Nebraska women’s basketball improved to 2-0 after an 80-46 win over 1-0 Samford Saturday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
It was a career day for junior forward Jessica Petrie, who had 20 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Britt Prince led the team with 23 points, one shy of tying her career high. Sophomore forward Amiah Hargrove posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double, the second of her career.
The first quarter was all Huskers, putting up 21 points and starting the game on a 13-0 scoring run. The Husker defense was stifling, as they caused nine turnovers in the first period and allowed just five points.
“We’ve been prepping for two to three days, and when we play aggressive defense, it usually turns into offense for us,” Hargrove said postgame. “We still have to work on some of the miscues, but overall, our aggressiveness and being in the passing lanes to make plays for our teammates was really good.”
Nebraska’s scoring was balanced, as five Huskers got on the board. Petrie was explosive from the beginning. She had nine in the first quarter, which put Nebraska up 18-3 by the time she cooled off.
The offense stayed consistent for Nebraska in the second quarter, as they began the period on an 8-0 run. After exchanging baskets, Samford’s sophomore guard Briana Rivera hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 35-18. This was the biggest run by the Bulldog offense all night.
“We let our foot off the gas a little there, and to be honest, I thought they did a great job of changing their pace in the second quarter,” head coach Amy Williams said postgame. “Obviously, Rivera is pretty tough, and we knew she was a very capable shooter. We said it would be a fail for us if she was able to get 12 three-point attempts up against us, and we gave her seven in the first half, so she was on pace for that.”
Samford and Nebraska continued to exchange baskets until the buzzer, where Prince hit a mid-range jumper with two seconds left to put Nebraska up 42-25.
Coming out of halftime, Williams’ squad put the pedal to the metal, as Prince made all three of her three-pointers in the third quarter. Senior guard Callin Hake joined the fun, hitting a three of her own directly after Prince’s first. Petrie added an extra five points, surpassing her old career high of 12 with her first made shot in the third.
Defensively, the Huskers found ways to slow down Rivera. Thanks to some foul trouble, she finished the game with only 14, all of which came in the first half. However, the Bulldogs’ defense also came to play, as for the final 2:15 of the third, neither team could hit a shot. After the end of the third, the score was 66-36.
Nebraska and Samford would exchange baskets, but by the time there were three minutes left, it was all reserves in for the Huskers, and both teams wouldn’t score for the last 3:39 of the game, leaving the final score to be 80-46.
Nebraska finished the game shooting 50.8% from the field, 26.1% from three and 66.7% from the line. They also forced 27 turnovers and allowed 33.3% from the field.
Looking ahead to their midweek matchup against in-state rival Creighton, Williams says that they are taking games one day at a time and will start preparing on Monday. Tipoff is at 8:00 p.m. CT at Pinnacle Bank Arena.