February 12, 2015

----------------------------- 
                1   2   total 
Iowa     (14)  28  41    69 
NEBRASKA (0)   37  24    61 
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Lincoln, Neb. — No. 22 Nebraska led 56-54 with less than 4:30 to play, but No. 14 Iowa made the plays down the stretch to escape with a 69-61 women's basketball win over the Huskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Thursday night.

With the loss, Nebraska slipped to 17-7 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten. Each of NU's last five setbacks have come at the hands of top-25 teams, including a pair of single-digit losses to the RPI No. 7 Hawkeyes. Iowa improved to 20-4 overall and 11-2 in the Big Ten.

Despite playing without All-American and first-team All-Big Ten point guard Rachel Theriot for the third consecutive game because of an ankle injury, the Huskers led for 31 of the game's first 32 minutes, building as much as a 10-point lead in the first half.

Nebraska took a 37-28 lead to the half after shooting 55.2 percent (16-29) against the Hawkeyes in the opening period. Tear'a Laudermill led the Big Red with 13 first-half points on 5-of-8 of shooting, including 2-of-4 threes. The senior guard finished with a game-high 18 points while adding five rebounds and three steals.

Fellow senior guard Brandi Jeffery added seven first-half points on her way to 16 for the game. It marked the second-best scoring night of her career. She added five rebounds, two assists and three steals for the Big Red.

Senior forward Emily Cady set the tone for the Huskers on the glass in the first half with seven boards, while playing an even more dominant role in the second half. She finished with a career-high 19 rebounds, while adding nine points, three assists and a block. With her third rebound of the night, Cady moved past former Husker All-American Kelsey Griffin into the No. 3 spot on NU's career rebound list. Cady finished the night with 1,036 boards.

Senior forward Hailie Sample pitched in eight points, nine rebounds and four assists, despite suffering an ankle sprain with 10 minutes left in the game. Sample left the game for more than two minutes before returning for the rest of the contest. Sample's turn around from the baseline as the shot clock expired tied the game at 52 with 5:44 left.

Sample also led a Husker defense that held an Iowa offense averaging nearly 80 points per game on the season to just 28 points in the first half, while going 12-of-31 from the field, including 3-of-10 from three-point range.

Nebraska controlled the boards in the first half, 21-11, as Hawkeye center Bethany Doolittle sat for more than 13 minutes after committing her second foul. Doolittle returned to finish with 12 points and five rebounds for the game, but the Huskers continued their dominance on the glass, outrebounding Iowa, 46-28 for the game.

However, in the second half the Hawkeyes heated up to shoot 48.3 percent (14-29) from the floor, including 55.6 percent (5-9) from three-point range. While the Hawkeyes got hot, the Huskers went cold, hitting just 26.7 percent (8-30) of their field goal attempts, including just 1-of-9 threes.

Despite those struggles, and a season-high 22 turnovers, the Huskers still led 56-54 after a pair of Jeffery free throws with 4:57 left.

Then Iowa's seniors took over. With 4:14 left, Dixon hit a huge three to give Iowa a 57-56 lead. Samantha Logic buried her second three of the game with the shot-clock winding down with 2:49 left to put Iowa up 60-56. Logic finished with nine points on 3-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 assists, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Laudermill answered with a three from the corner 14 seconds later to cut the margin back to one at 60-59 with 2:35 left, before Doolittle scored on a scoop shot in the lane with 2:11 left.

Cady provided the answer for the Huskers with a putback to make it 62-61 Iowa with 1:25 left. At the other end, Cady forced a miss by Doolittle and cleared the rebound with one minute left.

Nebraska had a chance to take the lead but Doolittle blocked a Laudermill layup attempt and Logic cleared the rebound to start transition. Logic found Dixon in the corner nine seconds later for Dixon's third three of the night to give the Hawkeyes a 65-61 lead with 40 seconds left. Dixon finished with nine points.

After the Dixon shot, Laudermill was fouled with 32.6 seconds left by freshman guard Whitney Jennings. Laudermill missed both free throws, and Iowa sophomore Ally Disterhoft hit four free throws down the stretch to seal the win for the Hawkeyes. Disterhoft led the Hawkeyes with 14 points and seven rebounds.

While the Hawkeye seniors and Disterhoft did their usual damage, Iowa got a huge contribution off the bench from Kali Peschel, who scored all 13 of her points on 5-of-8 shooting after halftime. Peschel gave Iowa its first lead of the second half at 52-50 with 7:55 left after converting a three-point play.

The Huskers complete their two-game home stand on Sunday when they take on Wisconsin. Nebraska will shoot for a season sweep of the Badgers with tip-off at Pinnacle Bank Arena set for 2 p.m. Sunday's contest will be Nebraska's annual "Pink Game" supporting cancer awareness and fans are encouraged to wear pink.