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MINNEAPOLIS -- Top-seeded Nebraska handled its first round game in the NCAA tournament Sunday night with relative ease, cruising past Northern Iowa for a 83-44 win.
Senior Kelsey Griffin led her team with 22 points and Dominique Kelley added 11 for the Huskers, who broke the 80-point mark for the 14th time this year.
The Huskers (31-1) were challenged early, unable to take a double-digit lead until Dominique Kelley's 3-point play made it 32-22 with 5:03 left in the first half.
But they went into halftime up 13, and then created a comfortable cushion early in the second half. Griffin scored nine of her team's first 13 points after halftime, giving NU a 53-32 lead just four minutes in.
The Huskers outscored Northern Iowa by 26 points in the second half.
The Panthers, who won the MVC tournament as a No. 5 seed last week, end their season with a 17-16 record.
Nebraska will advance to the NCAA tournament's second round, where it will face either No. 8 seed UCLA or No. 9 seed NC State. Those two teams play later Sunday night.
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