Omaha, Neb. - Kiera Hardy scored a team-high 29 points, including the Huskers' last 11 points of the game, but the Nebraska women's basketball team still came up short in a 58-57 loss to the Creighton Bluejays at the Omaha Civic Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers slipped to 6-4 with the loss, while the Bluejays improved to 5-3 with the victory.
After a low-scoring first half, the teams gained momentum offensively in a high-flying second stanza, as Nebraska outscored Creighton 36-34. The Huskers outscored the Bluejays, 11-3, in the final five minutes, but the Bluejays still found a way to win.
The Huskers had the ball with 12 seconds left and a chance to win, but Hardy was called for a travel with under two seconds remaining after being tied up by Creighton freshman Ally Thrall to end Nebraska's bid for a victory. Hardy scored Nebraska's final 11 points in the last five minutes to single-handedly erase a nine-point Creighton lead at 55-46.
Hardy fell just two points shy of her career high by leading the Huskers in scoring for the sixth consecutive game. The 5-6 guard from Kansas City, Mo., produced her third straight 20-plus scoring effort and fifth 20-point performance of the season. Hardy actually outscored the rest of the Huskers, 29-28, on the afternoon by hitting 11-of-20 field goal attempts and 6-of-7 free throws.
Jessica Gerhart added seven points and eight rebounds, while Chelsea Aubry contributed six points and six boards for the Huskers. Nebraska hit just 37.7 percent (23-61) from the field and connected on just 2-of-12 three-pointers, but held CU to just 35.4 percent (23-65) field goal shooting and just 4-of-13 three-pointers. The Huskers forced 18 CU turnovers, while committing just 14 turnovers of their own, but Creighton outrebounded NU, 48-37.
Senior guard Laura Spanheimer led the Bluejays with 21 points and five steals, while junior forward Angie Janis added a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, despite hitting just 6-of-26 shots on the day, including a 2-for-15 shooting effort in the first half. Junior guard Kristi Woodard added a double-double of her own with 13 points and 10 boards for Creighton.
The Bluejays struggled to a 24-21 halftime lead, as the two teams combined to hit just 26.9 percent (18-67) from the field including a combined 1-for-13 performance from three-point range. The Bluejays, the nation's top three-point shooting team, were 0-for-5 from three-point range in the first half, before knocking down 4-of-8 trifectas in the second half.
In a game with two distinct halves, Hardy carried the Huskers in a low-scoring opening stanza, scoring 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Hardy's three-pointer with just under five minutes to go in the first half gave Nebraska its biggest lead at 21-16, but the Huskers did not score the rest of the half, as CU ended with an 8-0 run to carry a 24-21 lead into halftime.
Spanheimer scored the last four points of the first half to help the Bluejays regain the lead. Spanheimer, who led Creighton with 10 first-half points, was the only Bluejay to hit a field goal in the final 12 minutes of the first half.
Spanheimer helped Creighton jump out to an early 12-7 lead, but Hardy led a 7-0 NU run and freshman Danielle Page hit her first field goal of the game to give NU a 14-12 edge with 11:14 left in the first half.
Hardy was a one-woman wrecking crew in the first half, as no other NU player was able to hit more than one first-half field goal.
The Huskers return to action home action on Monday, when they take on the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.