Louisville, Ky. -- Nicole Kubik scored 25 points as the No. 19 Nebraska women's basketball team overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat Kent, 78-72, in the first round of the Seelbach Hilton Holiday Tournament at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., on Monday, Dec. 28.
After leading 27-14 with 7:32 remaining in the first half, the Huskers trailed 43-33 with 19:08 left in the game before Kubik took over. The junior point guard from Cambridge, Neb., scored 14 second-half points and added seven second-half assists to help the Huskers improve to 11-1 on the season.
Kubik tied her season-high with 25 points and contributed 10 assists for her second double-double of the season and the third of her career. She added six rebounds and three steals.
Kubik's performance came despite playing at less than full speed while battling the flu.
Nebraska Coach Paul Sanderford praised the effort of Kubik and the rest of the Huskers.
"Nicole was much less than 100 percent because she has been battling the flu bug and had to sit out some of practice yesterday," Sanderford said. "But she still gave us a big lift in the second half. Our kids were pretty resilient, and we have proven that we can play from behind."
Junior center Charlie Rogers added 10 points and five rebounds, while junior guard Brooke Schwartz contributed 10 points and three assists.
Kent, which fell to 6-4 on the season, carried a 40-33 lead into the locker room at halftime behind strong first-half performances by Dawn Zerman and Jamie Rubis. Zerman scored 12 of her team-high 19 points in the first half, while Rubis added 10 of her 16 points in the first stanza. Julie Studer added 18 points and 10 rebounds to help the Golden Flashes post a 45-39 rebounding edge.
"Kent is a good basketball team and they played well. They deserve a lot of credit for taking us out of our game in the first half," Sanderford said. "But our kids did a nice job of making adjustments and making some good plays in the second half. We also started to knock down some shots in the second half."
Nebraska hit just 34.2 percent (15-38) of its field-goal attempts, including a 1-for-9 performance from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half. In the second half the Huskers found their shooting touch, connecting on 54.5 percent (18-33) and 3-of-7 3-point attempts.
Sanderford will search for the 400th coaching victory of his career when the Huskers play the winner of the Louisville vs. Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at 6:30 p.m. central time.
Sanderford, who record 365 wins during his 15 seasons at Western Kentucky, said he was looking forward to going for the milestone victory in Kentucky.
"I'm excited about playing here. Its nice to come back home and get a win. Kentucky's home for me," Sanderford said. "A lot of my former players were here tonight, and I know some more will be here tomorrow. I just hope we can pick up one more win."