Columbia, Mo. - The Nebraska women's basketball team scored the game's final nine points and did not allow Missouri to hit a field goal in the final 9:45, to overcome a 13-point deficit late in the second half and escape from the Mizzou Arena with an 81-74 victory over the Missouri Tigers on Saturday night.
Kiera Hardy scored a game-high 23 points to lead four Huskers in double figures, as Nebraska improved to 10-4 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play with the improbable victory over the Tigers (7-6, 1-1).
Jessica Gerhart posted the first double-double of her career with 17 points and tied a career high with 11 rebounds, while Jelena Spiric added a career-high 18 points and tied her career best with six rebounds.
Along with the career performances from Gerhart and Spiric, Jina Johansen produced the best all-around effort of her career with 14 points and eight assists, while committing no turnovers to captain the Huskers' comeback. The 5-7 senior guard from Dannebrog, Neb., scored all 14 of her points in the second half to help Nebraska surge to its fourth consecutive 80-point scoring effort of the season. The Huskes also started off conference play with a 2-0 record for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
After the Huskers captured an early lead at 10-9 in the first half, Missouri erupted on an 18-4 run to take control, 27-14, with 7:27 left in the first half. Nebraska was able to quickly chip away at the MU lead and trailed by just three points at 36-33 with 2:34 left in the first half. Spiric keyed the Husker comeback in the first half by scoring 12 of her career-best 18 points in the first half, while Hardy and Gerhart each added 10 first-half points.
Missouri, which entered the game on a three-game winning streak, outscored NU 7-1 down the stretch in the first half to head to the locker room with a 43-34 lead.
Hardy, a Missouri native who has averaged 20.3 points per game in her three career games against the Tigers, scored the first seven points of the second half for the Huskers to help NU trim the lead back down to five points at 54-49 with 14:24 remaining in the game.
The Tigers answered the run again and matched their biggest lead of the game at 13 points on a pair of Tiffany Brooks free throws with 8:26 left to give MU a 68-55 edge. After Brooks' free throws, LaToya Bond got a steal and Missouri was unable to convert on a three-on-one break that may have put the Huskers away. Instead, Nebraska raced out in transition and Hardy knocked down a long two-point jumper to spark Nebraska's rally.
Missouri was unable to get a field goal the rest of the way, as Nebraska dominated the final eight minutes, outscoring the Tigers 26-6 down the stretch. All six Tiger points came at the free throw line from Brooks, who finished with a career-high 30 points.
Johansen tied the score for the Huskers at 74 on a layup, and grabbed a defensive rebound with 1:57 to play a missed jumper by Brooks. The Huskers regained the lead for the first time in the second half on Gerhart's jumper. with 1:42 to play.
Spiric then snatched her second steal of the game and Johansen converted a jumper with 52 seconds left to match Nebraska's biggest lead of the game at 78-74. Freshman Danielle Page, who finished with seven points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots, then knocked down 1-of-2 free throws before making a key defensive play by forcing another miss by Brooks.
Spiric sealed the Husker win by knocking down a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to give Nebraska its fourth consecutive victory.
For the game, Nebraska hit 47.7 percent of its shots from the field, including 51.7 percent shooting in the second half. The Huskers also hit all four of their three-point field goal attempts in the second stanza to finish 5-of-9 from long range on the night. NU also converted 14-of-21 free throw attempts. The Huskers outrebounded the Tigers, 40-37, and forced 12 Tiger turnovers while committing just seven turnovers of their own.
Missouri finished at 40 percent from the field and hit just 25.9 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half, after knocking down a sizzling 51.5 percent of its field goal attempts in the first half. MU hit nine of its first 13 three-point field goal attempts, but missed its final four shots from long range on the night.
Nebraska returns home to continue Big 12 action by taking on No. 3 Baylor at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.