Lincoln - Kiera Hardy scored 16 points and Danielle Page set career highs with 15 points and four blocked shots to lead a tough team effort, as the Nebraska women's basketball team battled its way to a 70-51 win over the Oklahoma Sooners in front of 2,858 fans at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Sunday afternoon.
Nebraska, which improved to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in Big 12 play, snapped a six-game losing streak to Oklahoma by holding the Sooners to just six points in the final 12 minutes of the game. OU fell to 12-8 overall and 4-5 in the league, as the Huskers moved into a tie for fifth place with No. 13 Texas, while the Sooners fell two full games behind the Longhorns and Huskers in seventh place.
Nebraska Coach Connie Yori emphasized the significance of Sunday's win during her post-game press conference.
"I'm not going to lie to you, that was a big, big win today," Yori said. "Our players worked hard, they executed the game plan and they made plays. That is a very important win for our team because of the position it puts us in the Big 12 standings."
Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale credited the Huskers for an outstanding all-around team effort.
"Nebraska dominated us in every phase of the game," Coale said. "They simply outplayed us. You are not going to win many games in the Big 12 by scoring 51 points, but the credit goes to Nebraska. They deserved to win today."
The Huskers led just 47-45 after OU's Laura Andrews hit a jumper with 12:02 left, but Nebraska responded by shutting down the Sooners the rest of the way. Senior Jina Johansen, who notched her first career win over Oklahoma on Sunday, hit a jumper to spark an 8-0 run to give the Huskers their first double-digit lead of the day at 55-45 with 8:12 to play.
Leah Rush, who led Oklahoma with a game-high 19 points, snapped a 5:05 scoring drought by the Sooners to cut NU's lead to 55-47 with 6:57 left. Dionnah Jackson added Oklahoma's final field goal of the day with a layup with 5:15 to play to trim the Husker lead to 55-49. Jackson, who added OU's final two points at the free throw line with 38 seconds in the game, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two blocks for OU.
The Huskers dominated down the stretch, as Page scored six of NU's next eight points during an 11-0 run to put Nebraska up 66-49 with 47 seconds to play.
Page continued her torrid play by producing a career-high scoring total for the fifth consecutive game, while adding a career-best four blocks along with six rebounds and two steals.
Jelena Spiric also came up big for the Huskers by scoring 12 points, while adding seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in one of her best all-around efforts of the season.
Chelsea Aubry added seven points and a career-high 11 rebounds for the Huskers, who managed to outrebound the Sooners, 47-42 on the afternoon. Nebraska's solid interior play from Page, Spiric, Aubry and Elena Diaz, who added seven points and seven rebounds, came without regular starter Jessica Gerhart, who missed her second straight game after having her appendix removed on Tuesday morning.
The Huskers hit 43.9 percent (25-57) of their field goals on the day, despite hitting a season-low two three-pointers (2-8). Oklahoma hit just 29.6 percent (21-71) of its shots, including a dismal 9.1 percent (2-22) from three-point range, the worst long-range shooting effort by an NU opponent this season.
OU did hit all seven of its free throw attempts, but NU outscored the Sooners 18-7 at the line by connecting on 18-of-27 free throws (66.7 percent). Both teams committed 16 turnovers on the day.
Nebraska shot out of the locker room to open the game, jumping to a quick 8-2 lead just over four minutes into the game. The Huskers pushed the lead to eight points on five occasions in the first half, before the Sooners tied thegame on Lauren Shoush's jumper with 1:23 to play in the first half.
After a Hardy jumper, the Sooners tied the score again at 29 on Rush's jumper, before Diaz and Page scored in the final 40 seconds of the first half to send NU to the locker room at halftime with a 33-29 advantage.
Hardy and Aubry led a balanced first-half effort for the Huskers with seven points apiecef, while Page added six first-half points. Overall, seven Huskers found the scoring column in the opening stanza. Rush led the Sooners with 10 points in the first half, while Erin Higgins added nine points, including OU's only three-pointer of the first half. Jackson pitched in six points, four rebounds and three assists, as OU's three regular starters combined for 25 of the Sooners' 29 points in the first half.
Nebraska improved to 12-0 this season when leading at the half. The Huskers also improved to 11-1 at home this season, while extending its overall winning streak to three games.
The Huskers continue Big 12 Conference action on Wednesday night when they travel to Austin, Texas to tangle with the No. 13 Texas Longhorns. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised by FSN Midwest. The Huskers and Longhorns are tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings with identical 6-3 conference marks.
Nebraska returns home to take on Big 12 leader Iowa State on Saturday, Feb. 12. In an effort to "Pack the Devaney," the Huskers will be offering "Dollar Days" against the No. 19 Cyclones, with $1 general admission, $1 Pepsi products and $1 hot dogs. To purchase tickets, visit Huskers.com or call 1-800-8-BIGRED.