Dallas - The Nebraska women's basketball team owned a 41-40 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the game, but Iowa State outscored the Huskers 23-11 the rest of the way, as NU fell to the Cyclones 63-52 in the opening round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament at Reunion Arena in Dallas on Tuesday afternoon.
The Huskers, who entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, fell to 17-11 overall and will now wait to learn their postseason fate, whether it is an at-large bid into the 64-team NCAA Tournament or the 32-team Women's National Invitation Tournament. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on ESPN on Sunday at 4 p.m., while the WNIT field will be announced on Sunday evening.
Iowa State, which improved to 15-13 with the victory, advances in the Big 12 Tournament to take on top-seeded Texas on Wednesday at noon in Dallas. The Cyclones also kept its postseason tournament hopes alive with the victory.
Nebraska shot just 32.8 percent (19-58) from the field for the game, including just 5-of-17 shooting (29.4 percent) from three-point range in the game. However, the Huskers were able to hang tough with the ninth-seeded Cyclones, who hit just 19-of-47 field goals (40.4 percent) and matched NU from three-point range with 5-of-17 shooting.
The biggest difference in the game came on the glass and at the free throw, as Iowa State claimed a 39-29 advantage on the boards, while hitting 20-of-24 free throws (83.3 percent) compared to just 9-of-10 free throw shooting for Nebraska.
Alexa Johnson led the Huskers with 16 points and six rebounds. Johnson hit her third of a trio of three-pointers with 11:44 left in the game to give Nebraska a 40-38 lead. The shot also pushed the senior forward from Hacienda Heights, Calif., over the 1,000-point scoring mark in her career to become the 21st player in Nebraska history to join the 1,000-point club.
Johnson gave the Huskers their last lead of the game at 41-40 with 11:09 remaining by hitting the first of two free throws. The Cyclones quickly scored seven unanswered points to take control of the game at 47-41 with 7:32 left. Jina Johansen hit her only three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 47-44 with 7:03 to go.
Katie Morse, who scored 10 points to help the Huskers, added a jumper with 4:18 left to pull NU within 52-48, before Iowa State went on another 7-0 run to take a 59-48 lead with 1:20 play.
Anne O'Neil led Iowa State with a game-high 20 points, including 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line, while Lyndsey Medders added 15 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from the line. Erica Junod gave the Cyclones three players in double figures with 11 points, including 6-of-6 shooting from the line.
Keasha Cannon-Johnson helped the Huskers with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while Kiera Hardy scored six points, while adding two assists and two steals.