Lincoln – Freshman Natalie Romeo tied career highs with 21 points and six three-pointers, as No. 23 Nebraska overpowered Minnesota for a 74-50 women’s basketball win at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Tuesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 20-8 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten, as the Huskers notched their fourth consecutive 20-win season. The Big Red’s four-player senior class of Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample all played major roles in the win over the Golden Gophers. The Husker seniors recorded their 95th win at Nebraska, collecting more wins than any other class in history.
Minnesota slipped to 22-7 on the season and 11-6 in the Big Ten.
Cady, a 6-2 forward from Seward, Neb., outplayed reigning Big Ten and National Player of the Week Amanda Zahui B. Cady poured in 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out four assists and blocked two shots, while going 7-of-13 from the floor.
Zahui, who averaged 33 points and 28 rebounds in a pair of Gopher wins last week, managed just 12 points and six rebounds, while going 3-of-9 from the floor. In the first meeting with Minnesota, Cady had 21 points and 14 rebounds.
Sample, a 6-1 forward from Flower Mound, Texas, pitched in seven points, seven rebounds and four assists while helping to shut down Zahui inside.
Jeffery, the smallest player on the floor at 5-7, nearly produced her first career double-double with nine points, 11 rebounds and four assists. In fact, in two games against Minnesota, the senior from Vacherie, La., averaged 13.5 rebounds per game, including a career-high 16 on Dec. 29.
Laudermill added 10 points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals while controlling the defensive backcourt for the Big Red. The 5-9 guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., also hit 4-of-5 shots from the floor including both of her three-point attempts.
While the seniors controlled the game, Romeo provided the second-half fireworks. Nebraska took a 32-28 lead into the half, before Romeo buried three straight threes in the opening 4:15 of the second half. Jeffery added a three of her own as Nebraska hit its first five shots from the floor after halftime.
Before the dust settled, Nebraska erupted on an 20-2 surge in just over four minutes to claim a 52-30 lead with 15:18 left in the game. Minnesota, which had rallied from a pair of double-digit deficits in the first half, answered with six straight points, before Romeo hit her fourth three of the half. A steal and a layup by Laudermill quickly put the Big Red back up by 21 with 11:07 left, and the lead continued to grow.
Minnesota would not get the margin under 20 again, as the lead grew as large as 27 points on two occasions, the last time on an Allie Havers jumper with 1:44 left to make it 74-47. Havers finished with 10 points on the night.
In one of its most complete games of the season, Nebraska dished out a season-high 23 assists while committing just eight turnovers, despite playing without All-America point guard Rachel Theriot for the seventh consecutive game. Five Huskers had four or more assists, including freshman guard Chandler Smith who recorded a career-best four assists while matching her career high with seven rebounds.
As a team, Nebraska dominated the glass against the Gophers, outrebounding Minnesota 49-38, including five offensive rebounds by Sample.
Nebraska hit 42 percent (29-69) of its shots from the floor, including 9-of-20 three-pointers, while adding 7-of-11 free throws. Minnesota hit just 29.5 percent (18-61), while going 5-of-26 (.192) from beyond the arc. The Gophers did hit 9-of-11 free throws.
Nebraska led by double digits on two occasions in the first half, taking its biggest lead at 31-20 with 1:45 left by Laudermill. But the Gophers closed the half on an 8-1 surge to trim NU’s lead to 32-28 at the break.
The Big Red built their first double-digit lead after back-to-back jumpers by Havers to lead 14-4 with 13:45 left in the half, but the Gophers answered with an 11-0 run to briefly take a 15-14 lead with 9:30 left.
Cady led the Huskers with nine points, four rebounds and two assists, while Havers added three jumpers to finish the half with six points and four rebounds. Romeo added six points on a pair of threes, while Laudermill added five points, two assists and a steal. Sample pitched in four points, five rebounds and an assist, while Jeffery managed two points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out three assists.
Shae Kelley, who led Minnesota with 17 points and 13 rebounds on the night, had 11 points and five rebounds in the first half, while Shayne Mullaney added six points in the final minutes of the half on a pair of threes. They were Mullaney’s only points of the game.
The Huskers held Zahui to just four points and four rebounds in the first half.
Nebraska won the first-half rebounding battle, 25-18, and the turnover battle, 7-6. The Huskers hit 36.4 percent (12-33) of their first-half shots, including 3-of-9 threes, and 5-of-7 free throws. Minnesota hit 36.7 percent (11-30), including 3-of-13 threes, while connecting on 3-of-5 free throws.
Nebraska wraps up the regular season on Sunday when the Huskers take on Ohio State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Buckeyes is set for 4 p.m., with tickets available now at Huskers.com. Nebraska will celebrate Senior Day following the game with Ohio State, honoring Emily Cady, Brandi Jeffery, Tear’a Laudermill and Hailie Sample.
