Lubbock, Texas - Kelsey Griffin posted her 18th career double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Nebraska women's basketball team from falling to Texas Tech, 65-56, at United Spirit Arena on Sunday afternoon.
With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 18-9 overall and 7-6 in the Big 12, while Texas Tech improved to 16-11 and 4-9 in the league. Texas Tech extended its series winning streak against the Huskers to 12 games.
Senior forward Danielle Page added 10 points and three blocked shots for the Huskers. Page increased her season total to 61 blocks on the year, becoming the first player in NU history to post 60 or more blocks in back-to-back seasons.
Tay Hester and Dominique Kelley each finished with seven points. Dominic Seals led the Lady Raiders with a game-high 21 points, including 19 in the second half. Seals was 9-for-12 from the field and added seven rebounds. Jordan Murphree added 13 points in the win.
NU finished the game shooting just 35.1 percent (20-57) from the field, including 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) from three-point range. NU also connected on 13-of-20 free throws. Nebraska outrebounded Tech, 39-34, but the Huskers committed 20 turnovers including 11 in the second half.
Tech led 32-29 at the half, but shot out to a 51-39 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the game on a Maddy Brown three-pointer. Tech's lead grew to 17 points on a pair of Seals free throws with 4:58, before Nebraska erupted on a 15-4 run to trim the Lady Raider lead to seven points with 56 seconds left.
NU then stole the inbounds pass and drove to the basket, but turned the ball over and Texas Tech ran the other way for a Seals layup to seal the win.
Texas Tech hit 45.3 percent (24-53) of its shots from the field, including 4-of-16 three-pointers. The Lady Raiders also connected on 13-of-16 free throws. Tech won the turnover battle by committing just 15 turnovers, including just six in the second half.
Texas Tech carried a 32-29 halftime lead thanks in part to a 12-2 run to open the game. Nebraska answered the Lady Raiders' opening run to take a pair of one-point leads midway through the first half before the game settled into a possession game.
NU shot just 34.5 percent (10-29) in the first half, including 1-for-5 shooting from three-point range, and was riddled with foul trouble. Cory Montgomery was whistled for three first-half fouls, while Page and Yvonne Turner also played limited minutes with two fouls in the opening period.
Griffin kept the Huskers in the game in the first half, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds, while Nikki Bober added four points and three rebounds in the opening half.
Tech hit 44 percent (11-25) of its first-half shots, including 2-of-8 three-pointers, while also battling foul trouble. Ashlee Roberson was whistled for three first-half ouls, while Seals and Erin Myrick also picked up two fouls in the opening period. Murphree shot the Lady Raiders to the first-half lead with 11 points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Stanecia Graham added nine points.
Nebraska wraps up Big 12 Conference road action on Wednesday, when the Huskers clash with No. 15 Kansas State in Manhattan. Tip-off at Bramlage Coliseum is set for 7 p.m. with live television coverage on FSN Midwest. The game can also be heard live on the Husker Sports Network, including 98.1 KFGE in Lincoln, with free Internet audio on Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Texas Tech 02-24-08 2 p.m. at Lubbock, Texas (United Spirit Arena)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 18-9/7-6 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 23 GRIFFIN, Kelsey..... f 4-11 0-1 7-10 3 11 14 2 15 0 1 0 2 29 52 PAGE, Danielle...... f 5-11 0-1 1-3 1 3 4 3 11 3 2 3 0 27 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 3-9 1-7 1-2 3 1 4 3 8 2 6 0 0 25 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 2-5 1-2 2-3 0 1 1 1 7 1 4 0 2 25 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 3-6 1-2 0-0 1 2 3 2 7 2 2 0 1 24 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 0-3 0-2 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 22 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 2 0 2 1 0 0 15 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 2-7 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 4 4 1 1 0 1 15 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 1-2 0-0 2-2 3 0 3 1 4 0 1 0 0 9 TEAM................ Totals.............. 20-57 3-17 13-20 16 23 39 19 56 12 20 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 10-28 35.7% Game: 35.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 17.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-12 66.7% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 65.0% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Texas Tech 16-11/4-9 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 24 Graham, Stanecia.... f 4-5 0-0 1-2 0 3 3 3 9 0 4 0 1 17 41 Seals, Dominic...... f 9-12 0-0 3-4 0 7 7 2 21 0 2 1 1 30 02 Walker, Keisha...... g 1-5 0-4 0-0 1 2 3 0 2 4 1 0 1 19 13 Murphree, Jordan.... g 4-11 2-4 3-4 0 4 4 1 13 0 0 0 3 35 23 Henderson, LaVonda.. g 0-2 0-1 0-0 2 5 7 2 0 7 3 1 4 29 03 Moore, Maria........ 0-5 0-2 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 6 3 0 2 20 31 Roberson, Ashlee.... 1-3 0-1 2-2 1 2 3 4 4 1 0 3 0 16 32 Brown, Maddy........ 2-4 2-4 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 10 34 Myrick, Erin........ 3-6 0-0 2-2 2 2 4 5 8 1 1 0 0 24 TEAM................ 1 1 1 Totals.............. 24-53 4-16 13-16 7 27 34 18 65 19 15 5 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% Game: 45.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0% 2nd Half: 5-6 83.3% Game: 81.3% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Jeff Caudle, Metta Roberts, Daryl Humphrey Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Texas Tech-None. Attendance: 9877 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 29 27 - 56 Texas Tech.................... 32 33 - 65