St. Thomas, Virgin Islands ? Sophomore Kiera Hardy broke out of a three-game shooting slump with 16 second-half points, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Nebraska women's basketball team from falling to North Carolina State, 55-45, in the first round of the Paradise Jam at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center on Friday night.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Despite trailing by 14 points late in the first half, the Huskers used an 18-2 run through the final three minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half to turn a 26-12 deficit into a 30-28 lead.
But the Wolfpack answered with a 24-2 run of their own to regain control at 52-32 with under five minutes to play.
The Huskers refused to go quietly though, as Hardy used a pair of steals to spark a 10-0 run to cut North Carolina State’s lead to 10 points with 1:35 left. NU narrowed the gap to nine points with under a minute to play.
The Huskers ran out of time in their second comeback attempt to fall to 3-2 on the season, while North Carolina State improved to 2-1 with its only loss coming to No. 1 Tennessee.
With the loss, Nebraska falls into the consolation bracket of the four-team Paradise Jam to play the loser of Friday’s second game between Louisville and Hampton. The Huskers will take the court in the third-place game at 7:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday (9:30 p.m. Atlantic).
The story of the game for the Huskers was turnovers. NU entered the game averaging just 11.3 turnovers per game, but committed a season-high 25 turnovers that led directly to 25 points for the Wolfpack. The Huskers managed to force just seven turnovers to give North Carolina State a decisive plus-18 turnover margin for the game.
N.C. State’s success forcing turnovers and plus-two margin on the glass resulted in the Wolfpack attempting 20 more field goals than the Huskers.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori credited North Carolina State’s defense for a strong effort.
“Their defense was the difference in the game,” Yori said. “It’s a coach’s clich? that defense, turnovers and rebounding win games, but when you look at what their defense did at creating turnovers, it’s pretty obvious that was a huge factor in the game.”
On a positive note for the Huskers, Yori said Hardy’s spark in the second half was a welcome sign.
“It was really good to get her going again in the second half,” Yori said. “She gave us a lift and helped us get the lead. It was just too bad we couldn’t keep the lead and take care of the ball well enough to get some more people involved in the second half.”
The Huskers fell behind early 8-0 and did not score for nearly the first five minutes. NU charged back to cut the score to 12-8, but North Carolina State continued to put a stranglehold on the Husker offense to push the lead to double figures at 20-10 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The lead grew as large as 14 points on two occasions in the first half, for the last time at 26-12 with under three minutes to play in the half.
But the Huskers headed to the locker room with momentum by scoring seven straight points, including a three-pointer by Chelsea Aubry at the buzzer to cut the Wolfpack lead to 26-19 at the half.
Gerhart carried the Huskers in the first half, scoring eight of her 10 points and pulling down six of her team-high seven boards in the opening stanza. Aubry added five of her seven points and three of her five boards in the first half, despite missing eight minutes after picking up two early fouls. Jelena Spiric was the only other Husker to score more than two points, finishing with four points and three rebounds.
The Huskers hit a sizzling 60 percent (12-20) of their field goal attempts in the second half, but were plagued by 14 second-half turnovers. For the game, NU shot 47.6 percent (20-42) from the field, but hit just 2-of-11 three-point attempts. The Huskers hit just 3-of-6 free throws.
The Wolfpack hit just 35.5 percent (22-62) of their field goal attempts, and just 1-of-8 three-pointers, while converting just 10-of-20 free throws.
Kendra Bell led North Carolina State with 13 points, while Ashley Key contributed 10 points. Tiffany Stansbury pitched in eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds for the Wolfpack.