Columbus, Ohio - Kiera Hardy caught fire in the second half to score a team-high 22 points but it wasn't enough to prevent No. 10 Ohio State from posting an 86-61 win over the Nebraska women's basketball team at Value City Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Nebraska fell to 6-3 with the loss, while Ohio State improved to 8-1 on the season with its fifth consecutive victory.
Hardy, who managed just three points in the first half, scored 16 points in a seven-minute span in the second half to trim a 20-point Buckeye lead to just nine points with about six minutes left in the game. With the Huskers trailing 50-30, Hardy scored 15 of Nebraska's next 22 points to trim the OSU lead to 63-52, before firing an assist to Chelsea Aubry who cut the lead to 63-54.
For the game, Hardy hit 8-of-16 shots from the field, including 4-of-7 three-pointers. Hardy hit 7-of-11 shots in the second half, including 3-of-5 three-pointers to ignite the Huskers. Aubry finished with nine points for the Huskers, while Jessica Gerhart added 13 points in the losing effort.
"Kiera really got going and carried us in the second half, which was good to see," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "She has been playing with a lot of confidence and has a lot of confidence in her shot right now, and we really needed that today."
Unfortunately for the Huskers, Nebraska would get no closer than the nine-point deficit, as OSU sophomore Jessica Davenport produced a game-high 26 points and senior guard Caity Matter added 25 points in a strong effort for the Buckeyes. Brandie Hoskins pitched in 15 points for the Buckeyes, who ran to an opponent season-high 86 points on the day.
"Obviously our team needs to get better defensively," Yori said. "This is not a surprise that we gave up 86 points, because defensively we are just not where we want to be right now, but we are going to keep working at it and we are going to get better."
Both teams erupted offensively in the second half, as Ohio State outscored NU 50-42 in the second stanza alone, after the defenses dominated in the first half.
Ohio State held a slim 18-13 advantage with just nine minutes left in the first half. The two squads each went nearly five minutes without scoring and forced several shot clock violations late in the half before Ohio State broke through.
In the final six minutes of the half, the Buckeyes outscored Nebraska 18-6 to take control and carry a commanding 36-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Davenport dominated the action for Ohio State in the first half, scoring 17 points, pulling down seven rebounds and notching three blocked shots. Hoskins added a solid half for the Buckeyes by scoring seven points and dishing out four assists to create easy opportunities inside for Davenport.
The Huskers struggled offensively throughout the first half, shooting just 25 percent (7-28) from the field, including just 16.7 percent (1-6) shooting from three-point range. Gerhart led the Huskers with six points in the first half, despite hitting just 1-of-4 field goals.
For the game, Nebraska shot 38.5 percent (20-52), including a solid 54.2 percent (13-24) in the second half. The Huskers also hit 5-of-8 three-pointers in the second stanza. Ohio State hit a sizzling 78.3 percent (18-23) from the field in the second half and finished with 64.7 percent (33-51) for the game, including 53.8 percent (7-13) from three-point range. OSU was a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in the second half. The Buckeyes also outrebounded NU, 34-21, on the day, while matching the Huskers with 12 turnovers.
The Huskers will take the week off from competition during Finals Week at the University of Nebraska, before traveling to the Civic Auditorium in Omaha to take on Creighton on Saturday, Dec. 18, at 3:05 p.m. The game is scheduled to be televised live statewide by Nebraska Educational Television.