January 19, 2015

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                1   2   total 
Purdue   (NR)  24  35    59 
NEBRASKA (16)  33  36    69 
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Lincoln, Neb. — No. 16 Nebraska got contributions from top to bottom at both ends of the court, as the Huskers stretched their Big Ten Conference winning streak to four games with a 69-59 women's basketball victory over Purdue on Monday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

With the win, Nebraska improved to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten while snapping a five-game series losing streak to Purdue. It was NU's first win over the Boilermakers since a triple-overtime win in West Lafayette, Ind., in Nebraska's inaugural season in the Big Ten in 2011-12. Purdue slipped to 9-9 this season and 2-5 in the Big Ten, suffering its fourth consecutive loss.

All-American point guard Rachel Theriot led the Huskers with 16 points and seven assists. She scored nine points in the final 3:02 of the game to close out the victory. The 6-0 junior from Middleburg Heights, Ohio, sealed the win with six straight free throws in the final 1:11.

Theriot led four Huskers in double figures, including 15 points from senior Hailie Sample, who connected on 6-of-10 shots from the floor. Sample also went 3-of-4 from the free throw line while grabbing three rebounds and adding an assist and a block.

Sample drew the one-on-one defensive matchup with Purdue's top scorer Whitney Bays and outscored Bays 15-14 in the contest. Bays finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the year and seventh straight in Big Ten play.

April Wilson led Purdue with a career-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists as the only other Boilermaker in double figures.

Brandi Jeffery added one of the best all-around games of her career with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while also going 3-for-4 at the line. The 5-7 senior guard from Vacherie, La., added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. It was the second-highest scoring total of Jeffery's career, trailing only her 19 points in the season-opening win over Pepperdine on Nov. 15. It was her seventh double-figure scoring performance of the season and her third in the last four games.

Senior Tear'a Laudermill added 10 points - all in the first half - to help set the tone for Nebraska. She added four rebounds, an assist and a steal to help the Huskers run to a 33-24 halftime lead.

Nebraska hit 44.1 percent (26-59) of its shots for the game, including 4-of-13 three-pointers (.308). The Huskers also connected on 13-of-15 free throws, hitting all 11 in the second half and going 9-for-9 at the line in the final 3:02.

The Big Red dominated the turnover battle, 19-10, and outscored Purdue 19-9 in points off turnovers for the game. Purdue won the rebounding battle, 39-33.

Nebraska held the Boilermakers to 37.9 percent (22-58) shooting from the floor, but Purdue did connect on 40 percent (6-15) of its three-point attempts on the night. The Boilermakers also went 9-of-11 at the line.

Nebraska trailed by as many as three points in the game's first five minutes before taking the lead for good on a three-pointer by freshman Natalie Romeo to make it 13-10 with 14:21 left in the first half.

Leading 18-16 with nine minutes left in the half, Theriot started an 8-2 Husker surge that included three-straight layups from Laudermill to push the NU lead to 26-18 with 6:34 left in the half.

Freshman Chandler Smith connected on the first field goal of her career with 5:01 remaining in the half to give Nebraska its first double-digit lead of the game at 30-20. It was just Smith's third career appearance after missing 14 games on the season with injury.

Nebraska took a 33-24 lead to the locker room at the half, but Purdue chipped away through the first nine minutes of the second half, eventually cutting the Husker margin to 41-38 with 11:12 left.

Smith then stepped up again, draining a huge three-pointer from the right corner - her first career three - to push Nebraska's lead back to 44-38 with 10:48 left. Moments later, Emily Cady knocked down another three to push the Husker margin back to nine at 49-40 with 9:52 left. Cady finished with just five points, but ripped down 13 rebounds and added five assists, two steals and a block.

Purdue got no closer than four points the rest of the, and Nebraska twice built 12-point leads down the stretch.

The Huskers return to Big Ten road action Thursday when they travel to Madison to face Wisconsin. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Badgers at the Kohl Center is set for 7 p.m., with live radio coverage by the Husker Sports Network including free live audio on Huskers.com.