Lincoln - The No. 19 Nebraska women's basketball team hit just three field goals in the final 16:33, as Missouri used a suffocating defense to erase a seven-point Husker lead to hand NU a 65-53 loss in front of 7,821 fans at the Devaney Center on Saturday night.
The loss marked the first time this season that Nebraska has dropped back-to-back games, as the Huskers slipped to 21-6 overall and 9-4 in the Big 12, while Missouri improved to 16-10 and 4-9 in the league with its second straight conference win.
Kelsey Griffin led the Huskers with 16 points and six rebounds, while Kiera Hardy added 12 points, but MU's Carlynn Savant led all scorers with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and EeTisha Riddle contributed 16 points, including 14 in the final 11 minutes in the win.
Nebraska scored just two points in 8:42 after jumping to its biggest lead of the game at 40-33 in the first 3:27 of the second half. Despite being shut out for more than five minutes, the Huskers still held a 42-35 lead after a Cory Montgomery basket with 11:01 left.
But Riddle sparked a 10-0 Tiger run over the next three minutes, scoring eight points capped by a three-pointer to give MU a 45-42 lead with 8:09 left.
Jelena Spiric stopped the run with a pair of free throws, and the Huskers remained within one at 49-48 after a Griffin free throw with 4:38 left. Savant got a layup and Riddle hit two more free throws to match Missouri's biggest lead of the game up to that point at 53-48 with 2:52 left.
Hardy cut Missouri's lead to three with a pair of free throws, before Alyssa Hollins answered with two more free throws. Then Tiffany Brooks, who scored Missouri's first 11 points in the game, forced a travel by Hardy and Savant gave the Tigers the biggest lead of the game for either team at 58-50 with a three-pointer with 1:52 left.
The Tigers, the third-best free throw shooting team in the nation, hit five straight free throws down the stretch to seal the win, outscoring NU at the line 14-7 in the second half.
Along with the discrepancy at the free throw line, the Tigers enjoyed a 44-32 advantage on the boards, including 17 offensive rebounds. Both teams committed 19 turnovers, and NU shot just 36 percent (18-50) from the field, while hitting just three of its last 21 shots. Missouri didn't fare much better from the field, hitting just 36.8 percent (21-57), but did connect on 5-of-11 three-pointers while NU hit just 2-of-10.
"I thought the game was won on the boards tonight," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "We just gave them too many second chances for easy baskets. You couple their plus-12 margin on the boards with our 19 turnovers and our shooting percentage, especially late in the second half, and you can't win games in this league."
It was Missouri's seventh consecutive victory in Lincoln in the series with Nebraska, while the Huskers have won four straight in Columbia.
"It is a weird series," Yori said. "I will leave it at that. They deserved to win the game tonight, but it was like so many other Nebraska/Missouri games I have seen here in my five years. It is just a weird series."
In a first half that featured six ties and 11 lead changes, neither team led by more than two possessions and the Huskers and Tigers went to the locker room tied at 29.
Griffin led the Huskers with nine first-half points, while Danielle Page and TK LaFleur each gave NU a lift with four first-half points.
Brooks scored Missouri's first 11 points in the opening seven minutes, but did not score the rest of the game. Jessra Johnson also gave the Tigers a boost off the bench with six first-half points on a pair of three-pointers, but was shut out in the second half.
Nebraska returns to Big 12 road action next week when the Huskers head to Ames, Iowa to clash with the Iowa State Cyclones on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live in Nebraska on FSN Midwest (Channel 37 in Lincoln) with free live video also appearing on Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Missouri vs Nebraska 02/17/07 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Missouri 16-10,4-9 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 34 BROOKS, Tiffany..... f 5-15 0-0 1-1 0 0 0 3 11 1 2 0 1 30 43 SAVANT, Carlynn..... f 5-10 2-3 5-6 7 6 13 4 17 3 0 0 0 31 54 RIDDLE, EeTisha..... c 5-13 1-1 5-6 1 4 5 1 16 1 4 0 2 36 12 HOLLINS, Alyssa..... g 2-8 0-3 3-4 1 3 4 4 7 1 2 0 0 22 23 HARDIEK, Blair...... g 1-2 0-0 2-3 1 4 5 3 4 2 4 0 0 19 04 JOHNSON, Jessra..... 2-6 2-2 0-0 2 2 4 1 6 1 2 1 0 8 11 RICHBOW, Toy........ 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 21 20 PICKENS, K-Kay...... 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 22 DREW, Kassie........ 0-2 0-2 2-2 1 1 2 1 2 0 2 1 0 16 24 HANNEMAN, Amanda.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 32 SCOTT, Marissa...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 5 35 JACKSON, Tamika..... 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 21-57 5-11 18-25 17 27 44 20 65 9 19 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-30 36.7% 2nd Half: 10-27 37.0% Game: 36.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 45.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 14-19 73.7% Game: 72.0% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 21-6,9-4 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 45 AUBRY, Chelsea...... f 1-4 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 1 2 0 1 0 0 23 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... c 6-13 0-1 4-7 2 4 6 4 16 0 1 0 1 30 02 FORD, Ashley........ g 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 2 1 1 0 1 17 04 SPIRIC, Jelena...... g 1-7 1-3 2-2 1 3 4 4 5 0 0 0 1 23 21 HARDY, Kiera........ g 4-11 1-4 3-5 0 1 1 2 12 3 7 0 0 28 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 12 LaFLEUR, TK......... 1-3 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 3 4 0 3 0 1 23 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... 0-2 0-2 1-2 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 2 24 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 0 1 0 0 6 52 PAGE, Danielle...... 2-6 0-0 3-4 2 5 7 4 7 1 3 2 0 21 TEAM................ 2 3 5 1 Totals.............. 18-50 2-10 15-22 9 23 32 25 53 6 19 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-24 41.7% 2nd Half: 8-26 30.8% Game: 36.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 20.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-11 72.7% 2nd Half: 7-11 63.6% Game: 68.2% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Greg Small, Artrail Tillman, Wanda Szeremeta Technical fouls: Missouri-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 7821 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Missouri...................... 29 36 - 65 Nebraska...................... 29 24 - 53