Lincoln - Yvonne Turner's running layup from the left side and Kelsey Griffin's putback from the right side in the final three seconds both missed the mark, allowing No. 18 Kansas State to escape from the Bob Devaney Sports Center with a 77-75 win over the Nebraska women's basketball team on Wednesday night.
With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 15-6 on the season and 4-3 in the Big 12 while, Kansas State moved to a perfect 7-0 in the league and 15-5 overall. The loss also ended Nebraska's 12-game home winning streak, as the Huskers lost at the Devaney Center for the first time this season. It was the fourth time in Big 12 play that Kansas State has handed an opponent their first home loss of the year, as the Wildcats gave Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State their first home setbacks.
Husker senior forward Danielle Page led NU with 20 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals, while junior forward Kelsey Griffin added her fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and 11 boards.
The Wildcats were led by Kimberly Dietz who pumped in a career-high 26 points, including 3-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Point guard Shalee Lehning added 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but did commit six turnovers. Marlies Gipson added 15 points for KSU, while Ashley Sweat gave the Wildcats four in double figures with 10 points.
Sweat hit the game's biggest shot, knocking down a leaner from the right baseline with seven seconds left. Sweat's shot found the net with just 0.4 seconds left on the shot clock to give KSU a 77-75 lead.
Turner quickly raced down the left side of the court with the inbounds past and got a good look at a left-handed layup. Turner missed it strong, but Griffin grabbed it in mid-air and shot it from about five feet away in the right side of the lane. Griffin's shot was also long before time expired.
"You have to give Kansas State a lot of credit," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "There's a reason why they are undefeated in the Big 12. They are a good basketball team. They have a lot of players who can hit shots. They know how to defend and they know how to execute. If you think about the road wins they have this season in the league, it is really impressive."
In the closest game at the Devaney Center this season, Nebraska used a 9-0 run to open the second half to help sprint to a seven-point lead at 54-47 with just under 15 minutes left in the game. In a game that featured seven ties and seven lead changes, Kansas State stormed back with a 9-0 run of its own to reclaim a 59-56 lead with 10:35 remaining.
KSU was able to push the lead to four points on two occasions the rest of the way, the last time at 72-68 after a layup by Dietz with 2:50 left. Page answered with a 17-foot fadeaway from the left side of the key as the shot clock expired to pull NU within 72-70 with 2:17 left.
After the Huskers got a stop, Turner drilled her only three of the night to give Nebraska a 73-72 edge with 1:20 remaining. But Dietz answered with her third three of the night from the left wing with 56 seconds left.
Griffin answered on NU's next possession with a huge putback to tie the game at 75 with 36.6 seconds remaining before Sweat hit the game winner for the Cats.
Kaitlyn Burke added a solid night with nine points and four assists. Burke scored four of her points at the free throw line after technical fouls by KSU Head Coach Deb Patterson, who was issued her second technical with 8:06 left in the game for unsporting conduct.
For the game, Nebraska hit 29-of-66 shots from the field (43.9 percent), while KSU knocked down 50.9 percent (28-55) of its shots. The Wildcats buried 8-of-19 three-pointers (42.1 percent), while NU managed just 3-of-9 shooting from long range for the largest discrepancy in the game's major categories. NU outscored KSU 14-13 at the foul line and outrebounded the Wildcats 39-29. NU did commit 15 turnovers, while forcing just 12 by the Wildcats.
Nebraska outscored Kansas State 40-28 in the paint, including 17-5 in second chance points. The NU bench also outproduced KSU 19-2. But the Wildcats still found a way to win.
The Huskers trailed 43-39 at halftime after the Wildcats hit 62.1 percent (18-29) of their shots in the first half, including 5-of-10 three-pointers. Nebraska outrebounded KSU 16-15 at the half and committed just six first-half turnovers compared to eight for the Wildcats. The Huskers hit 15-of-33 first-half attempts (45.5 percent), including 1-of-4 three-pointers, and outscored KSU at the free throw line 8-2.
Dietz carried KSU in the first half by pumping in 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Gipson added 10 points on 5-of-6 first-half shooting, while Lehning added seven points, four rebounds and four assists in the opening stanza.
Page, Griffin and Burke kept the Huskers within striking distance in the first half, as page scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds, while Griffin added eight points. Burke also scored seven straight points in the final four minutes of the first half to spark a 9-0 NU run to cut into a 12-point KSU lead. Burke's final two points came at the foul line, after Patterson was whistled for her first technical.
Nebraska opens a two-game Big 12 road swing on Sunday, when the Huskers travel to Columbia, to take on Missouri. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for 3 p.m. with live national television coverage provided by FSN. The game will also be broadcast on the Husker Sports Network and on the Internet at Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Kansas State Wildcats vs Nebraska 01/30/08 7:06 p.m. at Bob Devaney Sports Center - Lincoln, NE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Kansas State Wildcats 15-5, 7-0 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 Sweat, Ashley....... f 4-11 2-4 0-0 3 3 6 3 10 2 1 1 2 40 51 Gipson, Marlies..... f 7-9 0-0 1-2 0 4 4 4 15 0 0 2 1 27 05 Lehning, Shalee..... g 4-7 2-2 9-10 1 7 8 2 19 6 6 0 2 36 13 Dietz, Kimberly..... g 11-19 3-8 1-2 0 2 2 0 26 2 2 1 0 40 41 Kincaid, Kari....... g 2-5 1-4 0-0 0 2 2 1 5 1 2 1 2 35 25 Zanotti, Danielle... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 30 Wheeler, Shana...... 0-3 0-0 2-4 3 2 5 3 2 1 0 0 0 13 44 McCullough, Carolyn. 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 2 2 1 Totals.............. 28-55 8-19 13-18 7 22 29 14 77 12 12 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-29 62.1% 2nd Half: 10-26 38.5% Game: 50.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-9 33.3% Game: 42.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 11-16 68.8% Game: 72.2% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 15-6, 4-3 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 8-17 0-0 3-4 6 5 11 1 19 0 3 1 2 30 52 PAGE, Danielle...... f 8-17 0-0 4-6 5 4 9 2 20 2 2 4 3 34 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 2-7 1-4 0-1 0 2 2 2 5 2 3 0 1 28 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 1-4 0-0 1-1 0 2 2 1 3 1 1 0 0 20 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 4-6 1-1 0-1 0 2 2 4 9 3 4 0 0 23 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 2-5 1-2 4-4 1 1 2 2 9 4 0 0 0 28 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 1-3 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 14 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 2-5 0-0 2-2 3 2 5 0 6 0 1 0 0 13 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 TEAM................ 2 2 4 Totals.............. 29-66 3-9 14-19 18 21 39 14 75 13 15 5 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-33 45.5% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 43.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-11 72.7% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 73.7% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Scott Yarbrough, Gator Parrish, Brenda Pantoja Technical fouls: Kansas State Wildcats-TEAM 2. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 4726 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Kansas State Wildcats......... 43 34 - 77 Nebraska...................... 39 36 - 75