Lincoln ? Junior guard Jina Johansen scored 15 points to tie her career high and lead the Nebraska women’s basketball team to a 62-57 win over Iowa State in front of a season-high 5,809 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night.
Johansen, who set a career high with four three-pointers, added six rebounds, five assists and two steals, to help the Huskers improve to 11-2 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12 Conference. Nebraska also improved to a perfect 8-0 this season at home, while ending a 10-game losing streak against the Cyclones. <?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
"I'm really happy for Jina Johansen," NU Coach Connie Yori said. "She spent so much time in the spring and summer working on her shot. She hit four big threes, and I'm so happy because she was rewarded for her work."
The win was <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska’s first against Iowa State since a 68-67 victory on Feb. 7, 1999 at the Devaney Center. It was NU's first league win in Lincoln since a 67-52 triumph over Kansas State Feb. 10, 2002. The victory was also the Huskers’ fifth straight win at home by eight points or less, as NU improved to 8-1 on the year in games decided by eight or fewer points.
Like NU's previous four games at the Devaney Center, Saturday’s contest went down to the wire. Nebraska led, 57-51, with 3:11 remaining in the second half after going on a 6-0 run to snap a 51-51 tie. Iowa State’s Brittany Wilkins connected on a pair of free throws, and Anne O’Neil scored inside the lane to cut Nebraska’s advantage to 57-55 with 0:31 left in the game. Iowa State fouled Keasha Cannon-Johnson in the open court, and she sank both free throws to increase NU’s lead to four. O’Neil came back with a field goal to bring Iowa State within two. But Margaret Richards converted three of her four free throw attempts in the final four seconds of the game to secure the 62-57 victory.
"Nothing is easy," Yori said. "We definitely keep the fans here. There's no reason to go home early at Husker games."
Cannon-Johnson was the only other Husker in double figures, as she produced 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season and ninth of her career.
Freshman guard Kiera Hardy added nine points and led the NU defensive effort by tying her career-high with four steals, all of which came in the first half. The Huskers totaled 10 steals and scored 22 points off turnovers.
Iowa State was led by O’Neil, who produced 18 points and had three steals. Junior forward Lisa Kriener chipped in 16 points for the Cyclones, who fell to 7-5 on the year, while losing their Big 12 opener.
The Cyclones jumped to a quick 13-3 lead in the first half, as Kriener recorded eight points in the first five minutes of the game. ISU connected on six of its first nine shots and scored six points in the paint during the stretch.
Later with Iowa State leading, 21-9, Cannon-Johnson sparked an 11-0 Husker run with a three-point field goal. Hardy capped the run with a three-pointer to cut ISU’s lead to 21-20 at the 6:46 mark. Iowa State responded and held a 26-21 advantage after Mary Fox scored on an inbounds play and Lyndsey Medders knocked down a three.
Trailing by five, the Huskers turned to Johansen, and the Dannebrog, Neb., native scored the Huskers’ next nine points, including two three-point shots. She tied the score at 29 with her third three-point field goal of the half. But Iowa State regained the lead with a jumper by Megan Ronhovde, and the Cyclones never trailed again in the first half. ISU led, 35-30, after a lay-up by O’Neil and two free throws from Kriener. NU’s Jessica Gerhart connected on two straight field goals to bring the Huskers within one at the half.
In the second half, it was Nebraska that started quickly. NU scored the first six points of the half ? including four from Johnson ? to take a 40-35 lead. The Cyclones missed their first seven shots of the second half before Kriener scored with 14:00 remaining. The score was tied two more times before the Huskers produced a 6-0 run that included another three-point field goal from Johansen, as NU led, 57-51, with 3:11 left in the game.
Nebraska returns to Big 12 action by traveling to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday at the Hearnes Center with the tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.