Ames, Iowa - The Nebraska women's basketball team saw Iowa State use a 22-4 run early in the second half to build a 16-point lead and hold off a furious Husker rally to give the Cyclones a 77-66 win at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.
Margaret Richards led the Huskers with 18 points, while Keasha Cannon-Johnson added her fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while adding seven assists in a losing effort. Jina Johansen contributed 11 points, including a trio of first-half three-pointers, and Alexa Johnson gave the Huskers four players in double figures with 11 points, including nine in the second half. Nebraska fell to 16-8 overall and 6-7 in the Big 12. Iowa State improved to 13-11 on the season and 6-7 in the league.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said Iowa State's ability to handle the Huskers' pressure defense was a difference in the game.
"I thought the big difference in today's game was that we did not turn them over 20 times like we did in the first game," Yori said. "They only turned the ball over eight times, and I think we needed to be more disruptive on offense. Iowa State did a great job of running its offense, and I think their post players dominated our post players when you look at the statistics."
Iowa State's inside trio of Brittany Wilkins (5-6), Lisa Kriener (3-5) and Katie Robinette (6-10) combined for 33 points on 14-of-21 shooting from the field, while Nebraska's quartet of Johnson (5-14), Katie Morse (1-5), Jessica Gerhart (2-5) and Chelsea Aubry (2-5) combined to go 10-for-29 from the field.
The Cyclones' success inside allowed ISU to compensate for Nebraska's success from long range. The Huskers, who had hit just 5-of-35 three-pointers over the past two games, knocked down 9-of-20 three-pointers. Iowa State, which had connected on 37 three-pointers over the past three games, also hit 9-of-20 three-pointers on the afternoon.
The Huskers trailed 38-35 at the half, and came out of the locker room strong in the second half, taking their only lead of the game on Johnson's three-pointer with 16:47 left to give Nebraska a 45-43 lead. But Iowa State answered with five quick points, before Johnson hit another jumper to cut the lead to 48-47 with 15:25 left, but Iowa State answered with eight consecutive points to build its lead back to nine.
Iowa State's lead grew as large as 16 points at 65-49 with 10:48 left, before the Huskers battled back to cut the lead to seven points at 67-60 with 4:27 left on a pair of Cannon-Johnson free throws. But Iowa State connected on 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch, and the Cyclones' defense stiffened to secure the win.
The Huskers fell behind the Cyclones 18-8 early in the first half, before Richards sparked Nebraska with a pair of three-pointers and a three-point play late in the first half. Richards' three-point play with 3:36 left in the half tied the score at 28-28, before ISU went on a 10-5 surge to take a 38-33 lead with 21 seconds left in the half.
Gerhart sent Nebraska to the locker room with momentum by knocking down a fadeaway jumper from 14 feet on the right wing as time expired to cut the ISU lead to three points at the half.
Richards' 11 first-half points nearly matched her total of 12 points over the past four games. Gerhart added four first-half points to match her total over the past six games combined. Gerhart has scored 12 of her 22 points in Big 12 Conference play against the Cyclones, while Johansen has hit seven three-pointers against ISU this season.
Nebraska's loss snapped a 12-game Husker winning streak against unranked teams, dating back to the Huskers' 69-66 loss to Mississippi in Memphis, Tenn., on Nov. 28. Nebraska has not win in Ames, Iowa, since 1997.
The Huskers continue Big 12 play at home on Wednesday when they take on Missouri at the Devaney Center at 7:05 p.m.