Nebraska clears Iowa aside, 76-62

Jordan Hooper helped Nebraska dominate the boards and scored 24 points to lead the No. 21 Huskers to a 76-61 victory over Iowa in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals on Friday at Sears Centre Arena.

Lindsey Moore had 13 points and 6 assists, and Emily Cady had 8 rebounds and 6 assists for the Huskers (23-7), who have nine of their last 10 games and are the second seed in the tournament.

In the Big Ten semifinals, Nebraska will face third-seeded Purdue, which defeated Wisconsin 74-62 in the second quarterfinal game.

Hooper also grabbed 7 rebounds to help Nebraska take a commanding 44-30 advantage on the boards. The Huskers shot 46 percent from the field while the Hawkeyes shot 38 percent.

“They got 18 points, second-chance points, that’s a whole bunch and a lot of high-percentage shots, and those are paint shots,” said Iowa coach Lisa Bluder. “You can’t give up 38 paint points. That’s too high a percentage of shots.”

Theairra Taylor scored 22 points to lead Iowa (20-12). Melissa Dixon scored 18 points for the Hawkeyes.

Rachel Theriot’s 3-pointer just before halftime gave Nebraska a 34-24 lead at the break, and the Huskers led by as many as 27 points in the second half thanks to an 8-0 run at the start. It marked the 11th time this season Nebraska held a team under 25 points in the first half. Iowa was held without a free throw attempt in the first half and finished the game 7-of-9 from the line.