Box score: Minnesota 64, NU 58
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MINNEAPOLIS — No. 9 Ohio State and Michigan State were two notches on Minnesota's Big Ten upset club.
Monday night, the No. 16 Nebraska women's basketball team became the Gophers' third big-name victim, hurting the Huskers' Big Ten title chances and NCAA tournament résumé in a 64-58 loss.
Behind 23 second-half points from Jordan Hooper and Lindsey Moore, NU erased a 16-point deficit almost as fast as it dug itself in the hole.
But the Huskers (19-5 overall, 8-4 in the Big Ten) couldn't slow down UM's dynamic guard tandem of Rachel Banham and Kiara Buford — who combined for 37 points.
And once Nebraska tied the game at 58 with 3:17 left, it missed six straight shots and the front end of a 1-and-1 at the free-throw line.
"We got some offensive rebounds that we did not cash in on in the latter part of the game," NU coach Connie Yori said afterward on the Husker Sports Network. The Gophers — who won the rebounding battle 42-31 — did, scoring four of their final six points after offensive rebounds.
"It's not a stop until you get the ball," Yori said.
Minnesota (13-14, 5-8) controlled the tempo in the first half, its aggressive defense extending beyond the 3-point line. That forced NU to attack the basket, which it did in building leads of 11-3 and 15-10. Banham and Buford answered with similar drives to the hoop. Banham's long 3-pointer from the right wing gave UM a 27-24 halftime lead.
Again, NU struggled to make any perimeter shots, hitting just 2 of 10 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
"We were really passive for the first 25 minutes of the game," Yori said. "We passed the ball around the perimeter too much and didn't attack."
The Gophers started the second half on a big run. UM forward Katie Loberg made two straight shots, and her block of an Emily Cady shot started a fast break for a Buford layup. After Yori took a timeout, Buford nailed a 3-pointer. Two Minnesota layups later, Yori called another timeout. UM led 40-24.
"There's been a lot of runs both ways," Yori said. "We didn't perform well coming out of the half. But they also hit a lot of shots ... and we let the wrong kids shoot it."
NU guard Kaitlyn Burke broke the Gopher blitz with a scoop shot. That started a 22-6 Husker run. Moore tied the game at 46 with 10:05 left. Hooper, who finished with 20 points and a career-high four steals, tied the game again at 49 with a long 3-pointer — one of four she hit in the second half.
After a 9-2 run gave Minnesota a 58-51 lead, Hooper sparked another run, scoring five straight points. Burke tied it with a layup.
The Huskers went dry after that. Moore missed a layup, Hooper missed three long, contested shots, Burke missed two open jumpers and freshman guard Brandi Jeffery missed a free throw.
Nebraska again struggled shooting from the field, hitting just 38 percent. It also missed four of its eight free throws. NU is now 1˝ games behind Penn State in the Big Ten race with four games to go, although home contests vs. Northwestern and Wisconsin await.
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