Cornhusker women’s basketball wins over Wildcats, 82-72

Kelsey Griffin gave voters 36 more reasons why she is a legitimate National Player-of-the-Year candidate on Saturday.

The Nebraska senior scored a career-high 36 points, leading the No. 3 Cornhuskers to a 82-72 victory over Kansas State at the Bramlage Coliseum.

The win moved Nebraska 29-0 overall and 16-0 in the Big 12 Conference, a perfect regular season. The Huskers are the first Big 12 team to go undefeated throughout the entire season, and the 14th team to do so in women's college basketball history.

"For what we just did, to go undefeated in the best league in the country is nothing next to incredible," NU coach Connie Yori said in her postgame radio interview.

The Wildcats made it difficult for Nebraska to achieve a perfect season. Coming into the game, the Huskers were the only Big 12 North team KSU hadn't defeated.

A Cory Montgomery jumper put the Huskers up 17-13, but the Wildcats went on an 11-0 run, highlighted by three consecutive 3-pointers. Nebraska tied the score at 29, but another 11-0 run by KSU put the Wildcats up 40-29 with 3:30 left in the first half.

Nebraska was able to cut the lead to seven, as Kansas State took a 45-38 lead to halftime. It was just the second time this season and first in conference play that the Huskers trailed at halftime.

KSU was 8-12 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

"Kansas State lives and dies by the three," Yori said. "When they hit shots, they can make it a game."

The Huskers came roaring out of the gates after halftime. Nebraska started on an 11-0 in the first 2:45 of the half, forcing a KSU timeout. The run extended to 18-3 after a Griffin layup and another Wildcat timeout.

"What we did to start the second half was pretty phenomenal," Yori said. "Our guys were just like, ‘We've got to find a way to get stops. We've got to get aggressive,' and that's what we did."

That defense and aggressiveness came from Yvonne Turner and Griffin. Turner, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored all nine of her points during the 18-3 Nebraska run in the first five minutes of the second half. She also had two steals during the run.

Griffin added three steals and five points during the Husker flurry, including a three-point play that tied the score at 45.

"It's phenomenal what she did and not just because she had 36 points, but also what she did defensively possession after possession," Yori said. "That was an incredible display."

The Wildcats were only 2-for-11 from beyond the arc in the second half and were only able to pull as close as six for the rest of the game. Ashley Sweat, who scored 24 points, did her best to keep her team in the game, but Griffin was always there to counter.

"By no means was it an individual thing, but Kelsey just took over the game," Yori said. "Absolutely took over the game."

Griffin finished the game 15-for-19 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. Her 36 points, 20 of which came in the second half, were the ninth most for a single game in Husker history.

After the game Yori said there wasn't a lot of celebrating going on in the locker room.

"Everybody was kind of relieved," Yori said. "Everyone is really darn tired."

Griffin produced her fourth 30-point game of the season and helped Nebraska continue its historic season. The Huskers move their attention to next weekend's Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. Yori is just happy to have her star senior for a little bit longer.

"It's kind of nice to have Kelsey Griffin on our team," Yori said with a laugh. "I think we'll keep her."

dougburger@dailynebraskan.com