Mar 24, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Rachel Theriot (33) reacts during the game against the BYU Cougars in the first half of a women
The Minnesota women’s basketball team came back from 17 points down to claim victory over the No.12 Nebraska Cornhusker women 72 – 69 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis on Monday night. Both teams started the night with only one loss but only the lady Gophers end the night with their first conference win.
Minnesota came into the conference opener with great uncertainty. First year Gopher head coach Marlene Stollings had much to figure out after the loss of the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, Rachel Banham to a season-ending torn ACL injury on Dec. 10 vs North Dakota. At the same time, Nebraska Coach Connie Yori was faced with a short bench once again due to illness as influenza plagued the team this week.
This first meeting of the 2014 -15 season between Minnesota and Nebraska was a tale of two completely opposite halves. The lady Huskers owned the first half of play. They set the tempo running stellar defense led by Hailie Sample, and grabbed nearly every rebound off the glass as Minnesota struggled to establish their offensive strategy. National Player-of-the-Year candidate, Rachel Theriot combined with Senior Emily Cady to score 24 points with 10 rebounds. Nebraska shot 44% to Minnesota’s 28%, frustrating the Minnesota coaching staff who shuffled players in and out seeking a solution to a hot Nebraska offense. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the nearly silent Minnesota crowd saw their team leave the court trailing Nebraska 39 – 26.
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The second half saw the Cornhuskers continue their scoring to widen the lead to 17 points but fouls began to complicate the picture. Hailie Sample went into half time with two fouls and quickly picked up two more in the second. Nebraska committed more fouls in the first half than in previous games and that accelerated in the second half. The red hot Husker scoring onslaught in the first half began to fade away as many shots were attempted but few baskets scored. At the same time, the Minnesota offense got on track on the play of Amanda Zahui B. who lead Minnesota scoring with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Minnesota guard Shayne Mullaney added 18 points making three three- point buckets. When Hailie Sample fouled out with 3:50 left in the game, the short bench Huskers were left with just one sub. With the offense sputtering and their defensive leader gone on fouls, the Husker ladies simply ran out of steam.
Nebraska drops to 10 -2 on the season and will face No. 14 Maryland on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Pinnacle Bank Sports Arena in a nationally televised game. With any luck, the Husker squad will have survived the flu and left the walking boots behind. As always, GO BIG RED!!