Lincoln ? The Nebraska women’s basketball team used a strong surge midway through the second half to cut an 11-point Texas Tech lead to just one point with a little over seven minutes left in the game, but the No. 10 Lady Raiders hit eight straight free throws in the game’s final 33 seconds to escape the Devaney Center with a 68-58 win over the Huskers in front of a season-high 3,778 fans on Wednesday night.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>
Nebraska suffered its first home loss of the season to fall to 11-6 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 Conference play, while Texas Tech improved to 14-2 overall and remained undefeated in Big 12 play with a 5-0 record.
The Huskers, who posted their biggest win in school history with a 103-99 triple overtime win over No. 2 Baylor last week, had a golden opportunity to spring another upset against the No. 10 Lady Raiders, only to be quelled by cold shooting down the stretch.
After falling behind by 11 points at 38-27 with 16:28 to play in the game, the Huskers outscored Texas Tech, 22-12 over the next nine minutes to trim the lead to just one point with 7:38 remaining.
In a fierce defensive struggle, the two teams went toe-to-toe for the next four minutes. <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska trailed 55-53 after a Jelena Spiric with 4:26 left, before Kiera Hardy pulled down a key defensive rebound and was immediately fouled by Texas Tech’s Erin Grant with 4:01 left in the game. Hardy went to the other end to shoot the front end of a one-and-one, but missed the first free throw in the Huskers’ best opportunity to tie the game for the first time since the 8:53 mark in the first half.
Tech stretched the lead back to four points by a LaToya Davis putback with 3:33 to play, before Hardy answered with a jumper to trim the lead back to two points at 57-55 with 3:20 remaining. The Huskers forced a Lady Raider miss on the following possession, but Alesha Robertson scored on another putback to give Texas Tech a 59-55 lead with 2:54 to play.
The Huskers got an excellent look at the basket on the following possession, but freshman Danielle Page, who scored a career-high nine points off the bench, missed the shot, and Davis cleared the rebound to Grant who was fouled. Grant hit the first of nine Texas Tech free throws in the final 1:30.
While Texas Tech hit 9-of-10 shots at the free throw line in the closing minutes, Nebraska missed five of its last six field goal attempts in the game’s final 2:43 to seal the Huskers’ fate.
“The game was decided on their ability to rebound late in the game, both offensively and defensively,” Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. “We also needed to hit a couple more shots and make a couple more plays in the last four minutes. We were right there with another top 10 team. I think it is encouraging that our players are really disappointed with the loss. We are starting to expect to win these games against top-10 teams, which I think says something about the direction we are headed.”
Kiera Hardy led the Huskers with 15 points on the night, including a trio of three-pointers. She added five rebounds and two steals in a solid all-around effort. Page added a career-high nine points and four rebounds, while LaToya Howell provided a spark off the bench as well with eight points, four rebounds, two assists and one steals. Chelsea Aubry added five points and a team-high eight rebounds in 19 minutes of play in her second game back to the court after missing the first three Big 12 contests with a foot injury.
Overall, Nebraska’s trio of Page, Howell and Aubry outscored the Texas Tech reserves 22-0 on the night.
Unfortunately for the Huskers, the Texas Tech starters provided plenty of firepower, led by Chesley Dabbs’ 21 points. Dabbs scored 15 of her points in the first half to shoot the Lady Raiders to a 34-25 halftime cushion.
While Dabbs carried the load for the Lady Raiders in the first half, Grant scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half. Grant scored all of Texas Tech’s eight points during a 6:48 span in which the Huskers slashed the Texas Tech lead from 38-27 to just three points at 46-43.
Davis provided a consistent effort on offense and the glass throughout the night to finish with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Alesha Robertson added 11 points on 4-of-15 shooting. Cisti Greenwalt added seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots.
The Huskers travel to No. 19 Iowa State this Saturday, Jan. 22, for a 2 p.m. tilt against the Cyclones. The game will be carried on the Froggy 98 in Lincoln as well as on the Internet at Huskers.com.