University of Missouri
Nebraska
No. 3 Nebraska Slips Past Mizzou, 82-78
2/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The undefeated and No. 3 Nebraska Cornhuskers scored the game's final 10 points to earn an 82-78 come-from-behind victory over the University of Missouri women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. The four-point win marked the smallest margin of victory for the Huskers all season. Nebraska improves to 23-0 and 10-0 in Big 12 Conference play with the win while the Tigers fall to 11-13 and 1-10.
With the Tigers leading by six, 78-72, and 3:15 remaining in the game, the Huskers used a jumper from Kelsey Griffin and a three-pointer from Cory Montgomery on consecutive possessions to pull within one, 78-77, with 2:04 left. Two free throws by Yvonne Turner then gave the visitors a 79-78 advantage with 41 seconds on the clock.
Trailing by one point, Mizzou committed a turnover, which led to Nebraska hitting one-of-two free throws for an 80-78 advantage with 37 seconds left. The Huskers again hit one-of-two shots from the charity stripe after the Tigers turned the ball over again.
Senior Amanda Hanneman's potential game-tying three with 12 seconds remaining rimmed out and Nebraska hit a free throw with six seconds on the clock to preserve the comeback victory, 82-78.
Senior Jessra Johnson led four Tigers in double figures with 21 points. Junior RaeShara Brown posted 14 points, five assists and five steals. Sophomore Christine Flores scored 14 points and senior Amanda Hanneman added 11.
The two teams played even over the first few minutes of the game until Mizzou used an old fashioned three-point play from Flores as the team took its biggest lead of the game, 30-22, with 7:13 remaining in the first frame. Nebraska used 14-2 run over the next five and a half minutes to go on top 36-32 but the Tigers battled back to knot the score at 38-38 when junior Shakara Jones hit a layup with 30 seconds remaining. The Huskers entered the break with a 41-38 advantage after Dominique Kelly hit a layup and the ensuring free throw.
Nebraska started strong in the second half and eventually built a seven-point lead, 63-56, with 10:44 remaining in the contest. Missouri got going offensively and used an 11-1 run, with seven points from Johnson and four from Brown, as the Tigers went up 67-64 with 8:09 left.
A layup from Husker Yvonne Turner brought the visitors within one, 73-72, with 4:31 on the clock but the Tigers used a three-pointer from Hanneman and a jumper from Johnson for a 78-72 Tiger advantage with 3:15 remaining in the contest.
Missouri made 14-of-15 attempts from the free throw line for a season high 93.3 percent.
The Tigers next hit the court on Saturday, Feb. 20 when the team travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on No. 20/17 Iowa State at 7 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.
