• Photo Showcase: NU women's basketball, Feb. 16
• Box Score: Northwestern 63, Nebraska 51
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LINCOLN — The effort was there. Coach Connie Yori insisted as much after the Nebraska women's basketball team lost its third straight game. The 21 offensive rebounds proved it.
“I don't know if we can play much harder,” she said after spending the night smacking her palms and exhorting a young squad on the ropes. “We played our tails off.”
But the execution — on both ends of the floor — was off, too. NU was outshot. Outplayed. At home. By the second-worst women's basketball team in the Big Ten. With its two best players in foul trouble.
Nebraska's sparkling season has hit a wall after a 63-51 loss to Northwestern on Thursday night at the Devaney Center.
Two weeks ago the Huskers were tied for first in the league. Now they're tied for fifth behind Iowa, a team they swept.
And Nebraska (19-6, 8-5) didn't look like an upper-division team Thursday night.
NU shot 28 percent from the field, 18 percent from the 3-point line and 59 percent from the free throw line. The Huskers missed 22 of their last 26 shots. Forward Jordan Hooper scored 19 points but missed her last nine attempts.
The offense had four primary modes and scored just 51 points against Northwestern, which normally gives up 67 points per game:
• The Hooper isolation jumper, where the sophomore sized up a long 3-pointer and let fly. She only made 2 of 9 from beyond the arc, both wide open shots.
• Cold potato, where the Huskers held the ball and tried to work clock before a late prayer offering. Once, freshman Emily Cady shot a 25-foot, hopscotch heave — similar to her dramatic make at Purdue — that failed to connect.
“We have a tendency to stand around and think that's patience,” Yori said.
• First-shot-conceivable, a Husker weakness in recent games. It popped up rarely Thursday but made a late second-half appearance when the Huskers tried to erase a double-digit deficit.
• Careening into the lane for a teetering layup or the desperation dish. This style drew fouls, but the Huskers too often missed short shots or free throws.
After all that, the Huskers hounded the boards and scored 19 second-chance points.
“We all had an off night,” said Hooper, shrugging.
Is NU — at times playing six freshmen — simply exhausted? Hooper initially said no.
But when asked later why Nebraska's shooting — not especially good all season — has fallen off recently, she said: “We're a young team and not really used to playing a lot of games. Their legs are a little bit worn out now. All of our legs are. We've got to find a way to make baskets even though our legs aren't there.”
Yori took the blame. She said she needs to design ways to get easier baskets. And Nebraska's pressure defense has to create more points, too.
The taller Wildcats (14-12, 4-9) repeatedly dissected the Huskers' defense, shot 46 percent and scored 26 points in the paint. They swung the ball around waiting for NU to overplay a passing lane, then attacked. Sometimes it took 15 to 20 seconds. Other times, the Huskers' transition defense lagged behind open shooters.
“We showed some poise and patience,” Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said.
Although forwards Kendall Hackney and Dannielle Diamant missed whole chunks of the game with foul trouble — and Diamant eventually fouled out — they still combined for 36 points and 13 rebounds.
After sitting for nine minutes of the second half with four fouls, Hackney re-entered the game and broke the Huskers' back with a three-point play and a layup that turned a 51-47 lead into 56-48 at the 3:37 mark. NU never got closer.
On to a Sunday home game against Wisconsin, which beat Northwestern by 20 on Jan. 22 but lost at home to Nebraska 75-69 on Jan. 12. The Badgers led for much of that game.
Do the young Huskers have a sense of urgency not to let an NCAA tournament bid slip away? Yori believes so. The effort Thursday night proved it.
And freshman Hailie Sample — who finished with six points and 11 rebounds, said so: “We're really fired up for Sunday. We really need to get a win. We need to fight.”
• NOTES: Junior guard Lindsey Moore injured her left leg with 54 seconds left in the game, falling near the Huskers' basket and leaning on it. She headed to the bench without any help but did not return. When asked if Moore would be OK for Sunday, Yori said: “We sure hope so.”
Contact the writer:
402-202-9766, sam.mckewon@owh.com
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