Columbia, Mo. - Junior guard Kiera Hardy produced her 10th 20-point performance of the season with a game-high 28 points to lead the Nebraska women's basketball team to an impressive 75-62 victory over Missouri in the Huskeres' final game of the regular season at Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska finished the regular season with a 16-11 overall record and an 8-8 Big 12 Conference record. The Husker win guaranteed them the No. 6 seed at the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Nebraska will play 11th-seeded Colorado on Tuesday, March 7, at 8:30 p.m.
Hardy scored 21 of her 28 points in the first half to help the Huskers to a 34-30 halftime lead before the Huskers won going away from the Tigers in the second half. Hardy had one of her most efficient offensive performances of the season, hitting 11-of-16 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, while adding five assists and three steals.
Junior forward Jessica Gerhart added 15 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, including just her second three-pointer of the season to help the Huskers complete a sweep of Big 12 North division foes in rematches this season. NU also finished the season 7-3 against Big 12 North teams, while posting its third consecutive victory at Missouri.
Nebraska finished the game shooting 48.3 percent (29-60) from the field, including 50 percent (6-12) from three-point range. NU was also a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line. The Huskers outrebounded Missouri, 35-29, including a plus-nine rebounding effort in the second half. NU was also plus-one in turnover margin, forcing 15 Tiger turnovers, while committing 14 miscues of its own.
The Huskers have closed the Big 12 regular season as one of the hottest teams in the league, winning four of their last five games with their only loss coming on the road at No. 9 Oklahoma. The Sooners closed the first perfect Big 12 season in the 10-year history of the league by beating Texas Tech on Wednesday night in Lubbock.
"It was a great win for our team," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "I thought our players did a great job of doing what we asked them to do. We played with energy and emotion and we did the things we needed to do to win on the road over a very good Missouri team."
Hardy carried the Huskers in the first half, scoring 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the opening stanza to shoot NU to a 34-30 halftime lead. Hardy also hit 3-of-5 three-point attempts while adding a pair of steals and an assist in one of her best efforts of the season.
"My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball and I thought I did a good job of being patient and not just settling for shots early in possessions," Hardy said. "We played hard and we played together, and we made the plays we needed to get a W."
Hardy's hot shooting in the first half allowed Nebraska to overcome an 8-0 Missouri run to open the game. The Tigers set the tone early by scoring the game's first eight points on their first three possessions of the game, before Hardy led the Huskers on a major offensive eruption.
The 5-6 junior from Kansas City, Mo., hit hit back-to-back shots to cut MU's lead to 8-6 with 16:15 left in the half. Missouri pushed the lead back to six points before Gerhart hit her second jumper of the half and Hardy knocked down her first three-pointer to cut the lead to one at 12-11 with 14:17 remaining in the half.
After EeTisha Riddle hit her third straight jumper to push MU's lead to 16-13, before Hardy hit back-to-back three-pointers in a 30-second span to give the Huskers their first lead of the game at 19-16 with 12:28 left in the first stanza.
Missouri answered with an 8-0 run after back-to-back three-pointers from Blair Hardiek and LaToya Bond to give MU a 24-19 edge with 10:36 remaining in the first half, before Hardy struck again, scoring six of NU's next 10 points in a 10-0 run over a three-minute span.
Hardy's production pushed Nebraska's lead to 29-24, before TK LaFleur hit a big three-pointer to give the Huskers their largest lead of the first half at 32-26 with 3:47 left.
Missouri scored on back-to-back baskets to cut Nebraska's lead to two points with one minute left in the half before Hardy got a steal and an uncontested layup with five seconds left to send NU to the locker room with a four-point lead.
The Huskers shot 48.3 percent in the first half, including 57.1 percent (4-7) from three-point range. Missouri hit 44.8 percent of its first-half shots, including 37.5 percent of its three-pointers. MU outrebounded NU, 18-15, in the first half, but the Huskers committed just five turnovers while forcing seven miscues by the Tigers.
After Hardy sent the Huskers to the locker room with momentum, the Huskers set the tone in the second half by getting back-to-back layups from Chelsea Aubry and Hardy in the first 30 seconds of the second half to take a 38-30 lead.
Carlynn Savant hit a pair of free throws for the Tigers, before the Huskers erupted on a 7-0 run over the next 1:10, sparked by five straight points from Gerhart, who hit her first three-pointer since Dec. 20 with 18:48 left in the game. Kelsey Griffin got her first two points of the night on a pair of free throws to give the Huskers their first double-digit lead of the night at 45-32 with 17:37 left.
Riddle answered with four straight points and Alyssa Hollins added a three-point play to trim NU's lead back to six points with 15:25 remaining. But LaFleur lifted the Huskers with her second big basket of the night on a three-point play, before Hardy connected on her fourth three-pointer of the game less than 30 seconds later. Hardy then found Diaz with a no-look pass in transition to push NU's lead to 53-39 with 14:14 remaining.
The Tigers got no closer than six points the rest of the way, as Nebraska's forwards Elena Diaz, Danielle Page and Gerhart fueled a 12-2 NU run to take its largest lead of the night at 73-55 with two minutes left.
Page finished with eight points and three rebounds, while LaFleur added eight points and two boards of her own off the bench. Diaz contributed six points, all in the second half, to go along with three boards, while LaToya Howell scored four points, while notching a career-high nine rebounds to go along with eight assists and three steals.
Riddle led Missouri with a career-high 16 points, while LaToya Bond added 14 points in the loss.
Nebraska vs Missouri (03/01/05 at Columbia, Mo. -- Mizzou Arena)
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Missouri 03/01/05 7:00 p.m. at Columbia, Mo. -- Mizzou Arena -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 16-11, 8-8 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 1-5 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 2 4 1 1 0 2 22 33 GERHART, Jessica.... f 7-16 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 1 15 0 1 0 0 27 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-4 0-2 0-0 2 3 5 3 2 0 1 0 0 31 05 HOWELL, LaToya...... g 1-2 0-0 2-2 0 9 9 2 4 8 4 0 3 36 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 11-16 4-6 2-2 0 1 1 2 28 5 2 0 3 30 02 FORD, Ashley........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 3-6 1-1 1-1 2 0 2 1 8 0 2 0 1 15 14 WHITE, Sarah........ 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 15 DIAZ, Elena......... 3-5 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 6 0 1 0 0 13 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-4 0-0 4-4 2 1 3 3 8 1 0 1 0 18 TEAM................ 3 1 4 1 Totals.............. 29-60 6-12 11-11 10 25 35 15 75 15 14 1 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-29 48.3% 2nd Half: 15-31 48.4% Game: 48.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 9-9 100 % Game: 100 % 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Missouri 20-8, 10-6 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 52 Mack, Cherice....... f 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 54 Riddle, EeTisha..... f 6-10 0-0 4-4 1 4 5 1 16 4 2 1 2 33 14 N'Garsanet, C'stelle c 4-5 0-0 0-2 3 3 6 3 8 3 3 1 1 35 10 Bond, LaToya........ g 4-13 2-8 4-4 0 2 2 1 14 2 4 0 0 37 34 Brooks, Tiffany..... g 3-8 0-0 3-4 1 4 5 4 9 3 2 1 0 31 03 Campbell, Marchele.. 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 12 Hollins, Alyssa..... 1-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 1 0 3 0 2 0 0 10 22 Drew, Kassie........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 23 Hardiek, Blair...... 2-4 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 10 35 Jackson, Tamika..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 43 Savant, Carlynn..... 2-6 0-2 2-5 3 4 7 0 6 0 1 2 2 27 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 22-51 4-15 14-20 8 21 29 10 62 12 15 5 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8% 2nd Half: 9-22 40.9% Game: 43.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 1-7 14.3% Game: 26.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 13-15 86.7% Game: 70.0% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Greg Small, Charles Gonzales, Laurie Porter Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Missouri-Bond, LaToya. Attendance: Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 34 41 - 75 Missouri...................... 30 32 - 62 ID-366866