College Park, Md. - Yvonne Turner erupted for a career-high 23 points with a career-best five three-pointers as the eighth-seeded Nebraska women's basketball team took top-seeded Maryland down to the wire before falling 76-64 on the Terrapins' homecourt at the Comcast Center on Tuesday night.
Playing in front of 8,715 fans and an ESPN2 national television audience, Turner and the rest of a youthful Husker lineup went toe-to-toe with the veterans of Maryland's 2006 national championship team.
The Huskers, who finished the season 21-12 after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in school history, trailed by just four points with just over five minutes remaining in the game, despite being strapped with foul trouble on senior forward Danielle Page and junior All-Big 12 forward Kelsey Griffin throughout the night.
Griffin finished with nine points and seven rebounds despite playing just 25 minutes because of foul trouble, while Page picked up three fouls early in the first half and picked up her fourth early in the second before fouling out in the closing minutes. NU's only senior and second-leading scorer, Page played just 16 points in her final game as a Husker, managing four points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Despite the immense challenges, the Huskers were tied with the Terps at 45 after freshman Dominique Kelley buried a three-pointer with 14:50 left in the game. Maryland showed their experience by answering Nebraska's threat with an 8-0 to create separation and eventually build a 12-point lead at 65-53 with 6:38 left.
But Nebraska showed the incredible effort that the Huskers displayed all season by erupting on an 8-0 over the next 1:03 to pull within 65-61 with 5:35 left. Turner sparked NU's final push with her fourth three-pointer of the game. She was fouled on the shot and made the free throw, before sprinting out for a fastbreak layup on the Huskers' next possession to trim the Terp lead to 65-59. Turner, who also finished with six assists, then found Cory Montgomery on a backcut for an uncontested layup to slash the Maryland lead to four points.
Terp senior Kristi Toliver, who finished with 19 points, seven assists and six turnovers going head-to-head with Turner, then hit back-to-back jumpers to stop the NU run and give Maryland an eight-point cushion with 4:53 left.
Turner and the Huskers weren't done yet, as the sophomore from Omaha drilled her Nebraska NCAA Tournament record fifth three-pointer of the night to pull NU back within five at 69-64 with 3:59 remaining.
All-American Crystal Langhorne, who finished with her sixth career NCAA Tournament double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, then hit back-to-back baskets over the next 1:25 to extend Maryland's lead back to nine points.
The Huskers were then forced to foul and NU missed its next three three-point attempts. Toliver and Langhorne iced the Terp victory by hitting 3-of-4 free throws in the final minute to send Maryland to its second NCAA Sweet 16 in the last three years.
"We came into the game feeling we were capable of winning," Griffin said. "We had a goal for every media timeout to not look at the whole game, but to look at the game in chunks. Maryland made some tough plays down the stretch and outrebounding us was key."
Nebraska held the nation's best shooting team just 42.9 percent (27-63) shooting from the field, including a dismal 3-for-12 effort from three-point range, well below the Terps' 38.5 percent season average as a team. But the Terrapins dominated the glass, 47-34, including a plus-15 margin in the second half after the Huskers held the edge, 20-18, in the first half.
The Huskers hit 26-of-65 (40 percent) of its shots from the field, including 6-of-23 three-pointers, but managed just 6-of-13 shooting at the free throw line. Maryland outscored NU 19-6 at the free throw line, including 13-for-14 free throw shooting in the first half.
The Terrapins' frequent trips to the line in the first half helped them build a 15-point lead with five minutes left in the opening half, before Nebraska closed the half on a 16-2 surge to silence the partisan crowd at the Comcast Center.
Nebraska trailed 34-33 at the half, but carried all of the momentum by outscoring Maryland by 14 points in the final 4:43. The Husker run came in response to an 11-0 Maryland run that covered 2:25 and gave the Terps a 32-17 lead.
Turner provided Nebraska with a huge spark by taking it strong to the hole for a layup to start the run, before burying a three 34 seconds to pull NU back within 10 at 32-22.
Turner kept the Huskers rolling by getting out in transition and delivering a highlight reel behind-the-back pass to Nicole Neals for a layup to cut the Maryland lead to single digits. Neals finished with one of the best efforts of her NU career with six points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal in 19 minutes off the bench.
After Griffin took her second charge of the game to send Langhorne to the bench with her second foul, Griffin was fouled and hit a free throw to trim the Terrapins' lead to 32-25 with 3:02 left.
After Jade Perry ended NU's 8-0 run with a mid-range jumper, Nebraska capped the half with another 8-0 run that included Turner's second three-pointer.
The Huskers actually had a Griffin shot from close range in the final five seconds that would have given them a halftime edge, but the shot bounded off the rim and the Terps cleared it as the halftime horn sounded.
NU opened the second half with a steal but missed two layups that would have given the Huskers the lead.
"I thought our players played really hard and competed like crazy," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "This is a very difficult place to play, especially playing the No. 1 seed on their homecourt."
The Huskers will return to Nebraska Wednesday morning after producing their second straight 20-win season and their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Maryland will advance in the tournament to play fourth-seeded Vanderbilt in Spokane, Wash., on Saturday, March 29.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score #8 Nebraska vs #1 Maryland 03/25/08 9:53 p.m. at College Park, MD (Comcast Center)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: #8 Nebraska (21-12) 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 4-9 0-2 1-2 3 4 7 3 9 1 3 0 3 25 52 PAGE, Danielle...... c 2-5 0-1 0-0 1 4 5 5 4 0 1 2 0 16 22 TURNER, Yvonne...... g 8-16 5-9 2-3 2 2 4 2 23 6 4 0 0 33 24 KELLEY, Dominique... g 1-3 1-1 1-2 1 2 3 3 4 1 2 0 1 11 32 HESTER, Tay......... g 2-9 0-1 1-3 1 2 3 3 5 0 2 0 2 28 05 BURKE, Kaitlyn...... 2-5 0-3 1-2 0 1 1 1 5 1 0 0 0 18 11 NEALS, Nicole....... 3-9 0-3 0-1 1 2 3 0 6 1 0 0 1 19 13 KUHLMANN, Kala...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 40 MONTGOMERY, Cory.... 4-9 0-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 8 2 1 0 0 29 42 BOBER, Nikki........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 8 TEAM................ 1 4 5 Totals.............. 26-65 6-23 6-13 11 23 34 20 64 13 14 2 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 13-35 37.1% Game: 40.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-11 18.2% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 26.1% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 5-11 45.5% 2nd Half: 1-2 50.0% Game: 46.2% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: #1 Maryland (32-3) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 15 HARPER, Laura....... f 2-8 0-0 3-6 2 4 6 3 7 2 1 0 2 28 25 COLEMAN, Marissa.... f 7-16 1-3 4-5 1 5 6 1 19 0 0 2 1 36 01 LANGHORNE, Crystal.. c 6-9 0-0 6-7 4 8 12 3 18 1 5 0 3 34 05 STRICKLAND, Marah... g 1-5 0-2 0-0 3 1 4 1 2 0 2 1 0 25 20 TOLIVER, Kristi..... g 6-20 1-6 6-6 1 5 6 3 19 7 6 0 1 33 21 NEWMAN, Ashleigh.... 1-1 1-1 0-0 2 5 7 4 3 0 0 0 0 26 24 MINGO, Drey......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 55 PERRY, Jade......... 4-4 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 8 0 0 2 0 17 Team................ 3 1 4 1 Totals.............. 27-63 3-12 19-24 16 31 47 17 76 10 14 5 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-30 33.3% 2nd Half: 17-33 51.5% Game: 42.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 13-14 92.9% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 79.2% 2,1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Eric Brewton, Sue Blauch, Ed Sidlasky Technical fouls: #8 Nebraska-None. #1 Maryland-Team. Attendance: 8715 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total #8 Nebraska................... 33 31 - 64 #1 Maryland................... 34 42 - 76 SECOND ROUND OF THE SPOKANE REGIONAL Maryland advances to the Sweet 16 to play Vanderbilt