Huskers Blow By Omaha

Lincoln - Isabelle Bourne led five Huskers in double figures with 21 points as Nebraska rolled to the largest season-opening victory margin in school history with a 100-36 women's basketball win over Omaha on Monday.

Playing in front of the second-largest season-opening crowd in Husker women's basketball history with 6,233 on hand at Pinnacle Bank Arena, Nebraska buried 14 three-pointers with all 10 active Huskers sinking at least one long-range shot in the game. While the Huskers got 42 points from beyond the arc, they also got 50 points in the paint. Bourne, a 6-2 junior from Canberra, Australia, went 10-for-15 from the field, including Nebraska's second three-pointer of the game to cap a 12-0 game-opening scoring run. Bourne added a game-high-tying nine rebounds to help lead the Big Red inside. She scored 11 of NU's first 16 points to open the contest.

Sophomore Allison Weidner added 19 points and a career-high nine rebounds of her own. The 5-10 guard from Humphrey, Neb., hit 9-of-11 shots from the field including 1-of-2 threes, while adding three assists and a steal.

Another native Nebraskan, Maddie Krull, pitched in 18 points, including a game-high four three-pointers in her Husker debut. The 5-9 sophomore guard out of Millard South High School in Omaha, hit 7-of-9 shots from the field overall, including the final three-pointer of the game to push the Huskers to the century mark.

Sophomore Alexis Markowski produced a strong game with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting while adding eight rebounds, while fellow sophomore point Annika Stewart added 10 points and seven boards for the Big Red.

Junior guard Jaz Shelley, who hit Nebraska's first three-pointer of the game just 2:45 into the contest to put Nebraska up 9-0, finished with just five points, but added game highs of 10 assists and four steals.

Kendall Coley also contributed five points, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that put Nebraska up 28-11 at the end of the first quarter. After opening the game with a 12-0 run, the Huskers closed the first half with an 11-0 run to take a 44-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Huskers stormed out of the locker room with a school-record-tying 33-point third quarter to take a 77-26 margin to the final period, before outscoring the Mavs 23-10 in the fourth, including back-to-back threes from freshman Callin Hake and Krull to cap the scoring.

For the game, Nebraska hit 56.6 percent (43-76) of its shots from the field, including 14-of-34 threes (.412). However, the Huskers did not attempt a free throw in the 30th 100-point scoring game in school history. The Big Red won the rebounding battle, 49-29, and the turnover battle, 19-7. It was the first time in NU history that they reached 100 points without attempting a free throw.

Elena Pilakouta led the Mavericks with 10 points and eight rebounds, while Grace Cave contributed six points. The Huskers held Omaha to 21.2 percent (11-52) shooting from the field, including just 17.6 percent (3-17) from long range. 
 
The performance followed the Nebraska Life Skills Sportsmanship Rally. More than 2,500 middle grades students and staff members heard inspirational and educational messages from Coach Amy Williams, Jaz Shelley and Maddie Krull, along with volleyball players Ally Batenhorst and Alexis Rodriguez, softball players Ava Bredwell and Mckinley Malecha, track and field athletes Passmore Mudundulu and Mikey Hoffer, and football player Travis Vokolek. The students also enjoyed multiple performances by Champions Spintacular.
 
Nebraska returns to action at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Friday, when the Huskers play host to Houston Christian. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. and tickets are available now at Huskers.com.