Lincoln ? Nebraska nearly pulled one of the most remarkable comebacks in school history, but No. 13 Colorado escaped Lincoln with a 63-60 victory over the Huskers in front of 4,007 fans at the Devaney Center Wednesday evening.
The Huskers (17-10, 7-9 Big 12) nearly overcame a 14-point second-half deficit and had three chances to tie or take the lead in the final minute, the last being on Keasha Cannon-Johnson’s three-point attempt that missed at the buzzer, securing the Buffaloes’ ninth straight win over the Huskers.
Trailing 44-30 with 15 minutes remaining in regulation, Alexa Johnson led Nebraska on a furious comeback, scoring eight of her game-high 19 points in a 24-11 run, as her three-pointer with 4:09 remaining drew the Huskers within 55-54.
The Buffaloes, who hit 8-of-18 from three-point range, would answer back with three-pointers from Kate Fagan and Veronica Johns-Richardson, pushing the lead to 61-55 with 3:11 left.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said Colorado deserved a lot of credit for the victory, especiall with the Buffaloes’ performance on the defensive end.
"Colorado is good," Yori said. "I think maybe defensively they’re as good as anyone in the country, and that is the reason why they are where they are in the national rankings."
Fagan led three Colorado players with 19 points, including 5-of-8 shooting from long range, as the two teams combined for 16 three-pointers. CU needed an effective performance from long range, as the Huskers held All-America candidate Tera Bjorklund to just eight points, her second-lowest output of the season, on just 4-of-14 shooting. Bjorklund scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds in CU’s 78-63 win in Boulder on Feb. 4.
The Huskers, who had already toppled a pair of top-15 teams at home this season, would answer, as Margaret Richards’ layup pulled NU within 61-58 and a Katie Morse basket with 1:26 left cut the CU lead to 62-60. On the Huskers’ next possession, Richards had a chance to tie the score, but missed a pair of free throws, only NU’s third and fourth misses from the charity stripe in 12 attempts.
Nebraska forced a turnover on CU’s next possession, but Jina Johansen was stripped of the ball by Johns-Richardson as Johansen drove for the tying bucket with 20 seconds left. Maria Billingsly hit the second of two free throws, putting CU up 63-60, but giving the Huskers a final chance to send the game into overtime. The Huskers called timeout with three seconds remaining to set up the final shot, but Cannon-Johnson’s attempt was wide of the mark as time expired.
Johnson, one of four Huskers playing their final game at the Devaney Center, hit 7-of-16 shots, including a trio of three-pointers to lead three Nebraska players in double figures. Cannon-Johnson finished with 13 points, while freshman Kiera Hardy came off the bench to add 11 points before fouling out.
Colorado improved to 22-6 overall and 11-5 in the Big 12, clinching third place in the league with their win, along with Kansas State’s 85-73 win over Texas Tech. The Huskers, with a 7-9 league mark, enter next week’s conference tournament in a more precarious position. Nebraska is currently tied with Missouri, a 61-60 winner at Texas A&M for seventh, while Iowa State can make it a three-way deadlock with a win over Kansas Thursday evening. If Iowa State defeats Kansas in Ames tomorrow night, Missouri gets the seven seed, Nebraska gets the eight seed and Iowa State receives the nine seed. If Kansas wins, Nebraska gets the seven seed, Missouri gets the eight seed and Iowa State gets the nine seed
Nebraska got out of the gate quickly, jumping out to a 7-0 lead on baskets by Cannon-Johnson and Johansen and a three-pointer from Hardy while holding the Buffaloes without a basket for nearly five minutes to start the game.
The lead would be short-lived as Colorado would take command with an 18-2 run, turning a six-point deficit into a 23-13 lead. Fagan scored nine of her 11 first-half points in the spurt, including back-to-back three-pointers to begin the spurt. The Buffs hit five of their eight three-pointers for the game during the surge.
Johnson, who scored nine first-half points, helped Nebraska close to within 28-24 with 2:21 remaining in the half, but the Buffs would score the last four points of the half to take an eight-point lead into the locker room. The Buffs would eventually push the lead to 14 before Nebraska mounted its comeback in the final 15 minutes.
The Huskers now travel to Dallas, Texas, for the Big 12 Tournament, beginning next Tuesday. The Huskers will learn who their first-round opponent will be following Thursday’s conference finale between Kansas and Iowa State. Nebraska will play the winner of the Kansas at Iowa State game next Tuesday. The Huskers could play Iowa State at noon, or Kansas at 6 p.m.