Lincoln - Cory Montgomery notched her fourth double-double of the year with 22 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, but No. 8 Baylor escaped from the Bob Devaney Sports Center with a 76-71 women's basketball victory over Nebraska on Wednesday night.
Nebraska slipped to 10-11 overall and 1-7 in the Big 12, while Baylor improved to 18-3 overall and 6-2 in the league.The Huskers suffered their second straight loss in the final minute, and third in Big 12 play. Kaitlyn Burke's three-pointer with 8.6 seconds left pulled Nebraska to 74-71, before BU sophomore guard Kelli Griffin sank two free throws to seal the win for the Lady Bears. Griffin finished with a career-high 14 points for Baylor, including a 10-for-10 effort at the free throw line.
Nebraska's second-half comeback fell just short against the Lady Bears, who led by 15 points at 52-37 with 13:03 left in the game. But the Huskers used a 13-2 run to trim Baylor's lead to just four points at 54-50 with 9:36 left. Amazingly, the Huskers hit just one field goal, a three-pointer by Yvonne Turner, in the first 12:25 of the second half, but cut into Baylor's nine-point halftime lead.
NU went 10-for-10 in a three-minute stretch during the run, including 6-for-6 shooting by Montgomery, who played the most complete game of her career with 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, followed by 10 points and eight boards in the second stanza.
Turner's three snapped an 0-for-19 slump from long range over the last three games for the junior guard from Omaha. But she was just getting started, scoring seven of NU's points during the run. Baylor answered Nebraska's run with six straight points to push the lead back to 10 points at 60-50 with 8:17 left, before Turner buried back-to-back threes to pull NU back within four at 62-58 with 5:35 left. Turner finished with 17 points and a pair of steals for the Huskers.
Nebraska kept it a two-possession game over the final five minutes before Burke's three pulled the Huskers within a possession. Burke scored all seven of her points in the second half to keep NU in the game down the stretch.
For the game, Nebraska hit 22-of-56 field goals, including 7-of-18 three-point attempts, while connecting on 20-of-26 free throw attempts. BU outrebounded NU, 45-36, and outscored the Huskers on second-chance points, 21-4.
"We just didn't do a good enough job on the defensive glass to win the game," Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said. "Baylor is one of the best rebounding teams in the country, but we still have to get in their and fight and get a few more rebounds to win that game."
Nebraska committed just 13 turnovers, but forced just 12 by the Lady Bears. Baylor hit 26-of-65 field goal attempts, including just 2-of-6 three-pointers. After going 13-for-26 at the free throw line in a home loss to No. 16 Texas on Sunday, the Lady Bears buried 22-of-29 free throws against the Huskers.
Junior post Danielle Wilson notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a dual with Montgomery, while Jessica Morrow also pitched in 14 points for BU. Ashley Field, who made her first career start, scored 12 points and grabbed four boards, while Rachel Allison added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench. Melissa Jones added six points and 10 more rebounds, while making several big plays to secure the win for BU in the second half.
Nebraska senior guard Tay Hester enjoyed a huge first half with 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. Sophomore forward Jessica Periago also provided NU with a major lift in the opening period with seven points and a career-high three rebounds.
Nebraska continues its three-game swing against Big 12 South Division when the Huskers travel to College Station to take on No. 10 Texas A&M on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game can be heard on the Husker Sports Network, including a free live audio broadcast on Huskers.com.
Official Basketball Box Score Official Basketball Box Score Baylor vs Nebraska 2/4/09 7:05pm at Bob Devaney Sports Center- Lincoln, Neb.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Baylor 18-3, 6-2 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 11 Wilson, Danielle.... f 5-14 0-0 4-9 6 4 10 1 14 4 3 1 1 38 24 Field, Ashley....... f 5-8 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 1 12 0 0 1 0 18 03 Morrow, Jessica..... g 6-16 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 2 14 1 0 1 2 37 05 Jones, Melissa...... g 2-6 0-1 2-3 2 8 10 3 6 1 1 0 1 35 15 Player, Jhasmin..... g 1-5 0-1 2-2 0 5 5 2 4 3 2 0 1 22 04 Zachariason, Whitney 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 14 Allison, Rachel..... 4-8 0-1 2-3 1 3 4 2 10 0 2 0 0 17 21 Griffin, Kelli...... 2-5 0-0 10-10 0 0 0 4 14 3 2 0 1 24 55 Medlock, Morghan.... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 0 2 0 0 7 TEAM................ 3 5 8 Totals.............. 26-65 2-6 22-29 14 31 45 18 76 12 12 3 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-35 45.7% 2nd Half: 10-30 33.3% Game: 40.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% Game: 33.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 11-14 78.6% 2nd Half: 11-15 73.3% Game: 75.9% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 10-11, 1-7 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 7-17 1-2 7-8 2 12 14 3 22 3 1 1 1 38 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... f 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 0 0 4 0 23 05 Burke, Kaitlyn...... g 3-6 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 2 7 0 1 0 0 18 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 4-13 3-8 6-6 0 4 4 3 17 1 0 0 2 36 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 1-5 1-2 2-2 0 4 4 2 5 0 5 0 0 28 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 6 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 21 Sidhu, Harleen...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 4 32 Hester, Tay......... 4-7 0-0 3-8 1 3 4 2 11 1 4 0 1 30 35 Periago, Jessica.... 2-5 1-2 2-2 2 1 3 2 7 1 1 1 0 15 TEAM................ 1 1 2 Totals.............. 22-56 7-18 20-26 6 30 36 21 71 7 13 6 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-32 40.6% 2nd Half: 9-24 37.5% Game: 39.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-8 50.0% Game: 38.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 76.9% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Tina Napier, Amy Bonner, Brian Hall Technical fouls: Baylor-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 3609 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Baylor........................ 44 32 - 76 Nebraska...................... 35 36 - 71