Daily Nebraskan

Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: Sports

What a difference 18 days can make.

Back on Feb. 3, the Nebraska women's basketball team found itself down 14 points to Missouri with 8:30 left in regulation. NU had to scratch its way back to pull off a 73-67 comeback win in Columbia, Mo.

Thursday night was a different story, albeit with the same victor.

Nebraska (18-8, 7-5 Big 12 Conference) de-clawed Missouri (8-17, 1-11 Big 12) by a 73-57 score Thursday night in the Bob Devaney Sports Center; the first time the Cornhuskers have recorded a regular season sweep over Missouri in seven years.

"I thought we were a little bit more aggressive defensively," NU Coach Connie Yori said. "We really focused on rebounding and our players really responded. It's really good to see."

Saying the rebounding advantage was "really good" might be an understatement considering the performance on the boards by the Big Red. The Huskers outrebounded the Tigers 46-25, giving them a plus-21 rebound advantage (a new Big 12 high).

That wasn't the only thing clicking for the Huskers, either. After suffering what many consider one of its poorest free throw shooting performances of the season (making 17 of 34 against Kansas on Feb. 17), NU answered those doubters Thursday night. It shot 23 free throws against MU and only missed four of them.

"It's nice to know we can hit free throws," said Nebraska senior center Danielle Page. "We knew all along that you have off nights. It was just bad luck (against Kansas) I guess."

The game started in Nebraska's favor, as NU tore out to an early 10-3 lead with five different Huskers already putting their name in the scoring column. Missouri was not to be denied early on, though, mainly on the efforts of Missouri guard Alyssa Hollins.

Hollins scored 11 of the first 13 Missouri points, with nine of them coming from behind the 3-point arc. Hollins proved to be a main contributor, not only in the point total early on, but also the 3-pointer barrage showcased by the Tigers.

Missouri was able to knock down 7-of-10 3-pointers in the first half, helping keep it in the game, but Hollins was not happy about the six-point deficit to the Huskers that still remained.

"We were happy with our shooting in the first half, but it wasn't enough," Hollins said. "Shooting the ball is not going to win you games, especially in the Big 12, where it's all on the defensive end of the floor."

Defensively, Missouri came across the same problem it had back in Columbia: Kelsey Griffin. At Missouri, Griffin tossed in 17 second-half points to help spur the Husker comeback. Thursday night she put up 18 second-half points, which helped her total a season-high 26 points, leading all scorers.

Griffin was two rebounds shy of another double-double for her junior season, but she was able to watch another Husker record the feat, as Page tallied 20 points while pulling down 12 of NU's 46 rebounds.

The solid play out of Griffin and Page gave the Huskers the look they had earlier in the season, when they were winning 10 of 11 games at one point.

"I think a win's a win in the Big 12," Griffin said. "We needed it really bad; especially on our home court. We came in with that attitude that we just had to win."

Nebraska's win inches it closer to being put into talks about NCAA Tournament seeding, not that it's NU's focus right now. The mindset of going game-by-game has not changed, and Griffin said it won't change.

Next up are the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Nebraska will travel down to Lubbock, Texas, where it has yet to record a win; something Yori said she's not worried about at all.

"We broke a streak against Colorado; we won at Iowa State this year," Yori said. "I don't look at that. We just have to go play, and I don't really care, frankly."

As the Huskers get ready for the Sunday showdown with TTU, Griffin said Thursday night's win was one of the biggest wins of the year for NU.

"This one was a must-win," Griffin said. "We knew beating a team twice in the Big 12 is really hard, so we knew that we needed to play harder."

spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com

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