Iowa City, Iowa – Tear’a Laudermill scored a career-high 26 points and Jordan Hooper added 25 points and 13 rebounds to power Nebraska to an 80-67 women’s basketball win at Iowa on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers improved to 15-5 overall and 5-3 in the Big Ten while notching their seventh consecutive victory in the series with the Hawkeyes over the last three seasons. Iowa slipped to 17-6 overall and 5-4 in the conference, as the Huskers snapped Iowa’s three-game winning streak.
In the best all-around performance of her career, Laudermill erupted for 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range to tie her career high with four threes. She also went a perfect 4-for-4 at thre free throw line, while grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists in 33 minutes. Laudermill scored Nebraska’s final six points to close out the win, after starting point guard Rachel Theriot fouled out with 3:33 left. Theriot finished with 10 points and four assists.
“It is so much fun to see a player mature as both a player and a person,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “T is definitely doing that right in front of our eyes. She is playing great basketball and having a lot of fun doing it. She was huge for us today.”
Hooper produced her second straight 25-point performance, while adding a game-high 13 rebounds. Hooper added three assists, two steals and a block. She produced her Big Ten-leading 10th double-double while tying 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings for second in career double-doubles at NU with 36. Hooper hit 11-of-22 shots from the field, including 3-of-8 three-pointers.
Junior forward Hailie Sample added a strong floor game with 10 points – all in the second half – while adding six rebounds, two assists and a block. Sample went 3-for-5 from the field and 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
In their second straight 80-plus point performance, the Huskers hit 50 percent (31-62) of their shots from the field, including 7-of-18 three-pointers (.389). The Huskers were also a sizzling 11-of-12 from the free throw line. Nebraska outrebounded Iowa 39-30, while matching Iowa with 11 turnovers for the game. The Huskers committed just three turnovers in the second half, after taking a 38-27 lead to the locker room at halftime.
Iowa hit 44.3 percent (27-61) of its shots, including 7-of-19 three-pointers. The Hawkeyes were also 6-of-10 at the free throw line. Samantha Logic, who hit 5-of-7 threes, led Iowa with 22 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Bethany Doolittle pitched in 16 points and five blocked shots, while Theairra Taylor contributed 15 points and six rebounds. Ally Disterhoft gave Iowa four players in double figures with 12 points, the rest of the Hawkeyes contributed just two points.
Nebraska got huge first halves from Laudermill and Hooper to take a 38-27 halftime lead. Laudermill, who was coming off back-to-back career-best 18-point efforts, erupted for 15 points in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including 3-of-4 from three-point range. Laudermill added three rebounds and a pair of assists despite being challenged by a pair of early foul calls.
Laudermill’s explosiveness created space for Hooper to go to work. With the two teams tied at 19 with eight minutes left in the half, Hooper scored seven straight points to ignite a 14-0 run over the next five-plus minutes. Hooper capped the run with a jumper with 2:28 left to put NU up 33-19, before Doolittle scored to end a six-minute scoreless drought for the Hawkeyes.
Hooper hit two more jumers to end the half with 14 points, including a pair of threes, while adding five rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. Hooper went 6-of-13 from the field in the half, including 2-of-4 from long range.
Laudermill and Hooper combined for 12 of NU’s 16 first-half field goals, as the Huskers hit 45.7 percent (16-35) of their first-half shots. They also combined to hit 5-of-8 threes, while NU went 5-of-11 from long range. Sadie Murren closed the half by hitting 1-of-2 free throws with 3.8 seconds left to end the first-half scoring.
Taylor kept Iowa in it in the first half, scoring 10 of Iowa’s first 19 while going 4-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-3 threes. Samantha Logic and Doolittle each added three field goals, but the Hawkeyes went just 11-of-27 from the floor in the half, including 3-of-8 from long range. Disterhoft hit 2-of-3 free throws to account for all of Iowa’s points at the line.
Nebraska outrebounded the Hawkeyes 22-15 in the first half, but lost the turnover battle 8-7.
Hooper, Laudermill, Theriot and Sample made sure the Hawkeyes didn’t get any closer in the second half. Hooper scored the first seven points in the first two minutes of the second half to push NU’s lead to 18 points and force and Iowa timeout. The Big Red lead grew as large as 19 points, and the Huskers never allowed the Hawkeyes to trim it closer than 11 points the rest of the day.
The Huskers continue their two-game Big Ten road swing when they travel to Madison to take on Wisconsin on Wednesday. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Badgers is set for 7 p.m. (CT) with free live audio on Huskers.com provided by the Husker Sports Network.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has scheduled a training workshop in westernNebraska for apprentice firearm hunter education instructors.
