Lincoln - The No. 19 Nebraska women's basketball team had three chances to win it on one possession in the final eight seconds, but Texas Tech held on for a 70-69 win over the Huskers at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on Wednesday.
Kiera Hardy, who led the Huskers with 16 points, had a three-pointer from the left wing as time expired that hit the front, left side of the rim, the second straight year Hardy had a chance to beat the Lady Raiders at the buzzer.
Hardy's shot came after Nebraska had a pair of Kelsey Griffin free throw attempts with eight seconds left. Griffin missed both ends after being fouled by Patrice Edwards on a drive to the basket, but freshman Yvonne Turner scooped up an offensive rebound and drove to the hole. Turner's shot was blocked by Edwards out of bounds with 5.1 seconds left.
On the ensuing inbounds play, a pass was deflected and a tieup on the floor gave the Huskers one last shot with 1.3 seconds left. Texas Tech defended it well and Hardy's runner could not lift the Huskers to their first win over the Lady Raiders since 1997.
Nebraska slipped to 21-5 overall and 9-3 in the Big 12 to end its five-game winning streak, but the Huskers held in position for a four-way tie for first place in the Big 12 standings with Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Baylor, as the Aggies lost at Iowa State and Baylor knocked off Oklahoma State in Waco, Texas. Texas Tech improved to 15-11 overall and 6-6 in the Big 12.
Edwards, a 6-6 center from Trinidad and Tobago, played a big role in the Tech victory. She finished with a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, including a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left to seal the win. She also blocked Turner's potential game-winning shot for NU in the closing seconds.
Edwards was one of five Lady Raiders in double figures, led by a career-high 17 points from Tiny Henderson, who hit 8-of-10 shots from the field, including her only three-point attempt. She added three steals, including two in the second half that resulted in uncontested layups to slow Nebraska's momentum.
Raquel Christian added 12 points off the bench, while Brooke Baughman pitched in 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range, and Alesha Robertson added 10 points with a pair of threes.
Overall, Tech hit 8-of-13 shots from three-point range on the night, as the Lady Raider backcourt players combined for 50 points.
Hardy led four Huskers in double figures, including 14 points and eight rebounds from Danielle Page off the bench for NU. Chelsea Aubry pitched in 12 points, while Griffin contributed 10 points and seven boards. Turner added a career-high eight points with a career-best 2-for-2 effort from three-point range.
Nebraska's front line players outscored Tech's 36-20 and gave NU a 36-28 edge on the boards, marking just the second time this season that the Huskers lost when outrebounding the opponent. NU hit 29-of-61 field goals (47.5), as the Huskers lost for the first time when hitting more field goals than the opposition, and just the second time when shooting 40 percent or better from the field.
NU hit 5-of-12 three-pointers, but just 6-of-11 free throws, while Tech connected on 10-of-13 free throws in the win.
Nebraska trailed by six at the half after Texas Tech closed the opening period on a 9-0 run over the last 3:45, sparked by a Baughman three-pointer and capped by a pair of baskets from Edwards.
Tech's run gave the Lady Raiders their biggest lead of the half, after Nebraska led by six points at 14-8 with Hardy's only bucket of the half with 12:53 left.
The first half featured eight ties and a major discrepancy in scoring. The Husker frontline outscored 22-8 on the block, but Tech's backcourt buried 5-of-7 three-pointers in the first half and outscored NU's guards 25-5.
Nebraska returns to the Devaney Center on Saturday when the Huskers take on the Missouri Tigers. Tip-off is set for 7:05 on Alumni Weekend in Lincoln. Doors will open at 4 p.m. with the Alumni Game starting at 4:30 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Texas Tech vs Nebraska 02/14/07 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Texas Tech 15-11,6-6 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 HENDERSON, LaVonda.. f 8-10 1-1 0-0 1 3 4 1 17 1 1 0 3 34 55 ROBERTSON, Alesha... f 4-12 2-5 0-0 0 4 4 1 10 0 3 0 3 37 33 EDWARDS, Patrice.... c 6-12 0-0 4-5 4 6 10 4 16 2 2 2 0 34 10 BAUGHMAN, Brooke.... g 3-4 3-4 2-2 0 0 0 0 11 5 3 0 0 33 13 MURPHREE, Jordan.... g 0-4 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 0 0 19 11 FLOWERS, Tawanna.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 11 34 MYRICK, Erin........ 0-2 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 4 2 3 1 0 2 8 35 CHRISTIAN, Raquel... 4-7 2-3 2-2 0 1 1 0 12 1 1 0 1 21 42 GRIFFIN, Darrice.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 1 2 3 Totals.............. 26-53 8-13 10-13 7 21 28 12 70 14 14 2 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-28 50.0% 2nd Half: 12-25 48.0% Game: 49.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 61.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 0-2 0.0% 2nd Half: 10-11 90.9% Game: 76.9% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 21-5,9-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... f 2-4 1-1 0-0 2 3 5 2 5 2 3 0 0 26 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 6-9 0-1 0-0 1 2 3 1 12 0 2 1 2 27 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... c 4-9 0-0 2-6 2 5 7 0 10 0 3 0 1 26 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 23 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 7-21 2-8 0-0 1 2 3 1 16 1 2 0 2 31 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 1 2 3 4 0 1 0 0 10 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 3-6 2-2 0-0 2 2 4 2 8 1 1 0 3 26 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 0-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 5-7 0-0 4-4 3 5 8 2 14 2 1 1 0 21 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 29-61 5-12 6-11 14 22 36 13 69 7 13 2 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4% 2nd Half: 17-32 53.1% Game: 47.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 41.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-4 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 54.5% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Charles Gonzalez, Peter Contreras, Paul Ross Technical fouls: Texas Tech-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 3891 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Texas Tech.................... 33 37 - 70 Nebraska...................... 27 42 - 69