Nebraska couldn’t muster much offense against Iowa State on the road Wednesday night in a 61-38 loss.
The 38 points scored by NU is a season low. The last time Nebraska (11-13 overall, 2-9 Big 12 Conference) shot so poorly was in the 2002 season when the Huskers lost to Texas Tech, 50-35.
NU Coach Connie Yori said her team just wasn’t clicking.
“We just couldn’t score,” she said. “We missed shots, turned it over too much and then I think we lost some energy on the defensive end because we couldn’t score. Usually, you give up 61 points against Iowa State in Ames and you have a pretty good chance to win. We just couldn’t score against them tonight.”
The Huskers dug themselves an early hole, trailing ISU 8-0 right out of the gate. Nebraska struggled to get in a rhythm on offense early in the game.
Junior Nicole Neals was the bright spot off the bench for NU in the beginning. She drained two 3-pointers to put the Cornhuskers back in the game.
Senior Tay Hester made her biggest contribution of the night by ripping the ball away from a defender and scoring on the other end to give Nebraska its first lead.
From there, NU got it together and went on a 13-4 run midway through the first half.
Both teams began to light it up from three. ISU’s Alison Lacey had 12 points off four treys midway through the first half. She pulled the crowd into the game as the Cyclones found an offensive rhythm and built a lead.
ISU went on a 13-4 run at the 11:40 minute mark.
After the Huskers looked like they would close the gap entering halftime, Iowa State went on an impressive 12-1 run before heading to the locker room.
Nebraska committed 11 turnovers in the half and ISU capitalized, scoring 12 off those mishaps.
Nebraska had trouble taking care of the ball, racking up 10 turnovers just 15 minutes into the game. NU’s defense had no answers for Lacey and senior Nicky Weiben, who combined for 30 of ISU’s 44 points at one point in the second period.
Iowa State’s 38 points allowed are the third-best in conference history for the Cyclones.
The Big Red now turns its attention to Missouri on Saturday. Tip-off with the Tigers is set for 7:05 p.m.
jeffstraub@dailynebraskan.com
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