Kelsey Griffin, who had 15 points thanks to hitting nine of 11 foul shots.
That’s right. Every other Husker who stepped to the line — and there were seven of them — was perfect.
“I’ve watched us shoot free throws. We’re better than we’ve shown this year,” coach Connie Yori contended.
That’s why she hasn’t changed up the practice routine, or increased the number of ’gassers’ to emphasize her point about the importance of knocking down the freebies.
(Although, as Griffin wryly noted, this team has no fear of extra running, perhaps because its transition game is a huge key to its success.)
Any way, mum’s been the word on free throws.
“If you get too caught up talking about it, it kind of gets into their head a little more, so (my thought is to) let them play through it,” Yori said. “This team’s goal is to be a 70 percent free throw shooting team, which is very reasonable for us.“
Maybe so. On Saturday’s performance alone, Nebraska (13-3, 2-0) increased its season average by four percentage points.
What led to so many trips to the line against KU was a constant attack at a KU club that desperately missed forward Taylor McIntosh and guard Danielle McCray in the latter stages of the first half.
Kansas led 19-16 when McCray drew her second foul and went to the bench with 6:50 remaining. On the next possession after Tay Hester hit a pair of free throws, McIntosh drew her second foul while Griffin was hitting a shot, and she, too, took a seat.
Those sequences were the beginnings of a 17-2 run by Nebraska. The Huskers led 38-26 at the break, and, thereafter, never allowed the Jayhawks to get any closer.
“It’s one of those stretches where you just keep playing and all of a sudden you look up at the scoreboard and go ’Whoa,’ ” said NU guard Kala Kuhlmann, who sounded equally impressed that her squad maintained its comfortable edge the rest of the way. “It’s really easy to let down once you get up 15. But against any Big 12 team you can’t relax at all. You have to keep playing hard, and we’re starting to see that.“
Especially on defense.
Since giving up 86 points at Ohio State four games ago, Nebraska has allowed 38, 39, 45 and 51.
On Saturday, the Huskers got outrebounded 38-27, but their pressing style helped create 24 turnovers and limited Kansas to 33.9 percent shooting.
Oh yeah, the Jayhawks (11-4, 0-2) also managed to get to the line just eight times.
“In regards to the press, we didn’t turn it over, but it got us out of our rhythm and timing. Most people probably thought our offense was ’5-4-3-2-1,’ said KU coach Bonnie Henrickson, referencing the numerous times her team’s bench screamed out the final seconds of the shot clock. “We lost our poise.“
Briefly
* Lost in all of Nebraska’s success was Danielle Page’s seven blocks, the second time she’s finished with that number (which is two shy of the school-record nine she had last year against Baylor).
* The Huskers’ 93.8 percent accuracy on free throws, as well as the 30 makes, did not crack its all-time Top 10 lists.
* NU plays at Oklahoma on Wednesday and Iowa State on Saturday.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
The Huskers feasted in both areas.
Ranked 11th in the Big 12 Conference with a 60.4 free throw percentage entering the game, NU hit 30 of 32 from the charity stripe while posting its fifth straight double-digit win against Kansas in the Sports Center.
“Believe it or not, we’ve known we can make free throws,” said junior forward Kelsey Griffin, who had 15 points thanks to hitting nine of 11 foul shots.
That’s right. Every other Husker who stepped to the line — and there were seven of them — was perfect.
“I’ve watched us shoot free throws. We’re better than we’ve shown this year,” coach Connie Yori contended.
That’s why she hasn’t changed up the practice routine, or increased the number of ’gassers’ to emphasize her point about the importance of knocking down the freebies.
(Although, as Griffin wryly noted, this team has no fear of extra running, perhaps because its transition game is a huge key to its success.)
Any way, mum’s been the word on free throws.
“If you get too caught up talking about it, it kind of gets into their head a little more, so (my thought is to) let them play through it,” Yori said. “This team’s goal is to be a 70 percent free throw shooting team, which is very reasonable for us.“
Maybe so. On Saturday’s performance alone, Nebraska (13-3, 2-0) increased its season average by four percentage points.
What led to so many trips to the line against KU was a constant attack at a KU club that desperately missed forward Taylor McIntosh and guard Danielle McCray in the latter stages of the first half.
Kansas led 19-16 when McCray drew her second foul and went to the bench with 6:50 remaining. On the next possession after Tay Hester hit a pair of free throws, McIntosh drew her second foul while Griffin was hitting a shot, and she, too, took a seat.
Those sequences were the beginnings of a 17-2 run by Nebraska. The Huskers led 38-26 at the break, and, thereafter, never allowed the Jayhawks to get any closer.
“It’s one of those stretches where you just keep playing and all of a sudden you look up at the scoreboard and go ’Whoa,’ ” said NU guard Kala Kuhlmann, who sounded equally impressed that her squad maintained its comfortable edge the rest of the way. “It’s really easy to let down once you get up 15. But against any Big 12 team you can’t relax at all. You have to keep playing hard, and we’re starting to see that.“
Especially on defense.
Since giving up 86 points at Ohio State four games ago, Nebraska has allowed 38, 39, 45 and 51.
On Saturday, the Huskers got outrebounded 38-27, but their pressing style helped create 24 turnovers and limited Kansas to 33.9 percent shooting.
Oh yeah, the Jayhawks (11-4, 0-2) also managed to get to the line just eight times.
“In regards to the press, we didn’t turn it over, but it got us out of our rhythm and timing. Most people probably thought our offense was ’5-4-3-2-1,’ said KU coach Bonnie Henrickson, referencing the numerous times her team’s bench screamed out the final seconds of the shot clock. “We lost our poise.“
Briefly
* Lost in all of Nebraska’s success was Danielle Page’s seven blocks, the second time she’s finished with that number (which is two shy of the school-record nine she had last year against Baylor).
* The Huskers’ 93.8 percent accuracy on free throws, as well as the 30 makes, did not crack its all-time Top 10 lists.
* NU plays at Oklahoma on Wednesday and Iowa State on Saturday.
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
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