Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball team hit five three pointers in the second half to grind out a
51-43 win over Northeastern State Saturday afternoon in Tahlequah, Okla.
With the win, the Lopers (15-13, 11-11) end the regular season in a four-way tie for sixth place in the MIAA standings. Also finishing 11-11 are Missouri Southern State, Southwest Baptist and Washburn.
A tie-breaker will determine the seeds for next week's MIAA Tournament; seeds five through eight will host a first round game Monday night.
The RiverHawks (8-20, 5-17) came in minus leading scorer MaryJane Buschmann, who is out with injury. Despite that big loss, NSU almost beat 9th-ranked Fort Hays State Thursday night and were ahead today at the half, 21-18.
Both teams struggled from the field over the first 20 minutes, UNK going 7 of 30 (23%) and NSU 8 of 23 (35%). The Lopers had a plus 29 rebounding margin in a 82-49 win over the 'Hawks earlier this year but NSU was ahead 18-13 in that area at the break.
In the third quarter, UNK made its move, sinking three triples and six free throws to outscore the 'Hawks 15-5. Sophomore post
Imani Kyser (Madison, Ala.) then made the Lopers first two point bucket of the second half with 8:33 left. That made the score 38-26 and Kearney seemed to be in complete control.
However, it was NSU's turn to make some threes and they hit two in a row to quickly cut the deficit in half. UNK was ahead by just a 40-37 score with 3:14 left when Arizona junior
Alexa Hogberg made a trey.
Next, Kyser countered a 'Hawks bucket with a shot in the paint and then neither team scored for nearly three minutes. During this stretch, NSU missed two threes and had a turnover. Finally, Trenton senior
Laramey Becker made two free throws to make it 47-39 with 33 seconds to go.
"This is a resilient group. They just had a sense of urgency on the defensive end throughout the entire game," said UNK assistant
Brandon Rohr. "We knew the shots would fall in the second half. We had to continue to get stops and rebound the basketball and we certainly did that."
Eight different Lopers scored with the range being from three to 11 points. Hogberg (11) and Becker (10) combined for 21 with Kyser grabbing a career-best 13 rebounds (four offensive). Senior
Bri Starks (Hutchinson, Kan.) grabbed a career-best 11 boards as well, helping UNK win the battle on the glass, 40-37.
UNK also committed a season-low seven turnovers. Defensively, Kearney held NSU to 31% (15 of 48) shooting and forced 11 turnovers.
"We didn't shoot it really well today but we made timely shots. That shows a lot of poise," said Rohr. "You just have to do your job. We were 15 strong tonight and it's a huge advantage to be at home on Monday."
The pairings for the MIAA Tournament will be released later today.
