Lawrence, Kan. - Nebraska overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to take a three-point lead with 2:47 left, but Kansas rallied for a 62-61 win on a Danielle McCray free throw with 1.4 seconds left at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Huskers, who slipped to 17-8 overall and 6-5 in the Big 12, hit just 17-of-34 free throws in the game, while the Jayhawks converted 10-of-13 free throw attempts, including an intentional miss by McCray to end the game. The Jayhawks improved to 15-9 overall and 4-7 in the league.
Kelsey Grffin led the Huskers with 13 points and seven rebounds, despite playing just 24 minutes because of first-half foul trouble. Yvonne Turner added 11 points in just 20 minutes, after also being strapped with two early fouls in the game. Cory Montgomery added eight points and five rebounds, despite picking up three first-half fouls.
Nebraska, which entered the game leading the Big 12 in free throw shooting in conference play and hit 30-of-32 free throws in a 71-51 win over the Jayhawks in Lincoln on Jan. 12, struggled at the line for the first 34 minutes. NU hit just 9-of-24 free throws before hitting 8-of-10 in the final six minutes.
KU appeared to have the game in hand after taking its biggest lead at 52-43 with 6:08 left, but the Huskers stormed back. Sparked by a back-to-back three-pointers by Turner in a 36-second span, NU trimmed KU's lead to 54-49 with 4:59 left. After a Montgomery free throw cut it to four, Turner stole the ball from LaChelda Jacobs in the backcourt and ran to the rim for an uncontested layup to cut the KU edge to 54-52 with 3:49 left.
Kala Kuhlmann then tied the score with her only points of the game by hitting a pair of free throws after her defensive rebound with 3:24 left. Griffin, who scored all 13 of her points in the second half, then gave NU the lead with her three-point play to make it 57-54 with 2:47 left.
KU answered to stop NU's 14-2 run, as the Jayhawks regained a 61-58 advantage on a Taylor McIntosh putback after Sade Morris missed the second of two free throw attempts with 57 seconds left.
Griffin was fouled with 48 seconds left and connected on both free throws. Nebraska then got a key defensive stop with Tay Hester's defensive rebound of McCray's shot with 18 seconds. Hester exploded down the floor and took it strong to the basket, colliding with Morris near the paint. Morris was whistled for a blocking foul and Hester made the first of two free throw attempts to tie the score with 12.2 ticks on the clock.
McCray then went strong to the basket at the other and was fouled by Griffin on a block with 1.4 seconds left. Griffin fouled out, and McCray made the first free throw before intentionally missing the second to give the Jayhawks the one-point win.
Nebraska hit just 20-of-46 (43.5 percent) of its field goal attempts on the day, including 4-of-12 three-point attempts. NU was outrebounded 33-32, but won the turnover battle 22-18. The Huskers outscored, outrebounded and won the turnover battle in the second half against KU, but still came up short.
Kansas finished 24-of-52 (46.2 percent) from the field and 4-of-11 from three-point range, led by McCray's double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. McIntosh added 11 points and seven boards, while Jacobs finished with 10 points, four rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Nebraska battled major foul trouble in the first half, as Griffin played just seven minutes after picking up two early fouls. Turner was on the floor for just five minutes after picking up two quick fouls. In Griffin's place, Montgomery scored seven points and grabbed five rebounds in 10 minutes, but was whistled for her third foul with 3:26 left in the half.
With limited firepower, Nebraska hit just 10-of-27 field goals in the first half, including just 1-of-5 three-pointers to manage just 26 points. NU was also outrebounded, 21-17. However, the Husker defense stepped up to hold KU to just 12-of-30 shooting from the field and forced 10 Jayhawk turnovers. KU took a 31-26 lead into the locker room at the half despite hitting just three field goals in the final 11 minutes of the half.
The Huskers return to Big 12 home action when they battle the Missouri on Thursday night at the Devaney Center. Tip-off against the Tigers is set for 7:05 p.m., with NU's popular Dollar Days promotion in effect. For just a $1 admission, fans can also receive $1 hot dogs and $ Pepsi products.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Kansas 02/17/08 2 p.m. at Lawrence, Kan. (Allen Fieldhouse)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 17-8, 6-5 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 HESTER, Tay......... f 1-3 0-1 1-7 1 1 2 2 3 2 3 0 1 28 52 PAGE, Danielle...... f 3-12 0-1 3-6 0 4 4 2 9 1 2 1 2 33 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 4-6 2-4 1-2 1 1 2 4 11 0 2 1 1 20 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... g 4-7 0-0 5-7 1 6 7 5 13 1 3 0 2 24 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 2-4 0-0 2-4 1 3 4 0 6 2 4 0 0 29 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 2-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 4 1 0 0 0 20 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 10 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-2 0-0 2-2 0 3 3 1 2 1 2 0 0 12 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 2-3 1-2 3-4 1 4 5 3 8 0 1 0 0 14 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 1-2 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 10 TEAM................ 3 3 Totals.............. 20-46 4-12 17-34 9 23 32 18 61 8 18 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0% 2nd Half: 10-19 52.6% Game: 43.5% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 12-23 52.2% Game: 50.0% 9
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Kansas 15-9, 4-7 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 13 McIntosh, Taylor.... f 3-3 0-0 5-5 3 4 7 3 11 4 2 2 2 31 14 Boogaard, Krysten... f 3-7 0-0 1-2 1 2 3 4 7 0 4 0 0 23 03 Catic, Ivana........ g 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 25 04 McCray, Danielle.... g 5-15 2-5 1-2 3 7 10 4 13 0 5 1 2 32 20 Morris, Sade........ g 2-8 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 3 5 0 4 1 1 30 00 Jacobs, LaChelda.... 5-7 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 2 10 6 3 1 2 29 02 Kohn, Kelly......... 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 5 24 Smith, Nicollette... 3-5 2-4 2-2 0 1 1 5 10 1 1 0 2 21 34 Weddington, Porscha. 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 TEAM................ 3 3 1 Totals.............. 24-52 4-11 10-13 8 25 33 22 62 12 22 5 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-30 40.0% 2nd Half: 12-22 54.5% Game: 46.2% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 36.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 76.9% 0
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Mary Day (R), Clarke Stevens (U1), Luis Gonzalez (U2) Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Kansas-None. Attendance: 6122 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 26 35 - 61 Kansas........................ 31 31 - 62