Count the Colorado Buffaloes women’s basketball team as another casualty in Nebraska’s surprising season.
The Buffs lost their third straight game as they fell 80-64 Saturday in front of 3,550 at the Coors Events Center. Sixth-ranked Nebraska, who were picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Conference in the preseason by the league’s coaches, remains perfect at 19-0, 6-0 in the Big 12.
The key to Nebraska’s win over CU was simple: Experience.
“When you look at Kelsey Griffin, Cory Montgomery, [Yvonne] Turner and Dominique [Kelley], they have started virtually every game of their careers,” CU head coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said. “They have grown in that system and they have just continued to improve and that’s what experience is all about.”
[flagallery gid=20 name=”CU vs. Nebraska Women’s Basketball “]
The Buffs, who have only one senior in guard Bianca Smith, showed their youth at inopportune times.
Trailing by 13 early in the second half, CU sliced into the deficit with seven unanswered points capped off by Meagan Malcolm-Peck’s corner 3-pointer with 12 minutes and two seconds remaining.
Slowly and methodically, Nebraska pushed the lead to 11 before putting the game out of reach with a 7-0 run sealed by a Turner trey with 4:34 left.
Earlier, Nebraska turned a 1-point first-half deficit into a 14-point lead thanks to a 21-6 run spanning 10:11. Four Nebraska seniors accounted for 14 points during the spurt.
Smith, who tied a team-high with 14 points, said the team had lapses both offensively and defensively during key moments.
“I think we have to be tougher in those stretches,” Smith said. “I think sometimes we lose our focus and that’s when we get into those four minutes stretches where teams push a 6-point lead to a 12-point lead.”
Although McConnell-Miller said they were more prepared to avoid the first half pitfalls that have plagued the team since beating Kansas State on Jan. 20, it wasn’t enough to avoid a third consecutive game where the team trailed by double-digits.
“We scripted the first four minutes to make sure everybody was on the same page,” McConnell-Miller said. “We knew what we were running. At times we were good, and at times it got into a little dribbling party out there.
“We don’t want to be this comeback team and always have to fight from behind. They have that mentality they can do it. They don’t mind the score, they don’t mind the situation and they are going to continue to battle. But it’s no way to live and it’s no way to exist in this game.”
Freshman guard Chucky Jeffery recorded her first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. But junior forward Brittany Spears, CU’s leading scorer at 18.1 points per game entering the contest, was held to 10 points.
“We did a good job on her,” Nebraska head coach Connie Yori said. “You have to know her tendencies and Dominique did a good job defensively. We had a variety of people on Spears, but she was on her the most, plus Dominique scored on the other end. I think she played a great game and was a factor on both ends.”
Griffin led all scorers with 24 while Kelley added 18 for the Cornhuskers.
The Buffs have a week off before returning to the hardwood against No. 14 Baylor at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Waco, Texas. Its CU’s second of four consecutive games against ranked foes. McConnell-Miller said despite the tough schedule, she doesn’t want her team to look ahead.
“I’d like, as a coach, to try to put things in perspective,” McConnell-Miller said. “But most importantly, I want to take it one game at a time.”
Contact CU Independent Sports Editor Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.
