The Nebraska women's basketball team's streak of 50 consecutive wins when scoring 80 points or more was snapped Sunday afternoon with a 92-81 loss to No. 17 Oklahoma State.
OSU improved to 19-3 (7-2 Big 12 Conference) with another strong performance from guard Andrea Riley, who scored a game-high 24 points on 8-of-21 shooting. Nebraska fell to 17-7, including 6-4 in league play.
OSU Coach Kurt Budke said he knew his team was going to have to be aggressive on the offensive side of the ball to come out of Lincoln with a victory.
"I thought our effort was tremendous," Budke said. "We knew we would have to put up some offensive numbers to win."
They did.
Five other Cowgirls joined Riley by scoring in double figures, including forward Shaunte' Smith, who scored 20 points, and guard Taylor Hardeman, who added 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the 3-point arc.
Both teams came out the gate firing on all cylinders, but it was the Cornhuskers who jumped out to a 9-4 lead with a bucket from Nebraska sophomore Cory Montgomery. But Riley and Co. countered with a 9-0 run to go ahead 13-9 with 13:43 left to play.
NU would make a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to retake the lead, 21-18.
The Huskers and Cowgirls would trade buckets until the six-minute mark of the first half, when OSU took a one-point 26-25 lead and extended that advantage to 42-32 with 1:49 remaining.
Nebraska was able to cut the lead to 43-36 heading into the half.
The second half of the game was as wild as they come.
Oklahoma State held Nebraska to one field goal and six free throws in the first 9:22 and began the half on a 33-9 run to open up a 31-point lead.
Budke said the stretch run was the best basketball he's seen his team play all season.
NU forward Cory Montgomery said her squad obviously let the lead get out of hand.
"Any game on any given night is a tough game for us," Montgomery said. "We're battling until the end of the game. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done (Sunday)."
But the Huskers remained tough and battled back with a 17-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Montgomery to cut the lead to 76-62 with 6:50 left in the game.
Smith was able to stop NU's run with a jump shot, but Nebraska cut deeper into the lead, pulling to within 83-74 with 1:10 to play. It was as close as the Huskers would get.
The Cowgirls made 9-of-10 shots from the charity stripe to close out the game and earn the victory.
Nebraska sophomore guard Yvonne Turner tied her career high with 18 points, and said the squad didn't play the type of defense it's capable of.
"The way we play our defense, we know our personnel very well," Turner said. "Tonight we had one too many mistakes."
Senior forward Danielle Page and Montgomery also scored 18 points apiece and NU junior forward Kelsey Griffin contributed 16 points and nine rebounds.
NU Coach Connie Yori said when the team "broke down," Oklahoma State was able to get the ball to the right person at the right time.
Still, she said, one game doesn't make or break a season.
"You hope if you score 81 (points) you can win," Yori said. "You can't give up 92 (points) and hope to win in this league."
nickfilipowski@dailynebraskan.com
