Boulder, Colo. - Cory Montgomery scored a career high 24 points, but Colorado erased a 14-point first-half deficit to hang on for a 75-73 women's basketball win at the Coors Events Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskers, who slipped to 10-10 on the season and 1-6 in the Big 12, owned a 42-28 lead with 1:19 left in the first half, but Colorado trimmed NU's lead to eight points at the half. CU, who improved to 10-9 overall and 2-5 in the league, tied the score at 58 for the first time in the second half on Bianca Smith's seventh three-pointer of the game with 11:56 left. Smith finished with 21 points.
Colorado took its largest lead of the game at three points at 72-69 with four minutes left in the game on a basket from Brittany Spears. But Nebraska answered down the stretch, with a pair of free throws by Montgomery and a steal and an uncontested layup with 1:15 left to give the Huskers a 73-72 lead.
Spears, who led the Buffs with a game-high 25 points, hit 1-of-2 free throws to tie the score at 73 with 50 seconds left. The Huskers then missed an opportunity to retake the lead before Spears hit the game's final shot with 5.5 seconds left to give CU a 75-73 win.
In addition to the 24 points and nine rebounds from Montgomery, the Huskers got 16 points, including 14 in the first half, from Dominique Kelley. Catheryn Redmon added 12 points and nine rebounds, while Turner had nine points, a career-high seven assists, and four steals.
Early in the first half, the Huskers hit 6-of-7 three-pointers, including three from Kelley, to shoot the double-digit lead. But NU missed its final two three-point attempts in the half and then went 0-for-8 from long range in the second half.
For the game, Nebraska hit 26-of-62 shots (41.7 percent) from the field, including 35.3 percent (6-17) from long range. NU also hit 15-of-22 free throws to outscore the Buffs at the line. The Huskers were also an impressive plus-14 in turnover margin (26-12) for the game, committing just two second half turnovers.
The Buffs were on fire in the second, hitting 59.3 percent (16-27) from the field, finishing the game at 55.1 percent (27-49). The Buffs hit 8-of-18 three-pointers, including a school-record tying 7-of-10 shooting from long range by Smith. CU outrebounded NU, 39-29, but the Huskers matched the Buffs with 10 offensive boards and outscored Colorado 8-6 on second-chance points.
Kara Richards finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Kelly Jo Mullaney pitched in 10 points.
The Huskers hit 15-of-32 shots from the floor in the first half, while connecting on 6-of-9 free throws. Although the Huskers were outrebounded 18-16 by the Buffs in the opening, NU controlled the tempo, forcing 18 turnovers by CU, while committing 10 of its own. Nebraska scored 19 points off CU turnovers.
Colorado was led in the first half by Bianca Smith, who hit 5-of-6 three-pointers for 15 points. Brittany Spears added eight points, while Kara Richards contributed seven points. CU hit 50 percent (11-22) of its shots from the field, including 5-of-10 three-pointers, while also hitting 7-of-11 first-half free throws.
Nebraska returns home to take on No. 4 Baylor on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Devaney Center. The Huskers' battle with the Lady Bears will feature Pepsi Pack the House with $1 admission and $1 Pepsi products (22 oz.). University of Nebraska Athletics will also be celebrating National Women and Girls in Sports Day with appearances by Husker female student-athletes, including a team autograph signing by the NU volleyball team. Nebraska will also honor "Hometown Husker" Yvonne Turner in pregame festivities.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Colorado 1/31/09 1 p.m. at Boulder, Colo. (Coors Events Center)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 10-10, 1-6 Big12 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 9-16 2-3 4-4 3 6 9 4 24 1 3 0 0 30 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... c 5-7 0-0 2-3 4 5 9 4 12 0 1 1 0 31 05 Burke, Kaitlyn...... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 16 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 3-16 0-8 3-7 0 2 2 2 9 7 3 1 4 37 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 5-11 3-3 3-4 0 2 2 4 16 4 1 0 0 29 11 Neals, Nicole....... 1-3 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 1 3 1 1 0 0 15 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 3 14 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 32 Hester, Tay......... 2-4 0-0 3-4 1 1 2 1 7 1 2 0 2 23 35 Periago, Jessica.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 26-62 6-17 15-22 10 19 29 19 73 16 12 2 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 41.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 0-8 0.0% Game: 35.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 9-13 69.2% Game: 68.2% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Colorado 10-9, 2-5 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 10-17 1-6 4-5 1 8 9 1 25 3 1 1 3 40 44 Richards, Kara...... c 4-6 0-0 6-10 3 3 6 2 14 2 3 0 0 37 01 Fressle, Alyssa..... g 0-5 0-1 1-2 2 5 7 4 1 3 6 1 1 27 02 Smith, Bianca....... g 7-11 7-10 0-1 0 5 5 3 21 1 4 1 3 38 04 Blythe, Britney..... g 2-4 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 2 4 0 2 0 0 23 11 Skildum, Hannah..... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 21 Dale, Chelsea....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 32 Mullaney, Kelly Jo.. 4-5 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 3 10 0 3 1 0 22 34 Dunn, Courtney...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 9 TEAM................ 2 5 7 1 Totals.............. 27-49 8-18 13-21 10 29 39 16 75 9 26 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-22 50.0% 2nd Half: 16-27 59.3% Game: 55.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 44.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-11 63.6% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 61.9% 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: June Courteau, Clarke Stevens, Michol Murray Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Colorado-None. Attendance: 2324 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 42 31 - 73 Colorado...................... 34 41 - 75