IU Coach Teri Moren has said before each game this season, including Sunday’s contest at Big ten bottom-dweller Nebraska, that her team needs to be sure not to focus on the opponent’s record.
The Hoosiers entered Sunday in the midst of a three-game winning streak and fresh off their first win over a ranked opponent all season, while the Huskers had a 1-12 mark in the Big Ten. Despite Moren’s warnings, IU started slow and never quite got going in a 67-64 loss against Nebraska that put a halt to the Hoosiers’ hot streak.
“We tried to tell them,” IU assistant coach Janese Banks said on the IU postgame radio show on WHCC 105.1 FM. “We tried to make sure they knew and understood that this is a Nebraska team that’s hungry.”
IU dug itself an early hole and trailed 17-8 after one quarter. Despite scoring 22 points in the second, IU trailed by a point at halftime.
The second half started hot for IU, and the visitors picked up a seven-point lead halfway through the third. From there, however, the Cornhuskers came back to take the lead and the Hoosiers trailed most of the fourth quarter.
A missed 3-pointer from junior guard Tyra Buss in the closing seconds sealed the loss. Banks partially blamed the slow start for the loss but said she didn’t see much of an increase in her team’s urgency, even as the game progressed.
“We came here and we told them no sleepwalking,” Banks said. “I feel like that’s what we did for 40 minutes. Hats off to Nebraska, I take nothing away from them, they played really well.”
IU was able to hold Nebraska’s star sophomore forward Jessica Shepard to just 14 points, and she turned the ball over four times, more than any other Cornhusker. However, it was Shepard’s teammates who stepped up to provide support in the upset win.
No player on Nebraska beside Shepard entered Sunday’s game averaging more than eight points per game, but three Huskers outperformed their season averages and finished with at least 13 points. Freshman guard Hannah Whitish led the overachieving trio of Cornhuskers with 18 points on seven-of-10 shooting.
The Huskers made 49 percent of their shots, which allowed them to still pull out the win despite losing the turnover battle in the game.
Buss led IU in scoring with 16 points and chipped in six assists, while junior forward Amanda Cahill registered a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists. There are two regular season games remaining for the Hoosiers, who moved into a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big Ten with the loss.
With an 18-9 overall record and an 8-6 mark in the conference, IU’s postseason plans are up in the air. But Banks said she is still looking forward to finishing the year strong despite the disappointing loss to a Nebraska team that outplayed expectations.
“They gave us their best tonight, and unfortunately we got them on the wrong night,” Banks said of the Cornhuskers. “But our season’s not over, we’ve still got a long way to go.”
