Wikipedia

2008–09 Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team

The 2008–09 Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball team represented the University of Nebraska in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cornhuskers were coached by Connie Yori. The Cornhuskers are a member of the Big 12 Conference and did not qualify for the NCAA tournament. Those hopes were tempered with the loss of two-time first-team All-Big 12 forward Kelsey Griffin to a season-ending ankle injury in late-August. Despite playing without Griffin, the Huskers fought their way to a 9-3 record early in the season that included a dramatic come-from-behind win over No. 24 Arizona State on Dec. 28. Nebraska, which had received votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25 for five weeks, knocked off a Sun Devil squad that went on to advance to the 2009 NCAA Elite Eight. However, just days after defeating ASU, the Huskers took another hit inside with the loss of junior center Nikki Bober to a season-ending knee injury. Without two of their most experienced post players for a final non-conference game at five-time NCAA Final Four participant LSU, the Huskers closed non-conference play at 9-4 with all four setbacks coming to 2008 NCAA Tournament teams, including three on the road.

2008–09 Nebraska Cornhuskers women's basketball
ConferenceBig Twelve
Record15–16 (6–10 Big-12)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Sunny Smallwood
  • Kellie Lewis-Jay
  • Tony Verdi
Home arenaDevaney Center
Seasons
2008–09 Big 12 Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 Oklahoma 15 – 1   .938 32 – 5   .865
No. 5 Baylor † 12 – 4   .750 29 – 6   .829
No. 17 Iowa State 11 – 5   .688 27 – 9   .750
No. 9 Texas A&M 11 – 5   .688 27 – 8   .771
No. 21 Kansas State 10 – 6   .625 25 – 8   .758
No. 25 Texas 8 – 8   .500 21 – 12   .636
Texas Tech 6 – 10   .375 16 – 15   .516
Kansas 6 – 10   .375 22 – 14   .611
Nebraska 6 – 10   .375 15 – 16   .484
Oklahoma State 4 – 12   .250 17 – 16   .515
Missouri 4 – 12   .250 13 – 17   .433
Colorado 3 – 13   .188 11 – 18   .379
† 2009 Big 12 Tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll [1]

Roster

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Number Name Height Position Class
5 BurkeKaitlyn Burke 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) Guard 3Sophomore
11 NealsNicole Neals 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) Guard 5Junior
13 KuhlmannKala Kuhlmann 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Guard 5Junior
21 SidhuHarleen Sidhu 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Forward 1Freshman
22 TurnerYvonne Turner 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) Guard 5Junior
23 GriffinKelsey Griffin 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Forward 5Junior
24 KelleyDominique Kelley 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) Guard 3Sophomore
35 PeriagoJessica Periago 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Center 3Sophomore
40 MontgomeryCory Montgomery 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) Forward 5Junior
42 BoberNikki Bober 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Center 5Junior
44 RedmonCatheryn Redmon 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) Center 3Sophomore

Schedule

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[2]

Exhibitions

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Date Location Opponent Score Record
Oct. 31 Devaney Center Chadron State 102-30 1-0
Nov. 5 Nebraska-Kearney Grand Island, NE (Heartland Events Center) 80-69 2-0

Regular season

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  • The Huskers participated in the Holiday Inn & Suites Express Midtown Thanksgiving Tournament from November 28–29.
Date Location Opponent Score Record
Nov. 14 Devaney Center Weber State 96-47 1-0
Nov. 17 Omaha, NE Creighton 72-67 2-0
Nov. 22 Devaney Center Southern Utah 65-57 3-0
Nov. 24 Denver, CO Denver 76-55 4-0
Nov. 28 Albuquerque, NM Butler 67-54 5-0
Nov. 29 Albuquerque, NM New Mexico 51-62 5-1
Dec. 2 Devaney Center Oral Roberts 70-51 6-1
Dec. 6 Devaney Center #18 Ohio State 65-69 6-2
Dec. 9 Devaney Center Cal State Bakersfield 70-57 7-2
Dec. 12 Devaney Center Long Beach State 76-44 8-2
Dec. 20 El Paso, TX UTEP 53-63 8-3
Dec. 28 Devaney Center #24 Arizona State 62-58 9-3
Jan. 1 Baton Rouge, LA LSU 50-64 9-4
Big 12 Conference schedule
Jan. 10 Devaney Center #4 Oklahoma 56-77 9-5 (0–1)
Jan. 14 Austin, TX #16 Texas 60-74 9-6 (0–2)
Jan. 17 Columbia, MO Missouri 66-67 9-7 (0–3)
Jan. 21 Devaney Center Kansas 67-58 10-7 (1–3)
Jan. 24 Devaney Center Iowa State 48-62 10-8 (1–4)
Jan. 27 Manhattan, KS #14 Kansas State 40-51 10-9 (1–5)
Jan. 31 Boulder, CO Colorado 73-75 10-10 (1–6)
Feb. 4 Devaney Center #8 Baylor 71-76 10-11 (1–7)
Feb. 8 College Station, TX #10 Texas A&M 43-86 10-12 (1–8)
Feb. 14 Devaney Center Texas Tech 62-56 11-12 (2–8)
Feb. 18 Ames, IA #21 Iowa State 38-61 11-13 (2–9)
Feb. 21 Devaney Center Missouri 65-52 12-13 (3–9)
Feb. 25 Devaney Center #20 Kansas State 52-47 13-13 (4–9)
Feb. 28 Lawrence, KS Kansas 57-70 13-14 (4–10)
Mar. 3 Devaney Center Colorado 75-64 14-14 (5–10)
Mar. 7 Stillwater, OK Oklahoma State 82-74 15-14 (6–10)

Postseason

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Big 12 Tournament

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  • March 12: Kansas 61, Nebraska 56

National Invitation Tournament

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  • March 25: New Mexico 54, Nebraska 43

Player stats

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Player Games Played Minutes Field Goals Three Pointers Free Throws Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Points
Cory Montgomery 31 990 176 23 95 241 33 8 19 470
Yvonne Turner 31 869 119 57 69 106 57 8 67 364
Dominique Kelly 31 814 96 22 87 101 76 1 25 301
Tay Hester 31 627 70 1 37 129 40 3 23 178
Catheryn Redmon 31 719 70 0 38 172 9 67 20 178
Monique Whittaker 9 74 8 5 16 13 1 0 2 37
Kaitlyn Burke 31 638 48 23 4 39 45 0 16 123
Nicole Neals 31 467 35 25 3 28 42 0 10 98
Kala Kuhlmann 31 426 34 8 10 46 32 0 14 86
Jessica Periago 24 228 19 5 6 38 5 6 3 49
Nikki Bober 12 134 8 0 7 34 8 8 1 23
Harleen Sidhu 25 214 9 2 0 41 0 1 8 20

[3]

Highlights

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Team

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  • School-record sixth consecutive postseason tournament appearance
  • One of five Big 12 Conference teams to post winning record in second half of Big 12 season
  • One of nine Big 12 Conference teams to advance to postseason
  • Top 25 Strength of Schedule according to CollegeRPI.com
  • One of 16 postseason teams honored by NCAA for Academic Progress Rate (APR)

[4]

Individual

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  • Kaitlyn Burke scored in double figures three times during the season. She had a season-high 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field versus Missouri on Jan. 17.[5] She opened the season with 12 points, three rebounds, four assists and a career-high three steals in a win over Weber State in her first career start on Nov. 14.[6] The last double digit game was on Dec. 28 against the Arizona State Sun Devils. She scored 12 points, three rebounds and a career-high matching three. Her career high in assists was set in the Huskers win over Long Beach State on Dec. 12.[7]
  • Cory Montgomery averaged 15.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. She ranked among the top-eight scorers and rebounders in the league in 2008-09. In sixteen Big 12 regular-season games, she averaged 16.2 points and 7.8 boards per game. In the final seven games of the year, Montgomery averaged 19.6 points and 9.0 rebounds per game.[8]
  • On January 10, All-American Courtney Paris led the Sooners with her 106th consecutive double-double, finishing with 18 points and 20 rebounds, including 10 points and 15 boards in the first half.[9]
  • Freshman Harleen Sidhu opened the season with four points, five rebounds, a blocked shot and a steal in NU's season-opening win over Weber State on Nov. 14.[10]
  • Yvonne Turner, led the Huskers with 67 steals on the season, which ranked among the top five players in the Big 12. She was also named to the Big 12 All-Defensive Team for the second straight season. Offensively, Turner ranked second on the team in scoring with 11.7 points per game.[8]

Awards and honors

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Eight Nebraska women's basketball players claimed spots on the Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll. Nikki Bober, Kala Kuhlmann and Harleen Sidhu posted perfect 4.0 GPAs. Bober, Kuhlmann and Sidhu were joined on the spring honor roll by teammates Kaitlyn Burke, Kelsey Griffin, Cory Montgomery, Nicole Neals and Jessica Periago.[11]

  • Nikki Bober, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Kaitlyn Burke, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Kaitlyn Burke, Nebraska’s Husker Award
  • Kelsey Griffin, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Kala Kuhlmann, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Kala Kuhlmann, Nebraska's Teammate Award
  • Cory Montgomery, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Cory Montgomery, honorable-mention All-Big 12 Conference selection
  • Cory Montgomery, Nebraska's Offensive Player of the Year
  • Nicole Neals, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Jessica Periago, Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll
  • Harleen Sidhu, Two-Time Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll (Fall 2008, Spring 2009)
  • Yvonne Turner, All Big-12 Honors
  • Yvonne Turner, Big 12 All-Defensive Team (second straight season)
  • Yvonne Turner, Nebraska's Defensive Player of the Year (Second straight season)

Team players drafted into the WNBA

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No one from the Huskers was selected in the 2009 WNBA draft.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "2019-2020 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). Big 12 Conference. pp. 4–6. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Women's Basketball". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on May 12, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "2008-09 Women's Basketball Season Review". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Huskers Lose 67-66 to Tigers". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Huskers Maul Wildcats". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Huskers Blow Past Beach". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Montgomery Earns Husker Offensive MVP Award". Nebraska Cornhuskers. April 20, 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  9. ^ "Huskers Fall to No. 4 Oklahoma". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  10. ^ "Harleen Sidhu - 2011-12 - Women's Basketball". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  11. ^ "Eight Huskers Claim Honor Roll Spots". University of Nebraska. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "WNBA.com: 2009 WNBA Draft Board". Archived from the original on August 25, 2009. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
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