2008 Woodie Awards
Women's basketball team holds on for win against Tigers
Spencer Schubert
Issue date: 2/4/08 Section: Sports
Based on numbers, this weekend looked like something of a break for the Nebraska women's basketball team.
After playing three straight ranked opponents, the Huskers needed a break, but after taking the court in Columbia, Mo., on Sunday afternoon, they knew there wasn't going to be relief of any kind.
Nebraska (16-6, 5-3 Big 12 Conference) held on Sunday, winning 73-67 against Missouri (8-13, 1-7 Big 12). It was a game that Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said was a pretty solid wake-up call for her team.
"Bottom line is, the game is 40 minutes and you have to keep playing," Yori said during her postgame radio interview. "We could have thrown the towel in there, but in the second half we shot the ball a lot better."
The stiff challenge started in the first half, as Missouri was able to take a 31-23 lead on the Huskers. It was a first half where NU couldn't get anything going offensively, and the frustration showed.
Nebraska junior Kelsey Griffin was the spark throughout most of the game for the Huskers, and she finished with a game-high 23 points.
Yori said it was Griffin's play down the stretch that was able to propel her Huskers to their 16th win of the season.
"It was all Kelsey Griffin on the offensive end," Yori said. "She made play after play after play, and we got defensive stops. We didn't do that for the vast majority of the game, but we got it done in the end."
Missouri Coach Cindy Stein said she knew Nebraska was a good transition defense team, and she planned hard to beat it.
"Against Big 12 teams, you either get really good when you're trying to work up against them or you don't," Stein told Fox Sports Net Midwest. "You get used to it, and you get better at making better reads."
Missouri controlled the majority of the game, but it was Nebraska's fight that brought the drama in Columbia on Sunday.
Nebraska was down by as many as 14 to the Tigers around the 10-minute mark in the second half. With seven minutes left, the Huskers trailed 63-53, and then went on an 11-0 run to take their first lead in the midst of the shocked Tiger faithful.
The Huskers stretched their 64-63 lead to a 68-65 lead when Griffin was fouled with less than a minute remaining. She missed the first free throw, but made the second.
Missouri was able to answer on the other end, making the score 69-67 with 20.3 seconds left. NU freshman Dominique Kelley then hit two big free throws to seal the deal for Nebraska.
"That's an exciting win," Yori said. "I'm not sure how we got that done. We outplayed them in the last six minutes of the game. We did everything right in that last stretch, and it gave us a chance to win."
The win marked Nebraska's first since Jan. 23, before its back-to-back losses to Baylor and KSU. After trailing by 14 points on two occasions, NU made its big charge behind 3-pointers from freshman Kaitlyn Burke and sophomore Yvonne Turner.
Yori had to sit Turner after she committed two fouls in the first half, limiting what her team could do. After the break, Turner made her presence felt down the stretch, and Yori couldn't talk enough about her sophomore's clutch performance.
"You could see the different type of team we are when Yvonne is on the floor," Yori said. "She's reached a lot recently, and she's got to get greater discipline on that ball, but we need her on the floor."
The Huskers will now ride this emotional win into its next conference game, when they play at Colorado on Wednesday.
Yori said she knows there won't be much time spent celebrating Sunday's comeback victory, but she said she is still proud of the team's heroics nonetheless.
"It doesn't matter how you do it," Yori said. It's really hard to win in this league, and Missouri is a good basketball team that can play. They're a good team and they're 1-7. What does that say? From top to bottom, this league is the best in the country."
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com
After playing three straight ranked opponents, the Huskers needed a break, but after taking the court in Columbia, Mo., on Sunday afternoon, they knew there wasn't going to be relief of any kind.
Nebraska (16-6, 5-3 Big 12 Conference) held on Sunday, winning 73-67 against Missouri (8-13, 1-7 Big 12). It was a game that Nebraska Coach Connie Yori said was a pretty solid wake-up call for her team.
"Bottom line is, the game is 40 minutes and you have to keep playing," Yori said during her postgame radio interview. "We could have thrown the towel in there, but in the second half we shot the ball a lot better."
The stiff challenge started in the first half, as Missouri was able to take a 31-23 lead on the Huskers. It was a first half where NU couldn't get anything going offensively, and the frustration showed.
Nebraska junior Kelsey Griffin was the spark throughout most of the game for the Huskers, and she finished with a game-high 23 points.
Yori said it was Griffin's play down the stretch that was able to propel her Huskers to their 16th win of the season.
"It was all Kelsey Griffin on the offensive end," Yori said. "She made play after play after play, and we got defensive stops. We didn't do that for the vast majority of the game, but we got it done in the end."
Missouri Coach Cindy Stein said she knew Nebraska was a good transition defense team, and she planned hard to beat it.
"Against Big 12 teams, you either get really good when you're trying to work up against them or you don't," Stein told Fox Sports Net Midwest. "You get used to it, and you get better at making better reads."
Missouri controlled the majority of the game, but it was Nebraska's fight that brought the drama in Columbia on Sunday.
Nebraska was down by as many as 14 to the Tigers around the 10-minute mark in the second half. With seven minutes left, the Huskers trailed 63-53, and then went on an 11-0 run to take their first lead in the midst of the shocked Tiger faithful.
The Huskers stretched their 64-63 lead to a 68-65 lead when Griffin was fouled with less than a minute remaining. She missed the first free throw, but made the second.
Missouri was able to answer on the other end, making the score 69-67 with 20.3 seconds left. NU freshman Dominique Kelley then hit two big free throws to seal the deal for Nebraska.
"That's an exciting win," Yori said. "I'm not sure how we got that done. We outplayed them in the last six minutes of the game. We did everything right in that last stretch, and it gave us a chance to win."
The win marked Nebraska's first since Jan. 23, before its back-to-back losses to Baylor and KSU. After trailing by 14 points on two occasions, NU made its big charge behind 3-pointers from freshman Kaitlyn Burke and sophomore Yvonne Turner.
Yori had to sit Turner after she committed two fouls in the first half, limiting what her team could do. After the break, Turner made her presence felt down the stretch, and Yori couldn't talk enough about her sophomore's clutch performance.
"You could see the different type of team we are when Yvonne is on the floor," Yori said. "She's reached a lot recently, and she's got to get greater discipline on that ball, but we need her on the floor."
The Huskers will now ride this emotional win into its next conference game, when they play at Colorado on Wednesday.
Yori said she knows there won't be much time spent celebrating Sunday's comeback victory, but she said she is still proud of the team's heroics nonetheless.
"It doesn't matter how you do it," Yori said. It's really hard to win in this league, and Missouri is a good basketball team that can play. They're a good team and they're 1-7. What does that say? From top to bottom, this league is the best in the country."
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com
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