Defense leads Cornhuskers to win

Connie Yori's century-mark win at Nebraska wasn't routine by any means.

The sixth-year Cornhusker women's basketball coach notched the career milestone Wednesday night, defeating reigning co-Big 12 Conference champion and No. 21-ranked Texas A&M 73-60 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

It's a win Yori said was won by her team's defense yet again. The Huskers (15-4, 4-1 Big 12) forced A&M (13-6, 1-4) to turn the ball over a season-high 30 times in the contest.

"Obviously, our pressure was key," Yori said. "I wasn't expecting to turn A&M over 30 times, but our pressure was good. I thought that was the key to the game."

Forcing a defending Big 12 champ to that many turnovers may be one thing to celebrate for NU, but it may not have been the most impressive statistic of the night. The Huskers held the Aggies to just four points for nine of the remaining 10 minutes in the game.

It was a defensive stretch when NU sophomore guard Yvonne Turner didn't know what was going through her thought process.

"There wasn't really anything going through my mind," Turner said. "We were just trying to hold our composure and not to rush things. That's where we really did a great job, and it helped us keep that composure."

The game started off quick for the Huskers, as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead, but A&M responded with 10 unanswered points to give the Aggies the early edge.

Nebraska soon fought back, keeping the game deadlocked for most of the first half. It was when the score was 29-25 in favor of the Huskers that NU was able to slowly pull away.

Behind a six-point surge from senior center/forward Danielle Page, Nebraska was able to head into the locker room on a 13-4 run, making the score 42-29 at the half.

For playing a team that was picked to win the Big 12 title this year, NU didn't seem shy against a ranked Aggies squad.

"We don't try to go into any game with that mentality," said Nebraska junior forward Kelsey Griffin. "If you are worried or nervous about teams, then some things happen to you. We knew that A&M was a great ball team, and that it was going to be a great matchup.

The start of the second half proved just that.

The Aggies quickly erased their 13-point halftime deficit to just five, behind seven early points from A&M forward Danielle Gant. When the game was in doubt, NU responded.

The Huskers went on a 16-2 run, which all but capped off the defending conference champs. The run was fueled by several Huskers, but 11 of the 16 came from Page and freshman guard Dominique Kelley.

Page finished the game with a game-high 25 points, and was joined by Griffin (16), Turner (11) and Kelley (10) in double-figure scoring. The win pushes NU to the 15-win plateau this season, and Yori said she's pleased with her team's effort Wednesday night.

"Once we settled down on offense and quit turning the ball over, we did a pretty good job on executing," Yori said. "We're a pressure team, and we obviously won the battle of that, and that's what made the difference."

The road doesn't get any easier for the Huskers, as they prepare to make the trip down to Waco, Texas, to take on sixth-ranked Baylor on Saturday. The Bears beat Missouri 72-57 Wednesday night.

The Bears come into the matchup with NU undefeated in the conference to go with a 17-1 overall record and 10-game winning streak. Yori said she's glad with the result of Wednesday night, but added that there is still a lot of work to be done for Saturday's game.

"We've played a really difficult stretch, and Saturday is not going to be any easier with the conference favorites in Baylor," Yori said. "We need to keep playing with energy and trying to get better in practice."

spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com