Boulder, Colo. - Kelsey Griffin scored a game and season-high 25 points, including 17 in the second half, to lead the Nebraska women's basketball team to its second straight comeback on the road with an 80-71 win over Colorado at the Coors Events Center on Wednesday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 17-6 overall with the victory and 6-3 in the Big 12 with its third straight Big 12 road win against a North Division opponent. It was also the Huskers' third consecutive win against the Buffaloes in Boulder. CU slipped to 13-9 overall and 2-7 in the league.
The Huskers, who trailed by four points at 61-57 with 5:45 to play in the game, erupted on a 13-3 run over the next four minutes to claim control of the game with a 70-64 lead after Griffin's layup with 2:01 left.
Trailing 64-61 with under four minutes left, Yvonne Turner buried her third three-pointer of the game to tie it down the stretch to surge to the nine-point victory. Turner finished the night with 14 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point range. She added four steals and two assists.
Senior Danielle Page then put the Nebraska in the lead with a layup to make it 66-64 with three minutes left. Page suffered through a frustrating night with just eight points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field but hit two of NU's most crucial baskets in the final five minutes.
Turner then made the biggest defensive play of the game by stripping CU point guard Whitney Houston at halfcourt and race to the bucket for a layup to put NU up 68-64 with 2:42 remaining. The Huskers then hit 10 free throws down the stretch in the final 1:45 to seal the win.
Freshman guard Dominique Kelley added 10 points, while Cory Montgomery pitched in eight points off the bench. Kaitlyn Burke contributed with a pair of first-half three-pointers, while Kala Kuhlmann also contributed five first-half points.
Bianca Smith and Brittany Spears led CU with 19 points apiece, while Houston added double figures with 10 points off the bench. Nebraska limited the Buffs' All-Big 12 forward Jackie McFarland to just one point in 29 minutes. McFarland attempted just two shots from the field, after entering the game averaging nearly 19 points per contest.
For the game, Nebraska hit 27-of-57 shots from the field, including 7-of-11 three-pointers. NU also outscored CU at the line, 19-12. The Buffs outrebounded NU 34-30, but the Huskers were plus-eight in the turnover department, committing just 11 turnovers on the night.
Colorado hit 25-of-54 shots from the field, including 9-of-21 threes, while hitting 12-of-14 free throws. The Buffs committed 19 turnovers on the night.
Nebraska jumped out to a quick 11-4 lead with a 9-0 run capped by a Griffin jumper with 13:32 left in the first half, but the Buffaloes answered in a big way with a 15-0 burst that included a trio of three-pointers by Smith to take a 19-11 edge with 10:34 in the opening period.
Colorado's lead grew as large as 29-17 after Caley Dow's layup with 5:31 left in the half, but Nebraska responded by hitting five consecutive three-pointers in a span of 3:05 to trim CU's lead to 35-30. Turner's second three actually sparked a 9-0 run by NU to end the half. The Huskers took a 36-35 lead on Griffin's putback with six seconds left.
In an action-packed first half, NU scored 21 points in the final 5:20. Midway through the half, the Huskers and Buffs combined to knock down eight three-pointers in a stretch of just six minutes. The Huskers hit 14-of-30 shots from the field in the first half, including 6-of-7 three-point attempts, while knocking down just 2-of-3 free throws. The Buffs connected on 13-of-28 field goals, including 7-of-14 threes, while hitting both of their free throw attempts.
Nebraska returns home to the Devaney Center to take part in ESPN's "February Frenzy" on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers will lock horns with the No. 17 Oklahoma State Cowgirls (18-3, 6-2) in a special 1:15 p.m. tip televised by ESPN2. It will be "Pack the House" day at the Devaney Center, with the Huskers wearing special white and pink uniforms to promote cancer awareness in the WBCA's "Think Pink" national intitiative. It is also Red Cross "Pass the Bucket" day in Lincoln.
Fans can purchase tickets in advance on Huskers.com or by calling 1-800-8BIGRED. Tickets are also available at the 15 area Runza restaurants.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Colorado 2/6/08 8 p.m. at Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 17-6, 6-3 Big 12 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 8-12 0-0 9-10 2 2 4 1 25 3 2 0 0 32 52 PAGE, Danielle...... f 4-13 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 4 8 0 5 1 0 23 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 4-7 3-4 3-4 0 3 3 2 14 2 1 0 4 25 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 2-3 1-1 5-5 0 2 2 2 10 2 0 0 1 20 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 0-5 0-1 2-4 1 6 7 2 2 4 2 0 3 22 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 2-3 2-2 0-2 0 1 1 1 6 3 1 0 2 27 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 2-5 1-2 0-0 1 0 1 1 5 2 0 0 0 18 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 4-7 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 2 8 2 0 0 0 18 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 1 0 0 0 8 TEAM................ 3 2 5 Totals.............. 27-57 7-11 19-27 8 22 30 18 80 19 11 1 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-30 46.7% 2nd Half: 13-27 48.1% Game: 47.4% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 63.6% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 17-24 70.8% Game: 70.4% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Colorado 13-9, 2-7 Big 12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 22 Spears, Brittany.... f 6-14 1-3 6-6 1 7 8 1 19 6 2 2 0 37 33 Putnina, Aija....... f 3-7 0-1 2-2 2 1 3 0 8 1 1 3 0 20 45 McFarland, Jackie... f 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 10 10 5 1 3 4 2 0 29 02 Smith, Bianca....... g 7-15 5-11 0-0 1 0 1 3 19 1 3 0 1 31 12 Powers, Susie....... g 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 0 2 0 1 18 03 Houston, Whitney.... 4-6 1-2 1-2 0 1 1 1 10 2 5 0 1 22 11 Skildum, Hannah..... 1-2 1-1 0-0 1 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 12 40 Dow, Caley.......... 3-5 0-1 2-2 3 4 7 4 8 3 0 0 0 30 44 Richards, Kara...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 1 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 25-54 9-21 12-14 8 26 34 20 71 16 19 7 3 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 12-26 46.2% Game: 46.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-14 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 42.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% Game: 85.7% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tina Napier, Beverly Roberts, Joe Cunningham Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Colorado-None. Attendance: 1292 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 36 44 - 80 Colorado...................... 35 36 - 71 #45 Jackie McFarland Fouled out 00:27