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February 28, 2016
Huskers Power Past Northwestern
mug
Romeo
mug
Simon
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Havers
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              1   2   total 
Northwestern 23  44    67 
NEBRASKA     31  45    76 
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Lincoln, Neb. — Natalie Romeo notched the second triple-double in school history and Maddie Simon produced career highs with 16 points and seven rebounds to power Nebraska to a 76-67 women's basketball win over Northwestern on Sunday at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

With the victory, Nebraska improved to 18-11 overall and finished Big Ten Conference regular-season play with a 9-9 record. The Huskers will be the No. 7 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament and will take on 10th-seeded Rutgers at 5:30 p.m. (CT) on Thursday.

Northwestern slipped to 15-15 overall and 4-14 in the conference.

Romeo, who spent much of her time at the point guard spot in the game for the first time in her collegiate career, finished with 12 points and career highs of 10 rebounds and 10 assists. During the game, she was attributed with nine assists, but her pass to Anya Kalenta that led to a layup with 55 seconds left in the third quarter, was originally scored as an assist for Allie Havers.

Romeo joined All-American Lindsey Moore as the only players in Husker history to record triple-doubles in a game for Nebraska, and the first Husker to do it against a conference foe. Moore posted the first triple-double in Nebraska history with her performance against Florida A&M on Jan. 2, 2011.

Simon's 16 points surpassed her previous career high of 11, while her seven rebounds more than doubled her previous career best of three which came in Wednesday's loss to Indiana. She has 10 boards in her last two games compared to just seven in Nebraska's first 16 Big Ten games this season.

In addition to the career games from Romeo and Simon, the Huskers also got the third double-double of the season from junior center Allie Havers with 13 points and 10 rebounds, who added two assists.

Rolfzen
Photo Courtesy Stephanie Carpenter/Nebraska Communications
Natalie Romeo notched the second triple-double in school history in Sunday's win over Northwestern.

Freshman Jessica Shepard added 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while fellow freshman Rachel Blackburn added eight points and five rebounds.

Kalenta contributed five points after her making her first career start on Senior Day at Nebraska. Kalenta earned the start in place of Shepard, who did not start for the first time this season.

Kalenta was the only one of Nebraska's three seniors to play in the contest. It was announced on Sunday that Rachel Theriot's Husker career is over. She finishes with 1,288 points and 626 assists. She was a first-team All-Big Ten performer in her only healthy season as a sophomore in 2014, when she led Nebraska to the Big Ten Tournament title as the MVP. She was an honorable-mention AP All-American in 2014 as well. She helped the Huskers to the 2013 NCAA Sweet 16.

Kyndal Clark had her lone season at Nebraska come to an end prior to Nebraska's three-game home stand to end the season. She started Nebraska's first 26 games this season and was the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year at Drake.

Kalenta, Theriot and Clark were honored in postgame ceremonies on the court at Pinnacle Bank Arena, where the Huskers finished 15-3 this season.

In arguably Nebraska's best team win of the season, Esther Ramacieri added a career-high five points and a career-high six rebounds. Ramacieri's first three-pointer of her career gave Nebraska a 15-point lead in the third quarter.

Jasmine Cincore added four points, four rebounds and four assists, as Nebraska outrebounded Northwestern by a whopping 54-32.

Led by Romeo's career-high 10 assists, the Huskers had 19 assists compared to just seven for the Wildcats.

As a team Nebraska shot 50 percent (29-58) from the field, including 5-of-13 from three-point range. Nebraska's solid offensive play, rebounding and defense allowed the Huskers to overcome a minus-11 (18-7) turnover margin in the game, and dismal 13-of-30 free throw shooting in the game.

Northwestern's Christen Inman led all scorers with 27 points, while Nia Coffey added 19 points and a team-high six rebounds before fouling out. Maggie Lyon was the only other Wildcat in double figures with 12 points and six boards.

In addition to the dominant offensive day by Romeo, she also held Northwestern's Ashley Deary to just six points and four assists.

Northwestern hit just 37.9 percent (25-66) of its shots from the floor and just 4-of-19 threes. The Wildcats hit 13-of-20 free throws.

Nebraska got huge contributions from Blackburn and Simon in the second quarter, as the two young Huskers combined for 15 points. Simon's second three-pointer of the quarter gave Nebraska its biggest lead of the half at 31-20 with 48 seconds left. That three capped a 10-0 Husker run that started with Simon's three that was followed by a pair of Blackburn layups.

The Huskers took a 31-23 lead to the halftime locker room led by Blackburn's eight points in 15 minutes off the bench. She also grabbed three rebounds.

Simon and Romeo each added seven points and five rebounds in the first half, while Romeo notched three assists as well.

Nebraska, which hit 13-of-31 shots (.419) in the first half, including 3-of-7 threes, dominated the glass, 29-17 thanks to big first-half rebounding numbers from the guards, including three boards each from Jasmine Cincore and Esther Ramacieri.

The Huskers held Northwestern to just 27.6 percent (8-29) first-half shooting, including 1-of-9 from three-point range. The Wildcats committed just five first-half turnovers compared to 10 for the Big Red. Both teams struggled at the free throw line, with Northwestern going just 6-of-11, while the Huskers went 2-for-8.

Source: University of Nebraska Athletic Dept.