Nebraska women's basketball team dominates in last conference match

One month ago, all hope seemed lost. The Cornhuskers had lost nine of their last ten games and had star players out with injuries.

On Saturday, however, the Nebraska women's basketball team won their last regular season game 82-74 against Oklahoma State, making NU eligible for postseason play for the sixth consecutive year in the Women's National Invitational Tournament. The Huskers will return to Oklahoma on Thursday as the No. 9 seed in the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Championship to play No. 8 seed Kansas.

The Huskers dominated the Cowgirls to get their first conference win on the road in Stillwater, Okla.

Cory Montgomery and Yvonne Turner led the team with career-highs of 30 points and 26 points, respectively. 

"Coaches have a tendency to use the word proud to talk about teams a lot," NU head coach Connie Yori said. "We're not the best team in the country, but we just did something amazing with what we've been through."

After starting out 1-8 in the Big 12 Conference, the Huskers had a turnaround, winning five of their last seven games.

The Huskers, playing in one of the best leagues in the country, had a tough schedule on the road , playing nine AP Top 25 teams. On top of this, two of Nebraska's star players, Nikki Bober and Kelsey Griffin, were out most of the season due to injury.

Yori said the team showed character in overcoming adversity and finishing strong.
In the preseason, the Huskers were predicted to finish eighth in the conference and ended up ranking seventh.

"It's a great credit to our players for hanging in there, continuing to try to get better, having a great attitude and showing great character," Yori said.

Yori said she challenged Turner and Montgomery, among others, to step up on the road games.

"They both hit every big shot down the stretch," Yori said.

NU never trailed throughout the entire game and led by as many as 12 points. Oklahoma State was without its key player, Andrea Riley, who was suspended by her coach on Friday for a violation of team rules.

"Without Riley, we were able to pressure them a lot more than we might've been able to," Montgomery said. "It took away from their speed and scoring. It changed their quickness."

Despite being without the leading scorer in the Big 12, the Cowboys went on a 14-4 run to close the gap on the 11-point lead the Huskers had at halftime. With 14:22 left, Oklahoma State tied up the game 50-50.

However, the Huskers kept pressuring and rebounding. Turner scored eight straight points for NU with about 10 minutes left in the game, and Montgomery then went on a streak of her own with six straight points.

Montgomery had the first 30-point game by a Husker since Griffin did it against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2005. By grabbing 11 rebounds along with her 30 points, Montgomery earned her seventh double-double of the season.

Saturday night's game improved the Huskers to a winning record of 15-14 overall and 6-10 in the conference.

"We are very excited," Turner said. "We're not going to give up. We just have to keep pushing and pushing to get what we want."