2008 Woodie Awards
Texas Tech again tops lady Huskers in Lubbock
Nick Filipowski
Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports
The Nebraska women's basketball team (18-9, 7-6 Big 12 Conference) exited the same way it entered United Spirit Arena in Lubbock, Texas, on Sunday afternoon: winless.
Playing in the only Big 12 arena the Cornhuskers haven't won in, NU fell to Texas Tech (16-11, 4-9 Big 12) for the 12th straight time in a 65-56 loss. The Huskers haven't won against Tech since February 1997. For the Red Raiders, the victory marks the first time since December that they have won two games in a row.
In her pregame radio show, NU Coach Connie Yori emphasized that the Huskers needed to get the ball to standout junior forward Kelsey Griffin. Despite being riddled with a nagging rib injury nearly all season, Griffin has provided a much-needed spark for the Huskers with combined efforts of lone senior Danielle Page to help the Huskers stay afloat in the league standings.
"(Griffin) has got a little more confidence now than she did earlier because she just wasn't playing at full capacity," Yori said. "She's a lot closer to that now. I think our players have figured out they need to get her the ball."
It was a tough first half for both squads, as neither team could get shots to drop, but the Red Raiders opened the game up on a 12-2 run with the help of two 3-pointers from Jordan Murphree with 15:22 to play in the half.
But Nebraska countered to take its first lead of the game, 19-18, with 7:04 remaining before Tech regained the lead on two free throws from Murphree.
Despite missing several good-look shots, the Huskers continued to feed the ball to Griffin, who scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half and helped NU remain close, trailing 32-29 at the break.
The second half would be the same story it has been all year for the young NU squad, as it was in another insurmountable hole.
The Red Raiders began the second half on a 9-4 run to extend their lead to 41-33, and opened that up into a 14-point advantage at 55-41 with 7:53 left to play. The Husker defense wasn't able to slow Tech's assault and found itself in a 17-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining.
NU remained strong and was able to cut the lead to 63-56 with less than a minute to play, and following a free throw from Page, junior guard Tay Hester made it interesting as she stole the inbounds pass from Tech and dished the ball downcourt to Griffin.
Griffin would lose possession of the ball, however, and the Red Raiders were able to run out the clock and earn their second straight Big 12 win.
Foul trouble was once again problematic for the Huskers as sophomore forward Cory Montgomery, sophomore guard Yvonne Turner and Page saw limited minutes in the first and second halves.
"We just could not get anything going, and I don't know how else to describe it," Yori said during a postgame radio interview. "Foul trouble was a factor."
Yori also called the young team "streaky" and said it has yet to put together a solid 40 minutes of good basketball, something that has debilitated the Huskers all year. She did remark on the team's great practice Saturday, which she called the "best offensive practice of the year."
Still, the young squad shot an abysmal 35.1 percent for the game and was only 3-of-17 from beyond the arc.
"I don't know if it's indicative of all or most of young teams, but it is ours," Yori said. "Again, the ability to put together 40 minutes really hasn't been there for us."
Yori also said she and the coaching staff take full responsibility for the Huskers' inability to play solid throughout an entire game and said she is working on possibly restructuring game preparation.
"I don't know if our practices are too long and we lose our focus," she said. "Is it too much preparation where it's hard for them to maintain their lose focus, I question that.
"We try to prepare as best we can, and maybe we try to do too much."
nickfilipowski@dailynebraskan.com
Playing in the only Big 12 arena the Cornhuskers haven't won in, NU fell to Texas Tech (16-11, 4-9 Big 12) for the 12th straight time in a 65-56 loss. The Huskers haven't won against Tech since February 1997. For the Red Raiders, the victory marks the first time since December that they have won two games in a row.
In her pregame radio show, NU Coach Connie Yori emphasized that the Huskers needed to get the ball to standout junior forward Kelsey Griffin. Despite being riddled with a nagging rib injury nearly all season, Griffin has provided a much-needed spark for the Huskers with combined efforts of lone senior Danielle Page to help the Huskers stay afloat in the league standings.
"(Griffin) has got a little more confidence now than she did earlier because she just wasn't playing at full capacity," Yori said. "She's a lot closer to that now. I think our players have figured out they need to get her the ball."
It was a tough first half for both squads, as neither team could get shots to drop, but the Red Raiders opened the game up on a 12-2 run with the help of two 3-pointers from Jordan Murphree with 15:22 to play in the half.
But Nebraska countered to take its first lead of the game, 19-18, with 7:04 remaining before Tech regained the lead on two free throws from Murphree.
Despite missing several good-look shots, the Huskers continued to feed the ball to Griffin, who scored 12 of her 15 points in the first half and helped NU remain close, trailing 32-29 at the break.
The second half would be the same story it has been all year for the young NU squad, as it was in another insurmountable hole.
The Red Raiders began the second half on a 9-4 run to extend their lead to 41-33, and opened that up into a 14-point advantage at 55-41 with 7:53 left to play. The Husker defense wasn't able to slow Tech's assault and found itself in a 17-point deficit with less than five minutes remaining.
NU remained strong and was able to cut the lead to 63-56 with less than a minute to play, and following a free throw from Page, junior guard Tay Hester made it interesting as she stole the inbounds pass from Tech and dished the ball downcourt to Griffin.
Griffin would lose possession of the ball, however, and the Red Raiders were able to run out the clock and earn their second straight Big 12 win.
Foul trouble was once again problematic for the Huskers as sophomore forward Cory Montgomery, sophomore guard Yvonne Turner and Page saw limited minutes in the first and second halves.
"We just could not get anything going, and I don't know how else to describe it," Yori said during a postgame radio interview. "Foul trouble was a factor."
Yori also called the young team "streaky" and said it has yet to put together a solid 40 minutes of good basketball, something that has debilitated the Huskers all year. She did remark on the team's great practice Saturday, which she called the "best offensive practice of the year."
Still, the young squad shot an abysmal 35.1 percent for the game and was only 3-of-17 from beyond the arc.
"I don't know if it's indicative of all or most of young teams, but it is ours," Yori said. "Again, the ability to put together 40 minutes really hasn't been there for us."
Yori also said she and the coaching staff take full responsibility for the Huskers' inability to play solid throughout an entire game and said she is working on possibly restructuring game preparation.
"I don't know if our practices are too long and we lose our focus," she said. "Is it too much preparation where it's hard for them to maintain their lose focus, I question that.
"We try to prepare as best we can, and maybe we try to do too much."
nickfilipowski@dailynebraskan.com
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