LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Kelsey Griffin had 30 points and 14 rebounds in leading No. 20 Nebraska to a 77-63 win over No. 5 LSU and extend its school-record winning streak to 11 games.
The Cornhuskers (11-0) are off to their best start in school history after handing the Tigers (9-1) their first loss of the season Sunday.
LSU is the highest-ranked opponent Nebraska has beaten since a triple-overtime win over a second-ranked Baylor team in the 2004-05 season.
The Cornhuskers jumped to a 21-4 lead before the Tigers pulled to 41-36 early in the second half. But Nebraska went on a 12-2 run and led by double digits the rest of the game.
Cory Montgomery added 16 points and Dominique Kelley 13 for Nebraska. Allison Hightower had 15 points and Katherine Graham 12 for LSU.
LSU had beaten its first eight opponents by an average of 32 points and had allowed a total of 97 points in its last three games.
Griffin led a balanced offense and Nebraska’s defense forced LSU into bad shots throughout the game. Griffin made 12 of 19 shots, doing most of her damage under the basket, often on second-chance shots.
LSU, which shot 39.3 percent, had trouble early dealing with Nebraska’s full-court man-to-man defense, missing 12 of its first 14 shots.
Hightower scored nine points in an 18-6 run that got LSU back in the game. The Tigers were within five after Latear Eason stole the ball from Kelley and passed to Hightower, who drove the length of the court for a layup.
But the Huskers pulled away again, with Kelley putting back a Griffin miss and Yvonne Turner hitting a jumper to start the decisive run that put Nebraska ahead 53-38.
Kelley, assigned to cover Hightower, held the Tigers’ star guard to 7-of-21 shooting.
Foul trouble also plagued the Tigers. LaSondra Barrett drew her fourth foul 2:55 into the second half. Eason was called for her fourth with 14:58 left and Katherine Graham her fourth with 11:28 left.
Tigers coach Van Chancellor’s frustration showed early. He drew a technical less than eight minutes in for walking onto the court while yelling and pointing a finger at an official.
Kelley made the free throws and, after Lindsey Moore drew a charge by Eason, Montgomery hit a 3-pointer to give the Huskers their 21-4 lead.
 
—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s sports staff at [email protected]