January 22, 2015

----------------------------- 
                 1   2   total 
Wisconsin (NR)  31  41    72 
NEBRASKA  (16)  53  36    89 
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Madison, Wis. — Tear'a Laudermill and Emily Cady combined for 43 points, including 34 in a huge first half to power No. 16 Nebraska to an 89-72 women's basketball win at Wisconsin on Thursday night.

Laudermill, a senior guard from Moreno Valley, Calif., scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half, including four three-pointers. Cady, a senior forward from Seward, Neb., added her seventh double-double of the year with 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Cady hit 8-of-9 shots from the floor, including 3-of-4 three-pointers. She scored 16 points in the first half, including a buzzer-beating layup to give Nebraska a 53-31 halftime lead.

Nebraska notched its fifth consecutive win to improve to 15-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin slipped to 7-11 overall and 3-5 in the conference.

Rachel Theriot added 11 points and five assists, while Hailie Sample gave the Huskers four starters in double figures with 10 points and eight rebounds. Freshman guard Natalie Romeo just missed double figures with nine points while making her second start in the last three games. Romeo started in place of senior guard Brandi Jeffery, who sat out with a minor injury. She is day-to-day.

Nebraska finished its best offensive performance of Big Ten play by shooting 50 percent (33-66) from the field, including 9-of-18 from three-point range. The Huskers also hit 14-of-17 free throws. Nebraska also won the turnover battle, 12-7, including just two turnovers in the first half.

The Huskers also got strong contributions off the bench, including a career-high six points from Jasmine Cincore in the final four minutes of the game. Allie Havers added six points and three rebounds, while Chandler Smith contributed four points, a career-high three rebounds, an assist and a block in a career-high 16 minutes.

Nicole Bauman and Dakota Whyte led the Badgers with 15 points, while Tessa Cichy pitched in 14 points. Cassie Rochel added a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Badgers played well offensively, especially in the second half, but could not keep pace with the Huskers. UW finished 43.5 percent (30-69) from the floor, including 6-of-18 from three-point range. Wisconsin went 6-of-9 at the line and won the rebounding battle, 38-36.

Wisconsin scored 41 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome a red-hot first-half performance by the Big Red. UW led 2-0 off the tip, before Romeo hit the first three of the night for Nebraska to open the game. The Badgers led 4-3 and 6-5 before Cady gave the Huskers the lead for good with her first three at the 17:33 mark in the first half made it 8-6 Nebraska. After back-to-back buckets from Theriot and Cady made it 12-9 NU, Laudermill connected on three straight threes in a 2:10 stretch to push Nebraska's lead to 21-13 with 12 minutes left. After a timeout, Romeo and Theriot scored four straight points to extend the NU margin to 25-13 with 9:35 left in the half.

UW got not closer than seven points the rest of the way, as the Huskers took their first 20-point lead of the night at 46-26 after five straight points by Laudermill with 2:19 left in the half.

Nebraska pushed the margin to 53-31 at the half, but Wisconsin scored the first eight points of the second half to cut the lead to 14 with nearly 18 minutes left. The Badgers briefly cut the margin to 13, but Sample scored six of NU's first 11 points of the half to push the margin back to 18 with 12:25 left.

Nebraska erupted for its best half of the Big Ten season, hitting 61.8 percent (21-34) of its first-half shots, including 7-of-10 three-pointers to race to a 53-31 halftime lead. The Big Red hit all four of their first half free throws and won the turnover battle, 9-2, going more than 13 minutes in the first half without a turnover.

Laudermill and Cady carried the Huskers in the first half, combining for 34 points on 13-of-17 shooting, including 6-of-8 three-pointers. Cady played a nearly perfect half, going 7-for-7 from the floor with two threes. She added seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in the opening period.

Laudermill hit 6-of-10 shots, including 4-of-6 threes and a pair of free throws. She added four steals and an assist. Romeo pitched in five points including Nebraska's first three of the game while making her second start in the last three games.

Sample added four points and five rebounds in the first half, while Theriot pitched in six points, two rebounds and three assists. Havers and Smith added two points apiece on their only shot attempts of the half.

Cichy led Wisconsin with nine first-half points, as the Badgers hit 39.4 percent (13-33) of their shots, including 3-of-8 threes. UW was 2-of-3 at the free throw line.

The Huskers return to Big Ten road action on Monday night when they head to Iowa. Tip-off between the Huskers and Hawkeyes is set for 8 p.m., with live national television coverage by BTN.