LINCOLN, Neb. – Jordan Hooper had her second straight double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds, Lindsey Moore scored 27 points and No. 24 Nebraska finished nonconference play with an 80-71 win over South Dakota State on Wednesday night.
The teams played evenly through the first half before Nebraska (11-1) took control against the Jackrabbits (7-6).
Moore scored 11 points over a seven-minute stretch of the first and second halves that saw Nebraska build a nine-point lead.
Hooper followed her 21-point, 14-rebound performance against Vermont with another dominating performance. She had her fifth double-double of the season and eighth of her career.
Ashley Eide had 21 points and Jennie Sunnarborg 20 for the Jackrabbits, who battled back from a 17-point deficit to get within seven in the last two minutes.
The Huskers are off to their second-best start in program history, ranking behind the 2009-10 team that won its first 30 games.
Moore did a little bit of everything to help the Huskers break things open in the second half. Hooper converted a three-point play after grabbing a perfectly lobbed entry pass from Moore, who got another of her six assists the next time down the floor when then slipped a nice pass to Emily Cady for an easy basket.
Moore pressured Gabrielle Boever into dribbling the ball off her foot at midcourt, scooped up the ball and went in for a layup. Moore got fouled going to the basket on the Huskers' next possession, made the free throws and Nebraska led 47-38.
The Huskers increased their lead to double digits when Hooper got trapped under the basket and rifled a pass to Moore, who swished a 3-pointer from the corner.
There were six lead changes, six ties and neither team was ever up by more than six points in the first half. Nebraska led 36-34 at the break after Moore came off a screen and made a pull-up jumper in the lane.
Nebraska played more aggressively in the second half. The Huskers attempted 19 3-point shots the first 20 minutes and 11 the rest of the way.
They never got into the bonus in the first half, but they were shooting one-and-ones seven minutes into the second as Hooper and her teammates focused on taking the ball to the hoop.
Moore, who averaged six points while starting every game at point guard two seasons ago, has turned into a prolific scorer who can penetrate, shoot the 3-pointer or find an open teammate. She had two steals to raise her season total to 34, three more than she had all last season.
The versatile 6-foot-2 Hooper, mostly a spot-up shooter as a freshman last season, has developed an inside game and is the Big Ten's No. 2 scorer and rebounder at better than 19 points and nine rebounds a game.
The 6-2 Cady, one of two freshman starters, scored nine points after having a career-high 18 against Vermont on Sunday.
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