Women's Basketball 2001

Huskers End Season with 77-60 Loss to Texas

Kansas City, Mo.-- Kaira White scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the first to help No. 7 seed Texas build a 39-23 halftime lead and cruise to a 77-60 win over No. 10 seed Nebraska in the first round of the Big 12 Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday.

Nebraska ends its season with a 12-18 record, while Texas improved to 20-11 overall and advanced to the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals to face No. 2 seed Texas Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The Huskers led 7-5 with 17:10 left in the first half, but a jumper by White started a 14-0 Texas run during the next four minutes that gave the Longhorns a 12-point advantage at 19-7 with 13:54 left in the half. During the run, White scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Tracy Cook added the other six points for Texas. In fact, White and Cook combined for UT’s first 19 points of the game to set the tone for the Longhorns.

While UT’s shots were falling, the Huskers went ice cold from the field. After hitting their first two field attempts of the night, the Huskers connected on just two of their next 18 attempts, as Texas built its biggest lead of the game at 37-15 with 4:03 left in the first half.

Despite the deficit, the Huskers kept battling, cutting the lead to 16 points at 39-23 at the half on the strength of a strong first-half shooting performance by Shannon Howell. The freshman point guard from Playa Del Rey, Calif., scored 13 of the Huskers’ 23 first-half points, while knocking down three three-pointers to keep the Huskers within striking distance.

In the second half, the Huskers continued to whittle away at the lead, shaving it to 11 points at 57-46 with 7:28 remaining, but Texas answered with five straight points to seal the win, as NU would not get closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Despite the loss, Sanderford said he was pleased with the Huskers’ second-half effort.

“I was proud of our effort in the second half, and I was proud that we didn’t quit,” Sanderford said. “We just didn’t hit any shots in the first half, and they played well and shot well in the first half. We dug ourselves a hole, and we just never got out of it.”

Howell finished with 17 points, just one off her career high, while tying a career-best with eight rebounds to lead the Huskers. Despite her solid offensive and rebounding numbers, Howell did commit a season-high 10 turnovers. As a team, Nebraska committed 22 turnovers, which Texas converted into 22 points. The Huskers forced just 10 UT turnovers, which they converted into just three points.

Senior guard Amanda Went added nine points for the Huskers, while Monique Whitfield and Stephanie Jones each pitched in seven points.

White led all scorers with 20 points, while Cook poured in 15 points. Point guard Kenya Larkin added 17 points, including 15 points in the second half for the Longhorns.

Texas shot 39.7 percent (25-63) from the field for the game, including 50 percent (7-14) from three-point range. The Longhorns also connected on 66.7 percent (20-30) of their free throws.

Nebraska hit 39.6 percent (19-48) of its shots, but just 28 percent (7-25) in the first half. Nebraska did connect on 35.3 percent (6-17) of its three-pointers and 61.5 percent (16-26) of its free throw attempts.

Source: University of Nebraska Sports Information