Norman, Okla. - The Nebraska women's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped as No. 9 Oklahoma ran to a 73-45 win over the Huskers in front of a sellout crowd at the Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday.
The Huskers slipped to 15-11 overall and 7-8 in the Big 12, while the Big 12 champion Sooners improved to 25-4 overall and 15-0 in the Big 12.
Nebraska led 16-10 after the first five minutes of the game, but after hitting seven of the first 11 shots from the field, the Huskers missed 24 of their next 26 shots, as Oklahoma worked its way to a 45-25 lead with 15:16 left in the game. Trailing 37-27 at halftime, NU saw OU open the second half on a 10-0 run and continue to surge to the final buzzer.
Kiera Hardy was the only Husker to manage double figures on a tough shooting day for the Huskers. Hardy finished with 10 points despite picking up three first-half fouls and a fourth foul early in the second half, while Jessica Gerhart added eight points despite being whistled for four fouls as well.
Kelsey Griffin added seven points despite playing limited minutes because of an illness. Hardy, Gerhart and Griffin combined to hit just 9-of-30 shots from the field. Overall, the Huskers hit a season-low 28.3 percent of their shots from the field, including just 1-of-12 three-pointers for a season-low 8.3 percent. NU was also outrebounded 60-33 on the day. NU did take solid care of the ball, committing just 12 turnovers, while forcing 15 miscues by the Sooners.
Oklahoma finished the game shooting 43.3 percent from the field, including a blistering 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range. Erin Higgins led OU with five three-pointers and a game-high 17 points, while Courtney Paris contributed 15 points and 13 rebounds, despite scoring just six points and grabbing two rebounds in the first half.
Hardy and Griffin got the Huskers off to a solid start in the first four minutes, as Hardy scored six early points and Griffin pitched in five points to give NU an 11-10 lead over the Sooners into the first media timeout with 15:44 left in the first half.
The Huskers took their biggest lead of the first half after a three-pointer by TK LaFleur and a jumper by Jessica Gerhart gave NU a 16-10 lead five minutes into the game. But Oklahoma responded with a 14-0 run sparked by a pair of three-pointers from Higgins and six straight points from Paris to give the Sooners a 24-16 lead with 11:10 left in the opening half.
Nebraska battled back as Gerhart stepped back for a jumper and was fouled on the arm by Paris, who picked up her second personal foul with 10:54 left in the half. LaFleur added a jumper to cut OU's lead to four at 24-20 with 9:44 to play in the first half.
The Sooners surged again with a 7-0 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 31-20 on an Ashley Paris free throw, and OU carried a 10-point lead at 35-25 into the locker room at halftime.
Nebraska trailed by just 10 points at the half, despite hitting just 28.1 percent of its first-half field goal attempts. The Huskers, who hit just 1-of-10 three-pointers in the first half, made just two of their last 21 shots from the field in the first half, after opening the game by connecting on seven of their first 11 shots.
Oklahoma hit 45.2 percent of its shots from the field in the opening stanza, including 36.4 percent (4-11) from three-point range. OU was just 3-for-7 from the free throw line, while NU hit 6-of-7 free throws in the first half.
Nebraska will play its final game of the regular season by traveling to Columbia, Mo., to take on Missouri on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game can be heard live on 98.1 FM-KFGE in Lincoln and on Huskers.com.
Nebraska vs Oklahoma (02/26/06 at Norman, Okla. -- Lloyd Noble Center)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Oklahoma 02/26/06 1 PM at Norman, Okla. -- Lloyd Noble Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 15-11, 7-8 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 2-8 0-0 3-3 1 0 1 1 7 0 2 0 0 16 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 3-11 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 4 8 2 2 0 0 24 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-6 0-3 1-2 0 5 5 0 3 2 1 0 1 30 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 0-4 0-1 1-2 2 1 3 1 1 1 2 0 0 27 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 0-4 2-2 0 1 1 4 10 0 2 0 2 19 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 13 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 3-6 1-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 7 0 2 0 0 21 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 0-3 0-2 1-2 2 3 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 9 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 3-6 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 6 0 0 0 2 19 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 7 8 1 2 0 0 3 1 22 TEAM................ 4 4 Totals.............. 17-60 1-12 10-13 12 21 33 13 45 7 12 3 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-32 28.1% 2nd Half: 8-28 28.6% Game: 28.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 0-2 0.0% Game: 8.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 76.9% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Oklahoma 25-4, 15-0 #9 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 14 Preston, Beky....... f 3-7 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 0 11 24 Rush, Leah.......... f 2-6 1-3 2-2 4 4 8 1 7 3 3 0 0 22 03 Paris, Courtney..... c 6-12 0-0 3-8 6 7 13 3 15 3 1 5 2 24 11 Andrews, Laura...... g 2-6 2-5 0-2 0 3 3 2 6 3 1 2 0 24 33 Brown, Britney...... g 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 5 4 1 0 1 21 05 Paris, Ashley....... 4-9 0-0 1-2 4 4 8 2 9 0 3 0 0 20 15 Winchester, Carolyn. 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 20 Moore, Kendra....... 0-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 0 1 1 1 2 19 22 Welch, Chelsi....... 4-8 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 8 2 1 0 1 17 32 Sanchez, Krista..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 34 Higgins, Erin....... 6-8 5-7 0-0 1 3 4 1 17 2 2 0 1 29 TEAM................ 7 4 11 Totals.............. 29-67 9-18 6-15 26 34 60 15 73 18 15 8 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-31 45.2% 2nd Half: 15-36 41.7% Game: 43.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-11 36.4% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 40.0% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scotty Hermann (R), Peter Contreras (U1), John Fullilove Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Oklahoma-None. Attendance: 12003 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 25 20 - 45 Oklahoma...................... 35 38 - 73