 "Photo: Daily Nebraskan")
The Nebraska women's basketball team could have looked at its Sunday rematch against Kansas in comfort, knowing it won the first game by 20 points. On the other hand, Kansas could have viewed the second go-around as revenge.
The latter proved to be the case.
Nebraska (17-8, 6-5 Big 12 Conference) lost to the Jayhawks (15-9, 4-7 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon, 62-61.
"We need to play for 40 minutes," NU Coach Connie Yori said in a postgame radio interview. "We're not playing for 40 minutes right now, it's that simple."
The game started off in KU's favor. It was outrebounding, out-shooting and out-playing the Cornhuskers in the first half.
KU had control of the lead while maintaining a constant advantage of four or six points throughout most of the half. The Jayhawks were shutting down passing lanes to Nebraska junior Kelsey Griffin and senior Danielle Page, essentially limiting any offensive rebounds for the Big Red.
Foul trouble also became a problem for NU early as sophomores Yvonne Turner, Cory Montgomery and Griffin all picked up two early fouls, forcing Yori to give some of her key players a little more bench time than she wanted.
"Yvonne needs to quit fouling; it's that simple," Yori said. "She needs to apply more pressure without fouling. It hurts us, and we've told her that. Her first three fouls were all reaching fouls. She's got to play smarter because she's a huge difference maker, and she didn't play enough minutes (Sunday)."
With both Griffin and Turner out at the midway part of the first half, it was Page who was able to keep the Huskers in the game. After being shut down for the first 10 minutes of the game, Page put up a quick four points followed by another bucket from Montgomery to tie the score at 20.
The game went back and forth the rest of the first half, with Kansas having the 31-26 lead at the break - a far cry from the last time the two teams met when NU led 38-26 at the half in Lincoln.
Unlike in the first game, the second half proved to be the telling story on Sunday afternoon. KU had an inevitable challenge in front of it considering Nebraska's recent history.
During its last two road games - both wins - NU had played from behind well into the second 20 minutes of the contest.
With 12:33 left on the game clock, KU still had its six-point lead, 40-34. The Jayhawks were holding the Husker charge off, proving that this game would not be another stroll to a comeback win.
But NU didn't go away, either. Sophomore Nicole Neals knocked down a 3-pointer, followed quickly by a Griffin bucket to cut KU's eight-point lead to 46-43. The teams kept battling, but after a three-minute span, the score stayed 46-43.
With about six minutes left in regulation, it was KU that capitalized. Danielle McCray knocked down a clutch 3-pointer, giving the Jayhawks back their six-point lead. The trey was then followed by Taylor McIntosh, who put together a 3-point play to give her team a nine-point lead, its largest of the game.
The Huskers then made the late-game charge KU knew was coming. After two big 3-pointers from Turner, the KU lead was five with five minutes left.
Later, NU sophomore Kala Kuhlmann knocked down two free throws to tie the game at 54. Griffin was the one who finally pushed the Huskers over the top, putting together a 3-point play to give NU a 57-54 lead and a 14-2 run.
"(Sunday) was an example," Yori said. "(The Jayhawks) make a push to get it to nine at one point and we have been a good finishing team, but we just have to play a little bit better."
The NU lead was short lived, as it came down to McCray, who was at the free throw line with the score tied 61-61 with one second left in the game. She knocked down her free throw and KU held on to knock off Nebraska.
After going 17-of-34 from the free throw stripe in the loss, Yori said the importance of Nebraska's next game against Missouri on Thursday has become even more apparent.
"If we shoot a normal percentage (at the free throw line), we win that game by six or seven points," Yori said. "It's a tough one. It's a tough one to take, but we have the biggest game of the year on Thursday."
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com
