Nebraska’s Jessica Shepard captured the first Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Week honor of the season, while sophomore Natalie Romeo earned a spot on the weekly honor roll for her outstanding season-opening performance, the conference office announced on Monday.

Shepard, a 6-4 forward from Fremont, Neb., notched the first double-double by a freshman in a career debut in school history with 24 points and 13 rebounds in Saturday’s 96-46 win over Arkansas Pine Bluff at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Her 24 points surpassed the previous NU season-opening record by a freshman of 19 points, and crushed the previous Husker freshman season-opening rebound mark of eight.

Shepard added three assists and a game-high three steals in a tremendous all-around debut.

Shepard is the first Husker to win a Big Ten freshman weekly award since Rachel Theriot earned an honor on Feb. 5, 2013.

Romeo, a 5-7 sophomore from Martinez, Calif., produced the best performance by any Husker in a season-opening game in school history, pouring in 30 points while knocking down 6-of-9 three-pointers. It was the first 30-point performance by a Husker in 42 season openers.

Romeo’s career-high scoring effort came in just 26 minutes of Nebraska’s 96-46 win over Arkansas Pine Bluff. It also included a career-high matching four assists.

Romeo did not start in the game after battling illness and missing multiple practices during the week.

Romeo, Shepard and the rest of the Huskers will be back in action on Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena when they take on North Florida. Tip off between the Big Red and the Ospreys is set for 7 p.m.