East Lansing, Mich. - Emily Cady scored seven of Nebraska's final 11 points in the game in an 11-1 surge over the final 3:02 to turn a 66-60 deficit into a 71-67 victory for No. 19 Nebraska over Michigan State at the Breslin Center on Thursday night.
With the victory, Nebraska improved to 11-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State slipped to 8-7 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten.
Cady, who led the Huskers with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists, hit 6-of-7 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 free throws to power the Big Red down the stretch. Cady's three-point play with 30 seconds left gave Nebraska the lead for good at 69-67.
Fellow senior forward Hailie Sample added 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, added a huge defensive rebound with 5.4 seconds left. She was immediately fouled by Becca Mills, then stepped to the line and sank both free throws to seal the 71-67 victory.
Rachel Theriot added 13 points, five rebounds and a game-high seven assists on 6-of-12 shooting, while Brandi Jeffery put four Huskers in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Jeffery scored eight points in the second half, including a key shot down the stretch.
Nebraska hit 55.2 percent (16-29) of her shots in the second half, but went 0-for-5 from three-point range in the second half. For the game, the Big Red hit 45.9 percent (28-61), while going just 3-of-18 from long range.
Natalie Romeo two first-half threes for the Huskers while finishing with eight big points off the bench. Michigan native Allie Havers added four points and five big rebounds.
Nebraska won the rebounding battle, 38-34, and the turnover battle, 15-12.
The Huskers' clutch plays down the stretch allowed them to overcome a career-high 35 points and career-high seven three-pointers by MSU's Aerial Powers. She added 11 rebounds for the Spartans. Cara Miller added a career-high 12 points - all in the first half for MSU - while Tori Jankoska scored nine of her 11 points after halftime.
Michigan State hit just 38.1 percent (24-63) overall from the floor, but the Spartans went 11-for-31 from three-point range.
In a fast moving first half, Nebraska trailed 32-30 at halftime. The Huskers led 30-25 with 2:39 left in the half after Emily Cady capped an 11-3 surge over a five-minute stretch, but the Spartans closed the half with a 7-0 run in the final 1:32 to regain a two-point lead.
Powers led the Spartans with 13 first-half points while Cara Miller pumped in a career-high 12 points in the opening period alone. Miller hit 5-of-8 shots, including 2-of-3 three-pointers. Powers and Miller each hit threes in the closing 1:32 to give the Spartans the lead.
Theriot led the Huskers with seven first-half points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 1-of-3 threes, while Romeo and Sample each pitched in six points. Romeo hit back-to-back threes midway through the first half to give NU a 17-13 lead with 10:03 left.
All seven Huskers who played in the first half scored, but NU hit just 37.5 percent (12-32) of its shots, including just 3-of-13 threes (.231). Nebraska matched Michigan State at 20 on the boards and won the turnover battle, 5-4.
As a team, MSU hit 39.4 percent (13-33) in the first half, including 5-of-17 threes, with Powers (3-7) and Miller (2-3) combining to go 5-for-10.
Nebraska continues its two-game Big Ten road swing this week when the Huskers head to Illinois on Sunday. Tip-off between the Huskers and Illini at the State Farm Center in Champaign is set for 2 p.m. (CT) with live premium video on BTN Plus and free live audio on Huskers.com from the Husker Sports Network.
Official Basketball Box Score Nebraska vs Michigan State 01/08/15 8:30 pm at East Lansing, Mich. (Breslin Center)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Nebraska 11-3, 1-2 B1G TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Laudermill, Tear'a.. * 2-14 0-6 3-4 2 3 5 2 7 0 1 0 2 39 03 Sample, Hailie...... * 5-6 0-0 3-4 1 4 5 1 13 4 2 1 2 34 13 Jeffery, Brandi..... * 5-10 0-2 0-0 1 5 6 2 10 3 3 0 3 29 23 Cady, Emily......... * 6-7 0-0 4-5 3 4 7 3 16 5 1 0 0 37 33 Theriot, Rachel..... * 6-12 1-4 0-0 0 5 5 0 13 7 3 1 2 40 05 Romeo, Natalie...... 2-6 2-6 2-2 0 4 4 1 8 1 2 0 0 12 22 Havers, Allie....... 2-6 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 0 4 0 0 0 0 9 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 28-61 3-18 12-15 9 29 38 9 71 20 12 2 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-32 37.5% 2nd Half: 16-29 55.2% Game: 45.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-13 23.1% 2nd Half: 0-5 0.0% Game: 16.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 9-11 81.8% Game: 80.0% 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Michigan State 8-7, 0-4 B1G TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 01 Jankoska, Tori...... * 4-13 2-7 1-2 3 4 7 1 11 6 1 1 5 37 02 Miller, Cara........ * 5-10 2-5 0-0 1 1 2 3 12 2 0 0 0 35 23 Powers, Aerial...... * 12-23 7-12 4-5 5 6 11 3 35 1 5 1 2 40 24 Gussert, Lexi....... * 1-7 0-4 1-2 0 4 4 0 3 1 0 0 0 23 52 Mills, Becca........ * 2-6 0-2 2-2 2 3 5 4 6 3 5 2 0 38 14 Morrissey, Anna..... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 16 21 Lumpkin, Jasmine.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 0 0 3 0 1 9 55 Johnson, Kennedy.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 2 2 Totals.............. 24-63 11-31 8-11 11 23 34 13 67 14 15 4 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-33 39.4% 2nd Half: 11-30 36.7% Game: 38.1% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-17 29.4% 2nd Half: 6-14 42.9% Game: 35.5% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 72.7% 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Mark Zentz, Bruce Morris, Maj Forsberg Technical fouls: Nebraska-None. Michigan State-None. Attendance: 4652 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Nebraska...................... 30 41 - 71 Michigan State................ 32 35 - 67
Points in the paint-NEB 38,MSU 16. Points off turnovers-NEB 16,MSU 11. 2nd chance points-NEB 5,MSU 17. Fast break points-NEB 16,MSU 11. Bench points-NEB 12,MSU 0. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-12 times. Last FG-NEB 2nd-00:30, MSU 2nd-03:02. Largest lead-NEB by 5 1st-02:43, MSU by 6 2nd-12:13. NEB led for 14:44. MSU led for 19:52. Game was tied for 05:07.