Lincoln – Jessica Shepard scored 20 points, Natalie Romeo added 19 and Anya Kalenta pitched in her first career double-double off the bench as Nebraska ran to an 87-69 women’s basketball win over Penn State on Tuesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Nebraska notched its seventh win in the last eight games to improve to 16-6 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten, while Penn State slipped to 8-14 and 3-8 in the conference.
The Huskers, who trailed 17-15 after the first quarter, took control with a huge 23-10 edge in the second period to take a 38-27 lead to the locker room at the half. The Big Red continued to pull away with a 26-16 advantage in the third quarter, that included NU’s biggest lead of the game at 27 points.
Shepard notched her 13th 20-point game of the season by going 9-of-14 from the field while hitting both of her free throws. She added four points and four assists in 28 minutes of work.
Romeo continued her torrid shooting, knocking down 5-of-10 threes and both of her free throws to finish with 19 points. She added four rebounds of her own, while push her nation-leading three-point total to 78 on the season.
Kalenta, who had just six total points through the first 10 Big Ten games this season, tied her career high with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor while knocking down all four of her free throws. She added 11 boards, including six on the offensive end.
Despite the big numbers from Shepard, Romeo and Kalenta, senior point guard Rachel Theriot may have had the most dynamic night for the Big Red. Theriot posted the 10th double-digit assist game of her career by dropping 14 dimes, while adding nine points and eight rebounds. She hit 4-of-6 shots from the field, including a three, while adding two steals and one block in 30 minutes. She committed just one turnover.
With Theriot at the controls, Nebraska dished out 26 assists on 33 made baskets while shooting 50 percent (33-66) or better from the field for the 10th time this season. The Huskers knocked down 7-of-17 threes and connected on 14-of-16 free throws.
Nebraska dominated the glass against a big Penn State team, outrebounding the Lady Lions, 47-30. The Huskers also committed just eight turnovers in the game.
The Huskers got strong contributions up and down their roster. Junior center Allie Havers continued her solid play with eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Jasmine Cincore pitched in five points, a career-high-matching four rebounds and a career-high four assists.
Redshirt freshman Darrien Washington saw the most significant Big Ten action of her career by playing six minutes, including an appearance in the first quarter. The 6-2 Washington scored five points while grabbing a rebound and a block while hitting both of her shots from the field. Freshman Maddie Simon added four points, a rebound and an assist, as Nebraska reached 80 points on the scoreboard for the 11th time this season to complete a season series sweep of Penn State.
The Huskers held PSU to just 37.1 percent (23-62) shooting from the floor, but the Lady Lions did connect on 6-of-12 threes. They also hit 17-of-23 free throws and committed just six turnovers.
In a back-and-forth first quarter, Penn State took a 17-15 lead by scoring the final six points of the quarter after Nebraska had taken its biggest lead at 15-11. Romeo led the Huskers with five first-quarter points, while Shepard and Kalenta each added four points inside.
Khaliyah Mitchell, who entered the game averaging 9.8 points per game, had 10 in the first quarter to lead the Lady Lions. She finished the game with a team-high 16.
Nebraska answered quickly in the second quarter taking its biggest lead at 22-17 on a Theriot three with 7:10 left, but Penn State rallied to tie the score at 24. NU led 28-27 after a Lindsey Spann three with 2:51 left in the half. Spann finished the game with 14 points, including 4-of-6 three-point shooting.
The Huskers closed the half on a 10-0 run that included a pair of Romeo threes and two baskets from Shepard to take a 38-27 lead to the locker room. The Huskers hit 5-of-7 shots down the stretch to end the half to finish at 46.7 percent (14-30) from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range. NU also hit all six of its first-half free throws. The Big Red won the rebounding battle, 23-16, in the half to offset a 5-2 disadvantage in first-half turnovers.
Penn State hit just 32.4 percent (11-34) of its first-half shots, including 3-of-7 threes. The Lady Lions were 2-of-3 at the free throw line.
Romeo led all first-half scorers with 13 points, while Shepard added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Kalenta came off the bench to score six points and grab five rebounds in the first half, while Theriot contributed five points and eight assists.
Nebraska continued to surge at the start of the second half, pushing the lead to 18 points at 47-29 off a Kyndal Clark three-pointer with 6:21 left in the third quarter. Penn State scored on the next possession, but Nebraska used a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 27 points (58-31) on a Kalenta jumper with 2:08 left in the quarter.
Nebraska returns to Big Ten road action on Super Bowl Sunday, when the Huskers travel to Bloomington to take on Indiana. Tip-off between Nebraska and the Hoosiers is set for 1 p.m.
— NU Athletics —
Defense set the tone once again early for the No. 22-ranked Benedictine Women’s Basketball team on Wednesday night against Missouri Valley College.
