Lincoln - Jessica Shepard posted her Nebraska freshman-record 10th double-double and Jasmine Cincore scored a career-high 16 points, but it wasn't enough to stop the Huskers from falling to Indiana 79-68 Wednesday night at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 17-11 overall and 8-9 in the Big Ten, while Indiana improved to 19-10 overall and 11-6 in the conference.
The Huskers, who played without senior starting guards Rachel Theriot and Kyndal Clark for the second straight game because of injuries, were led by 17 points from sophomore Natalie Romeo. She added three rebounds, three assists and three steals. Romeo scored 14 of her points in the first half to shoot Nebraska to a 39-38 halftime lead, despite first-half foul trouble for Shepard and fellow freshman starting forward Rachel Blackburn.
After leading by one at the half, the Huskers watched the hot-shooting Hoosiers take control in the third quarter. Indiana, which went just 2-for-16 from three-point range in the first meeting between the two teams, hit 10-of-16 threes through three quarters. Their fourth three of the third quarter, a shot-clock buzzer beater with six seconds left from Tyra Buss, gave IU a 60-51 lead to start the fourth quarter.
Buss finished with 22 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Alexis Gassion added a career-high-matching 22 points, five boards and a game-high six assists for Indiana.
Buss and Gassion combined for 12 of Indiana's 19 points in the fourth quarter, including 10-for-16 shooting at the free throw line to seal the win.
Amanda Cahill added 15 points while Karlee McBride hit 4-of-6 threes to finish with 12 points and give the Hoosiers four players in double figures.
Allie Havers scored 14 points for the Huskers on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, as Nebraska had four players in double figures as well. Emily Wood added three points, three assists, two rebounds and two blocked shots for Nebraska while playing a career-high 25 minutes. Anya Kalenta rounded out the scoring for the Big Red with two points.
As a team, Nebraska hit 48.3 percent (28-58) of its shots from the field, including 5-of-16 threes, while knocking down just 7-of-12 free throws. The Huskers were outrebounded 30-29, and lost the turnover battle 18-16.
Indiana hit 27-of-52 attempts (.519), including a blistering 57.9 percent (11-19) from three-point range. The Hoosiers also knocked down 14-of-21 free throws, as the Huskers were forced to foul down the stretch .
Although the short-handed Huskers trailed 71-59 with 2:37 left, they refused to surrender, as Cincore knocked down a three-pointer, then scored again to cut the margin to seven with 1:43 to play. That deficit narrowed to two possessions at 72-66 after a pair of free throws from Romeo with 1:13 to play. However the Huskers could get no closer in the final minute.
Despite playing without four starters on the floor for a large stretch of the second quarter, the Huskers took a 39-38 halftime lead thanks to Romeo, Cincore and Havers. That trio combined for 31 points, include 14 for Romeo.
Cincore, starting for the second straight game in place of Theriot, tied her previous career high with nine points in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting with a three-pointer of her own. Havers added eight points on 4-of-4 first-half shooting while grabbing four rebounds. Those three Huskers also teamed up for an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter that turned a 30-27 deficit into a 35-30 lead.
Despite picking up her second foul midway through the second quarter, Shepard finished the half with six points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Nebraska hit 57.1 percent (16-28) of its first-half shots, including 3-of-6 threes, while knocking down 4-of-6 free throws. The Huskers also outrebounded IU, 19-13, but lost the first-half turnover battle, 11-7.
Gassion led Indiana with 12 first-half points, while Buss added 11 points. Cahill contributed eight points, despite picking up two first-half fouls.
Indiana hit 45.5 percent (15-33) of its shots, including 6-of-11 threes. The Hoosiers were 2-of-3 at the free throw line.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Indiana took a 22-20 lead on a buzzer-beating runner from Buss to end the period.
Romeo scored nine first-quarter to lead the Huskers, while Shepard added six points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal. Gassion led Indiana with eight points in the quarter, while Cahill pitched in five and Buss four.
Nebraska closes regular-season home action on Sunday when the Huskers take on Northwestern at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Tip-off with the Wildcats is set for 3 p.m., and Nebraska will honor seniors Kyndal Clark, Anya Kalenta and Rachel Theriot on Senior Day. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com, and the game will be televised by BTN.
Official Basketball Box Score
Indiana vs Nebraska
02/24/16 7:06 p.m. at Pinnacle Bank Arena (Lincoln, Neb.)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Indiana 19-10, 11-6 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 33 Amanda Cahill....... f 5-6 3-3 2-3 1 3 4 5 15 1 2 1 2 26 43 Jenn Anderson....... c 3-5 0-0 0-0 3 4 7 3 6 2 1 1 1 36 03 Tyra Buss........... g 7-14 2-4 6-10 0 6 6 1 22 3 5 0 3 40 21 Karlee McBride...... g 4-7 4-6 0-0 0 0 0 1 12 1 3 0 2 29 23 Alexis Gassion...... g 7-14 2-5 6-8 0 5 5 3 22 6 0 1 2 40 02 Jess Walter......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 11 Kym Royster......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 24 Tyshee Towner....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 40 Lyndsay Leikem...... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 14 TEAM................ 1 1 2 4 Totals.............. 27-52 11-19 14-21 6 24 30 15 79 15 16 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-33 45.5% 2nd Half: 12-19 63.2% Game: 51.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 5-8 62.5% Game: 57.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 12-18 66.7% Game: 66.7% 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Nebraska 17-11, 8-9 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 32 Shepard, Jessica.... f 8-15 0-1 0-4 4 7 11 3 16 3 5 0 3 33 43 Blackburn, Rachel... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 10 05 Romeo, Natalie...... g 5-15 2-7 5-6 1 2 3 1 17 3 3 1 3 40- 24 Simon, Maddie....... g 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 1 0 4 1 0 0 13 34 Cincore, Jasmine.... g 6-9 2-3 2-2 0 2 2 1 16 2 4 0 0 38 11 Ramacieri, Esther... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 12 Wood, Emily......... 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 2 2 4 3 3 2 2 0 25 22 Havers, Allie....... 7-8 0-0 0-0 0 4 4 3 14 0 1 1 0 31 31 Kalenta, Anya....... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 8 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 28-58 5-16 7-12 8 21 29 18 68 16 18 4 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-28 57.1% 2nd Half: 12-30 40.0% Game: 48.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-10 20.0% Game: 31.3% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 58.3% 3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Bob Trammell, Sue Blauch, Missy Brooks Technical fouls: Indiana-Tyra Buss. Nebraska-None. Attendance: 5376 Score by Periods 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Indiana....................... 22 16 22 19 - 79 Nebraska...................... 20 19 12 17 - 68 TECHNICAL FOUL 2nd QRT 5:30 Indiana 03 Tyra Buss