It wasn’t a victory, it was an exorcism for Nebraska women’s basketball Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena. The Cornhuskers’ stifling defense held the usually accurate shooting Bluejays to just 29 percent from the field and just 26 percent from behind the arc as NU rolled to a 84-50 win, just the second for Nebraska in the last 10 against their instate rival.
Britt Prince led the Huskers in scoring with 18 points on six-for-12 shooting from the field. She also added seven rebounds. Callin Hake tallied 13 points, while Jessica Petrie and Claire Johnson each scored 11. Ava Zediker led Creighton with 14 points, while Elizabeth Gentry added 11.
The big story was Nebraska’s defense. In addition to bothering Bluejay shooters to shoot well under their norm, the Huskers also forced 25 turnovers, which they converted into 23 points.
Nebraska bolted out to a 10-3 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Creighton cut the advantage to 10-7, but the Huskers ended the half on a 7-2 run to build a 17-9 lead through one quarter, ending with Petrie nailing a 60-foot three-pointer from well behind half-court as time expired.
Both teams struggled offensively through the first half of the second quarter. The Bluejays cut Nebraska’s lead to 21-14 with 6:32 to play until halftime. But then the Huskers took the game over, scoring the final 14 points of the second quarter and the first three of the third quarter for a combined 17-0 run that covered around seven minutes of game time and ballooned the NU edge to 38-14 with 9:28 to play in the third quarter. From there, Nebraska cruised to victory, with Creighton cutting the lead to under 20 just once and briefly in the third quarter. NU led 59-31 through three quarters and didn’t lead by fewer than 28 over the final 9:30 of the game.
The Huskers are back in action Sunday at noon against North Dakota State in Sioux Falls, S. Dak. Pregame coverage begins at 11 a.m. on KLIN.