The Nebraska women's basketball team used strong defense to shut down Arkansas-Pine Bluff 67-39 on Wednesday night.
CURT McKEEVER / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, January 2, 2008 6:00 pm
Connie Yori was calling for some “positive pills” to settle her stomach after the Nebraska women’s basketball team’s 67-39 victory against Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday night.
But if the Huskers’ sixth-year coach was upset during the first five minutes of either half, then she’d better double check to make she doesn’t have an ulcer.
True, at times NU looked ragged against physical man defense, matching its season high of 24 turnovers. But with the work the Huskers did to start the first and second halves, it mattered little.
During its first seven possessions of the game, Pine Bluff went 0-for-4 from the field and committed four turnovers while falling behind 11-0.
Trailing 36-20 at halftime, the Lady Golden Lions then went the next 5:26 without scoring, going 0-for-4 again with seven turnovers.
“That’s been our No. 1 goal every game, to come out the first five minutes and bury them,” sophomore guard Vonnie Turner said.
Coming off a 73-38 win against Denver in which it gave up a season-low 13 field goals, Nebraska allowed only 16 baskets Wednesday while notching a program first —holding back-to-back NCAA Division I opponents to less than 40 points.
With Turner matching her career high of eight steals, NU finished with a season-best 19.
OK, so the Huskers matched their season high in turnovers. Their defense still usually bailed them out, as Pine Bluff (2-9) scored just six points off those mistakes.
“We’re definitely a better ball-pressure team than at any point since I’ve been here,” said Yori, shortly after voicing her disgust with the ugliness of Wednesday’s game. “We can be good defensively, (but) we break down a lot.”
Perhaps a more-disciplined team — like Wednesday’s Big 12 Conference opponent, Texas — will make the Huskers pay?
Through 14 games, NU has relied heavily on its pressure defense to build an 11-3 record.
Even with some sloppiness Wednesday, Nebraska’s lead never dipped less than 15 points in the final 20 minutes. And after Pine Bluff got to that point for the third time, the Huskers put an exclamation mark on the outcome by going on a second 11-0 run that let them ease off during the final five minutes.
“It kind of turned into a track meet for portions of the game, and that’s OK with us,” said senior forward Danielle Page, who barely extended her streak of scoring in double figures in home games with a 10-point effort. “I think we’re well-conditioned, and we can run with a lot of teams.”
Turner also had 10 points and, along with being the game’s biggest harasser, added five assists and five rebounds.
Freshman guard Dominique Kelley led all scorers with 12 points, scoring nine of Nebraska’s first 13.
“It goes down as a win,” Page said, “but I don’t think we played very well.”
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.