Lincoln - Kiera Hardy hit the game-winning jumper from the left side of the lane with two seconds left to bring the Nebraska women's basketball team back from a 12-point second-half deficit for a 64-62 overtime win over Kansas State at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Saturday night.
Hardy, who scored 19 of her game-high 23 points after halftime, hit two three-pointers to help NU to its biggest lead of the game early in the overtime period, before hitting a game-winning shot for the second time in her career, joining a winning basket as time expired at Oklahoma State last season.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in Big 12 play, while Kansas State slipped to 17-7 overall and 7-6 in the league standings. The Huskers also improved to 4-0 on the season in rematches with Big 12 North division opponents, avenging a 71-64 loss at Manhattan two weeks ago while snapping a five-game series losing streak to the Wildcats.
Freshman forward Kelsey Griffin added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Huskers, including an 11-for-13 effort at the free throw line. Griffin scored 12 points and had four rebounds after halftime.
In addition to the solid performances from Hardy and Griffin, senior point guard LaToya Howell gave the Huskers a major spark with six points and five assists to go along with a team- and career-high eight rebounds in a career-best 41 minutes.
Nebraska outscored Kansas State, 36-26 in the second half, by shooting 48 percent from the field (12-25) and hitting 33.3 percent (2-6) of its three-pointers. NU was also a perfect 10-of-10 at the free throw line in the second half. The Huskers also took excellent care of the basketball in the second half, committing just two turnovers.
The Huskers' success on the offensive end in the second half came in stark contrast to their first-half performance.
The Wildcats took a 27-17 lead into the locker room at halftime, after both teams struggled offensively in the first half. The Huskers shot just 20 percent (5-25) in the first half and just 7.7 percent (1-13) from three-point range. Nebraska's shooting woes resulted in NU's lowest offensive output in the first half this season, but NU trailed by just 10 points at the half by holding KSU to just 34.5 percent shooting (10-29) and forcing 11 Wildcat turnovers in the opening stanza.
Twiggy McIntyre, who did not play in the first meeting between the two teams, led all scorers in the first half with nine points on a trio of three-pointers. McIntyre's second three-pointer sparked a 9-0 KSU run over a four-minute stretch that turned a 5-4 Kansas State lead into a 14-4 edge on Shalee Lehning's three-point play with 11:19 left in the half.
Nebraska answered with a 5-0 run after going nearly eight minutes without scoring, sparked by three straight points from Danielle Page and a jumper by Jessica Gerhart to trim KSU's lead to 14-9 with 7:10 left in the half. But Kansas State scored seven consecutive points, including McIntyre's third three-pointer of the half to take its largest lead at 21-9 with 5:35 left in the opening period.
McIntyre led the Wildcats with 15 points on the night, on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range.
Down 33-23 with just over 13 minutes to go in the second half, Gerhart gave the Huskers a lift, connecting on a 10-foot jumper, while Hardy followed with a three-point play to swing the momentum in favor of NU and trim the Wildcat lead to 35-30 with just over 11 minutes left.
Howell took over the Husker comeback with six points in a 7-0 run to give the Huskers their first lead of the game at 39-38 with 7:30 remaining in the game.
The two teams traded baskets down the stretch, including a big three-pointer from Hardy with 4:41 left to snap a streak of 14 consecutive missed three-pointers in the game by the Huskers. Hardy then added another three-pointer at the 1:58 mark to tie the game at 49.
Griffin gave the Huskers a two-point lead with 1:26 remaining in the game, connecting on a pair of free throws. Marlies Gipson, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for KSU, responded with a three-pointer to give KSU the lead, 52-51 with 55 seconds left in regulation. Gipson then sent Griffin to the free throw line, where she hit both attempts to give NU a one-point lead with 50 seconds left.
With 24.4 seconds remaining, Gipson missed the first of two free throw attempts, but made the second to tie the game at 53.
Nebraska took the ball down to the wire at the end of regulation, running the same play unsuccessfully that resulted in the game-winner in overtime.
Hardy took control with consecutive three-pointers over a 24-second span to give the Huskers the lead in overtime, 59-54. Griffin added a free throw to push the lead to six points at 60-54 with just under three minutes left in overtime.
McIntyre brought the Wildcats back to within three points with her fifth three-pointer, before Chelsea Aubry responded with a quick layup. Kansas State then tied the game at 62 when Coggins followed up with another three-pointer and a layup with 1:18 left.
Hardy took the game into her hands again, this time hitting the shot to win and send the Husker crowd into a frenzy.
Nebraska closes regular-season home action on Tuesday night when the Huskers battle Oklahoma State at the Devaney Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard live on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including 1400 AM-KLIN in Lincoln and on Huskers.com. Nebraska will honor seniors LaToya Howell, Elena Diaz and Ivana Drmanac in a Senior Night pre-game ceremony.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Kansas State vs Nebraska 02/18/06 7:06 at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Kansas State 17-7, 7-6 Big 12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 51 Gipson, Marlies..... f 4-8 1-2 1-2 0 8 8 3 10 2 3 3 0 39 40 Hamlin, JoAnn....... c 2-9 0-0 4-5 3 0 3 5 8 0 4 1 0 30 05 Lehning, Shalee..... g 4-8 0-1 2-3 1 10 11 3 10 0 6 1 0 42 13 Dietz, Kimberly..... g 2-6 1-4 4-4 0 4 4 1 9 0 4 0 0 32 15 McIntyre, Twiggy.... g 5-9 5-9 0-0 0 3 3 4 15 3 3 0 3 39 14 Coggins, Claire..... 3-7 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 2 8 1 2 1 1 18 24 Smith, Naytanda..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 25 Zanotti, Danielle... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 10 50 McFarland, Jessica.. 1-4 0-0 0-0 3 2 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 14 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 21-52 9-21 11-14 9 31 40 21 62 6 23 6 5 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 8-19 42.1% OT: 3-4 75.0% Game: 40.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% OT: 2-2 100 % Game: 42.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-3 100 % 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 78.6% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 14-10, 6-7 Big12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 2-7 0-1 11-13 2 5 7 3 15 0 1 0 2 31 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 3-6 0-0 0-0 1 6 7 3 6 0 1 0 4 34 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 2-8 1-5 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 1 1 0 0 32 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 2-6 0-1 2-2 3 5 8 2 6 5 3 0 3 41 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 8-20 4-11 3-3 0 3 3 1 23 3 2 0 2 38 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 1-5 0-3 0-0 0 0 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 19 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 8 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 3-6 0-1 1-2 1 2 3 2 7 0 0 0 3 17 TEAM................ 1 2 3 1 Totals.............. 21-58 5-22 17-20 8 23 31 18 64 9 12 0 15 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 5-25 20.0% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% OT: 4-8 50.0% Game: 36.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-13 7.7% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% OT: 2-3 66.7% Game: 22.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-8 75.0% 2nd Half: 10-10 100 % OT: 1-2 50.0% Game: 85.0% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Jeff Caudle, Cindy Knepp, Doug Williams Technical fouls: Kansas State-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 3650 Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total Kansas State.................. 27 26 9 - 62 Nebraska...................... 17 36 11 - 64