Honolulu, Hawaii - Kelsey Griffin led Nebraska with 11 points and six rebounds, but the Huskers continued to struggle with their shooting touch in a 56-44 loss to Utah in their second game of the Oahu Classic on Saturday.
Nebraska slipped to 3-2 with its second straight loss, while Utah improved to 3-2 with the victory. The Utes wrapped up their appearance in the tournament with a 2-1 record.
In a low-scoring, defensive struggle, Griffin was the only Husker to manage double figures as NU hit just 33.3 percent of its shots from the field. The Huskers, who were 1-of-17 from long range in a loss to Marist on Friday, hit just 4-of-21 three-point attempts against the Utes on Saturday.
Utah, which entered the game averaging more than 76 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field, hit just 43.8 percent of its attempts, including jut 2-of-6 three-pointers. But the Utes hit 12-of-13 free throws, while NU hit just 4-of-10 shots at the stripe.
Utah also dominated the glass, posting a 41-28 margin on the boards, while holding NU to just two offensive boards in the second half.
The Huskers were able to push the Utes to the limit by playing strong defense. In the first half, NU held the Utes to just 21 points after shutting them out for the final six minutes of the half. Unfortunately, NU hit just 1-of-12 three-pointers in the first half and trailed 21-18 at the break despite scoring the final seven points of the half.
NU fell behind nine after a jumper from Katie King in the middle of the lane with 16:25 left, but freshmen Dominique Kelley and Kaitlyn Burke sparked a surge by hitting back-to-back jumpers, including a three-pointer by Burke who finished with seven points.
After a Morgan Warburton three, Kala Kuhlmann hit a jumper and Cory Montgomery drained a three-pointer to give NU its first lead of the game at 35-34 with 12:46 left in the game.
But Kalee Whipple stepped up in a big way for the Utes, scoring 12 points in a six-minute stretch to turn a game tied at 40 with 8:14 left into a 12-point victory. Whipple finished with game highs of 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Warburton added 15 points. Mitchell finished with 13 points, including 11 in the first half.
The Huskers wrap up their stay at the Oahu Classic by facing Akron on Sunday at 4 p.m. (Central time). The Zips opened the tournament with a win over Eastern Washington before falling to Utah, 71-60 on Friday.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs UTAH 11/24/07 2:30 p.m. at Honolulu, HI (McKinley, High School Gym)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 3-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... * 1-5 1-5 0-1 0 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 0 20 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... * 5-10 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 1 11 0 3 2 0 26 24 KELLEY, Dominique... * 2-5 0-3 0-0 1 1 2 1 4 1 3 0 0 25 32 HESTER, Tay......... * 2-7 1-3 1-3 1 2 3 1 6 2 1 1 0 22 52 PAGE, Danielle...... * 0-3 0-0 2-4 0 7 7 3 2 1 2 2 0 27 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 3-10 1-7 0-0 0 0 0 1 7 0 1 0 0 26 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 2-6 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 4 1 2 0 1 13 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 2 0 0 1 12 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 2-3 1-1 0-0 1 4 5 1 5 1 0 0 0 21 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 18-54 4-21 4-10 6 22 28 13 44 9 12 5 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-27 29.6% 2nd Half: 10-27 37.0% Game: 33.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-12 8.3% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 19.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 40.0% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: UTAH 3-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 02 WHIPPLE, Kalee...... * 9-14 0-2 0-1 0 10 10 3 18 1 1 0 1 40 11 MITCHELL, Leilani... * 4-11 1-1 4-4 1 7 8 3 13 6 3 0 1 40 15 WARBURTON, Morgan... * 4-7 1-2 6-6 0 6 6 4 15 2 3 0 0 23 31 KING, Katie......... * 2-5 0-0 2-2 0 5 5 1 6 0 2 0 0 21 45 PERRY, Jessica...... * 1-6 0-1 0-0 1 5 6 2 2 0 0 0 0 32 12 KNIGHT, Cydney...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 14 TOKUMURA, Hennasea.. 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 9 22 SAWYER, Halie....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 23 STEVENSON, Deanne... 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 2 0 0 1 0 20 TEAM................ 1 1 2 2 Totals.............. 21-48 2-6 12-13 5 36 41 15 56 9 14 1 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-24 33.3% 2nd Half: 13-24 54.2% Game: 43.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 92.3% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Rick Fields, Mark Gines, Kailie Kimura Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. UTAH-None. Attendance: Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 18 26 - 44 UTAH.......................... 21 35 - 56 Game 6 of the 2007 Oahu Classic