NU women’s basketball opens season with two convincing wins

Nebraska coach Connie Yori stressed the importance of a strong start to the season in the week leading up to the Cornhuskers' season-opening weekend.

The players got the message.

Nebraska defeated the first two opponents of the 2009 campaign handily, starting with Davidson on Thursday night. The Huskers made their first nine shots and raced out to a 19-4 lead five minutes into the season en route to a 86-62 victory. NU shot 63 percent in the first half and 45.6 percent for the game.

The victory moved Nebraska to 34-2 all-time in season-opening games.

"It was important that we got a good start," Yori said. "I didn't expect us to pounce on them the way we did, but it was kind of fun to watch."

Playing a key role in the scoring explosion was freshman point guard Lindsey Moore, who was competing in her first collegiate-level game. Moore dished out eight assists, including seven in the first half, and committed just one turnover while scoring five points. Moore said she used NU's two exhibition games as her "nervous games" and was able to get the jitters out before Thursday's matchup.

"I wanted to go into the game with the mentality that it's just another game," Moore said.

Yori said Moore played with tremendous composure for her age.

"She was pretty impressive for a freshman in her opening start," Yori said. "She sees things that most freshmen don't see, in fact most upperclassmen don't see."

While the youth did the distributing, it was the Huskers' experienced players who did most of the scoring. NU's top six scorers were seniors, led by forwards Kelsey Griffin and Cory Montgomery, who scored 13 and 11 points, respectively. Guard Nicole Neals also scored a career-high 12 points.

"We started off great," Neals said. "I'd like to see us be more consistent, not trail off a little bit as we did. But it was a good first game."

Establishing an early lead allowed NU to get some of the team's younger players significant second-half minutes. All 14 players on the roster saw action, and 12 of them played at least 10 minutes.

"We got a lot of players a lot of playing time this weekend," Yori said. "It's nice to get some kids more opportunities."

NU then headed to Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon to take on UNLV, a team the Huskers had never beaten.

For this game, the Huskers used a different formula for victory. While NU's shooting ran hot and cold, its defense and rebounding were dominant throughout the 73-51 win.

The Huskers took seven charges, had nine steals and blocked four shots, including the first career rejection for the 5-foot-6 Neals. The Rebels made just six shots in the second half and shot 28 percent overall.

"We're getting better defensively," Yori said. "You pick up six or seven charges in a game, that's pretty good. That can deter drives. It's good to see that each game we've gotten better defensively."

NU also controlled the glass. The Huskers outrebounded UNLV 44-37, led by Griffin's 13 boards.

Offensively, the inside presence of Griffin and Montgomery prompted UNLV to play a zone defense for much of the game. Guards Dominique Kelley and Yvonne Turner took advantage of the open looks that were created, scoring 17 points each and combining for five 3-pointers. As a team, NU made nine 3-point goals.