Lady Huskers doesn’t let loss phase them as they look forward to the future

In ‘To Kill a Mockingbird', Atticus Finch famously said, "A lickin' hurts but it don't last." The Nebraska women's basketball team had better hope Finch was right, as NU took a licking Thursday night. In front of a crowd of 7,642 at the Devaney Center, the No. 13 Huskers put up a shooting atrocity while falling 63-52 to Michigan.

The game started out fairly well for the Huskers as Hailie Sample hit a jumper to give NU a 7-4 lead about three minutes in. The mother of all cold spells then hit coach Connie Yori's team, as the Huskers missed their next 17 field goal attempts and 21 of their last 22 for the half.

As a result, the Huskers' modest three-point lead gave way to a 24-1 run and a 32-12 Wolverine halftime lead, despite an

uncharacteristic 10 turnovers by Michigan. The Huskers hit just 4 of 30 field goal attempts and missed four free throws during the half.

It was a frustrating 20 minutes for the players.

"The shots just weren't falling; you've got to shake it off," Jordan Hooper said. "We just had an off night."

Unfortunately for those hoping for a massive NU comeback, the Huskers gave up a 7-0 run to begin the second half and the score was 39-12 Michigan before many fans had returned to their seats.

NU then made a frenzied 38-19 run to cut the Michigan lead to eight with two minutes to play. Moore and Hooper came alive, combining to score 27 points in the second half while Emily Cady and Rebecca Woodberry added another 13.

But Michigan's outstanding free throw shooting (11 for 13 on the night) and the lack of time on the clock prevented NU from getting any closer. For the game, NU shot 17 of 66 (25.8 percent) including 9 of 37 from 3 point range (24.3 percent). Moore led with 23 points while Hooper chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds.

While the Huskers won on the offensive glass 14 to 10 and were plus-16 in turnover margin, five players—Hailie Sample, Meghin Williams, Tear'a Laudermill, Kaitlyn Burke and Brandi Jeffery—combined for two points in 67 minutes of action.

Despite NU eventually losing, Moore liked what she saw as NU erased 19 points of UM's lead.

"We're fighters and we are not going to stop fighting until that final horn sounds," she said. "I'm not worried about (the loss). It's just going to make us better in the future and, hopefully, when it comes to tournament time."

Yori was ready to move on from the game during her post game press conference.

"Win or lose you go back to the drawing board ... that's all you can ever do," Yori said.

The loss knocked NU to 19-4 overall, 8-3 in the Big Ten Conference, and ended the Huskers' four-game winning streak. The loss also continued a trend of large Husker losses: NU has now lost four games and all by double digits.

As bad as Thursday night was at times, Yori believes the crowd came through in a big way for NU, as fans were standing and screaming even as NU was in the midst of its scoring drought.

"This was a great crowd. We didn't play well, but they didn't give up on us," Yori said.

Nebraska now heads north to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota Monday night. NU defeated the Gophers 64-49 in Lincoln on Jan. 22. A win would give NU seven road victories in conference play and clinch a winning conference record.

seanwhalen@dailynebraskan.com