Boulder, Colo - The Nebraska women's basketball team owned a 56-55 lead with just over seven minutes to go, but No. 11 Colorado finished strong down the stretch to claim a 78-63 win over the Huskers at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday night.
With the loss, Nebraska fell to 14-6 overall and 4-5 in the Big 12, while the Buffaloes improved to 18-2 overall and 7-1 in the league. For the Huskers, it was their fifth loss to a top-16 team this season, including four on the road in the Big 12.
Alexa Johnson led the Huskers with 13 points, while Keasha Cannon-Johnson added 11 points and seven rebounds despite being riddled with foul trouble in the first half. Katie Morse added 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots to give the Huskers three players in double figures.
Tera Bjorklund led Colorado with 32 points and nine rebounds, while Amber Metoyer and Kate Fagan each added 10 points for the Buffaloes, who won their sixth consecutive game and their 15th in the last 16 games. It was also CU's 20th consecutive win over Nebraska in Boulder.
The Huskers led for most of the first half points, thanks to six points from Morse and five points from Jina Johansen. Bjorklund was still able to give the Buffs a two-point halftime lead by scoring 14 points, including 8-of-9 shooting at the free throw line. Nebraska trailed on just four occasions in the first half, and took its biggest lead of the game at 21-14 with just over six minutes left in the half on a three-pointer from Chelsea Aubry.
The Huskers held their last lead of the half at 28-27 with just over 15 seconds remaining, before Bjorklund converted a three-point play to close the first-half scoring. The two-point CU edge matched its biggest lead of the half.
In the second half, Bjorklund was too much to handle for the Huskers, as she poured in 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Despite the big effort from Bjorklund, the Buffs could not shake Nebraska for most of the second half, as Johansen gave the Huskers a 56-55 lead with 7:10 remaining in the game. After that lead, Colorado responded by closing the game with a 22-7 surge.
The Huskers shot 42.2 percent (27-64) from the field, including 31.6 percent (6-19) from three-point range, while the Buffs knocked down 46 percent (29-63) from the field, but hit just 2-of-11 three-pointers (18.2 percent). The Buffaloes enjoyed their biggest advantage at the free throw, outscoring Nebraska 18-3 at the free throw line.
Nebraska returns home to take on Kansas on Saturday at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.