Lincoln ? Kiera Hardy’s 22 points led four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska snapped a nine-game losing streak to Colorado with a commanding 84-62 victory over the Buffaloes Wednesday evening.
The 1,011 fans who weathered through blizzard conditions were treated to Nebraska’s best all-around performance of the year, as Nebraska shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half to post its first win over the Buffaloes since a 79-66 win on Jan. 26, 2000. The Huskers, who improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the Big 12, also ended Colorado’s five-game winning streak this season. The Buffs slipped to 7-5 overall and 0-1 in the league.
The Huskers shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and forced 25 Colorado turnovers, while holding the Buffaloes to 38 percent shooting. NU, playing without injured forward Chelsea Aubry, held its own on the defensive glass against the taller Buffaloes, a factor that NU Head Coach Connie Yori said was important in turning an eight-point Husker deficit with nine minutes left in the first half into a 30-point lead over the next 26 minutes.
“The first 10 minutes, we did not rebound, but we did a better job the rest of the way.” Yori said. “Clearly, they are a bigger team and they were more dominant on the glass at least early in the game. We were a quicker team and that showed in the assist-to-turnover ratio.”
Despite being outrebounded 31-17 in the first half and 45-35 for the game, the Huskers used a plus-10 turnover margin to outscore the Buffs 30-12 in points off turnovers, including 22-3 in the second half.
Hardy posted her fifth 20-point game of the season, scoring 16 of her 22 points in the opening 20 minutes, as the Huskers overcame a 21-13 deficit to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room. Jessica Gerhart did most of the damage in the second half, scoring 14 of her 16 points in the closing 20 minutes, hitting 6-of-8 shots, including a pair of three-pointers, after halftime.
Jina Johansen scored a season-high 13 points, dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds, while Bojana Samardziska added 10 points off the bench to give the Huskers at least four players in double figures for the third consecutive game.
Trailing 21-13 midway through the half, Samardziska took over, scoring all six of her points in a 15-3 Husker run that gave the hosts a 28-24 lead after a Hardy jumper with 3:25 left in the half.
CU came right back with a 5-0 run to regain the lead at 29-28 after a pair of Anna Nedovic free throws, but the lead would be short-lived, as Johansen’s short jumper at the 2:43 mark put the Huskers ahead to stay. The Huskers had missed six of their first seven shots from long-range, before three-pointers by Hardy and Jelena Spiric in the closing minutes of the half gave the Huskers a five-point halftime lead.
The Buffaloes closed within 36-34 on an Ilic three-pointer moments into the second half, but could not overcome an avalanche of points. Nebraska turned the contest into a rout with a 21-4 spurt over the next nine minutes to take a 57-38 advantage with 10:43 remaining.
Johansen scored nine of her 13 points in the run, as the Huskers held CU scoreless for 4:29 and were never threatened again.
Gerhart, who missed her first five shots of the night, then sparked a 9-0 Husker run by connecting on consecutive three-pointers to help the Huskers take their biggest lead at 80-50 with 3:10 left in the game. The Huskers, who topped the 80-point mark for the third straight game, have score 80 points five times this season after managing the 80-point plateau just three times in the previous two seasons combined.
“We caught Colorado at a good time.” Yori said. “They are a young team on the road playing their first Big 12 game. We know they will be better the next time we played them.”
Colorado was led by Jasmina Ilic, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds to pace three Buffaloes in double figures.
The Huskers will travel to Missouri on Saturday, Jan. 8, with a tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be available on Froggy 98 (98.1 FM) in Lincoln
Colorado vs Nebraska (01/05/05 at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Colorado vs Nebraska 01/05/05 7:07 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Colorado (7-5) (0-1) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 12 Nedovic, Anna....... f 3-13 1-6 2-2 4 4 8 2 9 2 4 1 0 39 44 Richards, Kara...... c 5-9 0-0 0-0 4 2 6 3 10 2 4 1 0 20 05 Johns-Richardson, V. g 5-9 3-5 0-0 2 2 4 3 13 2 2 0 0 31 21 Ilic, Jasmina....... g 6-13 3-5 0-1 6 3 9 2 15 1 3 0 1 26 22 Law, Whitney........ g 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 6 6 1 3 4 5 0 1 25 10 Lubin, Lauren....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 7 23 Escalera, Yari...... 3-5 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 1 8 1 3 0 0 25 34 Lini, Sarah......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 45 McFarland, Jackie... 0-9 0-0 0-4 2 5 7 2 0 2 4 1 0 20 52 Garnett, Tami....... 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 25-66 10-24 2-7 20 25 45 17 62 15 25 3 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-36 33.3% 2nd Half: 13-30 43.3% Game: 37.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-12 41.7% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 41.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 0-0 0.0% Game: 28.6% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska (9-4) (1-0) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 DIAZ, Elena......... f 0-3 0-0 1-2 1 3 4 2 1 0 2 0 0 25 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 6-12 2-2 2-4 0 4 4 1 16 0 0 0 1 21 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 1-3 0-1 2-2 0 0 0 5 4 3 3 0 4 20 20 JOHANSEN, Jina...... g 5-7 1-2 2-2 0 5 5 0 13 7 2 0 2 35 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 9-20 2-5 2-2 1 4 5 2 22 3 1 0 1 29 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... 3-7 1-5 1-3 3 3 6 2 8 1 2 0 2 26 11 SAMARDZISKA, Bojana. 4-5 0-0 2-3 1 2 3 2 10 0 1 2 1 20 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 2-4 0-0 2-2 1 0 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 6 30 DRMANAC, Ivana...... 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 4 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 0 1 1 2 2 1 14 TEAM................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 31-63 7-16 15-22 11 24 35 14 84 15 13 4 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-31 38.7% 2nd Half: 19-32 59.4% Game: 49.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 43.8% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-12 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 68.2% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scotty Hermann, Jeff Caudle, Ernie Solis Technical fouls: Colorado-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 1011 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Colorado...................... 31 31 - 62 Nebraska...................... 36 48 - 84
Points in the paint-CU 26,NU 30. Points off turnovers-CU 12,NU 30. 2nd chance points-CU 10,NU 17. Fast break points-CU 2,NU 10. Bench points-CU 12,NU 28. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-3 times. Last FG-CU 2nd-00:11, NU 2nd-01:01.