Kansas City, Mo. - No. 4 Nebraska had the best season in school history come to an end with a 76-67 loss to No. 19 Kentucky in the NCAA Kansas City Regional semifinal on Sunday night at the Sprint Center.
Nebraska ended the season with a 32-2 overall record after making the first NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in school history. The Huskers won the first Big 12 regular-season title in school history and tied the Big 12 record with a 30-game winning streak. NU's 32 wins surpassed the previous school record of 23 by nine, while the Huskers also orchestrated one of the biggest turnarounds in school history with a 17-game improvement in the win column over 2009-10.
"I am just so proud of this team and all they have meant to Nebraska," WBCA National Coach-of-the-Year Connie Yori said. "They have truly been a joy to coach because they have done it the right way. All of our seniors are great people. Not just basketball players, but great people. I love what they all stand for. They have done it the right way. They played with courage and mental toughness, and most of all, they played for each other all season. They have truly been a joy to coach, and they will not be remembered for this game. They will be remembered for making history in Nebraska basketball."
Junior guard Dominique Kelley led the Huskers by matching her season-high with 22 points, which she set in NU's second-round NCAA win over UCLA on Tuesday. She added two rebounds, three assists and a steal.
Big 12 Player-of-the-Year Kelsey Griffin added her 20th double-double of the season and 40th of her career with 15 points, 12 rebounds, two blocks and an assist. She finished her NU career with 2,033 points and 1,019 rebounds, as just the second player in Husker history with 2,000 points and 1,000 career boards.
Fellow senior forward Cory Montgomery added 14 points, while freshman point guard Lindsey Moore pitched in 10 points and two assists.
Kentucky, which advanced to its first-ever NCAA Elite Eight with the victory, improved to 28-7 overall. SEC Freshman-of-the-Year A'dia Mathies led the Wildcats with 21 points, SEC Player-of-the-Year Victoria Dunlap added 18 points and seven boards.
The Huskers trailed by nine, 43-34 at the half, and then Kentucky opened the second half on a 10-1 surge to its biggest lead to 19 points at 54-35 with 15 minutes to play. NU got back-to-back baskets from Lindsey Moore and Yvonne Turner to trim the margin to 14 with 13:16 left.
But Kentucky managed to limit Nebraska's runs for the next 10 minutes, before the Huskers rallied. Lindsey Moore's three-pointer with 3:58 left cut UK's margin to 12 at 68-56 before the Huskers forced an over-and-back call to gain possession with 3:52 left and Kelley followed with a two-point basket.
Moore hit another three with 53 second to go to cut the Wildcats' lead to seven, but the Huskers were unable to get any closer in the final minute.
Kentucky controlled the first half, dictating tempo with their aggressive and gambling fullcourt pressure. The Wildcats built the lead as large as 13 points at 43-30 after a three-point play by Brittany Henderson with 1:40 left in the half.
Montgomery helped trim UK's lead to nine at 43-34 at the half by scoring NU's final seven points of the period. Montgomery finished with 10 first-half points, while Kelley added 10 points of her own the opening stanza. Griffin contributed nine points and six rebounds while also drawing a pair of first-half charges for the Huskers.
The Wildcats forced 11 turnovers by the Huskers, while committing just seven of their own, and also outrebounded the Huskers 11-9 in the opening 20 minutes. UK was on fire from the field in the first half, hitting 17-of-30 shots from the field (56.7 percent), including 5-of-10 three-pointers. The Huskers struggled to get good looks from the field, hitting 12-of-20 shots from the field (60 percent), including just 1-of-3 three-pointers.
NU did get to the free throw line with frequency in the first half, connecting on 9-of-13 attempts, while UK hit just 4-of-6 free throw tries. The Huskers also put the Wildcats in first-half foul trouble as Lydia Watkins was whistled for three and A'dia Mathies, Keyla Snowden and Amani Franklin all committed two fouls. But Snowden poured in 13 first-half points in 16 minutes with 5-of-6 field-goal shooting, including 3-of-4 hits from long range. Franklin and Watkins also hit three-pointers for the Wildcats, who entered the game shooting just over 30 percent from three-point range for the season.
No. 12 Oklahoma, the No. 3 seed in the Kansas City Region, advanced to regional final game with a 77-72 victory over second-seeded Notre Dame in Sunday's first regional semifinal game. The Sooners improved to 26-10 with the win and advanced to its third NCAA Elite Eight in history. The Sooners will meet the Wildcats on Tuesday at 8:07 p.m..
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score Kentucky vs Nebraska 03/28/10 9:10 p.m. at Kansas City, Mo. (Sprint Center)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Kentucky 27-7 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 34 Dunlap, Victoria.... f 7-13 0-1 4-9 2 5 7 2 18 3 4 1 0 37 01 Mathies, A'dia...... g 9-18 3-4 0-0 2 2 4 4 21 0 2 2 3 36 04 Snowden, Keyla...... g 5-10 3-6 0-0 0 4 4 4 13 1 5 0 1 35 24 Smith, Amber........ g 3-8 0-1 0-0 2 2 4 3 6 7 1 0 4 35 25 Franklin, Amani..... g 2-5 1-2 0-1 1 5 6 4 5 0 1 0 1 19 12 Watkins, Lydia...... 3-5 1-1 0-0 3 3 6 3 7 2 0 0 1 20 23 Gray, Rebecca....... 1-2 0-1 1-1 0 0 0 0 3 2 1 0 0 13 40 Henderson, Brittany. 1-1 0-0 1-1 1 1 2 1 3 0 1 0 0 5 TEAM................ 2 1 3 1 Totals.............. 31-62 8-16 6-12 13 23 36 21 76 15 16 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-30 56.7% 2nd Half: 14-32 43.8% Game: 50.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-10 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 50.0% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 32-2 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 5-12 0-0 5-5 4 8 12 3 15 2 3 2 1 37 40 Montgomery, Cory.... f 6-9 1-2 1-2 0 1 1 1 14 0 2 0 0 31 00 Moore, Lindsey...... g 4-8 2-3 0-0 0 2 2 1 10 2 3 0 1 37 22 Turner, Yvonne...... g 1-8 1-5 1-3 0 1 1 5 4 2 4 0 1 33 24 Kelley, Dominique... g 8-13 1-1 5-8 1 1 2 2 22 3 4 0 1 35 11 Neals, Nicole....... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11 13 Kuhlmann, Kala...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 44 Redmon, Catheryn.... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 2 2 3 2 0 0 0 1 10 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 24-51 5-12 14-20 7 18 25 15 67 10 16 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-20 60.0% 2nd Half: 12-31 38.7% Game: 47.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 41.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 9-13 69.2% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 70.0% 3,3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Beverly Roberts, Carla Fountain, Jesse Dickerson Technical fouls: Kentucky-None. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 5907 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Kentucky...................... 43 33 - 76 Nebraska...................... 34 33 - 67 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Kansas City Regional Semifinal #2 FO: NEB #22 (26.2)