Baylor Upsets Huskers, 59-53
The loss was NU's first at home since a 57-55 loss to Iowa State on Feb. 23, 1997, and was the first home loss for Nebraska Head Coach Paul Sanderford. The streak was the third longest in the nation and the longest in the Big 12.
Nebraska had fought back from a 13-point first half deficit, taking its only lead of the night on a Charlie Rogers basket with 18:37 remaining. But Baylor, which improved to 13-10 overall and 5-6 in the Big 12, regained the lead for good on Hayworth's jumper and 3-pointer that triggered a 14-2 run over the next 2:33, pushing the lead to 40-29 with 16:05 remaining.
"Both coaches know that rebounds win championships and the bottom line is we came ready to play and out rebounded them," Baylor Coach Sonja Hogg said. "We had a heart to heart talk on Monday, and I challenged our upperclassmen to take control. We mapped out where we wanted to go in the big picture and they responded quite well. It was gut check time and we came out with intensity. Good things happen when you do that."
Trailing 50-40, Nebraska, 16-8 overall, 5-6 in the Big 12, used a 9-0 run to cut the Lady Bear lead to 50-49 on a Lisa Reitsma layup with 3:49 remaining. Nebraska cut the lead to 52-51 on Brooke Schwartz's layup with 2:38 remaining, but Laura Webb's 3-pointer pushed the lead to 55-51 and Monica Arnold added a basket and a pair of free throws to clinch the upset.
The Huskers were led by junior guard Nicole Kubik, who led all scorers with 19 points, six steals and five rebounds. Her six steals gave her 106 on the season, breaking her own school record of 104 set last season. NU also got a strong performance from Cisco Gilmore, who posted her first career double-double, recording career highs with 13 points and 13 rebounds, hitting six of seven shots from the field.
"Cisco was strong with 13 rebounds inside, Nebraska Coach Paul Sanderford said. "Thank goodness she played well.
"This loss hurts us," Sanderford said.