KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The second an opposing point guard gets comfortable, Nebraska's Vonnie Turner is at her most lethal.

And it happens more often than you'd think.

Turner developed the Big 12-wide reputation of a pocket-picking perimeter defender early in her career, but she's still managed to provide the third-ranked Huskers (29-0) with instant momentum boosts at critical times throughout their undefeated run.

It's her main objective, Turner said.

She won't make every shot and she can't control how teams defend her ability to penetrate with the basketball. But Turner, a former standout at Bellevue East, can always apply constant pressure on ball-handlers — and every now and then, for a split second, those opponents get lazy. Then Turner can take advantage.

“I'm 100 percent confident in what I can bring on the defensive end, no matter how bad or how good my offense is going,” Turner said. “You don't really find a lot of players who are willing to play defense and make defense their No. 1 priority. I'm that odd one.”

The Huskers have a bye Thursday as the Big 12 women's tournament starts, so they'll rest while the opening-round games take place. Turner very well might start refreshing her mental list of player tendencies.

This season, her emphasis on that side of her game has paid off more than ever.

The conference coaches named her the Big 12's co-defensive player of the year, an award Turner shared with Baylor's highly regarded freshman, Brittney Griner. Turner made the all-defensive team for the third consecutive season.

“Vonnie's had a great year for us, on both ends,” NU coach Connie Yori said. “Obviously, the honors that she received are terrific and well-deserved.”

Turner's been more consistent than in past seasons on the offensive end, even though she had offseason surgery on her shooting shoulder and wasn't cleared for full contact until September.

She was a 31.6-percent 3-point shooter coming into her senior season, but she has made 37.6 percent of her long-range attempts so far. She's averaging 12.2 points, the third-highest mark on the team.

But Turner has the occasional offensive slump. And that's when her defense seems most influential.

Two weeks ago when Nebraska was one win from clinching its regular-season Big 12 title at Oklahoma, Turner was on her way to having the worst kind of game — the one where she's hardly a factor.

She missed most of the first half because of foul trouble. She came out of the locker room after halftime about three minutes before the rest of her team, just to warm up again. Still, with about five minutes left, in a tightly contested game, Turner had just two points, having missed all five of her attempts from 3-point range.

But she eventually found her moment. Turner's steal and three-point play with 2:57 left gave Nebraska a 67-63 lead.

Last Saturday at Kansas State, Turner missed her only first-half shot attempt and had three turnovers at halftime. But she responded with three layups in the first three minutes of the second half — the final one created by her defense, when she stripped K-State guard Brittany Chambers in the open court.

“She's the type of player who has the ability to change the momentum of a game very quickly,” junior Dominique Kelley said. “That's how it's always been.”

Turner is actually on pace to record fewer steals this season than in each of her sophomore and junior years. She totaled 38 during 16 Big 12 games, which ranked second among conference players.

But it's not always the statistics that matter to Turner. She's always a threat to force a turnover, though. Players have to be aware of that.

“The point guard, in the back of their head they're like, ‘I have to protect the ball or else she's going to steal it from me,' ” Turner said. “They have to focus on something because I'm always going to be there. I'm always going to be in their face creating havoc.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

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