NU women impressive in season opening wins

Connie Yori came into the opening weekend of the season nervous. The Nebraska women's basketball coach said she's usually not one to feel that way, but having big-name opponents test her team early made her anything but comfortable.

"I was scared to death," Yori said. "I wondered if I set us up for failure considering how young we are."

The only thing that was scary over the weekend was the Nebraska offense. For a Nebraska team that has had its defense hyped during the preseason, it was the scoring that stole the show.

Now, Yori and the Cornhuskers are 2-0.

It all started Friday night for NU, as it welcomed in the Texas-El Paso Miners for its first regular-season game. Nebraska jumped out quick, taking a 26-12 lead.

It all changed quickly for the Big Red with just less than nine minutes left in the first half, when UTEP's Natasha Lacy and Jareica Hughes took over. They helped lead the Miner comeback and, by halftime, NU actually trailed 41-38.

Concern swept across the 2,162 fans in attendance at the Bob Devaney Sports Center as Nebraska trailed 61-55 with just more than seven minutes left in the game. Nebraska took a timeout, and Yori said that it was then that the game was won.

"I asked them if they thought they could win," Yori said. "They shook their head and said, 'Yeah, we can win.'"

NU stormed out of the timeout with junior Tay Hester knocking down a jumper and was quickly followed by a 3-pointer from freshman Kaitlyn Burke and, all of a sudden. Nebraska was within one at 61-60.

UTEP made a bucket to extend the lead to three, but Nebraska then reeled off a 13-0 run fueled by senior Danielle Page, who had nine of the 13 points.

The Huskers never looked back, sealing up an 81-74 season-opening win over the Miners.

"This (was) a very, very good opening win," Yori said. "Our players showed a great deal of toughness, and the pace of the game was a factor. We got some easy baskets and eventually we hope that wears on an opponent."

In the game, Page led Nebraska with 19 points, followed by junior Kelsey Griffin with 15, and both Hester and Burke with 13. UTEP was powered by Hughes, who put together 27 points along with nine assists.

"I think it shows great character with such a young team," Page said. "Being able to battle back from such a roller coaster showed a ton of character."

After surviving the season debut of the 2007-08 season, Yori and the Huskers said they knew what was coming to town Sunday was to be an even tougher test. The test was to come against Mississippi, a team that made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last year.

Ole Miss came in missing three key seniors from last year's team that went 24-10 before losing to eventual national champion Tennessee.

Nebraska beat Ole Miss 80-59 in a game that was over by halftime. It was the last thing the Huskers expected entering the game.

"It was a total surprise," Page said. "Coach was telling us it was going to come down to the last possession and we believed her. They are a great team, so this is a surprise for us."

More than 2,000 fans looked on as NU jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead with the help of Hester and Page. The lead would extend to 12-5 later in the half thanks to a three-pointer from Burke, and at halftime the Huskers led the Southeastern Conference power 45-30.

NU didn't let up.

Page poured in a career-high 27 points to lead NU to the dominating 21-point win in a game when the usual offensive threat in Griffin only had two points.

"I knew (Griffin) was hurting a little bit," Page said. "I think I need to keep up the offensive aggressiveness. We all need to concentrate on that and be more aggressive on the offensive end."

The Huskers will be welcoming in the Florida Gators to finish off the season-opening homestand on Saturday.

With her team now 2-0, Yori wasn't going to deny her surprise and excitement about the Huskers.

"I don't think we could ask for a lot more out of our team," Yori said. "If you would have asked me before the weekend if I would have taken 1-1, I would have. Friday night's game was key. We believe that we can beat good teams, and we feel great about being 2-0."

SPENCERSCHUBERT@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM