Columbia, Mo. - Sam Haiby scored a career-high 28 points, including a three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime, to lead Nebraska to a 90-85 women's basketball win at Mizzou Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Haiby, a sophomore from Moorhead, Minn., hit 11-of-19 shots from the field including a trio of three-pointers to help shoot the Huskers to victory. Haiby, who scored NU's first eight points of the game, added a huge three with just under four seconds left to send the game to overtime tied at 76. Haiby added Nebraska's final field goal in overtime and NU's last two points of the game at the free throw line with 13.3 seconds left to seal the win. She scored 18 points after halftime for the Big Red.
Fellow sophomore Leigha Brown added a huge performance of her own with 24 points. Brown added 18 points after halftime as well, including four big points in overtime. Brown also set Haiby up on the left side as regulation wound down and made the assist to Haiby for the game-tying shot.
Senior Hannah Whitish pitched in 12 points to go along with team highs of seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, while also taking several big charges to get stops for the Huskers before fouling out late in overtime.
Fellow senior Nicea Eliely, who was the first of three Huskers to foul out in the game, added 10 points in just 24 minutes. For the contest, Nebraska was whistled for 30 fouls, which led to 31 points for the Tigers at the line. But it was Nebraska that made free throws down the stretch to seal the win, including a perfect 6-for-6 shooting in overtime from sophomores Ashtyn Veerbeek (2-2), Brown (2-2) and Haiby (2-2). For the game, NU finished 20-of-28 at the line after starting 5-for-10 at the stripe.
Veerbeek finished with nine points, five rebounds and three assists despite fighting foul trouble the entire contest.
The Huskers got off to a solid start on the road, with Haiby scoring Nebraska's first eight points including a pair of threes. Haiby, who had 10 first-quarter points on 4-of-4 shooting, helped the Huskers build an eight-point (18-10) first-quarter lead before settling for a 21-18 edge at the end of the period.
Nebraska started strong again in the second quarter, jumping out to a 29-20 lead before Missouri rallied late in the half to trim the Husker lead to 31-29 at the half. Haiby did not shoot or score in the second quarter, while Brown added six first-half points. Whitish and Eliely each pitched in five points apiece in the half, including second-quarter threes for both of them.
The Huskers hit 12-of-31 field goals (.387) in the half, including 4-of-11 threes (.364), while knocking down 3-of-6 free throws. Nebraska did a great job of defending Missouri's shooters in the first half, holding the Tigers to 4-for-13 three-point shooting (.308). As a team, Mizzou hit just 8-of-26 field goals (.308), but kept within striking distance by knocking down 9-of-10 free throws. Nebraska out-rebounded Mizzou 21-18 in the half, and won the first-half turnover battle 10-9.
The Huskers rebuilt the lead to eight points midway through the third quarter, only to see the Tigers rally late again. Nebraska went to the final period with a 54-51 lead. That edge was short-lived as the Tigers tied the game at 54 on a three-pointer, squaring the score for the first time since the opening tip.
But Nebraska rallied to regain an eight-point lead at 67-59 on two free throws from Veerbeek with 4:47 left. A three from freshman Aijha Blackwell tied the game for the Tigers at 68. Blackwell finished with 21 points off the bench.
Amber Smith, who was one of three Tigers to record a double-double with 20 points and 14 rebounds, then got a bucket and a foul before finishing the three-point play to give Mizzou its first lead of the game at 71-69 with two minutes left. Veerbeek then buried a free throw line jumper to tie the score at 71 with 1:47 left. Mizzou then got free throws from Hannah Schuchts, who finished with 13 points and 10 boards, and a pair from Jordan Chavis to give the Tigers their biggest lead of the day at 74-71 with 27.1 seconds left.
With Nebraska trailing 76-73 with 11.8 seconds left, Blackwell was fouled after a Husker turnover and stepped to the line with a chance to seal the win for Missouri. But she missed both free throws. Haiby grabbed a huge defensive rebound to start transition to Brown that ended with Haiby's game-tying three from the left wing.
Jordan Roundtree added the final double-double for the Tigers with 11 points and 10 rebounds, including a three-point play with 27 seconds left in overtime to pull MU within 86-83. But the Huskers made the plays down the stretch to win.
For the game, Nebraska hit 31-of-76 shots from the field (.408), including 8-of-26 threes (.308). Missouri went just 23-of-63 (.365) from the floor, including 8-of-28 (.286) from long range. Nebraska won the turnover battle, 19-13, and the war on the boards, 46-45.
Nebraska returns to Lincoln to four-game home stand at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday night, when the Huskers collide with Morgan State. Tip-off between the Big Red and the Bears is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are available now at Huskers.com and a live video stream will be available on BTN+.
Sam Haiby scored a career-high 28 points.